Raptors defend draft Babcock 'overjoyed' with picks By LORI EWING TORONTO (CP) - Critics of the Raptors' 2005 draft will be backpedalling by next season's all-star break, says coach Sam Mitchell. The Toronto Raptors head coach defended on Wednesday the team's decision to draft forward Charlie Villanueva seventh overall in the previous night's NBA draft, a move that raised some eyebrows around the league and disappointed Raptors fans. "When we start playing games, all the experts will have to concede," said Mitchell. "You take all these shows (Tuesday) night and watch them backtrack halfway through the season - 'I didn't say that, I knew he was going to be great."' The Raptors presented their four drafts picks at a news conference: Villanueva, a six-foot-11 forward who won an NCAA title with the Connecticut Huskies; six-foot-nine Oklahoma State forward Joey Graham, rated one of the best athletes in the draft; six-foot-five Croatian point guard Roko Ukic, a gym rat who's known for his court vision; and six-foot-10 Slovenian forward Uros Slokar. After the dust had settled on the draft drama, general consensus was the group as a whole isn't too shabby. Raptors GM Rob Babcock said the four players had some key traits that were at the top of the team's draft wish list. They all like to play defence, they're team players, and they have proven track records. Villanueva and Graham come from solid college programs where they played for demanding coaches, while Ukic and Slokar have been starters in Europe for several seasons. "We got four guys here that, No. 1, exemplify our philosophy of basketball," said Babcock. "They're quality people, they're team-first people, they're hard workers. "They're winners, the type of people that we need to have on our basketball team and the type of people we need to take the step forward to getting back in the playoffs and competing and contending for a championship." The selection of Villanueva drew harsh criticism from ESPN analysts, who had pegged the New York native to go much later. But Villanueva was a consensus pick among the Raptors brass, mainly because of his rebounding. His rebounds-per-minute average would rank him in the top five or six in the NBA, Babcock pointed out, and the Raptors were last in the league in offensive boards last season. "Picking Charlie was not a difficult decision at all," Babcock said. "I know that wasn't a popular opinion on ESPN but we're concerned more with our opinion and our staff which has a tremendous amount of expertise, from Wayne Embry, a Hall of Famer who played the centre position, to Jack McCloskey, who won two world championships as a general manager, to all the rest of the guys on our staff." Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun joined the fray Wednesday, saying he was surprised and disappointed by ESPN's take on his player. The coach said Villanueva was his team's best player and if he hadn't gone seventh to the Raptors, he would have been snapped up by a team that followed. "Maybe because he's multi-dimensional," Calhoun said in a conference call with Toronto reporters. "During his two years, we won two Big East championships, one Big East Tournament championship, a national championship. We won 56 games and lost 14. "Last night, there was an awful lot of talk around the draft in the States about the fact of winners. Well, that's pretty good winning." Critics wondered why the Raptors would draft another power forward since they already have one in Chris Bosh, but Babcock and Mitchell said the two can complement each other in the same manner Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess do in Detroit. "If they were both selfish players, you might worry about that," said Babcock. "But they're not, they're both unselfish players, they're team guys so they'll figure out to complement each other, and Sam will figure out how to put them together." Interesting note: Bosh goes by the nickname CB4, Villanueva is known as CV3. The Raptors were ecstatic, said Mitchell, when Graham, a highly-regarded versatile forward, was still available at No. 16. Graham is a hard-nosed defender, and can jump out of the gym, and too often last season Mitchell lamented the fact his team simply didn't have the athletes to compete. "Coming from a program like Oklahoma State, our whole emphasis was on defence, and me starting off playing great defence here is definitely going to help the program out," said Graham. The Raptors may have landed a gem in Ukic, the No. 4-ranked point guard in the draft, who was a surprise when he was still around for the Raptors to take him at No. 42. Ukic could conceivably earn a spot on the team next season with Alvin Williams still on the mend and Milt Palacio becoming a free agent. "He's got some tools," said Babcock. "He's athletic, he's explosive, he's a gym rat, he handles the ball, he gets into the paint, he can make plays, he sees the floor really well, and he's 6-6 playing the point. He can make passes other guys can't." The Raptors took Slokar, known for his rebounding and shot-blocking, with their 58th pick. --

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