This is almost 2 weeks old, and maybe I missed it on here, but found this to be very interesting. As most remember, Stephen A. Smith went in to classic Remember-Me-Ranting mode on NBA Draft night when the Raptors took Charlie Villanueva, saying "…this pick makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, all due respect to Charlie Villanueva, he’s gonna be a solid pro but you already have Chris Bosh. But when you think about the fact that this team got hoodwinked when you traded away Vince Carter virtually for nothing AGAIN we sit here today wondering what the, ON EARTH is Rob Babcock doing?!" I thought it was a mistake at the time as well, as most did. But if Villanueva proves to be a very good player or it looked to have been the right pick, you humbly admit you were wrong and you move on. Not Stephen A. Smith is now putting those comments in a different light, saying his words have been twisted, that he was only criticizing Rob Babcock, that it was a good pick because Villanueva and Bosh are both playing the forward positions, and not one playing the center position. He's also now saying that Babcock didn't make the pick, that Sam Mitchell and Wayne Embry made it and Babcock wanted Antoine Wright (source). Smith goes on to say that since Babcock has been fired, he was fully justified in the point of his comments. All of this in the above paragraph is in this video interview done by a Canadian station -- and Stephen A. TORE IN to Raptors fans that have been emailing/calling him about Villanueva: http://www.thescore.ca/video/413.asx What I find really funny about this (other than the obvious - Stephen A.'s monster ego taking center stage) is that Smith blasted the selection at the time ... but now says he was only blasting Rob Babcock but also says Babcock didn't make the pick. ??? This reminds me of Orlando GM John Weisbrod. Terrible GM who made bad moves and was justifiably canned, but he clearly made the right choice in the Dwight Howard vs. Emeka Okafor debate. Follow up articles that are interesting: Mitchell credits Babcock http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/Basketball/2006/04/08/1525684-sun.html Charlie's OK with Smith http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Basketball/NBA/Toronto/2006/04/05/1520942-sun.html
SAS rips everyone, SERIOUS. He rips the rockets, the raptors, the knicks(deservedly), the sixers, the NBA.
I understand people getting upset with Smith seemingly backtracking, but I don't understand what the big deal is. Everyone knew CV would be a solid scoring pro. Everyone's issue was about where this guy was going to play. No sane basketball analyst would look at 220-pound Bosh and flighty Charlie and determine that these two lottery picks would be playing alongside each other for the next 15 years. Babcock was rightfully flamed for using a lottery pick on a player who would have a hard time scraping minutes out next to his team's best player. The minutes themselves weren't the issue, it was the minutes that the two players would or would not be able to play ALONGSIDE each other. Right now, a lineup with Bosh and CV playing alongside each other have played the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth and seventh-most minutes on the Raps (with Bosh playing 5 and 4, and CV playing 3 or 4). Ideally, you HAVE to have both of those players in 1-3-most minutes. These are your best two players and they have to be able to stay on the court. And even with all the advancements the Raps have made this season, does anyone see a comfortable pairing between CV and Bosh (at whatever positions) for 40 minutes a night next season? Babcock needed to either trade down, trade up, or trade CV and whatever else for a better wing, PG or center and whatever else. And yet, the man was hilariously gunshy on trades -- refusing to trade Donyell Marshall to a contender last year, refusing to pull the trigger on the Jalen Rose trade (that has turned that franchise around), etc. Again, SAS' backtracking (Babcock didn't make the pick) makes him look foolish, but his original thoughts ("this pick makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, all due respect to Charlie Villanueva, he’s gonna be a solid pro but you already have Chris Bosh!") were right in line with what I was thinking, so I can understand where he was coming from. We've been defending it all year (hating on Babcock, not CV). Of course, because I too have a massive ego and like to toot my own horn, I was the first to eat crow, back on November 21st :
i had some respect for stephen a's knowledge of b-ball until i went to a taping of quite frankly here in nyc....there was some extra time at the end and he took questions and i asked why he's always so hard on yao in particular since he was the only center averaging over 20 ppg and one of four players averaging 20 ppg and 10 rebs and stephen a had the audacity to say that he has never been critical of yao! he just denied it, so what he said about the villanueva pick and his spin on it now doesnt surprise me.
Kelly, you saying you knew CV would be a solid pro? PLEASE!, man everyone and anyone was ripping on the Raptors, it was the "it" thing for you guys to do. The Raptors had said all along that they could see Charlie V. playing the three, this was at the pre-season, however with Jalen Rose playing at that position they were loaded at SF. Therefore, once he got traded it opened up playing time for him there, and that's where he shined. (And the Raps knew it might happen) I admit Babcock is/was a horrible GM, but the guy has to get his props for drafting him. He got a guy that WANTED to play in Toronto (unlike Frye/Green). Plus secondly he got a guy that most people predicted to be drafted after the TOP10. That's the only thing he did well, along with getting RID of his own mess, Skip. Other than that the Raps have never had a 'real' GM until NOW. Once we get Pryzbilla or Nazr & Rudy Gay, this team is gonna be a contender. Lastly, SAS is an a $ $.
Don't tell me what I was or was not thinking last June. I know exactly where I stood then and where I do now.
Kelly, I think your opinion of Villanueva post-draft was that he was an *underachiever* that played the same position as Bosh. And that was probably a spot-on viewpoint of him coming out of UConn.
From what I remember there was a thread here at that time about Charlie V. (beginning of the season) , where someone asked you what you thought of him. I think you said that you don't rate players until the season started or something like that. Which means that you didn't think he would be a 'solid scoring pro'. Anyway if I am wrong, I apologize, I just thought you did. I am kind of amazed that a guy who writes for CNNSI is chilling at clutchfans, it’s very cool, that’s why I remember what you wrote, but I may be wrong.
smith is a moron who knows nothing about sports...just another stuart scott/scott van pelt brought on to yell and scream and inject some "flair" to the basketball discussions...but this is coming from me, i dont really like any of the abc/espn analysts
He reminds me of Barkley..the only reason he is there on TV is to cause some drama....Barkley does it and so does SAS. He boosts the ratings and gets people into the game and more interested in hearing what he has to say...you have to have your left wingers in all the sports talk shows... I mean that's why we have Michael Irvin in the Fox pregame..he says crap to fire the audience up and say the things the rational guys aren't going to say. Purely entertainment and they get paid for it...
When did Villaneuva become "a solid pro"? That guy has been ridiculously inconsistent all year: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/gamelog?statsId=3933 He's shown that he can produce, but he hasn't shown that he's reliable. Considering how bare Toronto's roster is, I would think he'd be a little more consistent at ringing up at least 6 points each night. In half of his games in March, he didn't show up, but the only thing people noticed was the 48 points he dropped on Milwaukee (one of only two games that month that he got at least 20 on someone). He'll probably end up alright, but at present, I don't see a lot that differentiates him from Drew Gooden. Evan
No, Steven A. doesn't sit there at his computer making up trade rumors all day. I don't like the guy very much, but his show "Quite Frankly" is actually quite entertaining.
I saw an episode of his show a few months back, and he had CV, Sam Mitchell, and I believe Bosh on the show and he apologized for bashing the pick and said he admits he was wrong. He just worried about how it would affect Bosh's development. I am suprised now he is backtracking.
I didn't click on the video link, mainly because I can't stand to hear that guy's voice. he is the MOST annoying man on television.
I don't know of any rookie that produces consistently. Only 9 Games in the whole season did he not get 6 points. Two of those games were because the guy was playing with the flu. So that 7. Anyway i've seen the guy play plenty of times, the guy is no Gooden, you don't know what you're talking about. The kid is going to be a top 20 player in this league.
