That sound that you are hearing is our playoff hopes slowly slipping away. Last night’s loss to the OKC Thunder combined with an Indiana Pacers win against the Chicago Bulls drops the Cats to 9th in the Eastern conference, 1.5 games behind the Pacers. To make matters even worse the Pacers also hold the tiebreaker against us and if you’re the type of person to look in your rear-view mirror the Milwaukee Bucks also won last night which allowed them to creep to 1 game behind us.

Its a sad day for Canadians everywhere.

Yesterday afternoon the Charlotte Bobcats behind DJ Augustin and Gerald Henderson defeated the Toronto Raptors 95-90 on the road. Even though the Bobcats recently suffered a 6 game losing streak, this win helps them climb back up to #8 in the Eastern conference playoff race ( tied with the Indiana Pacers ). There are some “fans” that say they would rather see the Bobcats miss the playoffs and get a lottery pick in this year’s draft rather than eek into the playoffs and face a potential first round sweep against the Celtics, Bulls or Heat. I on the other hand completely disagree because I feel that the experienced gained from a playoff series ( even if it’s in defeat) far outweigh any lottery pick that you might get… Especially in this year’s draft.

Who is with me on this?

Sure Boris can have that one game each month that makes you realize that if he consistently put his mind to it he could easily be an all-star caliber power forward. Unfortunately the rest of the month is normally a painful series of frustrating passed up open shots, lackadaisical motivation,lack of physicality and general indifference.

Enter DJ White. Up until last week, DJ’s NBA career has been one long DNP-CD with a spectacular view from the Thunder’s bench. Fortunately for him he was moved to the Bobcats in a deadline day trade. In his short time with the ‘Cats, he has shown that he can rebound, defend, he doesn’t pass up open shots and he is willing to give a hard foul when a hard foul is needed. He fits the Silas/Oakley vision of a power forward far more than Boris. The legitimacy of the Gerald Wallace to Portland trade may be up for debate, but so far the Nazr for DJ White deal has been a pure win.

The return of  Tyrus Thomas to the lineup gives Paul Silas 2 legitimate PFs to work with that are willing and able to play his style of ball. Now that Diaw has legit competition, his minutes and role with the team are almost certainly in for a gigantic hit… And with the way that he has been playing, that is perfectly fine by me.

If there is anyone here that thinks Boris still deserves to get the bulk of the power forward minutes over Thomas and White, then I would love for you to comment and explain your rationale to me.

So, Monday night, the Bobcats had to face off against a shape shifting Skrull who has somehow managed to capture the ability and raw athleticism of a 22 year old Shawn Kemp and mimic it in the form of Los Angeles Clipper Blake Griffin.  Having to face off against this type of alien being did not bode well for our beloved Charlotte Bobcats

Via HoopsWorld:

Multiple sources have reported the Portland Trail Blazers have acquired former All-Star small forward from the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for center Joel Przybilla, forward Dante Cunningham, and two first-round picks.
The details of the first-round picks aren’t clear year, but Portland owns two in 2011 – their own, and New Orleans’ from the Jerryd Bayless trade earlier in the season.
The move for Charlotte was all about cutting off the $17 million Wallace is owed in each of the next two seasons. Przybilla’s contract expires this season and is $7.4 million.

Full Article