Out of Shape Charlie Villanueva Cut from Dominican National Team

Charlie Villanueva showed up to play for the Dominican National Team, but coach John Calipari sent him packing because he thought the Pistons’ forward was overweight. Per the Detroit News (via BDL): “After dealing with injuries for the entire lockout-shortened season for the Pistons — he didn’t play any significant minutes — he won’t play for the Dominican Republic national team because he’s out of shape, head coach John Calipari said. ‘Charlie was not in good form when we saw him,’ Calipari told 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.’ Villanueva never was in camp with the team this summer, contrary to the FIBA.com report that said he had a private workout with the team in New York. It’s believed the team wasn’t pleased with his conditioning last summer, which led to the decision, after being a big part of the national team in recent years. An ankle injury slowed his progress and any hopes of getting much playing time for the Pistons this season. Villanueva posted a picture on Twitter of him stepping on a weight scale, showing he’s at 243.5 pounds, at least 10 pounds less than his playing weight of 255 pounds. ‘Lol case closed’ he wrote in a Tweet. He’s under contract for the next two seasons with the Pistons, and it seems unlikely they’d use the Amnesty Clause to cut Villanueva’s $16.6 million cap figure he’d earn over that time. ‘An NBA player like him deserves respect and for respect, we have taken this decision,’ Calipari said. ‘I enjoyed coaching him a lot. He is a great player.’ Villanueva, 27, played only 13 games for the Pistons last season because of injury.”