First off, I’d like to praise Rich Cho’s reaction to the results of last night’s draft lottery.  I’m amazed at how gracefully he handled the unspeakably crushing news that he’d lost out on the #1 pick by smiling sweetly and casually congratulating the winner, Monty Williams.  It’s certainly not how I handled it, that’s for sure.  Given his Asian ethnicity and bald dome, Cho’s got a Buddhist monk vibe to him, so perhaps this really was no big deal for him—you know, life is merely suffering and spectacularly failed draft strategies on the way to eventual dharma, etc.  Whatever the case, thank you, Rich, for representing us well!

As for the loss itself, why are we all so distraught?  Because the media has commanded us to believe that Anthony Davis isn’t just a once-in-a-generation basketball talent; nope, this boy can stop bullets.  And by “the media,” I basically mean every journalist everywhere, from Sports Illustrated to Juggs.  The praise for Davis has been so over-the-top that it’s borderline homoerotic.  Not only that, but according to the media, Davis is in a class all by himself, and anyone else in this draft is practically a heroine addict.  Just look here, here, here, here, or here.  On his podcast with Bill Simmons, Chad Ford subtly predicted that if the Bobcats missed out on the #1 pick it, would be “kill-the-franchise, devastatingly bad.”  Given this bombardment of unified opinion, had Rich Cho kneed Monty Williams in the groin and then sat down and set himself on fire, I would have only considered it a mild overreaction.

It's OK, MJ! It'll be OK!

Can’t win for losing.  I mean seriously, the Hornets?  The Hornets, George Shinn ruined this city for NBA basketball and now, the Hornets get the Number One overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft?

I don’t even want to get into the conspiracy theories, because it’s so simple to look that direction.  I just want to wallow in the misery of losing yet again, in an arena where no one was in control.  The Charlotte Bobcats will select second in the upcoming draft.  Anthony Davis, the unibrow, the consensus player of the year in the NCAA as a freshman, will be a New Orleans Hornet and the Bobcats will have to pick from the rest.

It’s not so much that Davis is that much better, it’s the fact that everyone else is within a whisker of each other.  So from one crap shoot to another.  I still contend, as I would have if the Bobcats had won the lottery, that there is no such thing as a sure thing when it comes to evaluating 19 year olds to play basketball.

So, now it comes down to talent evaluation.  Haha, you see what I did there?  Anyway, I feel like the Bobcats have a great team in place to select exactly what they need.  Hell, Rich Cho and Rod Higgins could come up with a guy they like better than the prohibitive favorite, in the goofy-lookin’ Davis.  (I will continue to bash him, until he’s out of the league in 3 years)

King Kong plays Ping-Pong, with... Nah, I'm good on finishing that one.

“Other than the birth of my child,”  or “Except for finding my wife,” are two things people love to say before they claim something as a big deal, the biggest in their life, career or whatever.  The Charlotte Bobcats would have to preface Wednesday’s NBA Draft Lottery by saying “Other than the founding of the team,” yes, this year’s Draft Lottery is the biggest deal in the young history of the team.

Hopefully this won’t be the biggest ever, but it could set things up that hopefully, likely would be much much bigger than any ping-pong announcement.  I keep calling it a “thing” or a “deal,” because it is abstract to me.  Hopes and aspirations of a franchise, maybe the future of the league staying in the city, based on the way ping-pong balls go.  It’s only fair, but still, after an unbelievably poor season, you would hope for more than a 25% chance at getting that #1 overall pick.

The Bobcats winning % was almost 20% worse than the next worse team, the Wizards but their chances to win the #1 overall pick is only 5% better.  I don’t know if I’d advocate for a weighted lottery, based on winning % rather than simply the order in which teams finished, but this year, I want every advantage the Bobcats can get.

Arguably, Anthony Davis is significantly better than whoever might be drafted second.  The fact we can’t name the #2 prospect says a lot about how much better Davis is than the other players but I wouldn’t put him in the realm of Patrick Ewing, Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson, Lebron James or any of the handful of “must win” the lottery players over the history of the activity.  That said, I still want the Bobcats to have the pick in order to get him.

It’s been reported in a really good post by Yahoo! Sports’ Marc Spears, that Rod Higgins, the Bobcats’ head basketball man, isn’t losing any sleep over this.  It’s complete chance, luck is the only factor now.  No need to stress over the selection.  What bothers me that I didn’t know before reading that post is that the Bobcats actually have a better chance at getting the #4 overall pick, at 35%, but that’s after the #1, #2 and #3 draws, if I know the process, which I may or may not.  But the Bobcats are guaranteed no lower than #4.

It’s a strange sort of spectacle.  It’s almost like sitting in the Keno room in a Vegas casino.  Everyone hopeful, everyone awkwardly sitting there waiting on the numbers to be shown.  Only this time, the people holding tickets are a strange assortment of owners’ kids, NBA legends, team executives, star players and basically, mascots.  ESPN will awkwardly interview several of the “participants” as they sit on a dais, and probably show some of the little “good luck” trinkets.  It is a bit of a farce, but only in that there’s no better way to do it, and personally, I hate that the NBA trivializes what would and could be a massive moment for a franchise’s fortunes.

If you look back in NBA history, we can recall many hmmm moments in the NBA Lottery. Remember when Patrick Ewing became the saviour of the Big Apple? I’m also sure you remember Tim Duncan going to San Antonio to be one of the Twin Towers when the Admiral was near the end of his career. How about Lebron James going home to Cleveland, then Derrick Rose going home to Chicago? Then we have the most recent, when Lebron James took his talents to South Beach and the next thing you know, the #1 Pick goes to Cleveland?

Maybe these Cinderella stories are just coincidences, or maybe there is a little more to them than we will ever know. Either way, they happened and there is no turning back now. So let’s just focus on tonight and hope that we get the #1 pick.

If a hmmm moment happens tonight and goes in the Bobcats favor, I can give you 5 reasons why I think it might have happened.

Well, a lot of the talk concerning the Charlotte Bobcats these days has been about who His Airness can get to take over the worst team in basketball.

To some the idea must seem kinda crazy. Who in the world wants to be saddled with a team that must be in need of so much work? The task ahead of whoever takes the job is daunting to say the least. A guy would have to be little nuts to want the job.

Then again, for the right person it is the perfect job.

A head coach that likes a challenge could go for this job, but since His Airness would likely be going after someone with a proven track record (we can hope, right?) the price tag might be a little steep. However, an enterprising, young head coach looking to prove he has what it takes could—or should—jump at the opportunity.

A number of names have been discussed as candidate including the following three: Brian Shaw (Indiana Pacers), Mike Malone (Golden State Warriors), and Mike Budenholzer (San Antonio Spurs).

Of the three I think I would have to lean towards Brian Shaw. The difference he has made with the Indiana Pacers this season is unmistakable. A year ago no one in their right mind would have said the Pacers would make it into the Conference Semis this season, let alone actually beat even a depleted Miami Heat team twice (no offense Frank Vogel, but you’ll miss Brian next season).