| Pape Sow Is Back In An Emotional Return To The Court Authored by Barak Falkovitz - January 23, 2007 - 1:47 pm
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It was just one play out of many that has shown why Jose Calderon is a completely different player than he was last year. His confidence is at an all-time high, and he’s proving why people are beginning to call him the best back back-up point guard in the league.
Calderon showed tremendous signs of promise early last season, but began to struggle after being affected by an injured heel. But with an ankle injury to starting point guard TJ Ford, Calderon has had the opportunity to step in and play heavy minutes.
Ford was out again last night against the Charlotte Bobcats, and Calderon was given a shot, once again. Calderon made good, scoring 19 points (7-13 from the field), and distributed 11 assists in a season-high 41 minutes, on the way to a 105-84 route for Toronto.
Head coach Sam Mitchell wasn’t light on the compliments either. “Jose is probably our best conditioned player, and I felt like he could go as long as we needed him to go,” said Mitchell.
“He ran the team, the tempo, he got the ball to the right people,” added Mitchell. “He took care of the ball, and got people in the right spots and he ran the team.”
In typical Jose fashion, he mentioned how the team always comes first. But Calderon did note the differences in his game between this year and last.
“It’s confidence,” said Calderon. “All my teammates know I can help the team win, and I’m comfortable with them on the court. I just try to play basketball, and last year I couldn’t because my injuries were not very good. But right now I feel good.”
The Raptors were reluctant to go zone against an athletic Charlotte team, considering they hadn’t played it much over the last short while. “I felt we were fouling too much (on) man-to-man,” said Sam Mitchell. “They were a little quicker than we were and, for whatever reason, we were playing defense with our hands instead of our feet. So we just felt like we’d give them a different look, if just for a few possessions.”
Trying to prohibit Chris Bosh from committing his fourth foul, Toronto was successful with the zone and decided to stick with it. Their defense was stifling to start the second half, and the Raptors were able to stymie the Bobcats to the tune of only eight third quarter points.
After shooting nearly 58% from the floor in the first half, Charlotte was limited to only 29% in the second. The Raptors outscored the Bobcats 49-31 in the final 24 minutes.
In a match-up between Rookie of the Year candidates, the Raptors’ Andrea Bargnani outshone Charlotte’s Adam Morrison. Bargnani chipped in 14 points, compared to Morrison’s 3. Toronto also received 20 points from Chris Bosh, and 11 and 10 from Morris Peterson and Rasho Nesterovic, respectively.
The Toronto fans welcomed Pape Sow back into the Raptors’ lineup with a standing ovation. Sow suffered a fractured vertebra during a summer league practice this past off-season.
“That was the best moment of my life, today,” said Sow, after the game. “They showed me they are behind me.”
He scored a late basket, much to the elation of the home crowd. However, the jury is still out on whether or not they were cheering for Pape, or because those two points put the Raptors over the 100 point plateau, which means free pizza.
In what is what one of the feel-good stories of the season, Sow has worked extremely hard to get back, and is considered to be ahead of schedule after returning from such a serious injury, after only six months. “I feel great. A little emotional, but I feel good.”
After the game, Raptors’ general manager and team president, Bryan Colangelo, came into the locker room and awarded Sow with the game ball. “It means a lot, to be honest. “I wasn’t expecting it. But that was something that I will never forget,” said Sow about the honor and the crowd’s warm reception. “That’s something I’m always going to think about when I’m playing basketball, and when I’m done playing basketball.” |
