Calathes brings mix of scoring, playmaking
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Point
Guard
6-5, 185, Winter Park (Fla.) Lake Howell
6-5, 185, Winter Park (Fla.) Lake Howell
Rivals.com Rankings
Rivals150 for 2007: No. 11
Rivals150 for 2007: No. 11
overall
2007 Point Guards: No. 3
2007 Point Guards: No. 3
color=#000000>Career Stats
color=#000000>PTS
color=#000000>RB
color=#000000>ASST
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style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt" face=verdana color=#000000>2005-06
(Jr.)
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style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt" face=verdana
color=#000000>26.9
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color=#000000>6.7
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color=#000000>4.3
color=#000000>2004-05 (Soph.)
color=#000000>20.0
color=#000000>6.0
color=#000000>4.5
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color=#000000>Watch the latest highlights of Nick Calathes in
action
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style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt" face=verdana color=#000000>7 QUESTIONS
FOR NICK CALATHES
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1. What NBA player do you pattern your game after?
I pattern my game after a mixture between John Stockton and Mike Miller.
2. What's the best part of your game?
The best part of my game is that I'm crafty.
3. What do you still need to work on?
I need to get stronger.
4. Who is the best player you have ever played against?
Jason Williams and Pat Calathes (older brother who is a junior guard for Saint Joseph's)
5. What is your greatest sports moment?
Winning Mr. Basketball as a junior.
6. What is your favorite way to get ready for a game?
Listening to Yung Joc with the team.
7. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Playing professional basketball.
The combination of players after whom Nick Calathes patterns his game says a lot about his basketball philosophy. As a 6-foot-5 point guard,
Calathes has a great mix of pure playmaking skills and a knack for scoring.
"I try to pass the ball and do the little things like John Stockton did," Calathes told Rivals.com. "I also can shoot and score the ball like Mike Miller."
Calathes might pattern himself after Stockton and Miller, but a comparison to the Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash is also appropriate. Calathes' travel
team coach, Tom Topping of Nike Team Florida, thinks the Nash comparison fits.
"I feel like they are both deceptively quick," Topping said. "They see things on the floor that most guys don't. They are unorthodox in the way they
score, which leaves defensive players off-balance when trying to guard them.
"I think they both have the ability to finish a play at the last possible moment without losing composure or forcing anything. Finally, they see the
angles on the floor and take advantage of them - either by creating a driving lane or a passing lane."
A heady performer who recognizes the play before it happens, Calathes is often improperly evaluated as an overachieving, sub-par athlete. Calathes
is certainly not going to dunk over people; however, he is a very good horizontal athlete.
"He might be an overachiever a little bit, maybe," said Topping. "He is not a super athlete, but he has uncommonly good feet. He has amazing
acceleration. I've coached other great players, but Nick has been the absolute best on a consistent basis.
"He has great confidence, poise and skills. He believes, like most elite level athletes, that he is capable of carrying a team by himself."
With the size to play any three of the perimeter positions, Calathes sees himself as a point guard. Although he is still growing, he doesn't think he
will ever outgrow the position.
"I plan on playing the point in college," he said. "Florida recruited me as a point guard, and that is where I expect to play. I am capable of playing
the one, two and three, but even in the NBA I expect to mainly be at the point."
Rivals.com is unveiling its preseason Elite Team for the Class of 2007. Comprised of the nation's top high school basketball stars, the Elite Team is broken down into position-specific first, second and third teams. These stars will soon be signing with the top college basketball programs en route to the NBA. We will announce one player each weekday from Oct. 2-20.