John Calipari: Charlie Villanueva cut from Dominican Republic national team for being ‘overweight’
Charlie Villanueva has been cut from the Dominican Republic national team by Coach John Calipari, according to FIBA (hat tip: Mike Payne of Detroit Bad Boys):
"Charlie was not in good form when we saw him," Calipari said to Deportes en la Z.
"He was overweight, and unfortunately, we could not slow down the entire team and it was a decision taken collectively.
"Last year, Charlie behaved really well with us and his only problem was his weight.
It’s really stunning that Villanueva could go from being “in really good shape” in late March to being overweight now. Or maybe it’s not.
Amnesty.
Players: Charlie Villanueva
Posted in Notes • 16 Comments
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Jun 12, 2012 • 3:46 pm
by Jodi Jezz
Your messing up Charlie V…
Jun 12, 2012 • 9:54 pm
by Jodi Jezz
^^My bad for writing that message, I just heard the bullsh*t the media said about Charlie V isn’t true…Don’t listen to everything you hear…
Jun 12, 2012 • 4:38 pm
by MNM
Amnesty. NEXT PLEASE!
Jun 12, 2012 • 5:17 pm
by Reaction
Not trying to be rude but Please get rid of the dead weight
Jun 12, 2012 • 5:22 pm
by Mark
Charlie Villanuamnesty
Jun 12, 2012 • 5:29 pm
by sop
Amnesty him so we have more minutes for PJIII next year.
BTW PJIII had insane athletic measurements: top 15 in the sprint, #3 overall on Max Vert + Reach, top 10 in no-step vert, top 10 max vert, and top 5 no step vert + reach. Plus he benched 185lbs 11 times compared to Henson’s 5 times and Drummond’s 10.
Jun 12, 2012 • 5:54 pm
by dvs
Biggest waste of talent in the league.
He gets paid $7 mil a year and can’t even stay in shape let alone put an ounce of effort in n defense?? makes me sick
(and i used to be a CV supporter)
Jun 13, 2012 • 6:20 am
by tarsier
CV actually often put in effort on D. He just wasn’t any good at it. That doesn’t change his value any, but it’s unfair to say he didn’t try on that end.
Jun 12, 2012 • 5:55 pm
by Mike Payne
What’s the point of using the amnesty provision if it won’t provide any meaningful cap relief? Without Charlie’s contract, Detroit is pretty much at the cap anyway. Why not just hold on to him until the cap relief comes naturally? As we saw this season, it’s not like we even need to have him in the rotation.
Jun 12, 2012 • 6:25 pm
by Portuguese Piston
Mike, i guess that if we don’t Amnisty his ass this Off Season, then the next season it will make us unable to Amnisty any other’s lazy ass contract…
Jun 13, 2012 • 8:31 am
by Jeremy
@Portuguese Piston – Well, only one player whose contract was signed prior to the current CBA going into play can have their contract amnestied. It’s not 1 amnesty per year.
Really, the amnesty clause was set in place to help those teams so far into the luxery tax that it wasn’t funny. I’ve repeatedly said that I don’t foresee Gores allowing the use of the amnesty clause. He didn’t make bank paying people to just go away – he turned a dollar into two, three, four…Honestly, the best bet is to try to unload BG and CV through trades. If nothing comes to light by the 2013-2014 season (both players have player options on their contracts and more than likely will pick it up), you amnesty BG (higher pay that season) and slang CV to a team looking for an expiring deal.
In my eyes, the goal is to dump salary in anticipation of the 2013 and 2014 free agency classes. Big name players become unrestricted free agents, restricted free agents, or have early termination options on their contracts that year. Yes, I know that Detroit has never been a free agent mecca; however, if Knight develops into what his potential is, Monroe continues to improve and becomes the player that would have been if Duncan and Lanier had their DNA combined in some fashion, and the team hits in the lottery this year (and assuming again in 2013), you can’t tell me that guys wouldn’t consider signing on here.
I’d also like to see Joe get back to bringing the veteran big guy (Uncle Cliff, Derrick Coleman, Elden Campbell, Dale Davis) in that can come off the bench and take up space. While youth is the way of the league (look at OKC), I still believe that the back up PF and C spots should be enforcers down low (once again look at OKC). I want guys that are going to stay low and not let anyone within 10 feet of the basket. Teams don’t win when their loaded with “finesse” bigs.
Jun 12, 2012 • 11:23 pm
by Patrick Hayes
@Mike:
I agree, it doesn’t really make financial sense to amnesty him. It just feels like he should be amnestied on general principle. Maybe three or four times.
Jun 13, 2012 • 12:36 am
by Mike Payne
lol’d and fully agree’d Patrick. :)
Jun 13, 2012 • 4:48 am
by gmehl
Maybe a buyout. If it’s made known to him that he’s not in our future plans in the off season then maybe he would agree to it. On an emotional level i would be happy if they amnestied him but Mike is right in that we wouldn’t get any financial relief. Surely you would think if CV knew he wasn’t going to get court time with us then he would consider a buyout. If a buyout was on the cards i wonder how much we could save in total and curiously asking if he is owed $16m over 2 more years and a buyout is agreed to at $10m does that $6m come off our cap?? I can’t remember the figures of Rips buyout and thought i’d ask.
Jun 13, 2012 • 6:18 am
by tarsier
It can also come down to whether it is reasonable to expect there to be any better amnesty target out there. If not, who knows what deals may be made during the season and how his presence on the team would affect their flexibility. But they can’t amnesty him during the season. So that just leaves the off season.
Jun 12, 2012 • 8:06 pm
by Bygdygod
Maybe he really wasn’t in shape last year. Just a way to promote him for trade! But only amnesty him if there is someone to take that space. Don’t pay him just to go away!