Comments on: Does Charlie Villanueva completely lack self-awareness? Has he changed? Or is he trying to play us?

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:25:02 +0000

I think that's a good point. Villanueva hasn't faced a lot of adversity in his career.

But I don't think it's fair to say Villanueva hasn't worked hard. You don't stick in the NBA without working hard. If Villanueva hadn't worked hard, he would've faced more adversity sooner.

That's not to say he doesn't have room to work harder, though.

By: jay wierenga

jay wierenga — Thu, 27 May 2010 21:02:38 +0000

thats not exactly what im saying. basically, the movement made young men (and women) feel as though they were special and destined for great things. at the first sign of adversity is usually when they are exposed and then the cognitive dissonance starts to come into the picture. basically, sliding the goal posts in order to make his personal attitudes fit.
alright, a lot of psych talk here. but think about it. when has charlie v seen adversity in his basketball career? he had enough raw talent and skill to coast by without hard work all through high school and college. his first couple teams were awful and as a result didn’t use him to his abilities. if they faltered, it was expected. those franchises have never been winners. but now he finds himself on a team comprised mainly of winners and the finger is inevitably going to get pointed directly at him. the point is that if his work ethic had been promoted initially instead of his brilliance, maybe he wouldn’t come across like a lazy, soft, coddled and aloof player (sorry, i know the rule of three thing, but he deserved the last one as well!)

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Thu, 27 May 2010 19:58:26 +0000

I think the inability to run as fast is comparable for football and basketball.

But not being able to jump as high would affect be devastating for a basketball player. It would adversely affect Villanueva's shooting, rebounding and defense.

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Thu, 27 May 2010 19:54:05 +0000

Thanks, Lou. No question, you are right about the comments. I know Graham has been working on getting that fixed, and launching the re-design of the site was the first step in making that happen.

I know it's far from ideal, but if you hit ctrl and +, the font gets bigger. You can hit ctrl and - to make it smaller when you're done. But that should just be a temporary solution.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:55:07 +0000

Good point, I forgot about his ailing back… any back injury is pretty painful and definitely limits what a person can do.

But to answer your question, I did receive a cortisone shot. I could lift weights, ride a bike, basically anything but run and jump. Perhaps not every case should be pigeon-holed, but from what I took out of my experience was you can play through the injury but you’re definitely going to be slower (and probably not be able to jump as high). I played football in college and suffered the injury halfway through the season (I wasn’t aware that it was plantar fasciitis at the time) and was somehow made slower than I already was.

By: Sweet Lou

Sweet Lou — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:11:07 +0000

I’ve been keeping up with the blog a while now…keep up the good work! The commentary you offer is very informative.
I’m just posting here to suggest changing the “make the font size smaller as comments gets progressively nested” feature on the board. It’s pretty absurd trying to read the above fonts, and I’ve got a 21″ monitor :)

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:28:38 +0000

You can question the rate at which and the amount he's improved, but I don't think it's fair to say he hasn't improved at all.

His defensive rebounding percentage has trended upward. His turnover percentage has trended downward. He has improved his 10-to-15-foot jumper.

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:20:28 +0000

I think that would go a long way, too, James. But I think you’ll see an improvement in his rebounding from this year regardless. For his career, he’s a pretty good rebounder.

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:18:30 +0000

Thanks, Jay. I'm not saying the self-esteem movement isn't to blame with Villanueva, but you can't make it to the NBA without a tremendous amount of drive. When I criticize someone's drive here, it's relative to other NBA players. These guys are beating the rest of society hands down.

But it is an interesting point. Maybe once immersed in the NBA, Villanueva has fallen back on the everybody-is-a-winner mantra that was prevalent when he was growing up.

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:13:02 +0000

Thanks, Tads. I think there a couple things the Pistons could do to help Villanueva.

The first thing is to play him more next to Ben Wallace, instead of Chris Wilcox. Villanueva won't be a great defender, but he would look a heck of a lot better.

Offensively, I think running more would help.