Charlie Villanueva

[MetroDrugUnit]

The problem with CV is that he has TTD which is Tim Thomas Disorder. He thinks he is a great outside shooter who likes to float around and not get banged into too often. If he spends more time around the paint and toughens up a little bit he will definatly become a much better player.His underachement has to do with his aproach to the game and not for a lack of skill

[paulpressey25]

CV will be improved if only because he'll get more plays and opportunities with the two new PG's versus Mo.

[Chapter29]

I like Charlie V. I think offensively he is one of our more skilled players.

I agree that if he simply didn't shoot any 3's he would likely become a very good offensive weapon.

As to his rebounding I don't agree at all with him being a poor rebounder. I think he is actually pretty good as is Bogut. Neither are big muscling type rebounders, but both are pretty effective.

Obviously his work ethic and defense are of a major concern. We shall see what Skiles can do, but I can handle just slight improvement here (I think we'd be lucky to see improvement) if he can become a more efficient scorer.

I don't even think being a starter is an issue with CV. He clearly mentioned on his blog last year that he doesn't care abt starting. All he cares abt is that he gets good minutes and that the coaching staff shows confidence in him. He even cited the Toronto game as an example where he scored like 12 pts/7 rebs in 14 or so mins and the Bucks could have competed much better with Toronto's score and even then Larry K subbed Yi in and took CV out. He mentioned how he was pissed about it.

I read that as well, but I don't think he was being entirely honest. Maybe he didn't realize it the time, but I feel that not starting impacted his confidence and his play. Once he started he was better, though our team was a disaster by that point. Same coaching staff, likely the same confidence in Charlie, just a failing Yi.

That Toronto game was a joke and he had a right to be pissed.

[aboveAverage]

Villanueva is probably our third most skilled offensive player, and he is a good rebounder/passer as well. These things will definitely help our team. However, he never gets a chance to show these traits because his bad defense keeps him out of the game. Just a little more effort on defense, and Skiles will feel comfortable to leave him in the game. Then we can truly benefit from Charlie V.

[El Duderino]

The one big red flag with CV is his work ehtic and defensive deficiencies. But I guess I still have a shred of hope that he can step his game up this year under Skiles.

With CV knowing that, I think he'll turn some heads this year as long as he stays healthy. The big question is, can Skiles turn him into a average defender?

I liked your whole post, but these two thoughts are what i see as key if Villanueva can be worthy of keeping the starting job.

Skiles i see as the biggest move the team made all offseason. With that said, even though i think he'll be able to help change the mentality of the team and some individual players to at least a degree, no coach is a miracle worker.

My hopes with Skiles in regards to CV is that he gets Charlie to shoot many less threes, not just a few less. This i see as reasonably possible. I know i'm preaching to the choir here, but he's to skilled a scorer in the paint to spend half his time or more past the three point line.

Defensively though is where i think you're being unrealistic. Villanueva isn't just a bad defender, he's a flat out miserable defender. To think any coach could get Charlie to being an average defender would be like trying to stop Rosie O'Donnell from eating cookies and doughnuts by the truck load. An impossibility in both cases. If though Skiles could help turn Villanueva into just being a bad defender instead of a horrific defender, that would be an epic coaching accomplishment.

[Bernman]

To think any coach could get Charlie to being an average defender would be like trying to stop Rosie O'Donnell from eating cookies and doughnuts by the truck load. An impossibility in both cases.

I don't think it's the cookies or donuts that get her in trouble....it's all the carpet. Carpet is very fattening, especially if it's made in the U.S. of A.

[Frank Nova]

Honestly I'll take CV over Yi 10 outta 10 times until Yi proves me wrong which I dont even see happening...

Plus I cant even imagine all the practices where CV probably just dominated Yi knowing that this chump is gonna play more than me because the owner of the team said so... thats bull crap

CV was excellent in 2 years at UCONN, had a very solid rookie season and played well the limited time in Milwaukee before his time was cut short due to injury his 1st season here...

Then he gets healthy and some chinese dude comes in and is promised the kitchen sink to play without even any competition...

In an open competition I think we can all agree CV would have earned that starting role and more minutes over Yi and he wasnt even given that opportunity out of nothing but disrespect to CV

With that said would any of u give a rats ass about competing being in that situation where playing ur heart out doesnt give u anything but a pat on the back and a spot on the bench??? obviously no

Im sure Skiles and Hammond are more excited than we think to have someone as athletic and talented as CV to be the starter here this season

CV will be back to form this year barring injury and 17 points and 8/9 boards a game isnt a stretch from him, mark my words!

[raferfenix]

I think the key for CV on our team is if Skiles can make him more active and aggressive. I don't care if he screws up defensive assignments or gets outmuscled for reboudns if he's going all out. Otherwise the soft and lazy way he typically plays will ahve an adverse affect on our team, and I am hoping that Skiles can afford to not stand for any player dogging it this season.

[Chuck Diesel]

I just want Charlie Villanueva to nibble on Andrew Bogut at some point so that Bogut can scream "Charlie bit me, and it really hurt!"

[Chuck Diesel]

I apologize, i just recently watched that video for the first time.

[DanoMac]

I think CV is going to turn some heads this year.

[MilBucksBackOnTop06]

It's funny how after 2 years of back-and-forth after the trade, TJ isn't even in TOR anymore and CV has become an afterthought. I agree that him knowing he is the starter will give him some sort of confidence boost, and he will have better coaching as well. He was probably a little pissed with all of the attention/minutes Yi got, but with that management regime gone hopefully that's water under the bridge.

We never should have traded TJ Ford in the first place, that is why we are in the position we are in today!! No PG and no PF!

Had we left well enough alone, and told Redd and Bogut to stop crying and get in better shape to run with TJ, and get in low post position faster (Bogut) and stop bringing in inexperienced coaches to work with him, and then surround the team with finishers instead of overload it with soft jump shooters who can't defend, we would not be having this discussion!

No one wanted to do their role. Especially Redd! No one stepped up. They all pointed fingers at TJ.
I have no idea why Toronto did not keep him. That was dumb...Perhaps they feel Calderon is better.

I don't know about that...TJ will blossom in Indiana along with change of pace Jarrett Jack another good baller we should have gotten...

The Bucks will benefit from a contract year of Villanueva, but the Bulls falter when that wa their focus as well. One year Larry Harris had 6 players on this team in contract years... 6!

[milweskee]

I think CV is going to turn some heads this year.

I think he will, but his inconsistency will be the downfall to our season. I could see us winning 45 games or more but he is going to be the problem on this roster no doubt.

If for some reason he puts his talent together and responds well with Skiles than our ceiling is pretty high this season.

[El Duderino]

To think any coach could get Charlie to being an average defender would be like trying to stop Rosie O'Donnell from eating cookies and doughnuts by the truck load. An impossibility in both cases.

I don't think it's the cookies or donuts that get her in trouble....it's all the carpet. Carpet is very fattening, especially if it's made in the U.S. of A.

Sorry, i must disagree

I consider myself a big fan and connoisseur of various kinds of USA carpet, ranging from a bit shaggy all the way to waxed floors and my weight has stayed roughly the same for a long time. So when it comes to Rosie O'Donnell, i gotta stick with my cookies and doughnuts theory as for why her face, body, and sausage fingers frighten me whenever i'm unfortunate enough to see her on my high-def TV screen and can't find the remote ASAP.

[GrandAdmiralDan]

Plus I cant even imagine all the practices where CV probably just dominated Yi knowing that this chump is gonna play more than me because the owner of the team said so... thats bull crap

Imagining that would be your only option, because that didn't happen.

Then he gets healthy and some chinese dude comes in and is promised the kitchen sink to play without even any competition...

In an open competition I think we can all agree CV would have earned that starting role and more minutes over Yi and he wasnt even given that opportunity out of nothing but disrespect to CV

The above is absurdly inaccurate.

Yi was NOT promised he would start.
Yi was promised that if at the end of the season, if he hadn't averaged 20mpg for the season, he could request a trade and Senator Kohl would guarantee he would get his wish and get traded.
That was the only promise made. He wasn't promised the starting spot, he wasn't promised some minimum amount of minutes EACH night, and he wasn't even promised that he would average 20mpg. He was only promised an accommodation if he DIDN'T end up averaging 20mpg.

And we certainly CANNOT all agree that CV would have earned what you mention in open competition because there WAS an open competition and Yi earned the spot over Villanueva.
Villanueva SHOULD have probably been able to earn that spot, but he didn't. That's his own fault. Perhaps he didn't have the appropriate amount of effort and focus because he was foolishly assuming the starting job was his, since he viewed himself as the "incumbent". Desmond Mason also earned a starting spot in training camp instead of the starting spot going to "incumbent" Bobby Simmons.

Villanueva had every opportunity last season to force his way into more minutes through his play, but he really didn't take advantage of those opportunities like one would expect. Instead he just floated around and felt sorry for himself.

[AussieBuck]

Who thinks CV is worth pick 96 in a 12 player standard H2H league?

[GrandAdmiralDan]

Our expectations for CV are so low, that it would be hard for him to disappoint. One of the Bucks bloggers pointed out last year that if Skiles (then Krystko) could just get him to stop shooting 3's altogether, he'd be instantly a much more valuable player.

I totally agree.
That's something I always mention as well when speaking of Villanueva. I don't just want his 3PAs reduced, I want them 99.9% eliminated.

It is such a terrible shot for him. He gets almost no arc on it at all for some reason. When he shoots mid-range or closer, he DOES get an appropriate amount of arc on his shot.

Little things like that are possible, perhaps even realistic to hope for. He's a fairly unselfish player, a good rebounder, and a versatile scorer. Sort of like Redd in that he's a good passer, but just doesn't have the court vision to see the passing opportunities in the first place.

I'm optomistic that he can help our team in some capacity.

Absolutely.
And this is where I expect a good coach to have an impact.

Not only is Villanueva a versatile scorer, but within a certain range, he is one of THE most talented scorers I've seen. It is beyond frustrating that he doesn't take advantage of that more often, instead focusing on poorer long range twos and REALLY poor threes.

If we could just get that from him on offense, it would be HUGE. And then also the rebounding and passing. To me, these are totally realistic things to expect from Villanueva. If we get those three things from Villanueva, that's really all I would need at this point to be satisfied.

Even if he remains a terrible defender, oh well. Obviously I'd love to have a team filled with All-NBA defenders, or at least just a team filled with players who aren't terrible defenders, but some times you have to make some trade-offs depending on the circumstances.

I am of the school of thought that the two most critical defensive positions are PG and center. You also can't have both your SG and SF be terrible defenders. One of them can be if need be, but not both. Having a good defensive PF on top of those things would be nice, but it is more palatable not to have one if you can at least meet the other criteria. I think the current roster does that well enough for us to be a good team. We need to make some improvements somehow (either through coaching or through roster moves, or both) to be able to contend, and not just be a good team though.

[EastSideBucksFan]

Plus I cant even imagine all the practices where CV probably just dominated Yi knowing that this chump is gonna play more than me because the owner of the team said so... thats bull crap

Imagining that would be your only option, because that didn't happen.

Then he gets healthy and some chinese dude comes in and is promised the kitchen sink to play without even any competition...

In an open competition I think we can all agree CV would have earned that starting role and more minutes over Yi and he wasnt even given that opportunity out of nothing but disrespect to CV

The above is absurdly inaccurate.

Yi was NOT promised he would start.
Yi was promised that if at the end of the season, if he hadn't averaged 20mpg for the season, he could request a trade and Senator Kohl would guarantee he would get his wish and get traded.
That was the only promise made. He wasn't promised the starting spot, he wasn't promised some minimum amount of minutes EACH night, and he wasn't even promised that he would average 20mpg. He was only promised an accommodation if he DIDN'T end up averaging 20mpg.

And we certainly CANNOT all agree that CV would have earned what you mention in open competition because there WAS an open competition and Yi earned the spot over Villanueva.
Villanueva SHOULD have probably been able to earn that spot, but he didn't. That's his own fault. Perhaps he didn't have the appropriate amount of effort and focus because he was foolishly assuming the starting job was his, since he viewed himself as the "incumbent". Desmond Mason also earned a starting spot in training camp instead of the starting spot going to "incumbent" Bobby Simmons.

Villanueva had every opportunity last season to force his way into more minutes through his play, but he really didn't take advantage of those opportunities like one would expect. Instead he just floated around and felt sorry for himself.

IMHO it has to be noted that CV was layed up on a couch all offseason and had ZERO opportunity to play basketball let alone, work on his deficiences which mainly was improving his upper body strength.

So the "opportunity" he got in training camp, really meant nothing because he was so out of shape, that wasn't the real CV.

Not saying that a healty CV would beat out YI, maybe he would, but an out of shape CV would certainly not beat anyone out.