Monroe: Could Foul Play Stop This Raptor?

[duncan228]

Could foul play stop this Raptor?
Mike Monroe

Raptors point guard Jose Calderon was in South Texas on Saturday night, which begs the question: Over in Houston, was Calvin Murphy sticking pins in the right arm of his Jose Calderon voodoo doll?

Calderon left the AT&T Center after playing the Spurs having made all 59 free throws he had attempted in the Raptors' first 27 games. That's on track to threaten the single-season free-throw accuracy record that Murphy holds so dear, and he is not above putting a hex on a player who threatens it.

But more on that later.

Calderon has become one of the premier point guards in the East. His 9.0 assists per game is tops in the conference. At 13.0 points per game, he is the Raptors' No. 2 scorer, behind only Chris Bosh. His emergence as a floor leader explains why former Texas star T.J. Ford was deemed expendable.

His perfect free-throw shooting thus far shouldn't be a shock. He made 90.8 percent last season. He has a flawless shooting stroke, a routine that never changes and a self-assurance that trumps pressure.

Nobody seems to know exactly why some players become great foul shooters while others, even good outside shooters, struggle at the line.

“Everybody that's not a great free-throw shooter works at it,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. “But not everybody becomes Mark Price. Why is that? Who knows?

“Is it a neuro-muscular thing? Is it a confidence thing? Is it a psychological thing? Is it a little bit of all those things?

“It just is what it is, and some people can get a little bit better, but most of us, no matter how much work we put in, are (not) going to become Mark Price.”

Price, the former Cavaliers point guard, is the greatest foul shooter in league history, not Murphy. He made 90.4 percent of the 2,362 foul shots he attempted over an 11-year career.

But in the 1980-81 season, Murphy made 206 of 215 free throws, an amazing 95.8 percent, and that makes him the single-season leader.

Murphy was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993, but that distinction didn't make him any less protective of his legacy the last time a player threatened that record.

Denver's Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf walked into the old Summit in Houston for the final game of the 1993-94 season having made 218 of 227 free throws, 96.0 percent. If he didn't miss a free throw that night, he would have supplanted Murphy atop the single-season list.

For nearly the entire game, the Nuggets guard didn't draw a trip to the line. Finally, he was hacked attempting a shot in the final minutes.

As Abdul-Rauf stepped to the foul line, Murphy rose from a courtside seat. He bent low to the ground and extended his arms, shaking his hands vigorously in a motion with obvious intent: to put a hex on Abdul-Rauf.

Abdul-Rauf missed the first free throw, whereupon Murphy threw up his arms triumphantly and did a little victory dance.

Afterward, a bemused Abdul-Rauf showed the class that Murphy had lacked.

“If it meant that much to him, maybe it's a good thing I missed,” he said.

The Raptors play in Houston on March 3.

If Calderon remains in striking distance of Murphy's mark, he will have to be ready for some more voodoo.

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