Sat30

Chapter 2?

Posted by on Jun 30, 2007 in Trades | 0 comments

Draft Day Triumph or Disaster?

In his first major player move as a Bobcat executive, Jordan trades the #8 pick for a veteran shooting guard in Jason Richardson. Stephen A. says "stupid, stupid, stupid." Why all the commotion?

 

For those who don’t know me, I’m an active poster on a few pretty heavily trafficked message boards. Why do I bring this up? In one way, it’s just to let you know why a noob to BobcatsPlanet.com is writing a blog. But, the real reason is to tell you about my draft night.

 

First off, I love talking about basketball online, just like most of you. I had talked about setting up an chat with another forum so people could talk instantly. Because of my job, I get a lot of time during the summer to post ad nauseum about basketball. I was ready for a dramatic night of mega- blockbuster trades, franchise changing picks, and unreasonably loud commentary by Stephen A. Smith and Dick Vitale.

 

[Can you imagine attending the dinner they mentioned as the bet for which draft was better?

Stephen: YO, DICKIE! PASS ME THE SALT!!

Dick: YOU WANT THE SALT, BABY! A THREE INCH CYLINDER OF SEASONING GOODNESS! DON’T COME AT ME WITH THIS TALK OF PEPPER OR OREGANO! ALL THE SO CALLED EXPERTS ARE TALKING ABOUT CURRY POWDER, AND THEY FORGET ABOUT SALT, AN HISTORICALLY PROVEN WINNER.

Stephen: THAT’S THE STUPIDEST THING I’VE EVER HEARD OF IN MY LIFE.

Dick: CAN I GET A NAPKIN?

Stephen: O.K. HERE YA GO! BUT DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT SALT!]

 

However, I found myself visiting my in-laws, who supposedly had internet access back up. While I was excited to see a broadband box on the table when I walked in, a service guy was coming out until the next day to actually install some chip in the back of the house. To make matters worse, they have satellite. A storm came over the area that knocked out the feed from 6:44-6:57. With my soda and snacks ready for the duration of the draft, I sat there silently staring at the TV, waiting for the feed to come back on. I had to ask myself, would I be able to psychologically handle not being able to see the draft AND not being able to find out about it over the internet. It was a profound moment in my life. I watched the leaves shake in a tree outside. I heard the rain. IT WAS DEEP, BABY!

 

The feed comes back on, I open up the chips, and get ready for the night. I’m upset about not being able to chit-chat without the other feverish Bobcat fans out there, but I’m content.

 

The next five hours, as I’m sure many of you experienced, I’m sure, was a bit of roller coaster. I had mixed feelings about everything related to the Bobcats, but ultimately felt pretty positive. These are my thoughts on the draft and the last couple of days of the Bobcat’s organization:

 

Jason Richardson

 

For a moment, I’m putting aside all implications of the trade and just focusing on Jason Richardson, the player. Richardson fills an obvious need for the Bobcats: a shooting guard who can hit from outside and provide athleticism in the backcourt. He’s a proven veteran, yet still young, who was very successful in this past year’s playoffs, where a player’s talents don’t automatically translate. He and Wallace will put on an alley-oop clinic on a nightly basis. Yo, a Golden State fan coming to share the love on BobcatsPlanet , pointed out that Richardson does have a lack of handle, but makes up for it with great movement off the ball. The Bobcats had little in the offensive zone this year, which could be contributed to poor coaching or young players. However, Richardson should help us out tremendously in this area, hopefully opening things up for everyone else.

 

People tend to dismiss Richardson as high flyer with a limited skill set, mainly because he won a slam dunk contest and then was forgotten on terrible Warrior squads. However, Richardson can get boards, hit from outside, and make defenders pay for taking an eye off of him. Aside from his skills, fans seem to love his intangibles: hard work, dedication, good character, and love for the fans. Many Warrior message boards seemed quite sad about Richardson leaving. After all, the guy bought full page newspaper ads to apologize for his team being bad. Who does that in professional sports?

 

Jared Dudley

I have to admit, when our pick came around and Morris Almond was available, I was elated! With Wright, Almond would have been the perfect second pick to give us much needed outside shooting. When Stern announced Jared Dudley, I was a bit stunned to say the least. Obviously, it makes more sense after the Richardson trade.

 

The verdict seems to be out about Dudley, though most say he’ll be a quality baller for any team. He seems to be a future role player for us, so I’m not going too much into his game. He’ll be a great locker room guy, practice hard, and give us some solid minutes on the court. He can give us some different looks as a small, scoring four or rebounding three. Even if he doesn’t become the next Shane Battier or Josh Howard, he could be valuable to us by modeling the little things and giving us some heart on the court.

 

Jermareo Davidson

Obviously, Davidson is a project. Word is, he can rebound and block shots, but has a very limited offensive game. He also needs to bulk up. GWfan, a Crimson Tide follower, says he's incredibly raw as a freshman and has grown in what he does on the court. He’s been through some horrific tragedies this past year, yet still played great. Not know much about the kid, he seems like a guy who will work hard and develop his game. If he can fill Emeka’s role for 15 minutes a night, he’s certainly worth it. Acquiring Davidson, even as a project, makes the Dudley pick make more sense.

 For more on Davidson, check out GWfan's post on the Observer message board. (link above)

 

The Trade

In the eyes of most professional analysts, we went from getting the steal of the draft to getting looted by Golden State. To most Bobcat fans we went from drafting another Tar Heel to getting a shooting guard we desperately need. Why is their so much disparity in the opinions? These are the two divergent views of the Bobcats situation:

 

  1. We are a dangerous team that can upset the best in the NBA on any given night. With a solid go to guy to help us at the end of the game, we’re a playoff team for the next 6-7 years.
  2. The NBA playoffs are won through seven game series that almost always have the better team winning. The Bobcats simply do not have the talent to compete over the next couple of years to be any kind of legitimate title contender. As such, you draft to win tomorrow rather than today.

 

Many commentators (Read: local newspaper columnists, message board posters, the guy at work) believe that the Bobcats have to prove themselves to the community in order to be taken seriously as a team. As such, they need to spend money to try and win now. Even for people who see the big picture of building a franchise felt the sting of losing so many close games. Acquiring Richardson, assuming we resign Wallace, answers the call of whether Johnson is committed to winning, even if it’s division championships rather than NBA championships. The big question becomes, did the trade hurt our chances of winning the whole thing later down the road? Did we leverage our future by aiming to get more casual fans and more immediate wins?

 

When the Bulls acquired Ben Wallace, several commentators pointed out that while Chicago was young, they needed to win in the next couple of years before Lebron and Wade took complete control of the East. Why do I mention this, since the West seems a lock to win the next couple of championships? With so many strong young players, there’s just no way of knowing who will be a legitimate contender or not. If Duncan, Nash, and Dirk own now and Lebron and Wade own the next “now,” when do you aim your team to win? Do we write off the next ten years, stockpiling picks and waiting for the one season when we can win the title?

 

We can make this move, aim for winning now, and still try and be a legitimate contender later. We’ve got young players at every position that can plan now and have upside. If we follow the Pistons formula of quality guys at each position, we can win despite not having three or four all-stars. Vincent is going to have to make the most of each player, pushing guys like Felton, Morrison, and May to step up their game. However, with so many rookie contracts, we’re in a good position to resign the true ballers and let the others walk if they don’t pan out. Ideally, we’ll have established our identity and will be able to get the right free agent rookies to run with our squad.

 

Overall, I feel good about draft night, save the lack of internet and glaring possibility of loss of reception. We’ve got a more solid team after the trade than we did before it, without completely compromising our future. Sure Wright could turn into Chris Bosh. But he could also turn into the next Kwame Brown. Jordandidn’t let himself make that same mistake twice. Because of Jordan's move, we're about to see a very exciting new chapter to the Bobcats' franchise. 

And if nothing else, we'll be the champions of YouTube. 

{moscomment} 

Read More
Sat30

Bobcats Not Keeping it Brevin, Waive Goodbye to BK

Posted by on Jun 30, 2007 in Brevin Knight, Los Angeles Clippers | 0 comments

This was probably a year too late, but then again I didn’t think they were ever going to do it, so maybe I should think of it as infinitely early.  The Bobcats bought out one of our originals, feisty point guard Brevin Knight.  Knight was a personal favorite of mine for his ruggedness and his utterly unimaginative swearing (I can recall at least three separate incidents in which he was fouled hard on a drive, after which the camera picked him up telling an opposing player, “F—ing f— you, mutherf—er!”).  But the guy just could not stay healthy.  He hasn’t played 70 games a year since his rookie season, and the last 6 years he’s appeared in just 45, 69, 66, 32, 24, and 55 contests.    
 
This leaves me with two questions: a) who’s his replacement going to be, and b) why didn’t management get a PG from the draft at the 22nd pick instead of Jared Dudley?  At the time, Aaron Brooks and Gabe Pruitt were still available, as was that Koponen dude from Finland.  Heck, I think even JamesOn Curry would have been decent, at least as a backup.  The timing on this one was weird, but then again, MJ and the boys suddenly seem empowered.  “I think we’ve got a great makeup and a chance to make noise in the East,” Jordan told the Observer this morning, “That’s what a Jason Richardson brings.”  Yup, it’s certainly what this Jason Richardson brings—any time MJ starts using proper nouns like pronouns, you know he’s feeling good about life.
 
So who do we get now?  Depending on how much Gerald Wallace demands with his new contract, we might be able to lure in Chauncey Billups or Mo Williams.  Or how about Mike Bibby, especially if we can sucker the Kings into going for Sean “Kneeless” May and one of the Hansons?  As much as an atrocity it would be to have to cheer for Bibby, because we didn’t draft Joakim Noah, I feel like I could deal with it.  I also see Daniel Ewing just got his pink slip from the Clippers, and Jordan’s probably lost more in a poker all-nighter than it would take to sign him. 
 
Totally unrelated side note: last night I was cruising Chapel Hill, and I saw this beat up old car with a vanity license plate that read “SABBATH.”  So when I pulled up alongside, I jokingly gave the driver the devil horns and shouted “Ozzy rules!”  Bad move.  First of all, there was, like, a family of five in the car, not some bearded dude in a trucker hat and a Judas Priest t-shirt like I expected.  There were also all these crucifix stickers on one of the side doors and even a Bible facing the back window that I didn’t notice the first time.  All too late I realized the license plate meant “Sabbath” as in, “On the 7th day, the Lord rested,” and NOT as in, “'War Pigs' is one of Black Sabbath’s greatest songs, and it’s too bad Ozzy left them in order to snort lines of ants.”
It’s weird, that whole metal/religious overlap.  Chuck Klosterman once observed that some of the subtitles of the popular religious fiction Left Behind series would have made some stellar metal album titles (e.g., “The Destroyer is Unleashed” and “The Beast Takes Possession”).  And then you have songs like “Creeping Death” by Metallica, which is really just a retelling of the story of Passover.  Anyway, lesson learned; I won’t automatically assume like that again…   

Read More
Fri29

Draft Recap

Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 in Jason Richardson, NBA Draft | 0 comments

Wheewww… I don’t know about you guys, but this is a proud day for me and a disappointing day for me at the same time. I am very proud that MJ and Bob are willing to dish out some money to put fans in the stands and win now. Of course though, Jason Richardson will also have his downfall of 48 million guaranteed over the next 4 years, but I don’t think I will mind that when the jersey’s are flying off the shelf and Jason is flying high, catching passes from Ray and throwing it down. Jason could easily be the man we have been waiting for, the poor mans ‘savior’ if you want to go so far as to say that, he could easily be the guy that when paired up with Gerald Wallace could be part of a duo that runs the eastern conference for years to come. I hope for this to happen, and I certainly hope Jason can bring this team the leadership and winning that it has lacked in the past. MJ got another of ‘his guys’ so now we should definitely see some more W’s in the column if his plan is going right.

Now on to the darker side of this topic, the main reason I am disappointed… two words that have inevitably crushed my draft day spirit and basket ball pride, ‘Jared Dudley’… Are you serious? Jared Dudley, a ‘poor mans Shane Battier’, as he has been called by Chad Ford. A guy who we took over  Josh McRoberts, Alando Tucker, Aaron Afflalo, Marcus Williams, Marc Gasol, and Morris Almond is a ‘poor mans Shane Battier’? Yea, maybe I am a little over the top in my reasoning but I think people can get my point. We basically took a guy who is the poor mans version of a player that I wouldn’t even take over a lot of the rookies I have just mentioned. This is one of those things where I hope I will look back some day and eat my words completely but I just don’t see it happening. Jared Dudley may be the hardest worker or the best man in the locker room you can have, but unfortunately he lacks the thing that makes most players worthy of that first round status, and that is raw talent, flat out god given things that can’t be learned or taught.  Now here’s to Jared Dudley coming out and flat out killing and winning Rookie of the Year, but let’s be honest, Jemareo Davidson has more of a shot, at least he fills a need.

What would I have done differently?

Well I am happy enough with the Jason Richardson deal and I am content it will get us to the playoffs in the near future, that part of the Bobcats draft I will leave untouched, except for the pick of Jermareo, give me Josh McRoberts instead. He would be the perfect compliment to Okafor and our penetrating guards. He would give us more of an offensive presence in the post and would give us a passer that could really create for wings like Morrison, Carroll, and Herrmann. McRoberts would also add to the deadly threat of a fast break, he would give us a guy that could run with Jason Richardson, Gerald Wallace, and Raymond Felton. Like Duke or not (which I most definitely don’t) McRoberts would have been an excellent pick here and could have very well been a starter early on in his pro career, will Jemareo or Jared do this… not very likely.

Then with numero 22 I would have most definitely went in a different direction, obviously. If I am picking I would have chosen a shooting guard such as Morris Almond, a guy that is a proven bonafide scorer, and a guy that could’ve very well become a vital 6th man that could come in and given the team a spark right away. Can you tell me with confidence Jared Dudley will be able to do this, let alone just beat out Morrison to get in the game? Almond would’ve filled a need and Jared isn’t needed. I honestly don’t understand the pick and I have a feeling we will end up regretting the pick down the road. I just hope it doesn’t come back to burn us too bad.

Well Folks when it is all sad and done I am pleased with how this draft day turned out and I am definitely pleased to be EXPECTING playoffs this year, I think it isn’t just a slim shot, I think it is now an expectation. With draft day coming to an end I give MJ and Co. a B+, as they have put us in contention in as Stephen A. Dumbass calls ‘the J.V. League’ of the NBA.

GO BOBCATS!

Read More
Fri29

Bobcats Acquire Richardson, Smith’s Scorn

Posted by on Jun 29, 2007 in NBA Draft, Trades | 0 comments

The Bobcats traded a 19-year-old—who by all accounts isn’t NBA-ready—for a 26-year-old shooting guard with career averages of 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 1+ steals per game.  Obviously, they were among the biggest losers of the draft last night.  At least, that was the opinion hollered by Stephen A. Smith, the Ann Coulter of NBA broadcasters.  Chad Ford also criticized the move, albeit it in a slightly more humane manner, calling it “a chance to overpay Jason Richardson.” 
 
With all due respect to Ford, and with NONE to Smith, I don’t see the downside on this one.  Richardson’s due roughly $12 million a year for the next four seasons, which will happen to be the prime of his career—you think that’s overpaying?  First, we had more cap space than an 8-1/4 fitted Yankee on Mini-Me.  Second, wait until we find out what the Nets (or whoever the suckers are) shell out for an over-the-hill Vince Carter, or what the Sonics plunk down for Rashard Lewis, THEN we’ll see how much we overpaid.  Plus, with the exception of last year, J-Rich has never played fewer than 72 games a season—the guy’s durable.  We needed a 2 badly, and when Seattle shipped Ray Allen to Boston, it became obvious we weren’t going to be able to get Lewis.    
 
I’m not quite as ecstatic about Jared Dudley at #22, unless we’re trying to come up with our own version of The Hanson Brothers, because we’ve got Morrison and Herrmann already as backup 3’s.  So now I’d trade one of the three if possible.  I’m not sure which one, but I can tell you this much: he’ll have a stupid haircut.  With about $19 million remaining to play with, we shouldn’t have any problem re-signing G-Dub, then maybe tossing some dollars at Matt Carroll, after which we’ll still have room for somebody else.  Package one of the Hansons and take on the contract of a center who doesn’t succumb to exhaustion before the season even starts, and we’ll be in business!
 
Not to sound too giddy, but I’m happy about this draft.  And frankly, I needed some good news.  I’ve spent the past week trying to find a therapist for a loved one who’s suffering from depression.  If you’ve never tried this before, I don’t recommend it.  So far, every prospective therapist seems to be either a) not covered by my insurance, b) not taking any new patients, or c) on vacation.  After about the sixth failed attempt, I started getting depressed myself; I needed to see a therapist about not being able to see a therapist.  And then, to top it all off, my dog Lincoln ran away from me during our evening walk and bounded straight into this swamp near our house that he adores.  It’s ridiculous, because he makes a beeline straight for it anytime he gets loose, but once he jumps into it, he can’t move.  So he ends up just standing there stupidly like that horse in the The Neverending Story until I can wade in to fetch him.  Thus, still covered in doo-doo brown from hauling him out when the draft started, I was in no mood for a stupid pick or a terrible trade.  In other words, thank God I’m not a Celtics fan.

Read More
Mon25

Blogcat’s 2007 Draft Preview

Posted by on Jun 25, 2007 in Adam Morrison, NBA Draft | 0 comments

Okay, now that it’s official and Bonzi Wells is staying in Houston, I can proceed with this draft preview. I can also proceed to come down off the ledge, because lately I’ve had terrible nightmares in which our “big” free agency pickup ends up being Bonzi. These dreams were akin to that digital girl’s in the Final Fantasy movie, only with giant “Bonzi” armies coming at me and threatening to rip out my screaming soul instead of aliens. As a longtime Yankees fan, I’ve already been tormented enough by fat, underachieving guys named “Wells.” So bless you, Bonzi, for staying in Houston.

(PS—I love how ESPN.com diplomatically put it in the release: “The temperamental Wells hardly played last season, sidelined with various injuries and a rift with coach Jeff Van Gundy.” “Various injuries?” I guess “acute laziness” and “chronic obesity” are considered injuries then. “Rift?” It’s not like he and Jeff Van Gundy were having an argument over what the national health care system should look like. This was only a rift if you consider a disagreement over whether or not a player should be allowed to miss practice repeatedly because he’s hung over in his hotel and scarfing down packs of Ding Dongs and Ho Hos to be a “rift.”)

Moving on, so how are we going to handle Thursday? Here’s what we’ve got: the 8th and 22nd picks in the draft and about $30 million in cap space. We’ve got good-to-great starters at point guard (Raymond Felton), small forward (Gerald Wallace), and power forward (Emeka Okafor). We’ve got a fair-to-good shooting guard (Matt Carroll) who really should be coming off the bench. And we’ve got a bad-to-horrible center (Primoz Brezec) who really should be the World’s Tallest Sword-Eater or something in a traveling East European gypsy carnival.

We’ve also got a bunch of spare parts: Walter Herrmann, a shoot-first, defense-almost-never backup 3; Adam Morrison, a shoot-first, miss-often, defense-somehow-even-less-than-Herrmann backup 2/3; Brevin Knight, a backup point guard with starting groin injury potential; Sean May, a Bonzi-Wells-in-training but with maddeningly great ability for the third of a season he DOES get around to playing the 4; Jake Voskuhl, a hard fouling specialist to backup Primoz Brezec (or, really, “replace” is probably the better word, particularly after Primoz picks up his 3rd foul just five minutes into the game and then loses a jump ball to Nate Robinson). We’ve also got Jeff McInnis as the backup-backup point guard, and Ryan Hollins as the backup-backup center, but if this rundown was sung to the Gilligan’s Island theme song, you’d say their names like “the Professor and Mary-Ann”; they’re basically bit players in this zaniness.

So how will this go down? Well, I gotta say, this mock draft I did with the SB Nation was almost as instructive as it was dorky, because it allowed me to see how things might shake out. I think I learned some crucial information, and now I feel kinda like Donnie Darko, using knowledge gained in a parallel universe to go back in time to save the actual universe (hopefully, this doesn’t also require getting impaled by a gigantic falling airplane turbine, especially with some song by Echo and the Bunnymen or Joy Division playing in the background—that would be horrible).

First, I think it’s a safe bet that Messrs. Oden, Durant, Horford, Jianlin, and Conley will already be off the board by the time the pick comes to us. But someone from the pool of Jeff Green, Corey Brewer, Joakim Noah, and Brandan Wright will still be around. If it’s either of the first two, I would take them unequivocally (especially Brewer). At this high up, we have to draft according to the best player, NOT according to need. Green and Brewer would both be quality fill-ins at the 3; Brewer might be a starter right now at the 2, and Green can take over when (not if) Okafor pops something in his legs and has to sit for a quarter of the season.

And yeah, I’d probably take Noah if he’s around too. I know, I know, I’ve been crucifying him on and off for the past few weeks, and yes, he’s annoying every time he opens his mouth AND he looks irritatingly like Angelina Jolie in A Mighty Heart, but he’s performed well in all of his workouts. Plus, he might be able to play the center, and I want another dose of Brezec at center for a year like I want a dose of the clap. And again, Okafor’s a threat to miss 10 games in a row or more at any time, and someone’s going to need to step in.

However, I would NOT take Brandan Wright if he’s the one left at #8. He’s rawer than a California roll and was frighteningly unmotivated last year for long periods of time, despite UNC Coach Roy Williams turning various shades of purple on the bench. If Wright is the only one left, I would look to trade this pick for one in the mid-teens and a competent backup PG or C. And with that ensuing mid-round pick I’d shoot for a Spencer Hawes, an Al Thornton, a Julian Wright, an Acie Law, a Thaddeus Young, or a Nick Young…or a Brandan Wright, for that matter.

As for the 22nd pick, ideally I’d like Javaris Crittenton or Gabe Pruitt to still be there, because, seriously, let's face it: something on Brevin Knight is going to blow at any moment. He’s like a major household appliance on the last year of its warranty. This is also assuming that we haven’t been able to land Chauncey Billups, Mo Williams, or Smush Parker thru free agency at a reasonable price (and, hell, even if we CAN get Parker). Morris Almond keeps being tossed around, but I really don’t know anything about the shooting guard factory that is Rice University. Someone mentioned BC/Boston County Correctional Facility’s Shaun Williams too, but I’d rather avoid a guy who seems to live his life as if it were a game of Grand Theft Auto. And frankly, I’m hoping he goes to the Nets and combines with Marcus Williams and three others to someday form the League’s only All-Juvenile Delinquent squad.

So there you have it. There’s plenty to be excited about come Thursday, and it’s also going to be tough to screw this one up…but not impossible.

Read More