Wow! It’s been a long time coming.  That’s probably the most excited I’ve been watching a Bobcat’s game in like 2-3 years.  And to think it was for a late night, Friday the 13th summer league game.

Wait, we don't cut the nets for Summer League?

First, I do realize its just summer league, and any great performances you see here by either a player or team don’t normally translate to the regular season.  Who knows, maybe next game they get throttled by 30 and we go back to our nice warm spot as the league’s laughingstock.  But I do believe there are bits and pieces, signs and symptoms here which definitely are cause for hope.

Here’s what I took from the main cast of characters tonight.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist – What a start!! I loved how he had that slight injury/tweak to his knee at the beginning of the game and didn’t require a wheelchair, he just brushed it off like nothing happened. As advertised, he relentlessly attacked on offense and defense. I noticed on a couple of his power drives that he jumped off the wrong foot, to maybe throw off the defender’s timing and avoid the block. Definitely a veteran move. As for his handle, while it seemed a little loose at times, you could obviously tell he knows how to make a move off the dribble to beat his man.  Natural instincts are good to see more than technique right now.  Just tighten that up, and nobody will be able to stay in front of him with his incredible first step.

Also showed good court vision and passing. Defensively, he is afraid of nothing, even taking on big burly Thomas Robinson head-to-head a couple times – and winning! He played free safety perfectly in the middle, collecting any and every loose ball that traversed his path.  And maybe most impressive, besides scoring 18 points, grabbing 8 boards, dishing 5 assists, and gathering 4 steals in about 20 minutes, was that none of his offense was forced, as most rookies do when trying to make an impression. Everything came within the flow of the game, and yet he still had a tremendous impact on both sides of the ball. Can’t wait to see more.

After the season the Charlotte Bobcats had last year there really is only one direction for the team to go—up. Assuming that new head coach Mike Dunlap is able to work with young guys at the pro level like he was in college (since the age range is pretty similar I don’t see why not) the team could very well be on the right path to success.

Now I wasn’t a fan of the Dunlap hire when it was announced, but what’s done is done. Like most of you, I’m just going to hope for the best going forward. Should he be able to mold this collection of raw, young talent into a team the Bobcats will be fun to watch if nothing else next season.

Dunlap can’t do it alone. A coach can cover the X’s and O’s in practice and make adjustments from the sideline, but a team needs a guy that can help make those adjustments on the court rather than waiting for a time out. It needs someone who can be a leader and in the case of the Bobcats a teacher on the court.

The team needs a solid veteran presence.

The one they had was traded away; Corey Maggette for Ben Gordon and a future first round draft pick (solid trade in my opinion). Gordon is a good player, and unlike Maggette not injured a lot, but I don’t know if he has what it takes to lead this young team.

The week didn’t get off to a roaring start with the announcement of the team’s new “database,” as profiled by Rick Bonnell on Saturday.  According to the article, with this new 6-figure costing database, “You can instantly look up year-by-year statistics for Boston Celtics great Bill Russell … or any other player in NBA history. You can check the injury archive of a Slovenian playing in the Spanish league or whether a forward in the Development League was ever busted for drugs.”  Wait, I remember thinking, can’t you just do that stuff on the internet for free?  The whole article was supposed to be serious and imposing, but instead it just sounded comical and ridiculous.  It reminded me of watching an old sci-fi movie, wherein after the credits it ominously announces that it’s set in “New York City: 1997.”

Nevertheless, the events of Tuesday and Thursday make me wonder if Rich Cho’s new Bat Computer isn’t onto something.  On Tuesday the Bobcats traded for a future #1 pick, salary cap requirements, and Ben Gordon—in that order.  Guys like John Hollinger rightly spent about three paragraphs discussing the cap and draft ramifications, which were definitely the most important parts of the deal.  However, for those of us who are going to actually have to sit down and watch this team, I wanted to explore a little more what we were actually going to see on the court.