Tas: Charlie V. Was Redundant; The Spurs Will Win The Title

Note: This is a small, bit-sized sample of a Raptors Q&A Tas just did with the good folks at DroppingDimes.com. I’ll let you know as soon as the rest of it goes up…

Q. Was it a wise move to let a young talent such as Charlie Villanueva go when he could have formed a dynamic frontcourt duo with Chris Bosh? Or was T.J. Ford a necessary move with Mike James leaving the T-Dot? Was the price too high?

A. When Bryan Colangelo decided he wanted to get Andrea Bargnani with the 1st pick of the draft, it was clear that having the comparable skills of Villanueva and Bargnani on the same team would be sort of useless. It’s safe to assume Colangelo thought of the good Italian boy as the better player of the two. At the same time, there was a big hole to fill at point guard. The Raps front office didn’t want to bring back Mike James and that left Jose Calderon and Darrick Martin running the show. That just wouldn’t cut it. Charlie was shown the door because he had good trade value and because his skills were somewhat redundant. T.J. Ford fits the prototype point guard of a Colangelo run team. He is a pass first point guard with several different speeds. Did BC overpay? I really can’t estimate the ceiling of the two so it’s hard to say. They are both NBA level talents. Villanueva’s skill set and height may be a little more coveted, but they both fulfill a need. I’d say it’s pretty much a wash in regards to who the better player is right now. What Colangelo did was swap skills he had an abundance of for skills his squad sorely lacked. In turn, he filled the most important position of his up-tempo style team.

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Q. Besides the Raptors, who wins the NBA Finals this season?

A. The San Antonio Spurs. They are hungry and they are healthy. Last season’s playoff loss was tough for everyone. In addition, other factors will drive the Spurs. Tony Parker didn’t get to play in the World Basketball
Championships. Manu Ginobili lost in the semi-finals there. Tim Duncan wants to show he is 100% and ready to be his old self. Gregg Popovich doesn’t like the notion that some believe Avery Johnson out coached him in the post season. They all have a lot to play for and I think they’ll come in to the season with a tuned up work ethic and attitude.

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Comments (1)
By J.E. Skeets at 12:28 pm on 10.19.2006 — Tags: Charlie Villanueva, T.J. Ford, Trades, Raptors

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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Comments (16)
By Tas Melas at 8:05 am on 07.16.2006 — Tags: Charlie Villanueva, T.J. Ford, Trades, Bucks, Raptors

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