Ray McCallum Jr. chose the Pistons for his chance to stick in the NBA for many reasons, starting with his affinity for Detroit after spending his high school and college years living there. In the first few weeks of training camp, he’s found a few other things with connections to his past.
His first Pistons training camp reminds him of his NBA debut with Sacramento under then-coach Mike Malone. Makes sense. Malone’s dad is Brendan Malone, Stan Van Gundy’s long-time trusted assistant.
“They’re the same kind of coach – defensive-minded,” McCallum said. “Competing every day. I love it.”
Van Gundy also reminds him of another NBA coach he’s experienced. You might have heard of him, some guy named “Popovich.”
“Both have the winning mindset, winning mentality, and it’s all about defense,” McCallum said in drawing parallels between Van Gundy and Hall of Famer-in-waiting Gregg Popovich. “I’ve been on teams where we’ve had top-five scorers in the league and top-five guys in assists. And that’s great. But the thing I learned is defense really wins you games and Coach really emphasizes that and stresses it each and every day.”
McCallum is battling Lorenzo Brown to win the No. 3 point guard spot – and only open roster position – and Van Gundy says it’s way too close to call after a week of training camp.
“We really liked what Lorenzo had done in Summer League, thought he had played really well, but wanted to be in a situation where we could have some guys come into camp and compete,” Van Gundy said. “Always liked Ray. He can really, really get down and guard. He’s a really solid defender. We thought it would be a good battle and so far it has been a good battle. That will be a difficult decision.”
McCallum wants to stick, not just to keep a spot in the NBA but because he feels like such a fit for the roster. He was McDonald’s All-American teammates with Tobias Harris and Reggie Bullock in 2010 and has known a number of current Pistons for several years. He was teammates with Boban Marjanovic in San Antonio a year ago. He’s known Van Gundy, a colleague of his father’s when both were on staff at Wisconsin in the ’90s, since his earliest memories.
He sat through Monday’s pre-camp meeting when Van Gundy laid out the “why not us?” mantra for a team that got a taste of the playoffs last spring and believes it can compete with anyone in the East this season. McCallum, coming from a team with championship expectations every year, believes his new team is on the verge of something special, too.
“We’re young, but we’re talented. We have athletic ability. We have shooters. We have all the pieces,” McCallum said. “We can play inside-out. We can play off the pick and roll. We can do a lot. Just got to buy in and listen to what Coach is talking about. He knows what he’s saying. He’s been successful in the league. He’s had a lot of successful teams and I don’t see why we can’t be one of those successful teams.”