Fri Jul 01, 2005 12:08 am
#7: Toronto: D
Charlie Villanueva, PF, Connecticut (#7)
Joey Graham, SF, Oklahoma State (#16)
Roko Ukic, PG, Croatia (#41)
Uros Slokar, PF, Slovenia (#58)
The Raptors shocked the world (and screwed up the entire draft in the process) by taking a player who plays the only position on their team (PF) that they have absolutely no need for in Charlie Villanueva. Rob Babcock was apparently so infuriated at being ripped all year for taking Rafael Araujo solely because he filled a need that he went out and got the only position that he didn’t need at all thanks to Chris Bosh and Matt Bonner. Villanueva sure isn’t a small forward or, god forbid, a center, so how is he going to get minutes without giving up 120 points a night? He might anyway even as a power forward. Thankfully for the Raptors their draft didn’t end here. They got the most athletic player in the draft in Joey Graham, a player who is going to bring some much needed toughness and attitude, along with picking up what, on paper, looks like the steal of the draft in Roko Leni-Ukic at #41. Ukic is the kind of guy who has the potential to make every single GM that passed on him look like an absolute fool. That is…if he ever comes to the NBA. Ukic is supposedly about to sign a mammoth contract ($750,000 per year net) with Barcelona, with a huge NBA buyout included. It will take well over a million dollars a year from the Raptors to be able to bring him over. The fact that, according to NBA sources, the Raptors supposedly reneged on their promise to Ukic with the #16 pick isn’t going to help matters much either when it comes time to bringing him over.
The jury is still out on Uros Slokar. Sometimes he looks like a much slower version of Nowitzki (or maybe a poor man’s Matt Bonner?), and sometimes he looks soft and timid even by European standards. Either way, he’s probably not an NBA player.
The sad thing is, the Raptors are trying every trick in the book to try and justify their moves to their huge fan base. They say that Danny Granger has a knee problem, but according to his agent and other NBA teams we spoke to drafting right around them, he is “as healthy as can be”. The Raptors say that Gerald Green was never interested in coming to them, but according to his agent Andy Vye “we never got the feeling that they were seriously interested”.
Fri Jul 01, 2005 6:28 am
Fri Jul 01, 2005 7:08 am
Fri Jul 01, 2005 8:07 am
Fri Jul 01, 2005 8:15 am
Fri Jul 01, 2005 8:47 am
Fri Jul 01, 2005 8:54 am
wisdom_kid wrote: I read somewhere than CV is a good dunker. But that PIC WOW!!!Yes some one can fill the void of VC because CV is here. I think Mo-Pete can stop trying to do High Flying dunks.
Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:13 am
Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:15 am
wisdom_kid wrote: Yea i am serious about filling the void of VC. I am not talking about the point scoring but the dunking. Of course he is not VC but we have a good dunker in our team. Not like Mo-Pete who always tries to get put backs but never does.
Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:20 am
wisdom_kid wrote: Yea i am serious about filling the void of VC. I am not talking about the point scoring but the dunking. Of course he is not VC but we have a good dunker in our team. Not like Mo-Pete who always tries to get put backs but never does.
Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:24 am
Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:34 am
RA the Blazer wrote:wisdom_kid wrote:[color=#006699] Yea i am Let GM's do they're jobs people, if hes a bust and doesn't fit into they're system THEN you can start bitching!
Fri Jul 01, 2005 10:06 am
Fri Jul 01, 2005 10:09 am
Ukic is the kind of guy who has the potential to make every single GM that passed on him look like an absolute fool. That is…if he ever comes to the NBA. Ukic is supposedly about to sign a mammoth contract ($750,000 per year net) with Barcelona, with a huge NBA buyout included. It will take well over a million dollars a year from the Raptors to be able to bring him over. The fact that, according to NBA sources, the Raptors supposedly reneged on their promise to Ukic with the #16 pick isn’t going to help matters much either when it comes time to bringing him over.
Fri Jul 01, 2005 1:35 pm
fgrep15 wrote:Artest is 6'7. CV is not really capable of playing SF, especially defensively, and we have Graham, MoPete, and Jalen at SF. If we got CV with plans of playing him at SF, why would we draft Graham a SF, nor a SG/SF, but a SF?
When I watched UConn games, I definitely didn't see a versatile SF with decent dribbling skills and a jump shot. What I saw was a post player and a rebounder, and far from a lottery pick.
If it were Graham at 7 and CV3 at 16 would you still be bitching?
Fri Jul 01, 2005 11:45 pm
Villanueva can guard guys like Bruce Bowen, Andres Nocioni, Corliss Williamson, Josh Smith (play off him), 'Melo, Jamison/Jeffries, etc. I don't think Villanueva will play much 3, but he certainly can play it in spot duty.
I think many of you forget that Raptors played Bosh and Marshall together quite frequently
Of course you won't see much of Bosh and Villanueva against Shaq or Big Z, but do you really think centers like Adonyl Foyle/Troy Murphy, Marcus Camby (jump shooting big like Murphy), Joel Pryzbilla, Chris Mihm, Mark Blount/Raef LaFrentz, etc. are going to give Bosh or Villanueva problems? The answer is no. The only teams that have a significant size and offensive post advantage over the Raptors lineup of Bosh/Villanueva are the Heat, Bulls, Cavs (or whatever team Big Z goes to), and Rockets. The other teams either lack post scoring from the center spot or lack a significant bulk advantage.
Villanueva would not have been there at 16. Calhoun said 2 of the 3 teams after the Raptors were interested in Villanueva, which I believe is bogus. However, I do know the Warriors (#9) liked Villanueva and the Bobcats (#13) liked him as well. I don't know about the Magic though. I'm sure the Nets would've strongly considered Villanueva had he been there.
Sat Jul 02, 2005 6:15 am
fgrep15 wrote:They said his lateral quickness we not that good on the perimeter against PF's in College. He can guard someone like Corliss or whatever, but Melo? Melo has a pretty quick first step, can shoot the jumper, and get's to the line well, he's definately not going to be guarding anyone like that. Hey, but at least now we have 3 teams in which we can play Charlie against at PF![]()
We also lost a lot of games playing Bosh and Marshall together frequently, had one of the worst interior defenses in the league, and were beat up by everyone inside. It's nothing to rejoice about....
Yea, we thought the same thing last year too till every guy over about 255lbs basically became a dominant post player against the Raptors, or a rebounding machine. The other problem is that CV is not even know as a good defender right now out of athleticism. Marshall was at least a smart defender, and he played very well against a lot of people defensively, mostly Duncan and KG.
The Nets would've taken Charlie, no if's and or but's about it. They needed a PF, but that also liked Antoine Wright a lot, and their were no PF's left at their position.
Charlie is a good player, it's not about talent like I've said many times, it's about him not filling a need or being the BPA at the Raptors pick, so picking him made little sense, and still doesn't make much sense. Granger would've been a great pick, he's a good offensive player, and said to be a better defender than Graham, even the Raptors.com scouting they put up has Granger as the better defender, and says Graham might not be able to guard quicker SF's, though I don't know about that. Having both of them on the team would just be amazing.
Some people were saying the Raptors were the ones that caused him to fall by reporting his knees were not in great shape though no one else found any problems