I’ve been working on a little piece about positioning in the NBA. It’s not finished, but the more I test it out, the more it seems to be working at some point. Analyzing stats, physique, ability and stats can be hard work and often show only the slightest results, as we all know; the game is not played on paper. But still I would like to run the Bobcats through the same analysis regarding how deep and or versatile we are or are getting.

The way I will analyze it is based on a theory that there are 5 spots on a basketball court, with 15 positions to play. 1 through 5 each has 3 types of positions, mostly determined by size, mobility, skill, quickness and playing type. As we all know, size doesn’t matter always, but overall it has an effect on the following three assets. So there are exceptions, where smaller players can play big and vice versa, but every exception has its rule, and this is the rule.

As a part of this planet, there are certain things you just can’t control. Like where you are born, who your parents are, your height or the color of your skin. Myself, born in Oslo, Norway, grew up and stopped at 5’8, dark hair, dark eyes, and was stuck on the countryside of Bergen through the age of 20. There were literally nothing to do besides playing soccer. I was lucky enough to be good at it, so I stuck with it. But for all my other interests, like skateboarding, snowboarding, drawing, basketball, programming, computers and so on, I figured my chances were slim very early on. I was only 5’8 and stopped growing at the age of 16, so any dreams of being an NBA center never occurred. Not because I didn’t want to be a 7’0 foot tall ball player but because I wasn’t. And the same way people have to let their guard down and accept that things just are different. Situations and qualities are always different, the NBA franchises has to accept the same.

The Los Angeles Lakers are lucky to be located in a big area, with millions of people. The Knicks are also lucky to be located in the center of the huge NYC. And while these teams are so lucky, the smaller teams should just accept what it is. Some teams are fortunate, and the others, must compensate. Which is exactly what needs to be done in small market teams. There is no chance that all the 30 teams in the NBA can ever create a similar fan base, market size etc. Small market teams on the other hand has a tendency to play that ”But we can’t sell tickets because we are located in a crappy market” card.. And that is where the Small Market teams should shut their mouth, and accept what it is. At some point, someone chose to start a franchise in Charlotte, Indiana, Sacramento or Toronto. And those guys knew, that these franchises were going to be harder to run.

Gerald Henderson has taken the next step, and moved into the starting lineup for the Bobcats this season. As many predicted, he has been a stellar performer through this seasons 7 games. Still we are all expecting his numbers to go up as the season continues. I myself am more than confident in this kid, and expect him to be a starter for this team for years to come. He has been a poster boy for professionalism, energy, athleticism and work ethics since he first put on a Bobcats Jersey, and now he has taken the next step and is showing improvement in every field, showing us that he will become a genuine starter. The debate on how good he is and can be has been going on in the forums, blogs and in Matt Rochinskis gameside chat room. How good is he defensively, offensively and how much hustle does he bring to the table? I usually like to analyze things by the eye, and personally I think he is an explosive scorer and a great all around defender. But lets run the numbers, (I did that for us) how has he been matching up against the opposing shooting guard in these last 7 games? How has he been defensively and offensively? I ran the numbers, and you might be shocked, or maybe not.

I hate to be the one to say “I told you so”, but here we are 1-3 to start the season as predicted. A heartbreaking loss to the Heat at home started a 3 game losing streak involving the Magic at home, and a blow out loss to the Heat at the American Airlines Arena. We met with 2 really tough teams and I won’t go over the top to start pointing fingers, but to me, there are two ways of playing a losing hand. The first one is to try to bluff it, take the bigger team by surprise and blow by with full throttle. The other hand is to fold while the stakes are low, try to read the opposing hand as much as you can and learn for the next hand. What dazzles me is how the Bobcats have played their hands so far. Especially in this last blow out loss to the heat.

With our young core group as i tried to explain in my last post,our guys need to keep their heads cool and play fundamental basketball. Paul Silas played the home game against the Heat, exactly as he should have. He bluffed from the start. No one expected this team to even compete against the Heat, and in the 1st half, our fundamental unselfish team basketball took the Heat by surprise. Unfortunately the Heat called the bluff in the 3rd quarter, and with three seconds to go in the 4th, down by one, we just didn’t have the high card. Excellent game by the entire Bobcats team, included it’s coaching staff obviously, and just a good tough loss against a superior team. What fans must know about this game, is that even if we almost managed to bluff this one to a W, the Heat took it right back once they called our bluff and they didn’t even break a sweat. We cannot compete with the Heat yet, and I think you all know that especially after tonight.

The season just started and I spent all day analyzing the Milwaukee game and you saw it (or maybe you didn’t), our cats came out on top looking MIGHTY FINE. I must admit, it sounds pretty good to my ears, that we are undefeated late in December. But like the Milwaukee fans after last game, the league doesn’t really seem to like us much, so they are throwing 2 games vs the Heat and 1 vs the Magic in our next three games. Are we looking at 1-3 after four games? I’m afraid it looks that way, but I know better than to write off the Bobcats at any point.
This season we play the heat 3 times, and though I never say never, I have my doubts that we’ll sweep them and go 66-0 this season. So for the guys not as optimistic as Ziggy was in his post, our next few games, might be the toughest and most important ones of the season.
Winning against the Bucks was a blessing for our young rookies. Being on a small market team like the Cats with not much but losing records and M.J. to show for, winning is alpha and omega. Against the Bucks, we saw just how much our future star point guard wanted just that and I was extremely impressed with both him and the rest of the bobcats (though we were far from perfect). But beating the Bucks at home is not the same as taking on the Heat twice and Orlando once in 5 days, and for this stretch more than ever, our coaching staff needs to get to work. I go on and on about confidence, and its stretches like this after a great win in our opener that can take the sky high confidence of a rookie and crush it like a bug. I think it’s extremely important to teach these rookies and young players how to deal with their ego and confidence, and here I go trying to break down this next three games and how to preach to our guys.