The Bobcats vs. the Magic 4/22/10

I appreciate Ziggy getting a game summary posted for the second game since it was my assignment and I apologize to all for being late posting. I really wanted to digest what I saw and it “taste” more bitter today than last night. The Bobcats proved they could play wretched basketball in the very first game of the season against the Boston Celtics. Teams have “misfires” during the season but come play-off time you expect every team to put their collect “best foot forward”. I hope last night was not the ‘Cats “best”. The first half of last nights game was easily one of the worst comedy routines of a group of guys impersonating basketball players I’ve ever watched. I’m not sure how the Bobcats expect to come close to winning when they turn the ball over so often to the second-best Eastern Conference team. The defense has played the Magic tough in both games but the offense, especially tonight, is in dire need of a heart transplant.

There is just not much of a positive spin I can put on this game so I’ll mention a couple of things. Stephen Jackson scored 27 points and Gerald Wallace chipped in with 15 points for the ‘Cats. Nazr Mohammed had 10 points off the bench in sixteen minutes. That was the offense for Charlotte. The one glaring negative was the turn overs. Jackson led the team with 7 and Boris Diaw had 5. Jackson, with his scoring, compensates somewhat but Diaw has pulled his “disappearing” act and has had no positive impact in the first two games against the Magic. All the Bobcats players, bot just Wallace and Jackson, have to bring their “A” games if the “Cats intend to make a series out of this fiasco.

The Good:

The Bobcats are in the play-offs.

The Bad:

A national TV audience had the opportunity to watch this game.

The Ugly:

The offense.

Turn overs.

Next play-off game for the Bobcats: Saturday 4/24/10 2:00pm vs. the Orlando Magic

In baseball, there’s a man named Jack McKeon. He’s known in baseball circles as “Trader Jack.” He’s a retired manager who is the oldest manager to win a World Series (2003 with the Florida Marlins). He managed 5 different teams for 15 seasons over a period of 32 years; 9 years he spent as the GM of the San Diego Padres. But what does all this have to do with the Bobcats, besides McKeon’s link to the Carolinas (he graduated from Elon and still lives there)? Well, Trader Jack is very similar to Michael Jordan.

Now, anyone who knows baseball knows that Trader Jack’s personality is more like Bobcats coach Larry Brown. Both are journeymen, tend to wear on players, and demand trades like they do a change of clothes. But McKeon has more in common with MJ. You see, both had bad starts by most measures – Jordan’s in Washington and McKeon’s in Kansas City with the Royals. But when you look deeper, you see they weren’t as bad as originally thought. McKeon managed the Royals and A’s in his first two jobs, but was unable to have much success. However, after the Royals fired him, the team he’d put into place made the playoffs 4 of the next 5 seasons. The A’s he managed were mostly intact when they made the ALCS a few years later. Jordan as GM in Washington moved a multitude of bad contracts that were hampering the Wizards flexibility and gave them lots of cap space by the time he was relieved of his job. This allowed the Wizards to form a core in Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, and Antawn Jamison that made the playoffs multiple times. But they also bear similarities in how their next jobs went. McKeon took over as GM of the Padres and promptly built a winner: the team made the World Series in his 4th season on the job. He drafted Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn and stars John Kruk and Andy Benes, and also signed stars Benito Santiago and Roberto Alomar as amatuers. He brought in veteran star Steve Garvey and Hall of Famer Rich “Goose” Gossage. Jordan has been on the job for nearly four years now, and has drafted young talent in Ryan Hollins, Jared Dudley (both since traded), DJ Augustin, Gerald Henderson and Derrick Brown. He’s signed diamond in the rough Stevie Graham, and traded for star Stephen Jackson and veterans Theo Ratliff, Boris Diaw, and Nazr Mohammed to go with growing talent Tyrus Thomas. Now, I’m not predicting a trip to the NBA Finals, but Jordan, like McKeon, has reached a desired spot in a short amount of time.

Ok, you say, that’s all well and good, but isn’t MJ the guy who drafted Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison? Sure, he did. No Hall of Famers there. But if you look at the rest of his resume, you’ll find that he’s actually done very well, albeit under the radar. While he did draft Brown #1 overall, one could easily see that 2001 was a poor draft, as only two lottery picks have ever made an All Star team, Pau Gasol (#3) and Joe Johnson (#10). While Jordan could’ve picked Gasol, up to that point no European player had ever had much success in the league, as Dirk Nowtizki was still a young gun. Everyone else in the top 5 (Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, and Jason Richardson) are regarded as overpaid and have never experienced much success in the league, Richardson coming the closest. So we give MJ a pass on that one. What about the next year? Well, MJ had the 11th and 17th picks in the draft. Of the players Mike had to choose from, only 9 are still in the NBA and 5 of those were picked in the second round. MJ happened to select one of the few still around, Jared Jeffries, with the 11th pick. While few would consider Jeffries lottery talent, he’s made a name for himself as a solid defender and likely will continue to play in the League for years to come. MJ also picked Juan Dixon, who had multiple successful seasons before heading to Europe this year. When Jordan arrived in Charlotte, he drafted Morrison, who is a bust (though partly due to injury) and Ryan Hollins. While Hollins is no world-beater, he is the lowest pick from that draft remaining. Jordan also signed Argentinian Walter Herrman, who played well in his short stay in Charlotte before being traded. In 2007, MJ traded his first pick to Golden State for Jason Richardson, who led the team in scoring with 21.8 points, a team record. Richardson later netted Diaw and Raja Bell, but we’ll get there in a minute, back to ’07. With the 22nd pick, Jordan selected Jared Dudley, who was also part of the Diaw/Richardson trade. Dudley is a superb bench player and will likely contend for Sixth man of the Year later in his career. Of those still on the board when Charlotte picked, likely only Aaron Brooks (who wouldn’t have fit on a team with Raymond Felton) has had more success to date. Now to 2008, where we see Jordan hire Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown (who drafted DJ Augustin) and trade for Diaw and Bell. While it was lampooned at the time, the trade for Diaw and Bell made the ‘Cats playoff contenders for the first time, and while they came up short, both had a part in this season’s playoff appearance. Diaw has fit in as the point forward, and Bell was traded for Stephen Jackson this season. Tyson Chandler was added for Emeka Okafor, and while that was also considered lopsided, it’s Chandler’s play that’s made the ‘Cats a solid defensive team in the paint. Tyrus Thomas was also added for merely a proctected first rounder and expiring contracts, and Theo Ratliff and Larry Hughes both came practically free of charge. While Jackson is likely the most responsible for the on-court improvement this year, one can see that the architect of the team isn’t as lazy and irresponsible as the mainstream media portrays him. Sure he’s had help from longtime friend Rod Higgins, but Jordan, just like McKeon, is a skilled manager of personnel, and knows how to make the trade or draft pick that helps the team in both the short run and the long run.

Looking forward, if McKeon’s career arc can be used as a guide, then Jordan will soon be reaching his goal of making the Finals. Hopefully, Trader Mike will also bring home that championship, just like Trader Jack.

It wasn’t nearly that close. Boris Diaw nearly had a triple-double, Gerald Wallace looked like the All-Star he is, and Tyson Chandler was an intimidating prescence against the Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby-less Hawks, who still seek their first 50-win season since 1998. But it was still a historic night, as the Bobcats have now clinched their first non-losing season in franchise history.

That’s right, the Bobcats are losers no more. With their 41st win of the season, (and 30th at home) the Bobcats can do no worse than even for the season, and that would still require losing 6 in a row. In fact, it’s possible that, with an easy schedule ahead (the ‘Cats play just one more playoff contender), Charlotte could win out and move to 47-35, giving Larry Brown an even record over his two seasons in the Queen City. None of this would have been possible without the hard work of Boris Diaw, who put up 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists tonight. He would’ve had the first triple double in franchise history had Gerald Wallace not stolen a rebound from him and Stephen Jackson not missed an easy jumper with just a few minutes left. But I’m sure Boris will settle for the win, as he said postgame: “That’s a great win…at this point in the season, every win is pretty important in the chase to [the] playoffs, and getting as high as possible in the playoffs. We knew we can play [well] against teams that have better records too, so we just proved it tonight.” When asked about the rebound Gerald stole from him, Diaw lightheartedly said “He steals every rebound every time anyway, it’s nothing new.” Speaking of “Crash,” Wallace dominated the first half with 22 points, and finished with a game-high 28 points and 6 rebounds. The 28 points were Crash’s highest total since March 10th in Philadelphia, and just the 4th time he’s passed 25 since the All-Star Game. He was one of six Bobcats in double figures, joined by Diaw, Stephen Jackson (15), Raymond Felton (14), Tyson Chandler (12) and D.J. Augustin (11). Chandler also had 8 rebounds, and continues to improve his game since coming back from multiple foot injuries. Jackson said he’s feeling better after being hurt the last few games, saying “I feel a lot better. The two days I had off to rest helped me out, and I didn’t have to work too hard tonight since, you know, Joe didn’t play…I gotta give a lot of props to Strick (Athletic trainer Steve Stricker) he was doing some type of thing with some metal, and he broke it up a lot and it’s almost gone. I’m almost back healthy.” He also talked about Diaw’s triple-double bid, commenting that “I think Boris is probably one of the guys in the league that could actually average a triple-double if he really put forth the effort to do that, and I wish he would’ve gotten that tonight…Boris is fed up with everybody trying to shoot the ball, he’s starting to be aggressive now, and he’s realizing what we need from him to be successful, and he’s taking on that role and helping us out a lot.”

Notes: Theo Ratliff will not be with the team in New Orleans, as he’s attending his grandmother’s funeral. Coach Brown said that he hopes Theo will be back in time for the Houston game and that until then Nazr Mohammed will be worked into the rotation after missing a month and a half…Michael Jordan was in attendance, as he has been at almost every home game since buying the team…Tyrus Thomas injured his thumb in the second half but is expected to be available for the Hornets game…Hawks coach Mike Woodson is one of many former Larry Brown assistants, and Hawks players Joe Smith and Jamal Crawford have played for Brown…Boris Diaw, Theo Ratliff and Nazr Mohammed are all ex-Hawks.

On a night when everything seemed to be going wrong, Stpehen Jackson stepped up with under a minute left in overtime to deliver a knockout blow to the Milwaukee Bucks, giving the Charlotte Bobcats the win, 87-86. This victory put the Bobcats just a game and a half out of the 5th spot in the East, and moved the Magic Number to clinch a playoff spot down to 4.

When you look up “overcoming” in the dictionary, the first thing you should see is this Bobcat roster. After Jackson had to leave when he re-injured his hamstring, Larry Brown was ejected in the 2nd quarter for arguing a missed call by the officials, along with poor nights for Gerald Wallace, Raymond Felton, Boris Diaw, and Larry Hughes and the fourth-quarter foulout of Theo Ratliff. But in the end, the ‘Cats overcame all this adversity and gave Coach-for-the-night Dave Hanners a well-earned victory. Postgame, Hanners said “I can look at everybody that played and say ‘what a war’ because…I thought we matched their intensity in the second half and in overtime.” He also said “We’re close to them in the playoff race, it basically is like a playoff game…it is playoff intensity and there’s no question about it. Hanners also attributed the win to winning the war of the boards, where the ‘Cats succeeded in the second half, outrebounding the Bucks by 6 after halftime and pulling down 16 offensive rebounds. Gerald Wallace, Boris Diaw, and Theo Ratliff combined for 29 total rebounds (11 offensive boards), and Tyson Chandler added 6 off the bench, half of which were offensive rebounds. Jackson led all scorers with 32, and was joined by Raymond Felton (12 points) as the only Bobcats in double figures. Most of the 41 minutes Jackson was in the game centered around him and Milwaukee’s John Salmons. Salmons, who had 28, hit multiple clutch shots to go with his 3 that sent the game into overtime. However, he was unable to match Captain Jack, who hit a twisting floater from the three point line and a three point shot as the shot clock expired in both cases. Jackson also hit a three with just under a minute left in overtime that proved to be the winning bucket, after Tyson Chandler deflected a rebound to Raymond Felton to let time expire. Jackson said “I just thank God for giving me the strength, but if I can be out there and help my team and not hurt them then I’m going to be out there.” He also said that tonight was a “playoff atmosphere” and that “the refs [were] refereeing the playoff way.” Larry Brown didn’t think so, as he was given two technicals in three seconds for arguing a non-call, and then implored owner Michael Jordan, who was sitting courtside, to take up his case. MJ did so, often getting out of his seat and yelling, mostly at official Bill Spooner, who was responsible for many questionable calls. Jackson, who appeared to also be sick postgame, said “I got even more pumped up when Larry got kicked out, when Coach Brown got kicked out, because you’ll seldom see that. But when a guy’s fightin’ for you, you’ve gotta show him that you’re fightin’ for him also…that’s why I love him so much because he’s always fought for me since I’ve been here.” After it’s all said and done, I’d say Jack showed Larry that he fought for this team, helping his teammates battle through all the adversity to get the win.

Notes: When asked about why he thought Coach Brown was ejected, Hanners said there was no profanity and he was puzzled as to the reason…Jackson was asked if he’d ever seen a coach tossed this quickly: “Uh, no. But you never know with Don Nelson. Thats why I love Don Nelson, there’s been times when Don Nelson and me got kicked out, together…I know as much as LB coaches, he was back here going ‘No, do this, do that.’ I know he was back here, probably writing on the chalkboard talking to himself.”…Nazr Mohammed was active tonight for the first time since February 20th after having back spasms against these same Bucks, but he did not play…Gerald Henderson joined DeSagana Diop and Alexis Ajinca on the inactive list, though he is not hurt…All the players who entered the game for Charlotte scored…former Bobcat center Primoz Brezec was in town as a member of the Bucks, his fourth team since being traded shortly into the 2007-2008 season for Nazr Mohammed. Primoz did not play, however…The Bobcats are now in the top 5 in free throws attempted for the season.

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 San Antonio Spurs have traded 36 year old center Theo Ratliff to the Bobcats for a future second round pick, per multiple sources.

Ratliff, who was drafted 18th overall in the 1995 draft by the Detroit Pistons, played for Larry Brown in Philadelphia, and is well-known for his shot blocking skills. The Wyoming graduate has also played for the Hawks, Trail Blazers, Celtics, Timberwolves, and Spurs before making his way to the Queen City. The Spurs were looking to save money on their luxury tax bill and as Ratliff, who is making the veteran minimum of 1.3 million dollars, wasn’t playing much at just 8.7 minutes a game, the 2.6 million in savings outweighed Ratliff’s bench production. The Bobcats however, will need a body like Ratliff’s down the stretch run and into the playoffs, especially with each current Bobcat center (Nazr Mohammed, Tyson Chandler, DeSagana Diop, and Alexis Ajinca) suffering from injury. He will also be a body at power forward if necessary behind Boris Diaw and the newly acquired Tyrus Thomas.

Also, if you haven’t stopped by the forum, a trade between the Pacers and Bobcats almost went down earlier. That trade would have sent Nazr Mohammed, DJ Augustin, and Gerald Henderson to Indiana for TJ Ford and Brandon Rush, but it appears the Bobcats nixed the negotiations.