T.J. 4 CV3
A lot has been made about Bryan Colangelo’s re-jigging of the Raptors roster. Here is my input on the transaction that is both the most controversial and the one that will have the most impact on the 2006-2007 season.
Side note - just dipped some cauliflower in seafood sauce. I’ll give it 7 out of 10.
The point guard position is by far the most important piece of a Bryan Colangelo team. This was problem #1 for Colangelo - especially with the hole left by the ever confident Mike James.
Colangelo made a decision leading up to the draft. Who will be a better player in this league - Charlie Villanueva or Andrea Bargnani? Having done his research in tandem with his European scouting help, the decision was made.
The two are similar players but Bargnani seems to have more potential. He’s an inch taller, weighs more and is a year younger than Charlie. Andrea is also a more pure shooter. He appears to have the quicks to match Villanueva’s although Charlie can definitely work the post more efficiently. The Raps envision Bargnani playing the majority of his minutes at the 5 spot when he’s ready. CV3 seems to lack the intensity to rebound and play strong defense at the center position - his work ethic having been questioned since college. Bargnani’s desire and passion have been praised endlessly. With Chris Bosh at the 4, the only room left for significant minutes in the future for either player would have been at the 3 or 5. Neither player is truly capable of playing small forward and although Charlie did do it last year… Who cares if he did it last year? The Raps won 27 games! The drafting of “Il Mago” proves who Colangelo thought was the better player of the two.
This made the trade of CV3 a lot easier. But did the Raps get enough for him? If you want to look at past performance, the answer is no. Ford has had decent numbers, but Charlie is a year younger, becomes a free agent 2 years later than Ford, and he’s a big man who can shoot and rebound - very tough qualities to come by. For mainly these reasons, Bill Simmons calls this one of the worst trades ever.
But I’m going to have go against the Sports Guy here. Players often excel in different environments and T.J. Ford should be one of them. People forget how fast this guy really is. He’s likely top 3 along with Tony Parker and Devin Harris and “Phoenix North” should take huge advantage of that. Ford’s relationship with coaches Sam Mitchell and Jim Todd along with his friendship with Bosh are also factors in his development. On the floor, Ford fits the bill very well for Colangelo.
Didn’t everyone on the planet condemn Colangelo for signing Nash to a 5 year - 65 million dollar deal two MVPs ago? No, Ford is not even in the same stratosphere as Nash, but given the right opportunity, he will show the similar ability to fly up the court and distribute. Even if he does elevate his game, people will still argue Villanueva was a very steep price to pay.
But combine the fact Colangelo desperately needed his type of point guard to make this system go, along with the drafting of Bargnani and the defensive problems associated with playing Villanueva, Bosh and Andrea at the same time, and you’ve got a fairly even trade that will help the Raptors improve on that 27-52 record. An improvement that wouldn’t have occurred with a CV3 instead of a T.J.
Cauliflower and honey mustard anyone? You have no idea.
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The Basketball Jones is a NBA blog and podcast, written and recorded five times a week by J.E. Skeets, Tas Melas and Jason Doyle. Comments, questions and cold hard cash are always welcome and much appreciated. Contact us.
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Oh snap! It’s Tas! Did the trip to China enlighten you in the super Shaolin ways of free agency signing that puny North Americans will not understand?
Oh Snap! Someone just said Oh Snap!
I will tell you about all my wonderful experiences Howie so you can learn just as I have from my teachers.
I will start with a simple but important rule: You must always carry toilet paper.
Once again back is the incredible.
Damn T, where the hell did you come from?
I took a walk through the valley of the shadow of death and realized there’s nothing left, FOOL! - Coolio
It’s good to be home.
TJ is good, he bothered Gilby a lot
Skeets, you do know his jump shot is the equivilant of a base hit to right field??
T.J. Ford will be Tony Parker with better D. He’s a stud. Charlie V is too off-and-on for my taste. Great trade for the Raptors.
if tas calls him cv3 one more time i’m going to put him in a crate and air freight his ass back to shanghai.
tj has such a thin neck, it’ll break again.
Bargnani at the center position?? I have heard he is a better 3 or 4 because he can shoot it so well. He doesnt seem strong enough to control position against other centers. Even if you are talking about 2-3 years bulking up and learning post moves, he seems like a natural power forward to me.
He might do well if Tornoto adopts the run and gun tempo, but i bet hes gonna get beat on defense every night
(psst - cauliflower popcorn)
Raps brought in Nesterovic to teach Bargnani how to play the 5 I guess…
I think Colangelo is making hasty moves. He gave up too much in CV for T.J. He could have waited until the right piece came his way, but he had to get all flash and “i was executive of the year” on the raps. I think he’s trying too hard to make a ‘phoenix norte’ and not assessing what he has to work with better. CV was inconsistant because it was his rookie year. Your system should adapt to your talent.
‘Phoenix Norte’! I love it.
5 days in to the job Colangelo told coach Mitchell that he only wanted a maximum of 6 players to return who were on the vurrent roster.
Don’t you think he had an idea of what he would do with the Raps well before the off season? There’s no way he took the job without knowing what he wanted to do with the roster.
He went out and got the talent he thinks will make this a better squad. Is it a coincidence that his old team wanted to sign Salmons? He signed the best player in Europe and he traded a big man for a quick point guard after drafting another big man.
Whether you think Ford was enough is debatable but all his moves made logical sense to me. And I’m sure he already had his opinion on Villanueva before he got to Toronto which could have been confirmed by the Toronto staff.
all i know is my wiz picked up Darius Songaila…dc, new home to the euro baller
Strong pick up. A solid role player that will add some much needed toughness in Washington.
Nice analysis on Songaila, Tas.
Isn’t Villanueva #31? I’ve been calling him CV31 all season, but maybe I’m seeing things funny.
And about this: “T.J. Ford will be Tony Parker with better D. He’s a stud.” - These sound like words straight from the mouth of a man named Swirsky. Thoughts?