I know we all would have rather drafted Green or Granger over Charlie V, however if had to choose a big guy not worth a 7, who would you choose? Channing Frye or Charlie V or Andrew Bynum?
I'd still take Charlie Villanueva over any of them. Channing Frye doesn't even want to be in Toronto, as his reaction on ESPN showed. Andrew Bynum isn't exactly proven, as he's still a high schooler and he refused to work out for Toronto too. Like I keep saying, why do you think that all the teams picking after us passed on Green / Granger? Let's get real here. We don't work for any NBA teams and we don't have any credentials to be NBA scouts or GMs. The reason people bash Babcock is because of the Araujo pick's after-effects. Just because Araujo didn't exactly pan out as we hoped, people automatically assume that Villanueva would be a bust.
I haven't heard any talk about Villanueva being a bust, the criticisms on the pick aren't based on his talent level, but based on how he's going to fit on a team where their's already a player ahead of him at his main positions. I would've rather picked a player more suited for center or a swingman, I'm just not fond of the whole smalll powerforward playing center thing, it's kinda dumb to me. Everyone keeps talking about how we're going to run, and put one of the PFs at C ala Suns, but Amare is a beast, it worked for them because Amare was a tank PF, we don't have an Amare at PF, and he was still a disadvantage defensively. The Raptors main inside and all-round problem has not been offense, but defense.
I'd take Charlie Villanueva over all of them... I think og made it clear as to why I would do so... Plus I would like to add that Channing Frye came from my fav. college Arizona. He had only 1 good year which was his senior year, he basically wasn't good the rest of his years... it could've been a fluke year. Plus he is a twig.
But imagine Villanueva / Bosh / Graham playing in a 3-2 zone. They don't have overwhelming physical advantages except maybe for Graham but one significant advantage they have is that they would be able to defend against practically any switch outs because all three players are just that versatile. In other words, Bosh can defend against most PF/SF and sometimes C, Villanueva can defend most PF/SF/C and Graham can guard any SF/PF. Granted, zone defense can't be played on every possession, but it's going to help. I don't know much about Ukic's defensive side, but the lineup of Villanueva / Bosh / Graham / Peterson / Ukic sounds like a pretty good defensive lineup to me.
Now that all of you put it that way this might be one of our best drafts,according to Babcock 5 people from around the NBA or something like that, said that he had the best draft of the night
It's gonna require a lot of creativity from Sam Mitchell, but thats like the opposite of last year isn't it? This season he's going to have a lot more talent to work with. Last season we came out playing really good, because teams weren't really ready for our style of play. Nobody was sure how Sam would play the team. This year Sam has the ability to keep that going longer because he isn't so limited in his choices. Btw, Ukic is apparently an excellent defensive player. Last year in some sort of predraft game, he held Sebastian Telfair to 1-10 shooting. The draft wasn't as great as it could have been, but it gives us a lot more possibilities. Honestly, after reading most of the internet's draft reviews, the ESPN crew and Chad Ford were the only ones who ripped the Raptors for the move.
VinKanaddy, I don't know about a 3-2 zone (if you mean, as it is traditionally expressed, a 3-guard front, or 3 players up top) for the Raptors (or any other NBA team.) A 3-2 is little used anywhere where there are decent three-point shooters - for example, play that D against a Michael Redd or another efficient three-point shooter and he will burn you from the corner every time.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Btw, Ukic is apparently an excellent defensive player. Last year in some sort of predraft game, he held Sebastian Telfair to 1-10 shooting. </div> Read the name of the person he held to 1-10 shooting. I'm not hating on Telfair, but a 5'10 PG who is not really that good a shooter being held to 1-10 shooting by a 6'5 guy is good, but not that surprising. Ukic can be a good defender, they say consistency is his problem, but he's also only average in lateral quickness, and he's very weak. He can be good though because he has the height and length.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">and he's very weak. </div> Ukic is probably young and hasn't had done much weight training, as he joins the Raptors, he probably will gain some muscle just by being in the hulk's presence.
hmm..... i really hope ukic lives up to his billing...... it wud change everything if he really turned out to be the next international superstar...... letz hope :S
raps dint even need a pf... idk wat rob bobcock is doing in draft... 1st he drafted aruajo now charlie.... should have selected frye or gerald green who has hops as vc and can bring excitement bak to toronto.
^^ You gotta learn that Frye or Green does not want to play in Toronto none absolutely whatever, They be like another Steve Francis. Two I have no idea why Babcock did not pick Granger maybe because of pre-existing injuries? who knows they might know something that we don't. Everybody just wait til the season or preseason starts or at least summer league to actually bash Babcock..
Ok seriously, can you even say you watched Green in action? He's been so overhyped by some ignorant people who call themselves 'basketball fans'. Why do you think he dropped to 18? He can jump, he can dunk, he can run but that's about all he can do. He's still very raw and will take at least two more years until he shows some promise. As for Granger, he might have been the better overall player and he may be able to score more, but Joey Graham obviously has something that Granger doesn't: toughness and leadership. That's what we needed and that's why Babcock took Graham with the 16th selection instead of Granger.
No one. At first I was skeptical, but I'm finally beginning to see that our draft was actually pretty good. Charlie V was probably the best big man available for us. Fyre doesn't even want to play with us, and that guy can't rebound for ****, I don't really see what is so good about him. Andrew Bynum is an unproven high schooler, it'd be too risky that we might pull off a bust again. At least Charlie V is 20 and still has loads of potential, so I think Babcock made the right choice.
The one thing that everyone has to remember is that FRYE AND GREEN DIDNT WANT TO BE IN T.O. No matter how many times myself or others say this, people just keep saying we wouldve been better off with green or frye which i don't understand. However, we'll see how much granger holds up in the nba.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Ok seriously, can you even say you watched Green in action? He's been so overhyped by some ignorant people who call themselves 'basketball fans'. Why do you think he dropped to 18? He can jump, he can dunk, he can run but that's about all he can do. He's still very raw and will take at least two more years until he shows some promise. As for Granger, he might have been the better overall player and he may be able to score more, but Joey Graham obviously has something that Granger doesn't: toughness and leadership. That's what we needed and that's why Babcock took Graham with the 16th selection instead of Granger.</div> Their's no need to hate on Green, he's also a very good shooter in addition to his athleticism. He's raw, but I don't see why you're hating on him?
