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.

The Bobcats vs. the Raptors 3/29/10

It is the season for teams fighting for a play-off berth to step up and grab their place at the table. Teams behind want to catch those teams in front of them. Teams in front want to embarrass and take those behind out of their thoughts. Those not in contention for a play-off spot simply want to spoil the way for any team better than themselves. Tonight, the Bobcats played a team behind them in the standings and helped them feel better about themselves. This is not a good thing at this point in the season. The ‘Cats offense showed up shooting a reasonable 46.4% from the field and an outstanding 50.0% from three-point land…so what the heck happened? The Bobcats defense was not ready to play against a Raptors team unwilling to throw in the towel. Gerald Wallace, Raymond Felton, and Stephen Jackson all had their moments on offense. Boris Diaw, on the other hand, reverted to his past sin of passing up open shots to pass the ball at very inopportune times. Defensively, the Charlotte team let the Raptors shoot 50.6% from the field and allowed Toronto too many offensive rebounds (10-4). The long-ball might have been seductive for the ‘Cats but they allowed Toronto, a finesse team, to out-score them in the paint (34-24).

Team defense sagged since the ‘Cats refused to put “a body on a player” on numerous occasions, allowing the Raptors to score easy points. This was a very uncharacteristic defensive lapse for the Charlotte team. Giving hope to teams behind you wins nothing at this stage in the play-off chase! The ‘Cats had a chance to possibly drop the Raptors, depending on the Bulls game tomorrow night, into a tie with the team from Chicago. The point, at this point in the season, is to make your opponents sweat more than you and the ‘Cats failed plain-and-simple. They were at home, nice crowd for Monday, playing a team from which they could take the season tie-breaker, and they failed. This, thankfully, was not a do-or-die, or the Bobcats would be dead. The ‘Cats still hold the seventh place position in the Eastern Conference, two games ahead of the Raptors and three games ahead of the Bulls. The hope is that the ‘Cats begin to dominate and send a message that, not only do we want to be a play-off team, we will push you to the maximum. Let’s hope the Bobcats rebound.

The Good:

Raymond Felton (18 points and 7 assist).

Good offense, especially 3-pt. shooting (50.0%).

Free-throw shooting (80.6%).

The Bad:

Boris Diaw passing up open looks.

The Ugly:

Team defense…allowing the Raptors to shoot (50.6% from the field).

Next game for the Bobcats: Wednesday 3/31/10 7:00pm vs. Philadelphia 76ers

Hearing  Raymond Felton speak the BCP catch phrase had me literally in tears from laughter. Those that weren’t around BCP back during the Vincent years may not understand the hilarity of this, but those that were will certainly appreciate this. ( The Origin of Fine Ham Biscuit )

A few pics from the “Fine Ham Biscuit” years of BCP

Just a few days ago, we saw the Charlotte Bobcats play horrible basketball in Washington, D.C. but somehow come out with an overtime win over the Wizards, 95-86. There would be no overtime tonight, as the ‘Cats survived multiple attempts at a comeback by the Washington Wizards to win 107-96. The Bobcats earned their franchise-record 38th win, and are for the first time ever four games over .500%. The Wizards, however, set their own franchise record with their 14th consecutive loss. While it wasn’t pretty, it’s a win, and that means the magic number to make the playoffs is down to 7.

Suspended Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas showed up for his sentencing earlier in the day (30 days in a halfway house and community service, if you were wondering), but most of his teammates were nowhere to be found. Mike Miller scored just 10 points in 36 minutes and just three Wizards scored more than 10 points. One of them is D-League call-up Alonzo Gee, who replaced the injured Al Thornton in the starting lineup with 19 points, making him Washngton’s leading scorer. No Wizard had more than 7 rebounds, and they had shots blocked by the Bobcats 8 times. Believe it or not, Raymond Felton had two of those blocks to go along with his 19 points (on 8-10 shooting) and 11 assists. Felton said postgame that “we’re treating every game like a playoff game” and attributed his recent performance boost to “being at my comfort level.” But he was far from the only Bobcat to contribute. Gerald Wallace had 23 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals along with several crowd-pleasing dunks. Stephen Jackson dropped in 20 points, and Boris Diaw put out a 12/5/4 line. Tyson Chandler had 4 points, 5 rebounds and a block off the bench, but his post presence was more valuable than numbers can show. New Bobcat Larry Hughes had his best game in a short period, going 4-10 for 10 points with 3 rebounds. But perhaps the most encouraging stat of the game is playing time: No starter played more than 34 minutes, and league leader in minutes per game Gerald Wallace played just 32:28 with just as much effectiveness. While I doubt this will push Coach Larry Brown to rest the starters more, considering the poor play of the bench (outside Chandler and Hughes, there were just 11 bench points on 16 shots, and 7 turnovers from the bench), it’s at least a good sign for one night. Regarding the game, LB said “I wasn’t crazy about it, we turned the ball over too much, we got beat on straight line drives.” He’s also been keeping tabs on NCAA tournament action, saying “Hell, you can be Northern Iowa, St. Mary’s, Butler, it doesn’t matter, we gotta respect whoever we play…Sometimes, I don’t know if we completely understand that.”

Notes: The Bobcats led the whole game…Former Bobcat Earl Boykins did not play in a coach’s decision for the Wizards…Despite sitting himself in the previous game against the ‘Cats, Andray Blatche started and played 38 minutes…The Bobcats swept the season series with Washington 4-0…Two of the Bobcats’ next three games are against close rivals in the playoff race, Monday the 29th vs. Toronto and Friday April 2nd vs. Milwaukee…With the Bulls being inactive tonight, the magic number of Bulls losses and Bobcats wins is now 7, and the Bobcats could possibly clinch a playoff spot by beating the Bulls in Chicago next Saturday (april 3rd), though mathematically it could be as soon as the 2nd…Miami beat the Bucks tonight, placing Charlotte 1/2 game back of the 6th spot in the Heat but just 1 1/2 games back of 5th (Milwaukee).

Don’t worry guys, the chest pains have subsided. After watching the Bobcats give up a 10 point 4th quarter lead, watching Captain Jack at the line in the closing moments of regulation go 0-2 with an opportunity to put the game out of reach for the Hawks, watching the Cats scrap their way back from a 3 point overtime deficit to gain a one point lead ONLY to lose to a dagger 3 pointer by Joe Johnson at the buzzer… Well, lets just say that it was touch and go there for a while. I started to walk into the pretty light, but modern science and a couple of shots of Bacardi rum brought me back from the brink.

How did my life essence wind up in this precarious situation? Let’s recap. The Bobcats got off to a fast start in the first quarter behind Stephen Jackson and Raymond Felton. Ray’s shot was dropping all night, Jax… well, we’ll get to that shortly. The Cats backslid a little in the 2nd only managing 18 points in the quarter, 3 of which was a beautiful halftime buzzer beater by Felton ( He is making that look routine lately).

In the second half we welcomed back Gerald Wallace. After a quiet first half , he and Josh Smith engaged in an epic battle filled with dunks, blocks and other feats of magnificent athleticism that we mere mortals will never experience.

Josh Smith ruins Theo Ratliff’s day at the 56 second mark:

In the 4th the Bobcats gave up a hard earned 10 point lead, BUT with time winding down and the Cats up by 2 we had Captain Jack at the line with a chance to put the game out of reach and something that you would never expect to see happen happened. He went 0-2 from the line with the game on the line. Joe Johnson proceeds to knock down a basket to send the game into OT.

In overtime the Bobcats fell down early by 3, but managed to scrap there way to a 1 point lead behind some big, big, BIG time heroics by Raymond Felton. So with the Bobcats up by 1 with 3.8 seconds left in OT and a foul to give, we should be in good shape, Right?

And then this happened…

The Post-Mortem

Ray was phenomenal in this game with 25 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and some HUGE baskets. Unfortunately his biggest mistake came at the most crucial moment of the game when he didn’t use that foul that he had to give

Gerald Wallace returned without missing a beat. Fortunately for the Cats, it looks like his ankle injury isn’t something that is going to linger or affect his style of play.

And to Stephen Jackson. Many people are going to bash Stephen for missing the 2 free throws and for forcing 3 ( or was it 4 ) 3 point attempts in overtime instead of being patient and working the ball around a little more. But I’m not, For good or bad Jax is Jax. Although seeing those forced threes in OT wasn’t fun, he had the guts to take them and if one of those had dropped then we would be talking about a great bobcats win last night. Without the Jackson trade, we would probably still be on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.

Next up, the Miami Heat