If the Oklahoma City Thunder can finally lose one, then the Charlotte Bobcats can finally win one, right? I’m for the notion. Heck, I’m starting that notion. After the Bobcats blew a huge lead against a Lakers team with no identity and seemingly no spirit earlier in the week, I started thinking all hope would be lost in Charlotte. The blowout loss to the Suns on Wednesday didn’t help.

But then I saw the Kings beat the Warriors, and I felt better about the Bobcats’ potential heading into Friday night’s tilt with said Golden State. The Warriors aren’t a bad team at all at 17-9. They certainly present a risk, as they still can explode on offense at anytime and they now play better defense than they have in years. Not amazing defense, but it’s certainly better.

Charlotte, on the other hand, has dropped a “now, that’s more like it” 13 straight games and is playing pathetic defense (allowing over 104 points per game). At one time I gave them points for “competing” and “trying hard” on that end of the floor, but it’s gotten to a point where moral wins just aren’t cutting it.

“There are no limitations on this team,” Warriors coach Mark Jackson said, perhaps overstating his team’s abilities just a smidge. “They’re all committed and everybody hangs on to the rope.” The Bobcats, meanwhile, are hanging from a rope, having lost 8 in a row, most of them at home, most of them more convincingly than Daniel Day-Lewis as Abe Lincoln. Not even Michael Jordan’s presence on the bench could motivate the team last night; his advice might as well have been wearing cargo pants in a country club.

Stephen Curry owned the night, percolating up a 27-7-7. Curry was clearly motivated to play back in his home town and said that the best part was looking into the crowd and seeing his former coach Bob McKillop waving at him. That seems like an odd way to rank-order it when his father, wife, and newborn daughter were also right there in the front row, but perhaps Curry was dizzy from dribbling more circles around the Bobcats than aliens in a crop field. Curry was abetted by David Lee, perhaps the most maligned 18-and-11 guy ever, who seemingly couldn’t miss, as he went 10-of-14 and 4-4 from the foul line.

Now this is more like the Charlotte Bobcats we’ve come to know and secretly love. While it’s funny for a second, there’s not much good that comes out of a seven game losing streak. In fact, the only good that can come out of tonight’s matchup with the Golden State Warriors is that the Bobcats have a legit chance of ending the skid before it gets to eight. A win would get them to 8-12, and they could really use it before having to prepare for the L.A. Clippers later this week.

While this latest run isn’t anything to be excited about, Charlotte has still been mostly competitive recently (save for the latest loss to the Spurs), and they should matchup well with Golden State on Monday night.

For a closer look and predicted outcome, let’s breakdown all of the positions and see which team will come out on top:

1. The Point – Advantage: Warriors

Stephen Curry can ball offensively and Jarrett Jack is one heck of a backup point guard, but Curry’s defense is a joke and Jack isn’t exactly an elite defender, either. Then again, neither are Kemba Walker or Ramon Sessions, so it’s tough to give the Bobcats the nod over the Warriors, especially given how talented Curry is. Pure talent goes to Golden State, as neither side plays a ton of defense at the position.

I was on the optimistic side before the season began when analyzing the prospects of the Charlotte Bobcats for the first month of the season. I was criticized a bit for predicting a 6-9 November start, and while I freely admit it was a bit of a reach at the time, it turns out my lofty expectations of a young (but talented) team weren’t so far fetched, after all. In fact, the Bobcats topped my prediction, and finished the first month of the season at 7-8.

They kickoff the month of December tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers, so it only made sense to get back to the magic eight ball and try to predict how the team will do over the course of the next month. It’s a month of giving, cheer, and holiday. Let’s see if the Bobcats will be spending it in a good mood or not as we break down and predict each game:

1. 12/3 – vs. Portland Trail Blazers (Loss)

Portland is inconsistent, but they’re bigger and stronger than Charlotte. This one could get messy at home.

2. 12/5 – vs. New York Knicks (Loss)

New York has struggled on the road a bit, but they shouldn’t in this one. They spread out the floor with the best of them and can hurt you inside and out. Their offense will simply be too much for the Bobcats in this one, as they start December 0-2.

3. 12/7 – @ Milwaukee Bucks (Win)

They’ve beaten Milwaukee before and the Bucks are a pretty inconsistent team. Charlotte can bang down low with them and they matchup well at the guard spots. It’ll be close, but I think the Bobcats get their first win of the Christmas season here.

Yeah, gotta leave room

I always come up the title first and then the post.  That’s a fact.  You may read many first paragraphs of mine and say “He sure does like puns!”  And how.  When I wrote the title above, I immediately said to myself “Bobcats Moves?  That’s like saying you had moves at the middle school dance.  Sure, on some level, they’re moves.  But in reality, no one appreciates those ‘moves’ outside of you and your mom.”

The Bobcats, Bucks, Warriors, Timberwolves, Jazz and Wizards are in the D-List of NBA teams that get their roster needs met long after the A-List teams like the Nets, Knicks, Heat and Celtics, oh and the Lakers.  Haves and Have-Nots as always rule the day, especially in today’s NBA.

Now the rumor is Dwight Howard will be traded to the Nets, as he wanted at the trade deadline but for whatever reason, signed his player option with the Magic.  I read on another site, something about a Red Head being in flames, that the Bobcats could and possibly should try to act as a facilitator in this travesty.  Of course, it likely won’t happen as latest reports have the Cavaliers and Clippers are happy to step in and receive a little something for throwing a pick or player.  I’d say this just keeps teams like that suppressed.  The Magic will be bottom feeders for years to come except when they’re rewarded next year at the draft lottery.

No, I am not bitter.  I just don’t get the subjugation of NBA teams and they’re happy to get scraps.  Like the Magic making a move to let their second best player last season, Ryan Anderson go in a sign and trade rather than just a RFA move.  It’s almost like the idea the Bobcats had a few years ago, influenced by the classic Mark Cuban theory, to be good in the NBA you have to get real bad first.

My goal is to always remain optimistic without being completely unrealistic when I write my posts, but I have to say that the Charlotte Bobcats are making it awful hard to do that these days.

The scene from White Men Can’t Jump where Wesley Snipes is getting hustled by Woody Harrelson keeps coming to mind when I think of this team. I picture Wesley in a Bobcats uniform with his hand in the air going, “It’s pretty! It’s so pretty!”

Then Rosie Perez stands up and yells out (in her best Puerto Rican accent), “Oh no it ain’t! Go pay your taxes!”

For those of you that do watch the Bobcats I am sure I don’t need to tell you how bad things have been. I think the game Wednesday night against the Portland Trailblazers should be treated like Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series; it will be “the game that will not be named.”

We knew that this season would be a tough one, but this is starting to hurt to watch; 3-20 and in the midst of an 11 game losing streak following Saturday’s game with the Phoenix Suns. When will the pain end? When will these guys win another game?

Before we figure out the best chance for that let’s take a look at what these guys are capable of and how they stack up to the rest of the league: