New Web celeb Villanueva back on Twitter

Milwaukee Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva was back on his Twitter account Wednesday - safely before tipoff this time.

Villanueva's widely publicized experiment with posting to the popular social networking Web site during halftime of a big game has ended at the team's request. But Villanueva still isn't sure he did anything wrong.

"I have my own personal opinion on it," Villanueva said after Milwaukee's 106-80 loss to Orlando Wednesday night. "I understand coaches and GMs and I respect them. I'm not going to go against them, but my own personal opinion is we do have time (during halftime) anyways."

Villanueva wonders if there's really any difference between a player taking a few seconds to do a television interview at halftime and taking a few seconds to use their mobile phone to post a Web message to fans.

"It's kind of a double standard, but that's coach's opinion and the team's opinion and I'm going to respect it," Villanueva said.

Villanueva became an overnight Web celebrity after he posted a note, called a "tweet," to his Twitter feed during halftime of Sunday's game against Boston.

The note itself was short and not particularly juicy; Villanueva basically wrote that he had to step it up in the second half. He did, and the Bucks won.

But by tweeting from the locker room during halftime, Villanueva seemed to take online athlete-fan interactivity to another level - and earned a stern talking-to from Bucks coach Scott Skiles, who thought it gave the impression that Villanueva wasn't focused.

Villanueva said Tuesday that he made a mistake and wouldn't do it again during a game. But he still seemed to be pondering the issue Wednesday.

"About to take my nap, but I'm looking for some answers here," Villanueva posted under his "CV31" screen name. "what's the difference between halftime twitting and halftime interview?"

Villanueva also posted messages to fellow NBA Twitter enthusiasts Shaquille O'Neal and Chris Bosh, asking for their input on the issue.

Meanwhile, the list of "followers" who subscribe to Villanueva's Twitter feed quadrupled in just over 24 hours. He had about 1,600 subscribers as of Tuesday afternoon and nearly 7,000 by Wednesday night.