The one thing about the beginning of the season is that everyone literally starts on the same plane. Prior to the first game of the season everyone is undefeated and theoretically has just as much of a shot to get to the Finals as the next guy.

Of course in time realism sets in as the teams start to play and the men quickly begin to separate themselves from the boys.

Until that moment happens though one could make a positive argument for the future of any team until it loses. So with that in mind I feel the need to pose what I think is an interesting question—

Should we get excited over the Charlotte Bobcats season opening win over the Indiana Pacers?

The easy answer is yes, because after all a win is a win is a win is a win, right? Indiana was one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference last season with a record of 42-24 and is expected to be pretty competitive this season as well. Anytime you beat a team of that caliber is reason to be happy.

After last season’s debacle the expectations that many fans will likely have for this year’s Bobcats is that they don’t do worse than they did last season now that there will be 16 more games on the schedule. Living through a 7-59 season was bad enough. Now that the option of doing worse is open with the full 82-game schedule this season it would be understandable if fans were just a little apprehensive.

However, with all the changes that the team has gone through since last season I would be shocked if the team were to look anything like the group that was on the court last season. I credit His Airness with going out and getting a new head coach, several new players, and even changing the uniforms so the team will not literally look like last season’s group.

Without blowing his considerable bank account out of the water and going after Dwight Howard or any other top name free agent (cause y’all know it would have taken a moderate sized fortune to get Superman or any other superstar to come to Charlotte) Michael Jordan has done his part to give fans a better product on the court this season.

It isn’t hard to be better than last season though. So what can we honestly expect to see from the Charlotte Bobcats this season? 10 wins? 20 wins? 30 wins? Dare I say it—playoffs???

No franchise in recent history has been maligned as much as our Charlotte Bobcats have been. After a 7-59 season you can say that it is kind of warranted, but why dwell on the past?

The one thing about a team that has fallen down as much as the Bobcats have is that it has to go up; there is nothing else for it to do. This is something that has to be done franchise wide too; not just on the court, but in the front office, the scouting department, etc.

Basically, the business of basketball has to improve as much as the product on the court.

I’ve written a few posts to this degree as have others on this site and all over the internet, but the product in Charlotte is going to be much better this year. With all the players that have been brought in this off season as well as a new coach it is hard to believe that the team will not do better this year.

That just leaves the business of basketball. So far I’d have to say that it is getting better.

I’m not privy to the inside track of what His Airness is doing or intends on, but there are a couple of moves that I think speak well of the direction the business side of the team is going.

First there are the new uniforms. Personally, I dig the darker navy blue. I think fans will find them easier to match up with other things, and that will encourage sales. It might seem silly to say that fans will buy more because it will match other things, but it’s true. I can see fair weather fans being more apt to buy something they think they will look good in.

We are three games into the preseason and so far it isn’t painful to watch these guys play (sorry Bobcats, but it was kind of painful at times last season). In fact, I think these guys are actually doing pretty good considering the changes they’ve gone through.

Working with a new head coach is always a challenge, but the Bobcats have another challenge facing them that most teams will not. They have a lot of new players to work in as well. So it’s not like they cohesiveness of an existing core can help speed up the learning process or any familiarity with the coach.

In a way I think that is good, but in a way it can also be bad.

With so many new faces to the team (roster and head coach) there really will not be any need to un-learn the old ways since as far as these guys are concerned there really aren’t any. So far the starting line-up has had at least two guys that played for a different team last year in it.

On the flip side of that there is the time that is necessary for a bunch of players to learn their new coach’s scheme. To compound that there is the time that it takes for the players to get to know each other as well.

During the whole learning process there will be times where the team will look good like in the win over the Washington Wizards in the first preseason game. There will also be times where they will be wildly inconsistent–like in the two games against New Orleans Hornets where they had one abysmal quarter in each game.

One of the things I hate the most about the internet (besides that it goes slow or I lose my connection whenever I’m in a hurry) is that it gives me ready access to too much information.

If you find yourself saying something like “huh?” just hang in for a moment or two and I’ll explain.

Thanks to the web I have been able to find out a wealth of information about the Charlotte Bobcats with a few simple clicks of the mouse. I’ve been able to read up on the new draft picks, see what the remaining veterans are up to, which ones are left, and what new head coach Mike Dunlap just to name a few things.

I have to say that I like what I’m reading about the ‘Cats. They appear to have a lot of hope and promise going forward.

That brings me to the problem—anticipation. With a couple weeks before the team reports to training camp on the campus of UNC-Asheville I have to wait to see just what the team is going to become this season.

One thing that I am real eager to see is how Kemba Walker is going to do in his sophomore season. I watched the guy roll through the March Madness tournament a couple years ago. Of course making the transition from the college ranks to the NBA can be tough, but he still didn’t do half bad last season (12.1 points/ 3.5 rebounds/ 4.4 assists).

But will he be better in the 2012-13 season? Absolutely!