Charlie Villanueva as a starter

[paulpressey25]

you keep claiming that is was all his motivation to get traded that helped him play well

Oh I like CV....I'm not a hater like CBQ (She's still having nightmares about all those 3's CV chucked up last night to lose us the game)

I think CV should start the rest of the year. And get at least 25-35 mpg.

I think he's the most talented guy on the team from a natural ability perspective. There are however justifiable fears based on his past history that for whatever reason he only brings it when he has some major motivation pushing him. And that motivation never seems to last longer than a few weeks or a month.

I listened to people's fears about this from UConn and Toronto before we traded for him. But I thought his immense talent meant you had to take a chance he'd mature through that. The payoff if he did was too great to ignore. But now that I've seen the guy sleepwalk through a bunch of games last year and this year, I'm not willing to chance if we can get good trade value for him.

But to do that he needs minutes, so I'd give them to him.

[GrandAdmiralDan]

I don't see how CV's play in the past 3 games is any different than his play in the first 8 games of last year. Before he got injured, before our coach hated him, before Yi and the promise of minutes, etc...

He's playing the exact same way he played as a starter when he first got here.

I, for one, am not shocked. Quite the opposite. This was expected by anyone who watched the early portion of last season.

To say that he's only playing well for ulterior motives is patently ridiculous unless you are willing to state that those same motives existed in November 2006.

I am willing to state that, yes.
Villanueva came into last season trying to prove that Toronto made a mistake by trading him here for TJ Ford.

The same thing happened his rookie season too. He was motivated to stick it in the eye of those that mocked Toronto (and him) for their selection of CV with the 7th pick instead of someone like Channing Frye, etc.
He played well. And then he disappeared.

Up to this point in his career (high school, college, NBA) this is what Villanueva has tended to do. Go through a stretch where he is determined to prove his doubters wrong, a stretch in which he will really play well in, and then slip back into being disenchanted, complacent, disinterested, etc., etc. where he disappears.

-= original quote snipped =-



Oh I like CV....I'm not a hater like CBQ (She's still having nightmares about all those 3's CV chucked up last night to lose us the game)

I think CV should start the rest of the year. And get at least 25-35 mpg.

I think he's the most talented guy on the team from a natural ability perspective. There are however justifiable fears based on his past history that for whatever reason he only brings it when he has some major motivation pushing him. And that motivation never seems to last longer than a few weeks or a month.

I listened to people's fears about this from UConn and Toronto before we traded for him. But I thought his immense talent meant you had to take a chance he'd mature through that. The payoff if he did was too great to ignore. But now that I've seen the guy sleepwalk through a bunch of games last year and this year, I'm not willing to chance if we can get good trade value for him.

But to do that he needs minutes, so I'd give them to him.

I agree with every word of that.

[big_baller_shot_caller23]

when he was with toronto, at one time he was playing so good, we asked our selfs if he could be better than bosh.

[unklchuk]

Someone here (oh, yah, it was Me) said that said CV is more likely to change if he goes to a stable, unified team. A team that overlooks his occasional lapses because he will play well when it matters most. (That's not CV right now, particularly; it's my prediction for him.)

I wish that could be my team, the Bucks, but it can't. As someone else says, Competency Not Required. Here he will remain erratic amid the confusion. So I hope he's traded to a good team. Maybe that's the Knicks - it's home area and the NBA won't let them stay bad for much longer.

[raferfenix]

It'd be great if our team could afford to take a risk on CV that he can improve and sustain his motivation and focus, unlike players like Tim Thomas. However, with a team full of players who are also prone to being selfish and soft on offense while alsoing having the same kind of mental lapses on defense makes me think that now is not the time to commit to him.

This team is desperate for hard nosed smart players who know how to win, if only to ensure Bogut's and Yi's development and desire to stay in milwaukee. If CV can get us a player who woudl be just as valuable in the lockerroom as on the court because of that sort of influence, then I'd hope we trade for hta tkind of guy.

[paul]

I couldn't be happier for CV with his recent play, he's made LK look like a complete moron for not playing him previously (as many of us stated he would) and has absolutely silenced those who swore black and blue there was no possible way he should start over Yi. Whilst a ridiculously small sample (its impossible to have a bigger sample because of his treatment previous to this stretch), when given decent quality minutes he has now played 3 games in a row better than any Yi has produced in the last 20. This play will also allow him to do exactly what he wants to do, which is get the hell out of here and away from the coach who rates roaches slightly above him. Good on him, I for one wish him well when he does get his wish. Now my wish is that his recent play will also highlight to our management just how incompetent our head coach is.....

The negativity from some smart people on this board towards CV is unbelievable to me.

[Matt Foley]

I think CV is trying to prove his coach wrong by giving some rookie all his minutes. His injuries are gone and now he can finally get some confidence in his game. I don't think he is producing to get traded. If we don't win it doesn't even matter.