RAPTORS ACQUIRE A FORD; CHARLIE THE TUNA NETS A POINT GUARD

I can't do what 10 people tell me to do / so I guess I'll just remain that same.

Bryan Colangelo isn't wasting any time making over the Raptors, getting an established point guard, T.J. Ford, from the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Charlie Villanueva and cash.

Funny thing about basketball is they almost never talk about a player being fast. Foot speed (or skating speed in hockey) is always talked about in other sports, in basketball the word is usually quick. T.J. Ford is one player who gets talked about for being fast -- he's possibly the fastest player in the NBA, and Colangelo obviously wants a point guard who can play under control in an up-tempo offence as he tries to turn the Raptors into Phoenix North. (Here's a Bucks fan blog, in fact, that mentions Milwaukee being "Phoenix light" if Ford had stayed for '06-07.)

A spinal-cord injury caused Ford to miss '04-05, but he bounced back with a decent season last year, averaging 12.2 points and 6.6 rebounds as he helped Milwaukee improve by 10 wins and get into the playoffs. The numbers don't look like much -- especially that .416 shooting percentage -- and Ford, at an even six feet, might be a bit of a defensive liability. However, Milwaukee really wasn't suited to his style of play, and here in Toronto, it's going to be all about opening the throttle.

This also keeps José Calderón in the second-team role he fits best.

(Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, but it's pretty obvious that with the decline of the Pistons and Shaq seeming ready to let Dwyane Wade be The Guy in Miami, the slowdown ball that has ruled the Eastern Conference is on the way out.)

It's too bad to see Charlie V going, but really, it came down to the reality the Raptors basically had two guys trying to play the same position, power forward. Chris Bosh is The Franchise, so that meant Charlie V became expendable. Scott Carefoot at Raptorblog, by the way, has been on this all along, first noting that two seemed ill-suited to playing together and then suggesting that Colangelo could peddle Villaneuva's services for a point guard.

Have a Happy Canada Day. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.