Now that the Charlotte Bobcats are officially in the offseason, it’s time to grade them. Over the next month, I’ll be giving every player and select non-players their grades for the season. But I’ll start with a general report card for the entire team. Enjoy!

Front Office:
When you can turn an aging, injured shooting guard on an expiring contract (Raja Bell) and a sorely overpaid, worthless, shooter playing power forward (Vladimir Radmonovic) into a Top 10 shooting guard (Stephen Jackson) and another tradeable asset (Acie Law IV), you automatically had an above average season. But Michael Jordan, Rod Higgins, and Larry Brown didn’t stop there. In the offseason, they signed Flip Murray to be a serviceable 6th man for just under $2 million. In essence, a bargain. But he wasn’t the only bargain. Stephen Graham, who filled as a starter 8 times, was signed for the league minimum. Not too shabby. The Bobcats also picked up Gerald Henderson and Derrick Brown in the draft. While neither received much playing time, both showed flashes of their talent in limited minutes. When they received over 20 minutes in a game, Henderson averaged 11 points, Brown 9.7 points. But not even a solid draft, free agency, and a great trade to start the year would make the front office lazy. At the trade deadline, they picked up Theo Ratliff for what amounts to nothing and Tyrus Thomas came in for Murray, Law, and a protected 1st. Ratliff started 26 of his 28 games in a Bobcats uniform, and his 1.5 blocks per game in Charlotte helped propel the team to it’s first playoff birth. While the result of the Thomas trade has yet to be discovered, he showed stretches of brilliance on the road to the postseason. Not to mention, Bob Johnson sold the team to Michael Jordan. All in all, a great year in the front office

Final Grade: A

Coaching:
Obviously, if Larry Brown is coaching your team, you’ve got a chance to make some noise. Brown made good on that reputation this past season, turning Gerald Wallace into an All-Star and rebounding machine, keeping Stephen Jackson moderately in check, and improving just about everyone one the roster. And when Brown was ejected (twice in the regular season and once in the preseason), Lead Assistant Dave Hanners capably stepped up. The reason I bring up Hanners is because, unlike Coach Brown, Coach Hanners is aware that there are players sitting next to him who are able to play more than thirty seconds per game. That’s one of Larry’s weaknesses, and it showed. Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson were among the league leaders in minutes, while rookies Gerald Henderson and Derrick Brown played a COMBINED 890 minutes. That’s 60% of DeJaun Blair’s playing time. And need I remind you Blair went in the second round (just a few picks before Brown, but well after Henderson, a lottery pick) and was Tim Duncan’s backup? They received just 40% of Jonas Jerebko’s playing time, and he was both suspended for a game and taken after Blair. But, despite his rotation shortcomings, Larry did coach his way to a team record 44 wins. So, everything combined, a solid season for the journeyman coach.

Final Grade: B+

Players:
While this is a very broad grade, and there are underperformers and overperformers, in the end it’s the total sum of how your team plays that matters. While Gerald Wallace played better than just about anyone expected, he was countered by a lazy season from Boris Diaw. Talk all you want about how much Nazr Mohammed improved, but he was countered by the oft-injured Tyson Chandler, who had a horrible start to the season, and Theo Ratliff’s horrific showing in the playoffs. Raymond Felton may have skyrocketed his shooting percentages, but DJ Augustin’s plummeted. While Stephen Jackson stepped in and led the team in scoring, it took heaven and earth moving for 2008 first round pick Alexis Ajinca to even make the active roster. Larry Hughes joined the team to replace Murray, but somehow had a lower shooting percentage (and lower True Shooting for the stat geeks) than Murray, who had the green light from Coach Brown. While Tyrus Thomas had a huge impact on the team’s defense, he actually had a negative win shares on offense. So, if you look deeply, the team was a little bit above average, and it showed in their .536 winning percentage.

Final Grade: C+

Playoffs:
Well, when you’re the only team to get swept, there’s not much good. But the Charlotte community showed up en masse for both of the team’s home games, and enjoyed booing JJ Redick. But outside of that and Tyrus Thomas’ impressive showing, there wasn’t much to like. The Bobcats only really contended in Game 3, and poor decision making doomed them then. A poor showing, and the better team won quickly.

Final Grade: D

Charlotte Bobcats 2009-2010 Season Final Grade: B+

The team accomplished its goal of making the playoffs, but now they have to show it wasn’t a fluke.

I know, I know, it’s not Saturday, and none of this actually happened on Saturday to begin with. But I decided with this glut of information to throw at you I should just make a Godfather post, starting in the Queen City and ending in Disney World. Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

The beginning would be in Time Warner Cable Arena on Friday night. Your Charlotte Bobcats played the much-maligned Los Angeles Clippers, one of the most poorly managed franchises in all of sports. They didn’t play like it for much of the game, though, keeping pace with the Bobcats. However, part of that likely had to do with former Charlotte Hornet Baron Davis drawing a flagrant foul on Gerald “Crash” Wallace in the 2nd quarter, which left Wallace out for this game and likely a while longer, but we’ll get to that later. In the short term, that didn’t matter, with Stephen Jackson’s 24 points and 6 assists leading the ‘Cats to a 106-98 victory. Jackson had assistance from Raymond Felton’s near triple double (10 points, 11 assists, 8 rebounds), Boris Diaw’s 16 points and 5 assists, and Tyson Chandler’s spectacular 13 points and 9 rebounds off the bench. Wallace had 17 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals in 21 minutes. Michael Jordan was not present, missing his first game since it was announced he’s buying the team. He was with his son Jeff, who is on the Illinois basketball team that was competing in the Big Ten tournament.

Wallace has been diagnosed with a sprained ankle, and missed the entire second half of the Clippers game, tonight’s game against the Magic (recap below) and is out for Tuesday’s game in Indiana. His status after that is “day-to-day” and he will take off the protective boot upon arrival in Indianapolis. When asked about Wallace’s condition, Stephen Jackson simply said “Pray.” In other injury news, Center DeSagana Diop had dizzy spells during a Thursday practice and is out until at least Atlanta, possibly longer depending on tests. No word on Center Nazr Mohammed’s progress, though with the tremendous play lately by Theo Ratliff and Tyson Chandler, no rush to either Gana or Naz. Get well, guys.

We learned over the weekend that another injured player has been added to the Bobcats roster. That would be former 76ers first round pick Larry Hughes, who played for Larry Brown in Philadelphia and for Michael Jordan and Bobcats GM Rod Higgins in Washington, along with being a teammate of multiple current Bobcats. He is expected to be able to play within 7-10 days, and will be a backup shooting guard and the emergency third point guard if DJ Augustin or Raymond Felton were to get into foul trouble or be injured. Hughes will be playoff roster eligible, and since he will likely be able to adequately replace Flip Murray, the trade for Tyrus Thomas becomes that much more of a steal. Hughes has also played for Golden State, Cleveland, Chicago, and New York. He averaged 22 points per game with the Wizards in 2004-2005, and was the inaugural recipient of the Austin Carr “Good Guy” Award, for being helpful to the Cleveland media and community.

The last major update takes us to Orlando, where the ‘Cats were on the road tonight to face the Orlando Magic. Without Crash, Stevie Graham made his 6th start of the season, and Captain Jack took over the load once again, with 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists to help get the ‘Cats their sixth straight win, 96-89. Graham added 12 points and 6 rebounds, Ray Felton put in 16 and dished out 7 assists, Theo Ratliff had 10 points and 9 boards, and Tyrus Thomas had 9 points and 9 rebounds. The Bobcats held the free-shooting Magic to 11-32 three point shots, or 34%. Sharpshooters Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson, and J.J. Redick combined to go an abysmal 1-12 from behind the arc. Dwight Howard led the Magic with 27 points on 12-14 shooting, but was 3-10 from the free throw line. Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said postgame “We weren’t very good at anything.” While that might be a bit harsh, he’s right in that the Bobcats are on a roll and have been playing excellent basketball, with or without their All-Star. Yankees Ace C.C. Sabathia drove up to see good friend Stephen Jackson play against the Magic despite pitching earlier in the day.

Rick Bonnell noted recently that

“All you fools who made fun of me for writing it would be a huge mistake for the Bobcats to sign Allen Iverson (you know who you are; I can look up the responses) can send me your heart-felt apologies soon as possible.”

While I assume Rick was just being trivial or attempting humor, he was not only wrong to begin with (what else is new) but he called his readers fools, which in jest or not, none of us here at BCP will ever do. Now, let’s look at why Mr. Bonnell is wrong. When the discussion for this signing was being made, Stephen Jackson was still playing in California, Bob Johnson seemed to be well in control of the team and Gerald Henderson was the only backup shooting guard. What many of us were asking for was what Memphis did very well. Sign Iverson, sell a ton of jerseys and tickets, and if he doesn’t work out, waive him with a minimal hit to the team. What’s so “wrong” about that, Rick?

Notes: Larry Brown has been rumored to both the Philadelphia and LA Clippers Head Coaching jobs, even though neither is technically available, but he said that him staying is “up to Michael (Jordan).” For right now, it appears MJ wants Larry around, and no changes are imminent…The Bobcats sale to Michael Jordan is expected to go through by the end of this week, at which time we will have a special ownership edition of Michael’s Minute with Bobcats Director of Corporate Communications Michael Thompson. If you go to the forum, you can submit a question you’d like answered.

The Chicago Bulls have traded troubled but talented forward Tyrus Thomas to the Bobcats for the expiring contracts of Flip Murray and Acie Law, along with a protected future first round pick (likely lottery protected and set for 2012), this according to Yahoo! Sports.

Thomas is 6’10 and 225 pounds and will fill a much needed spot at power forward on the depth chart behind Boris Diaw. The 23 year old went to LSU, and entered the NBA in the 2006 draft, picked 4th overall. Tyrus has shown promise in his first few years in the league but has battled with coaches and is considered to be headstrong. This season, in 23.4 minutes he is averaging 8.8 points and 6.3 rebounds. He will likely see those same minutes in Charlotte, as Flip Murray had been playing 21.6 minutes per game. Now that Murray and Law are gone, look for DJ Augusting and Gerald Henderson to see increased playing time, and possibly a D-League call up for point guard depth, maybe even a certain fellow named Dontell Jefferson. The only downside to this trade in the short term is it could take away already scarce minutes from Nazr Mohammed and Derrick Brown. The loss of a shooter in Flip would’ve been disturbing, but his shot has been so hot and cold it’s likely that between Stephen Jackson and DJ Augustin, he won’t be missed too much.

If anything else develops between now and three, we’ll be sure to let you know — stay tuned!

The Wizards vs. the Bobcats 2/9/10

The Bobcats, after three straight loses, decided to right themselves against the Washington Wizards, (94-92). The ‘Cats pulled defense back out of the playbook and made it tough for the visiting Wizards. The ‘Cats had given up a generous 103.2 points over their last nine games. Finally they were able to hold a team for less (92 points) than their season average of 94.2ppg. The Wizards were held to a 43.2% field goal percentage for the game even though they took right more shots than the Bobcats (81-74). Gerald Wallace led the way for Charlotte with another double-double, 17 points and 13 rebounds, as he appears for his first-ever appearance in an All-Star game. Stephen Jackson led Bobcats scorers with 22 points. The game was sealed as Antawn Jamison missed the final shot of the game with 0.6 seconds left.

Flip Murray played extremely well for the ‘Cats off the bench scoring 16 points. Tyson Chandler also played, after missing twenty four games with an injury, and contributed 5 points and 5 rebounds in 10:02 minutes of play. Boris Diaw also woke up, from a very long nap, to score 16 points for the Bobcats. Raymond Felton also added 11 points and 5 assist despite twisting his ankle during practice Monday. This was anything but a blow-out of one of the six worst teams in the NBA. Rather, it was a much needed win for a team stopping a three game losing streak.

The Good:

Gerald Wallace with another double-double.

Team defense.

The bench play of Flip Murray with 16 very-needed points.

Team turnovers (12).

The Bad:

Free-throw shooting (74.1%).

The Ugly:

Team three-point shooting hit a brick wall (25%).

Next game for the Bobcats: Wednesday 2/10/10 8:00pm at Minnesota Timberwolves

The last time a star Warrior was traded to Charlotte for almost nothing and returned to Oracle Arena in Oakland, he was given a hero’s welcome. This time, the Warrior fans had little love for their former swingman. You see, Jason Richardson not only didn’t want to be traded, but he was somewhat upset to be traded. Stephen Jackson, however, isn’t one to keep his mouth shut, and he let it be known that he wanted out of Oakland immediately if not sooner. So when he came back, the rabid fan base in Oakland quickly forgot all the heart, passion, and energy he played with and bombarded him with more boos than Jake Delhomme has ever had. But in the end, it didn’t matter. Captain Jack came to play, as did his First Mate and the rest of his Crew.

After a slow start, losing the first quarter to the Dubs 28-24 and being down by 5 in the middle of the second, the Bobcats asserted themselves, entering halftime up 6 and leading by as many as 21. The Stephen Jackson and newly-named All Star Gerald Wallace duo combined for an evenly split 60 points (almost 50% of the team total) and 17 rebounds, 13 of which were Wallace’s. 6 Bobcats were in double figures (Jackson, Wallace, Boris Diaw, Raymond Felton, DJ Augustin, and Flip Murray) and both Wallace and Nazr Mohammed grabbed double digit rebounds. The Bobcats utterly dominated the Warriors on the boards, grabbing 48 solo and 13 team rebounds to the Warriors 32 solo and 9 team, which comes out to a +20 mark. This was with center Nazr Mohammed playing just 16 1/2 minutes (despite those 10 rebounds, along with his 6 points) and backup DeSagana Diop recieving a DNP-CD. This meant Boris Diaw spent most of his night at the 5 spot, scoring 12 and pulling down 6 rebounds. DJ Augustin put in 14 points on 5-7 shooting, including 3-5 from 3 point range, along with 6 assists. We even had a Gerald Henderson mohawk sighting, for a brief 2 1/2 minute period where he scored 1 point. All in all, a stat sheet-stuffing performance, putting the Bobcats back above .500 at 23-22, tied for 7th in the East.

Tomorrow night the Bobcats play the Kings in Sacramento. Let’s just hope Crash stays away from Andres Nocioni if possible. Tomorrow is also DeSagana Diop’s 28th birthday, which could signal extra playing time if the game isn’t close.

Notes: Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia sat courtside. He grew up 30 minutes away from Oakland and is a good friend of Stephen Jackson….Bobcats color analyst Dell Curry spent the second quarter on the Warriors broadcast talking about his son, Stephen, who nearly had a double double with 22 points and 9 assists….Acie Law didn’t play against his former team….former Bobcats Cartier Martin and Vladimir Radmanovic came off the bench for the Warriors, scoring 4 and 6 points, respectively. Ex-Bobcat Raja Bell is out for most of the season with wrist surgery….After winning just 1 road game to 14 losses in 2009, the Bobcats are now 4-3 outside Charlotte in 2010. They are now ahead of Milwaukee and Detroit for 4th worst away record in the East, 7th worst overall….The Bobcats could reach 12-4 for the month of January if they win tomorrow. I think that’d be a franchise best.

Well, it had to happen sometime. I suppose it was slightly unrealistic for us Bobcats fans to assume that the ‘Cats were going to breeze through the remaining 42 games of the schedule beating each and every one of their opponents by 40+ points all while setting a dozen or so team records each and every game. Since that didn’t quite happen, we’ll look at what  occurred tonight as a one game bump in the road, just a tiny hiccup on the way to our first ever trip to the post season.

Tonight’s game showed signs of going a little sideways as early as the first quarter. The Hawks jumped out to an early double digit lead shooting 75% in the first quarter to the Bobcats 40%. The situation became even more problematic for the Bobcats when point guard Raymond Felton went down in the second quarter with a sprained ankle ( Is this “National Sprained Ankle Week” or something ). In the past we’ve seen Ray go down with various injuries that looked bad at the time, but always he has been able to gut it out and make it back on to the court that very same game. In fact here at BCP we had come to assume that Ray could take a few rounds from an AK-47 to both kneecaps but only miss a couple of minute of game time. With that being said, seeing him not make it back on the court has us concerned.

In Ray’s absence, The DJ Augustin led Bobcats did a decent job early on even managing to cut the Hawks lead down to 4 points at the half.  The Bobcats were undone however by a weak effort in the 3rd quarter. They were outscored 36-22 which put them down by 18 going into the 4th, and that was all she wrote.

Looking at the numbers there were a couple of things that made me go hmmmm:

• In 22:40 of court time, point guard DJ Augustin had 0 assists… Zero!
• In 26:10 of court time, combo guard Flip Murray had 9 assists. Good job Flip!
• Boris Diaw reverted to his old ways going 0-5 from the field with 5 rebounds and 5 assists. When Ray went down we needed him to be more aggressive. He should never have only 5 shots in any game. Maybe it’s time for another Stephen Jackson pep talk.
• Speaking of Captain Jack, he was his normal aggressive self with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals. But unfortunately we can’t overlook his 7 turnovers.

So folks, lets not get too caught up in this one loss. We will move on to tonight’s game against the Magic and likely get back to our winning ways.

Box Score

Game Thread