Story on Charlie Villanueva

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Work ethic issues? He had them yes, particularly in his final year at Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J. and in his first year at UConn. But he didn't have them at all last season when he led the Huskies in scoring at 13.6 points per game and averaged 8.3 rebounds for the Big East co-champions.

And what's this? One newspaper report referred to the 6-foot-11 forward as a cancer in the locker room? That's just plain ridiculous. When you associate "cancer" with an athlete in a locker room often times that means he's selfish and/or has a bad attitude.

Villanueva had 40 assists and led the team in scoring in only about a third of their games last season. He has guard-like skills and guard-like instincts, often times looking to pass first rather than score even in the post.

I'm predicting that's what Raptors fans will like most about Villanueva's game. He is an exceptional passer and most of them are of the no-look variety. And as far as having a bad attitude, that couldn't be more false. His teammates and coaches loved him at UConn and he never had a rift with a player or coach, nor with a reporter. He was always a stand-up guy whether he played great or poorly.

But let's get back to work ethic because that was an issue.

To understand it, though, you have to understand where Villanueva came from. His career began as a guard. He was 6-foot-3 as a freshman at Newtown High in Queens, N.Y. And he was a terrific passer then. His folks wanted him to get out of the city. So he went to Blair Academy. At Blair, a prep school, Villanueva grew to 6-7, then 6-11. He still had guard skills but added long arms and legs and that was a combination rarely seen at that level. So, he could do anything he wanted on the court and he couldn't be stopped.

The competition was easy so he didn't have to work hard, and he admitted he didn't. He brought that attitude to UConn after deciding the NBA would not be a good move for him after prep school. He had to learn the hard way that UConn coach Jim Calhoun wanted maximum effort no matter how good you were, no matter what accolades you brought and no matter if you thought about jumping ship after one season to the NBA. Villanueva did consider the jump, until he learned that he was playing big-time college basketball in the Big East and for a Hall of Fame coach. He got better at working harder toward the end of his freshman season as the Huskies surged toward their second national title in six years. And he was much more consistent in that area last season.</div>

Toronto Star

 

He did admit in the press conference that he used to slack off when he was at high school, but he learned the hard way. Calhoun doesn't take BS from no body, and that fact shocked CV at his first year.

He's very talented though, just read what coach Calhoun said about him when asked to compare Charlie to the other two UConn standouts (Read sig).

 

Yup. Just letting other Raptor fans know that CV doesn't have any work ethic problems or anything like that.

 

I've began accepting the fact that we choose Charlie V over Granger/Green, he doesn't seem as bad a pick that I once thought. I don't believe he is the answer to our center problems though, especially with the guard analogy he has.

and thanks Vin for the article, I'm glad to hear that he is willing to work hard.

 

I think the fact that he is willing to work hard will allow him to play bigger than he actually is. Especially with Joey Graham, since he'll give CV and CB pointers to get bigger with workouts. Remember, JG is the Hulk!

The fact that CV played guard in high school doesn't hurt; it only helps. It's not like he played guard in college, he played SF/PF/occasional C and did average almost 9 rebounds per game in only 25 minutes per game. He'd have averaged the best rebounds per 48 minutes if he was in the NBA.

 

Now that I know the story, Charlie seems like a good fit in Toronto. He's in the NBA now and he probably realizes that you can't afford to slack off anymore.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">Hopefully Joey Graham and CV3 can form an early bond and some of Graham's work ethic rubs off on him. If he can put it all together and play with passion, then this is a great choice for the Raptors. However, there are a lot of IFs surrounding him right now.</div>

The Raptors have other hard workers young guys like Bosh, Bonner, and Pape Sow. Hopefully he will connect with some of them.

It seemed that Odom was improving with the heat, until he got traded. I think that Phil will only improve Odom this upcoming season.

I agree that Carter never reached his potential as a defender, leader, and a teammate. I think he wasn't motivated and stayed on the injured list for excessive times because he didn't care. Part of the problem was having Lenny Wilkens who let Carter do anything...