Charlie Villanueva

[BuckFan25226]

So as I sit here in my office trying to come up with anything positive in regards to the this Bucks team next year. We know what we have with Bogut. And my Lord if he can start hitting open jump shots I'll literally crap my pants with excitement. We know what we have with Redd, and RJ. But then I look at CV. As much crap as I and many others on this board have given this guy. I thought he was shafted last year by the entire Yi debacle. I thought after the first couple weeks, Yi was pathetic. All the guy could do was hit the open mid range jump shot. If he couldn't do that, he was a complete liability. He's gone now, CV is our PF now.

I want to start by going back to the 06-07 season when it appeared this guy was breaking out of his shell. the first 6 games of that year before he injured his shoulder, which ended up leading to surgery, he put up 16.8/9.2/2.7/50%FG in 30.3mpg. I know that's a very small sample, but in that year, he was named the starter, he was our power forward. And for that short time before he was injured, he proved he was a worthy starting PF before his shoulder issue. 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.

Sometimes I forget this guy is even on our roster. Last year, I never thought I would be saying this. But with our PF situation, CV is clearly our starter. 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? We know he can rebound, score, and that he's a good mid range shooter and a streaky long range shooter. But he needs to become an adequate defender

I guess I'll go on record saying this guy will have a good year for 2 main reasons. 1.) He knows he's the starter. Which for him I believe is huge psychologically. 2.) New coaching staff, better coaching staff. As well as a new front office. In a way, it's almost like a fresh start for him.

[LISTEN2JAZZ]

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. 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.

[Badgerlander]

And it's a contract year

[Mags FTW]

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.

[Raptors90102]

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 was so disappointed at the end of the game. I thought we could have competed much better. I was looking forward towards this match up. I try to come out with a lot of energy in the first half, scoring 10-points and 6-rebounds all in the second quarter. I didn’t play much of the third quarter, which I can’t lie; it frustrated me because I didn’t understand why. On top of that, I only played 2-3 minutes in the fourth quarter; ending the night with 14:41 minutes in total, yet led the team with 12-points in 6-of-9 shooting and 7-rebounds. Things like this upset me. I thought I was playing pretty well offensively and defensively, taking charges, rebounding well, and actively scoring. I expected to play more, but Coach thought otherwise. I have to respect that.

I’ve read in a few places online that the critics think the fact that I’m coming off the bench has hurt my game mentally. But to be honest, coming off the bench doesn’t faze me at all. Well, I can’t lie completely; it did bug me in the beginning, lol. Nothing against Yi that’s my homie, but I thought the Bucks expected a bigger impact from me this year and planned on utilizing me more effectively. I mean, I’m sure they still do expect big things from me. I just need to make the necessary adjustments and center on being a major role player on this team for now. Whether I’m starting or coming off the bench, I need to play each game to win day in and day out – that’s it! I just hope my role and playing action on the floor becomes more consistent so that I become a stronger contributor. I’m a basketball player. I’m here to help my team win by all means. Whatever the coach needs from me, I will deliver at my best. It’s all about winning ball games folks. So I have to be as productive as I can while I’m out there playing team basketball.

http://my.nba.com/forum.jspa?forumID=300012849

[RayRayJones]

If CV can go 17/9 this year, I will be ecstatic with over joy. I think the guy has really been overlooked by this whole Bucks board (and/or fan base in general) because he isn't the PF that many of us invision having next to Bogut. But the more I think about it, he may just be the perfect fit. He's not a dominant post PF, but he can spread the floor and still get into the post and bang around if need be. If Bogut can step out of his own shell and start spreading the floor (hitting the open J's at or near the high post) we have a combo front court that hasn't really been seen in the league in recent years that can go to the middle of the floor, hit shots consistently, but take it right down into the low post and bang with the best of 'em.

Not to mention, we all know what kind of coach we're getting in Skiles. He's a guy that has no qualms of sitting your ass on the bench if you don't pick up a guy driving or what have you. He's also the kind of guy that knows who's best in certain situations (ie. I'm 110% CV would have played the 3rd quarter in the above mentioned quote from his blog last year if Skiles were coaching) and is able to coach players to become the best in that situation.

I think (should CV remain our starter) he'll go about 15/8 with about 30mpg.

[BuckFan25226]

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 was so disappointed at the end of the game. I thought we could have competed much better. I was looking forward towards this match up. I try to come out with a lot of energy in the first half, scoring 10-points and 6-rebounds all in the second quarter. I didn’t play much of the third quarter, which I can’t lie; it frustrated me because I didn’t understand why. On top of that, I only played 2-3 minutes in the fourth quarter; ending the night with 14:41 minutes in total, yet led the team with 12-points in 6-of-9 shooting and 7-rebounds. Things like this upset me. I thought I was playing pretty well offensively and defensively, taking charges, rebounding well, and actively scoring. I expected to play more, but Coach thought otherwise. I have to respect that.

I’ve read in a few places online that the critics think the fact that I’m coming off the bench has hurt my game mentally. But to be honest, coming off the bench doesn’t faze me at all. Well, I can’t lie completely; it did bug me in the beginning, lol. Nothing against Yi that’s my homie, but I thought the Bucks expected a bigger impact from me this year and planned on utilizing me more effectively. I mean, I’m sure they still do expect big things from me. I just need to make the necessary adjustments and center on being a major role player on this team for now. Whether I’m starting or coming off the bench, I need to play each game to win day in and day out – that’s it! I just hope my role and playing action on the floor becomes more consistent so that I become a stronger contributor. I’m a basketball player. I’m here to help my team win by all means. Whatever the coach needs from me, I will deliver at my best. It’s all about winning ball games folks. So I have to be as productive as I can while I’m out there playing team basketball.

http://my.nba.com/forum.jspa?forumID=300012849

I don't think it would bother anyone to come off the bench if they were getting a lot of minutes consistently throughout the year. But that didn't happen with CV. I think him being the starter will allow him to feel that the organization has confidence in him. He also won't feel the pressure of having to prove yourself coming off the bench in a 7 or 8 minutes spurt. There aren't many backup power forwards who get big minutes. To me, CV saying he wants his coaching staff to have confidence in him and to get good minutes isn't going to happen when you're a backup PF on a bad team.

It also had to be frustrating he was backing up a rookie in which CV knows he can be more productive then. He also has to be careful because he doesn't want to try and rip his teammate in his blog.

[Raptors90102]

If CV can go 17/9 this year, I will be ecstatic with over joy. I think the guy has really been overlooked by this whole Bucks board (and/or fan base in general) because he isn't the PF that many of us invision having next to Bogut. But the more I think about it, he may just be the perfect fit. He's not a dominant post PF, but he can spread the floor and still get into the post and bang around if need be. If Bogut can step out of his own shell and start spreading the floor (hitting the open J's at or near the high post) we have a combo front court that hasn't really been seen in the league in recent years that can go to the middle of the floor, hit shots consistently, but take it right down into the low post and bang with the best of 'em.

Not to mention, we all know what kind of coach we're getting in Skiles. He's a guy that has no qualms of sitting your ass on the bench if you don't pick up a guy driving or what have you. He's also the kind of guy that knows who's best in certain situations (ie. I'm 110% CV would have played the 3rd quarter in the above mentioned quote from his blog last year if Skiles were coaching) and is able to coach players to become the best in that situation.

I think (should CV remain our starter) he'll go about 15/8 with about 30mpg.

Actually he did go 15/8 this past year as a starter in 30 mins. Although the shooting percentages weren't good, he did acheive the 15/8 mark. So, with the departure of Mo, the arrival of Luke, there should be more and better looks for CV on the offensive end. And if Skiles can get through his thick head, he might be able to get CV play some defense.

[LUKE23]

If you look at the fact that:

1. Yi was moved, and CV has very little competition at the PF spot with regards to talent
2. CV is in a contract year
3. CV is playing for easily the most demanding coach in his career

It's pretty safe to assume that if he doesn't produce this year, he's never going to. Financial reasons alone should be enough motivation for CV.

To me, he has always seemed to be better/more consistent as a starter than coming off the bench. We'll see if that comes true this season.

[raferfenix]

I'm not convinced CV will be the starter, either because we trade him or Francisco Elson beats him out. Of course I hope you're right about him staying here nad coming out of his shell, but I think Woelful might have been right when he reported that CV was real nervous about taking on the challenge of playing under Skiles.

He is in a contract year though, so he has millions of reasons to do whatever he needs to do to stay on the court. I just worry about the fact that he isn't htat good at anything besides scoring, and although we could use a scoring boost off the bench I don't think we need it that much at all int he starting lineup.

It would also take a coach of the year level performance for Skiles to get a lineup including Ridnour, Redd, and CV to be good defensively.

[xTitan]

we have all watched him play, he is NOT even an average defensive rebounder, he gets pushed out of position way to easily and can't defend at all, he has a very weak body and the only thing worse than that is his desire is garbage as well. one good thing I will compliment him on is that he is a good passer when he decides he wants to be, does not appear to be a stupid player, just weak, soft, and lacks personal motivation.

[ReasonablySober]

He's not much worse than Bogut on the glass. Though he's average so I guess you're right.

[LUKE23]

Bogut was 11th overall (9.8) and 11th in offensive rebounding (3.1) in the NBA, in 34.9 minutes. Only four players in the league averaged more rebounds total in less minutes. That isn't average in any sense of the word, considering there are 60 starting bigs (PF/C) in the league. However, this thread is about CV, so I fail to see the relevance of that comment.

As a starter, CV is at 8.0 (2.4 offensive) in only 30.0 minutes, which is actually pretty solid.

[fam3381]

Last year his defensive rebound rate was actually above average among PFs (18th out of 62 qualifying players), and higher than that of Bosh, Millsap, West, and Tyrus Thomas among others. Agreed on your other sentiments.

[Raptors90102]

Agreed. CV is a good rebounder, certainly not shabby or below average. The fact that CV plays on a Milwaukee team which is middle-of-the-pack rebounding wise, does affect his numbers a big cuz Mason, Bogut and to an extent Redd were good rebounders for their position. Had CV been on a poorer rebounding team, I am sure he would have rebounded a bit more than what he did with the Bucks last year. So, in short, you may knock him down for other things, but rebounding isn't a problem.

Just for a quick comparison, when starting, he averaged 2.4 offensive rebounds in 30 mins, which is on par/better than the likes of Boozer, Amare, Melo, Haslem, JO, Landry, West, Gasol, Maxiel, Miller, Marion, Scola etc. Hardly, a bad rebounder.

[LUKE23]

CV's issues are shot selection and overall defensive rotations/effort/intensity. Scoring and rebounding are not issues with him.

[coolhandluke121]

CV's one of my 6th man of the year candidates. I think Elson will start but CV will be in the game within 7-8 minutes, replacing Elson or perhaps Bogut if he gets in foul trouble. CV will carry the scoring load when RJ and Redd go to the bench early in the 2nd quarter, and when Sessions is in the line-up with him CV will get lots of good looks. I predict CV will be one of the top 15-20 scorers per 48 min in the league next year.

The trick is not playing too many bad defenders at one time, and not playing all your scorers at one time because then they would all need rest in the 2nd quarter and you would have no scorers on the floor.

[EastSideBucksFan]

I predict CV will start, but will not see much 4th quarter time.

That is when Elson/Bogut will be our frontcourt.

[smauss]

I think both Elson and CV will have their opportunities to start. If the motivations already mentioned don't motivate CV it will be disastrous for him. If I had to guess, ultimately Elson will win that job!

[unklchuk]

"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."

Good thread. More signal. Less noise.

The comparison to Redd puzzles a bit. Surprises me to hear that Redd is thought a good passer. The few times he decided to pass he looked like a kid on his first bike. Wobbly. Even if he knew Who he wanted to pass to, I got the feeling that he didn't know Where to put it.

Villanueva played mainly in the PBC (Prevailing Bucks Culture = least possible teamwork) so shooting was more common than passing. But there were times on the floor when he'd break out of the PBC, making aggressive passes, anticipating on defense, etc. I used to wonder what it would take to have him play more often like that.

Maybe what it takes is a re-emphasis on team play, moving the ball, and a coach that knows how to motivate him and reinforce the good aspects of his play. (Coach K seemed to have a closed mind on CV.)

I think a number of Bucks players are to be partially forgiven for under-performing under the previous regime. The whole situation was a mess...