The rise of Pedro Calles of Hamburg Towers, one of the youngest coaches in the 7DAYS EuroCup this season, is an inspiring tale.
Coach Pedro Calles, Hamburg: ‘We are ambitious but humble’
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Like all the players on the Hamburg squad spare Seth Hinrichs, Coach Calles, 38, is a EuroCup newcomer. Nevertheless, the team is in a good position to make it to the knock-out rounds. Their coach has many shares in the team’s success after accepting the challenge to come to Germany for a small role and slowly but steadily growing in stature to become one of the most interesting coaches in European basketball.
Born in Cordoba, Spain, Calles played in the Spanish third division and started his coaching career in his hometown as an assistant at Salsas Musas Cordoba. He then spent time as an assistant coach with Plasencia in the Spanish third division while getting a degree in Physical Education and Sports Science in Granada. That led to an offer to join Artland Dragons in 2012 under Coach Stefan Koch's supervision as an athletic trainer who would also help players to develop with individual workouts.
"A friend of mine, who I met while studying in Helsinki, Finland in 2005, ended up working for Artland and he got me in touch with the team's head coach, Stefan Koch. After a couple of interviews, they gave me the chance to join the team," Calles said. "The closest airport was Bremen, 45 minutes away, but it didn't have many international flights. We did most of the EuroCup trips from Hamburg and Dusseldorf, which were more than two hours away by bus."
Back then, Artland had three very experienced guards in MarQuez Haynes, Kristaps Valters and Demond Mallet. A year later, he was one of the team's assistant coaches, along with future EuroLeague coach Martin Schiller, working for Tyron McCoy. It was in Quakenbreuck that Calles had his first EuroCup experience as Artland played the competition in all of his three seasons with the club.
Artland decided to stop its top-level basketball activities in 2015 and Calles moved on to Rasta Vechta. He got the opportunity there through Bryce Taylor, who had played for Artland the previous season and recommended him to his new club.
"Bryce is a great person and a very professional player. When Artland announced that it wouldn't compete in the German League, he was playing for Bayern Munich. His assistant coach was Andreas Wagner, who had committed to coach Rasta Vechta the following season. Back then, he was looking for an assistant coach and Andrea Wagner called me," Calles said. "He told me that Bryce Taylor had talked to him about me and offered me the chance to join his coaching staff. That's how I got the chance to go there. I don't know what Bruce told Andreas, but he definitely helped me join Vechta."
“I reached a certain point in which I wanted new challenges in my career and that's what I came to look for in Hamburg."
Working for Wagner, Calles helped Vechta gain promotion to the German elite only to return to the German second division at the end of the 2016-17 campaign. Vechta, now coached by Douglas Spradley, bounced back the next season, to the German top-flight again. In the summer of 2018, Calles was offered the head coaching position and took the challenge.
Calles had his team play modern, aggressive, attractive basketball, using physical lineups to put pressure on defense, looking for steals and fastbreak opportunities. He also has a good eye to sign relatively unknown players and give them the chance to play very well. Vechta signed TJ Bray and Austin Hollins before the start of the 2018-19 season and once Calles had a competitive backcourt, he led Vechta to unthinkable heights.
Vechta surprised everyone by finishing the German League regular season with a 24-10 record, beating both ALBA Berlin and FC Bayern Munich at home. Vechta eliminated Brose Bamberg in the playoffs before losing against Bayern in the semifinals. Calles was chosen as the 2018-19 German League Coach of the Year at the age of 35, taking that title over his coaching hero, Aito Garcia Reneses.
"I have been a big fan of Aito and a big follower of the basketball his teams play for many years," Calles said. "I met him for dinner and basketball was not the main topic. We talked about geography a lot, and Aito is a person that is always asking, trying to know more things."
Calles coached Vechta for another season and had a 12-9 record in the 2019-20 German League when the competition was stopped because of COVID-19. Bray and Hollins had left to Turkish Airlines EuroLeague teams, but Vechta landed Trevis Simpson and Steve Vasturia. Once the competition resumed, Vechta failed to make it to the playoffs.
Looking for new challenges, Calles joined Hamburg with the ambition of bringing continental basketball back to the city. Hamburg had finished last in the 2019-20 German League with a 3-17 record, but avoided relegation due to the COVID-19 situation. Calles liked Hamburg's humble but ambitious approach and took its offer. Reuniting with Taylor, the player who persuaded Vechta to give him an opportunity, had a part in his decision to join the Towers.
"I was in Vechta for five years, which were fantastic, two of them as head coach. We achieved goals which we had not planned but I reached a certain point in which I wanted new challenges in my career, and that's what I came to look for in Hamburg," Called said. "What they want and how they want to get it matched what I was looking for. Hamburg is a club that is growing and wants to establish itself in the German League. They are ambitious but humble."
Calles signed Maik Kostar, who is still with the team, and Kameron Taylor, who went on to join Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, and with them, Hamburg took a giant step in the standings. After finishing at the bottom of the table in the 2019-20 campaign, Calles took Hamburg to the German League playoffs last season. They beat ALBA twice and Bayern at home on the way to a 21-13 record. ALBA swept Hamburg in the German League quarterfinals. After the season concluded, Calles's team was offered an invitation to play in the EuroCup as the only squad debuting in the competition this season.
Like at every previous step in his career, Calles was far from intimidated by the challenge. Instead, he continues to grow as a coach and land interesting players, like Caleb Homesley and Jaylon Brown. Despite a 1-5 start in Group A, Hamburg went on to beat Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, Dolomiti Energia Trento, Turk Telekom Ankara and MoraBanc Andorra and is now eighth with a 5-7 record - three wins in front of ninth place. Hamburg ranks third in scoring (85.8 ppg.), second in steals (9.1 spg.) and is the runaway leader in three-point shots with 31.2 per night.
Those numbers reflect Calles's trademark – a high rhythm, loads of pressure on the ball and fun-to-watch basketball. Calles and Hamburg are eager to ride that formula into the knockout stages where they hope to surprise some big teams and make even more noise in the EuroCup.