ESP - Calderon sees more good years to come for Spain

TORONTO (Olympics) - It's another tough NBA season for the young Toronto Raptors, but as ever veteran Jose Calderon stays positive and knows he has something special to keep sight of - this summer's Olympic Games in London.

Winning campaigns have been hard to come by for Toronto over the last six years, but in that time the playmaker has helped Spain win the 2006 FIBA World Championship and EuroBasket 2011, while also picking up silver medals at EuroBasket 2007 and the 2008 Beijing Games.

"With the national team, we try to win for our country," Calderon said. "That's why I think we're successful; because we don't care who plays or doesn't play, who plays more or who scores more.

"We want to be with the national team because it's like family. We don't see each other for a long time so we want to spend time together for that month and a half (during the summer)."

"Every time, we try to get that (gold) medal. It's been like that since 2001."

One aspect Calderon enjoys is the consistency of what he is called upon to do for his country.

"My role with the national team is kind of always the same. I play a lot of minutes and I have the confidence with all the coaches," he summed up.

For the Raptors, what's needed of the seven-year NBA veteran can change from game to game, though his vocal leadership remains a constant.

"The season has been up and down a bit. We've had a tough stretch," he admitted. "This is a young team and we're making a lot of mistakes but we're working hard and getting better."

Despite the wins being hard to come by, Calderon is enjoying playing and having a clean bill of health.

"I feel great. I'm trying to help this team to win games," he said.

"This year I had more rest because of the lockout. After EuroBasket, there was some time off to rest and be ready for training camp."

Injuries had ruled Calderon out of EuroBasket 2009 and the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

"It was tough to miss EuroBasket because I had a bad year here with all the injuries," he recalled.

"(Missing) the FIBA World Championship was last minute. It happens but I'm on the next page and I can forget the year and a half I had all the injuries."

The 31-year-old was back in national team colours as Spain successfully defended its EuroBasket title in Lithuania and he now looks forward to London.

"The Olympics are getting closer and closer and it's going to be fun," he said. "Everybody is really excited about it after what happened in 2008 as well.

"But it's going to be a lot of good teams.  Everyone is talking about the USA and Spain but there'll be a lot of other good teams and everyone can win in one game."

A mainstay in the Spanish national team for more than a decade - along with Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro - Calderon is also enjoying seeing his younger team-mates bloom.

"It's great. Everyone is growing, Ricky (Rubio), Marc (Gasol) and Rudy (Fernandez). Everybody has a big role on the team," he explained.

Another tournament for the Spanish national team to look forward to, of course, is the first-ever FIBA Basketball World Cup, which they will host in 2014.

Ten days ago in Madrid, FIBA and the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) officially launched the tournament - formerly known as the FIBA World Championship - and unveiled the event's colourful logo.

"It's nice to have the (name) change, it's in Spain and we're going to try to do something special there," said Calderon.

"It won't be just for the 15 days. It's going to be from now on to that day to get everything ready from social aspects to sport and everything. We're going to do what we can to impact every aspect of the world cup and hopefully we can do it.

Playing at home brings with it a heightened sense of pressure and of expectations, but Calderon doesn't necessarily see it that way.

"There's always pressure. It doesn't matter if it's at home or on the road. I think with our team right now everybody is going to go out there and try to beat you," he argued.

"It's not easy to play at home - look at what happened to Lithuania. I think we just have to go out there and play."

FIBA