Welcome back to our report card series. In the first part, I gave a breakdown of the entire team over the course of this past season. Today and over the next month, I’m going to delve into the individual performances for just about everyone you know on the Bobcats payroll. Our first of those is Charlotte’s embattled hometown boy, Raymond Felton.

Intro:

Position: Point Guard
Number: 2
HGT/WGT: 6’1, 198
College: UNC – Chapel Hill
Experience: 5 years
Status: Unrestriced Free Agent, made 5.5 million last season

Many fans consider Ray the sloppy seconds (or thirds) in the 2005 NBA Draft. He was selected 5th overall by the Bobcats, but he happened to go immediately after Deron Williams (Utah) and Chris Paul (New Orleans). Those two are considered the best point guards in the NBA, while Raymond has had to deal with questions about his ability to be a starter. Fair or unfair, those criticisms make him appear far worse than he really is. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not Chris Paul (nor will he be), but he’s capable of running an NBA offense.

Breakdown:

When Raymond came into the NBA, he joined Brevin Knight as potential starter for the ‘Cats. Despite being the high draft pick, Raymond played mostly at shooting guard, while BK got the minutes running the point. In fact, Ray didn’t become the permanent starter at point guard until Larry Brown was brought in as coach. Since LB was hired, Ray has steadily improved, though many fans don’t see it.

While Ray’s points are indeed down since Coach Brown took over, his shooting percentages, blocks, and steals are up. In fact, Ray shot over 38% from long distance ths past season; prior to that his high was below 36% and twice he was below 29%. This past season, Ray had his highest ORTG (Offensive Rating, points produced per 100 possesions) at 107 (his prior high was 104, and twice he was below 100) and his lowest DRTG (points allowed per 100 possesions) at 103 (previous low was 107). He had the best PER (player effiency rating, created by John Hollinger) of his career at 15.2, which means he was an above average player. The PER is designed so that the league average is always 15. However, PER doesn’t measure on-ball defense, one of Ray’s biggest stregths, though you wouldn’t know it by watching the Orlando playoff series. Ray also had the best win shares of his career, at 6.5, whereas prior to Larry Brown his high was 3.4 under Sam Vincent. Win Shares attempts to measure how many wins a player was worth to his team. For comparison, Gerald Wallace was worth 11.5 wins and DJ Augustin, who many believe should start, had 2.4 win shares. However, playing time is factored into win shares, so there is an adjusted amount based on per48 minutes production. The league average is 0.100, but Raymond had 0.118, Wallace 0.177, and Augustin 0.092 Win Shares per 48. For those of you who aren’t statheads, that means Raymond is clearly more valuable to the team as constructed than Augustin, the fan’s choice. What should really surprise you, though, is that Tyson Chandler and Nazr Mohammed joined Wallace as the only players better than Felton, yet Augustin was basically 10th (taking out Raja Bell). Stephen Graham and Derrick Brown were more highly rated. But this isn’t Augustin’s report card, so I’ll stop. In conclusion, Felton has improved greatly under Larry Brown should see that there’s still room for improvement.

Future:

There’s no guarantee Felton will even be on the team next season, as he is an unrestricted free agent and rejected a 6 year, $40 million offer last season. His value was brought down by a relatively horrid performance in the playoffs, and few teams with cap space need a point guard. Miami, New York, and the Los Angeles Lakers are the most mentioned suitors, but the Heat and Knicks both seek marquee free agents which will take up all their available cap space, and the Lakers are well into the luxury tax. This means the most Felton would be able to get on the open market is right around the full Mid-Level exception, which is less than he made this past season. Raymond has repeatedly stated he wants to stay in Charlotte, but the Bobcats are perilously close to the luxury tax mark, which Michael Jordan has stated is not in the team’s immediate future. Thus, the best Ray should hope for in Charlotte is along the lines of a 4 year, $25 million dollar contract. It’d likely benefit both parties to have a shorter, 3 year deal, as that would allow the Bobcats an avenue to pursure Chris Paul, and an opportunity for Felton to drive up his value yet still sign a long term deal before he turns 30. However, this is just my opinion, and we’ll all be waiting to see what happens.

Final Grade:

Ray’s 2009-2010 regular season performance earned him a B. Without Ray, the playoffs would still be out of reach, and his gritty play and toughness have made him a role model to his teammates and embodies the spirit of a Charlotte Bobcat.

Ray’s 2010 Playoff showing, however, is in Jeff McInnis territory. He was never a factor, but he let Jameer Nelson become one. His only saving grace is that somehow, some way, DJ Augustin managed to be twice as bad, which means I can’t give Ray an F. Thus, he’s earned a D-

Ray’s potential grade is quite high, however. We’ve seen how Larry Brown can make a point guard much better than anyone thought. With work, Ray could become a poor man’s Chauncey Billups at best, and he isn’t getting worse anytime soon. So with that, for his potential, he’s got an A-, but like I said, that’s only a best case scenario.

Raymond Felton’s overall grade: B-, maybe an 85. He’s a starter, but not a star.

That scraping sound you hear is either a) Kris Jenkins polishing off his 10th straight bowl of Frankenberry, or b) Charlotte basketball fans collectively scratching their heads over the news that Sam Vincent is the Bobcats’ new head coach.  It’s absolutely impossible for me to analyze anything of his professional background, because he basically hasn’t a professional background.  However, I can confirm that he is NOT related to former KISS guitarist Vinnie Vincent (nor is he a fan, as he is on the record as being loyal to Ace Frehley*). 
 
I would make some joke about Michael Jordan hiring his former Bulls teammate as a head coach only because MJ once lost a bet to him, but with MJ’s history, I’m worried that could actually be what happened.  I’m also a little disappointed we weren’t able to get old Larry Brown to call the shots, but that’s not because I think LB is some sort of coaching savant.  It’s more because I was curious to see how a man who famously refuses to put in young, unproven players would coach a team that consists of nothing but young, unproven players.
 
So what the heck, I’m throwing my support to Coach Vincent.  As far as I’m concerned, a coach’s significance is overrated anyway.  Take the Warriors just now: people keep saying that Don Nelson “out-coached” Avery Johnson, when in fact I think the exact OPPOSITE happened: Nelson didn’t coach AT ALL.  Seriously, did it look like the Warriors were operating under any type of “system” out there?  Hell no; every single game was total chaos.  Nelson’s coaching “strategy” was the equivalent of unleashing a pack of starving pit bulls, and it worked perfectly.  Stephen Jackson, Baron Davis, Jason Richardson, et al, were constantly a threat to either score 30 points or get ejected in the first 5 minutes.  Thoroughly spooked, the Mavericks had no answer.  
 
Coach Vincent is young enough to relate to the kids, yet old enough to keep ‘em in line.  He’s got Brevin Knight to act as on-court drill sergeant, and the underrated J.B. Bickerstaff and Jeff Capel as his cabinet members.  Roll the ball out there and let’s play…            
 
*I completely made all of that up

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The Bobcats lost another heartbreaker on Friday night, but at least it wasn’t another bone-breaker, because I think we’ve got an injury DNP Brady Bunch going at this point (with trainer Joe Sharp as Alice). For Gerald Wallace, the game was a toenail-breaker, causing him to miss most of the second quarter. Normally I would’ve made a joke about that, but not after seeing Syriana a few days ago.

And not after another horrible performance. We put up just 13 points in the third quarter, which tied with the President’s reaction to the Twin Tower attacks in Fahrenheit 9/11 for the most excruciating 12 minutes I’ve ever witnessed. After missing just 6 FG’s in the first quarter, we only made 5 in the third. But what made things even more painful was that the Clippers are so crappy they couldn’t just pull away and end our misery in a rout, so the game stayed stuck in the 10-15 point deficit for most of the 2nd half. It reminded me of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre where the old guy was too weak to bludgeon the girl to death with a hammer, so he just feebly tapped her a few times on the head while she lay there bound and writhing*.

Things looked good to start, though. It’s too bad NBA games don’t end midway through the first quarter, because I bet we’d at least be over .500. "We came out running and gunning,'' Gerald Wallace said afterward. "We had them on the ropes, but the bodies that we had just kind of wore out.” Hopefully the guys can get some new bodies in time for tonight's game (ask for the “Kevin Garnett” models—they cost a little extra but they’re worth it). There’s a chance Emeka Okafor might be able to go, although there’s also a chance my dog will go to the park and not spend the whole time licking another dog’s genitals. Who knows with Sean May, and even if Brevin Knight can heal, he’s locked in a feud with the league’s officials. By the way, I loved his quote from a few days ago: “(The official) made contact and then he said to me, ‘Oh, you're going to bump me.’ I said, 'You bumped into me.' So he gave me the tech.” BK needs to realize that if the officials aren’t going to call fouls when opposing players bump into us, they’re certainly not going to when they do either. BK needs to take Phil Jackson’s advice and realize somebody has a sacred cow somewhere else (or whatever the hell Phil said about officiating; I just remember it had something to do with cows).

The Clippers were led by Tim Thomas (always fun getting beaten by a classy guy like him), who had 24 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds. The Rental also went 5/8 from downtown, demonstrating that he’s in love with his 3-point shot almost as much as he is with himself. Elton Brand went for yet another quiet 19 and 10 game, which I said after our last game with the Clips isn’t all that impressive when your main adversaries are Jake Voskuhl and Ryan Hollins. Meanwhile, the Bobcats were misled by Adam Morrison, who had just 4 points on an appalling 1/9 night. On the bright side, Walter Herrmann (15 points) has quietly not sucked for the last couple of games.

Oh well. It must be spring if we’re talking about Pete Rose again. The founding father of baseball pariahs has pointlessly been in the news all week—I’m honestly surprised Rose himself isn’t sick of it by now. Still, he’s always good for a few inadvertent laughs, and did anyone catch this quote? "Don't penalize McGwire because you think other guys are taking steroids," Rose said on the air with Dan Patrick. That’s nice of you to stick up for him, Pete, but I’m pretty sure people are actually penalizing McGwire because they think McGwire took steroids.

*note: I haven’t seen any of the remakes, but I’m assuming in the updated version he’s too weak to drop a plasma 50” big-screen TV on top of her or something

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In our forum , we've been gathering a list of 100 things that we've learned about the Bobcats in the past year.  Below we have the first 50. Read and enjoy.

1. Bernie should be fired as coach.
2. Bernie loves "his guys"
3. Kareem Rush acted and played like a bitch.
4. Bernie hates rookies
5. Bob Johnson is cheap
6. That the bobcats show what you can do with lots of hustle and hard work, even though your inexperienced
7. that the bobcats forgot the above sentence this year.
8. We wont get respect(or foul calls), so we gotta somehow earn it
9. We draft good
10. Emeka offensive game is coming along nicely
11. Ray Felton plays better when BK is injured.
12. Sean May isn't the illegitmate love-child of Fred "Rerun" Berry and Fat Albert, He is actually a legitimate NBA baller with some serious game.
13. Adam Morrison is a scorer NOT a pure shooter.
14. Michael Jordan will not do anything for us.
15. Any FA's we pick up are useless.
16. The cats have one of the best arenas
17. We not only draft well, we EXPANSION draft well. (Wallace, Knight, Brezec; we also had Zaza Pachulia, Jason Hart, Eddie House, and Keith Bogans)
18. We have the best identity of players: Stasche, Crash, etc
19. Gerald Wallace seems to shoot all of his jumpers off balance.
20. A Bobcats player has never scored more than 41(Gerald Wallace), grabbed rebound more than 19(Emeka Okafor-twice), dished assist more than 20(Brevin Knight-twice), blocked shots more than 8(Emeka Okafor) and stole the ball more than 8(Gerald Wallace) in a match.
21. Primoz Brezec has no long term future with this team.
22. May does not get enough minutes.
23. J.B. is a waste
24. The Bobcats need an "Enforcer", somebody who is ready, willing and able to knock another player on his ass.
25. Matt Carroll is a way better player than we all thought that he was coming into this season.
26. This site has moved ahead of realgm as the best Bobcats talk on the web
27. Bernard Robinson has no jump shot. His whole game is driving to the basket out of control with that goofy spin moove.
28. When Brevin Knight runs the point, he holds the ball too long before getting the team into their offense.
29. In response to 28, Brevin makes sure to dish to the players that will be more certain not to cut into his minutes due to their play.
30. Bernie should coach the Knicks. They need someone to start it from scratch.
31. We have the weakest coaching staff in the league with Bernie Bickerstaff, JB Bickerstaff and Jeff Capel.
32. We have an obsession with drafting the players that will make it onto the EA NCAA basketball games. (Okafor, Felton, Morrison)
33. We fall apart after halftime a lot
34.Felton sets up some great shots for the players around him but sometimes they have a hard time finishing.
35. We are not clutch
36. We are the least respected team in the league.
37. We get NO calls from the officials
38. When any trade rumors come about, we adamantly deny any of them.
39. We will not trade any players, unless it's for minimal value and no use to the team.
40. Sean May's midrange jumper is reliable.
41. None of our other big men should even think about taking a jumpshot.
42. We have extreme difficulty making perimeter shots.
43. We foul way too often.
44. We have the coolest Argentinia basketball player in the world (Walt)
45. We have a turkey starting at center (Primoz)
46. we will get a lottery pick every single year
47. we may not have the best players, but we do NOT have any criminals
48.  we don't overpay any players on our roster
49. Our Coach doesn't have a clue
50. We are inconsistent.
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