I don’t want to say I’m devastated, but color me disappointed. With a sellout crowd of over 19,200 on hand for the annual Charlotte Bobcats Nascar night, featuring 4-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and Ladycat Jordan’s boyfriend Denny Hamlin, I would’ve hoped for a big win and settled for just a win. I mean, with a crazy home record of 18-4 coming in, what else should I expect? And at the end of regulation, it seemed that was what was going to happen. But instead, the Bobcats came out totally flat for overtime and were outscored 14-3 in the period to lose by a final of 106-95, after coming back from a 16 point deficit in regulation.

The game started off rather tepidly, with Charlotte losing each of the first three quarters and entering the 4th down by 10. About the only bright spots up to that point were Nazr Mohammed (12 points/9 rebounds) and Raymond Felton (14/5/4 assists) playing solidly on both ends of the floor. Soon to be named All-Star Gerald Wallace was held scoreless for much of the game, although he did finish with 9 points and 10 rebounds. In the fourth, along with Wallace, DJ Augustin (22/2/1) and DeSagana Diop (6/4/2 Blocks) asserted themselves as key players in the comeback. Diop would’ve had 8 points, but a jumper from about 10 feet out was called off for a shot clock violation. Down 92-90 with 6.8 seconds left, the ‘Cats came out of the timeout and Stephen Jackson (15/5/4) hit a floater from under the basket to send the game into OT. After that, well, lets just say it wasn’t pretty.

If you want to find places to put the blame, there are plenty. The Bobcats missed 6 free throws in 22 attempts, shot just 39.8 percent from the field (including a combined 10-38 from Boris Diaw, Stephen Jackson, and Gerald Wallace), and outside of DJ Augustin’s 5-9 3 point shooting, the team was 4 of 18, which comes out at an atrocious 22.2 percent. They had their shots blocked 11 times and were outrebounded by 7. And while it appears that the officials cannot count to three when the Magic have possesion, the Bobcats could have won despite bad officiating – which had Stephen Jackson complaining all night long, including him being assessed with the game’s only technical foul – that allowed Howard the freedom to have dinner and dessert in the lane. They had their chances and let it get away.

Charlotte now starts a six game road trip:
Monday in Denver (facing former Bobcat Malik Allen and G/F Stevie Graham’s brother Joey) – Sportsouth 9:00 ET
Tuesday in Pheonix (facing former Bobcats Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley) -FSCR 9:00 ET
Friday in Golden State (facing former Bobcat Vladi Radmanovic and announcer Dell Curry’s son Stephen) – FSCR 10:30 ET
Saturday in Sacramento (facing former Bobcat and tub of lard Sean May) – Sportsouth 10:00 ET
Monday the first in Portland (facing former Bobcat Juwan Howard) – Sportsouth 10:00 ET
Wednesday the third in Los Angeles against the Lakers (facing former Bobcats Shannon Brown and Adam Morrison) – Sportsouth 10:30 ET

Notes: Tyson Chandler missed the game once again, and while he is supposedly “day-to-day” I don’t think we’ll be seeing him anytime soon….DJ Augustin appeared to regain his confidence for at least the fourth quarter, expecting to make shots instead of hoping….Larry Brown played his centers 46 out of a possible 53 minutes, which is one of the highest amounts in a long time….Brandon Bass, the player many Bobcats fans have been clamoring for in a trade, had a DNP-CD, so don’t expect to see him in a Charlotte uniform….Dwight Howard was the only player with a double-double, collecting 10 points and 20 rebounds….The Bobcats wore special NASCAR themed uniforms, with checkered side panels; Jimmie Johnson recieved a special #4 “Johnson” jersey at halftime in honor of his 4 championships….

Via Rotoworld

Raja Bell will have the season-ending wrist surgery he put off while with the Bobcats.

Bell would rather sit out the season than play for the Warriors and it’s hard to blame him as he is going to try to get healthy for a free-agent deal this summer. He’ll be an emergency player for Don Nelson tonight as they’ll only dress eight players, but expect the surgery to happen soon. Anthony Morrow, Steph Curry and Corey Maggette get a nice boost with this news.

The Bobcats announced earlier today that they have acquired Swingman Stephen Jackson from the Golden State Warriors. Jackson is a 31 year old player who last year was one of only four players to average 20+ points, 6+ assists and 5+ rebounds last season, the others being LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Paul. The Bobcats traded away starting shooting guard Raja Bell and backup power forward Vladimir Radmanovic, who has struggled so far this season. The Warriors also included G Acie Law in the deal.

This was a brilliant trade for a variety of reasons. First, although Raja is a great defensive player and can shoot the three, he has been injured too much to be reliable. Jackson has only missed more than ten games in 2004-2005 and last season, when he underwent sugery to fix the turf toe he had been playing through for around two years. Also, Jackson gives the Bobcats a huge scoring ability that they have lacked since Jason Richardson was traded away. This also frees up Gerald Wallace to have more opportunites. As for the other two players invloved, Vladimir Radmanovic and Acie Law, I see more advantages for the ‘Cats. Vladi had been struggling since last season, and hasn’t been able to find his shot. He’d also been playing out of position. This allows rookie Derrick Brown and second year player Alexis Ajinca more time at the backup power forward spot. Acie Law is a former lottery pick who has jumped around a little bit, and if anyone can help a point guard transition to the NBA, it’s coach Larry Brown.

Now, I’m sure many of you are wondering about the salary implications of this deal. This season the Bobcats save almost 2 million, and next season they lose around 1.5 million. Both Law’s and Bell’s contracts expire at the end of the year. Seeing that Raja was very comfortable in Charlotte, and just bought a house in the Queen City, he might be inclined to return, especially if Flip Murray doesn’t return next season.

Many people have criticized Jackson for his attitude with Warrior’s coach Don Nelson, but all reports from those who know him make SJax out to be a great guy. Tim Duncan considers Stephen to be the “ultimate teammate” and was given the NBA’s Community Assist Award in March 2008. He attends Bible study and is known for being extremely personable.

* Jackson will likley wear number 1, as it was his number in Golden State and is free.
* Law will probably wear number 2 for the same reasons.
* Both are planning on playing tonight against Orlando.
* Jackson’s agent has already said he is thrilled to be in Charlotte and is a big fan of co-owner Michael Jordan.

This was way, WAY more difficult than it should have been. We had all types of things go wrong this game that could have sunk us. We had missed free throws, ill-advised shots, turnovers, and rookie play from a rookie  that doesn’t normally play like a rookie. Despite all of those problems, we somehow managed to survive and get a win which brings our record to 24-35 which is currently 3 games behind the Bucks for the #8 spot in the playoffs. There are 23 games left and hope is still alive but we can’t let let winnable games slip away like this one almost did.

Random Game Thread Commentary 

- Biedrins is like the Ann Coulter of the NBA…his adam’s apple is HUGE

- Ray on Fire!

Seriously…if Sean May cut one over there on the bench, the whole building would ignite . 

- 61-55 at the half, good offense tonight but where is our defense? 
LOL Sean May trying to be involved in the game. Go sit down Sean, go to the concession stand and get a milk shake and some hot wings…. 

- Diop is BEASTING on D and being a threat (thats not a typo) on offense.
KEEP HIM IN 

- The **** did DIAW shoot a 27 footer for? Pissing contest? 

Episode 2 of BobcatsPlanet Radio is LIVE. 

Rufus on Fire discusses the Bobcats’ Bench of Washouts.

LayupDrill.com mentions Raymond Felton as a possible trade target to replace the injured Jameer Nelson.

Gerald Wallace will be traveling back to Charlotte “John Madden Style”. 

Former Bobcats coach Sam Vincent is in discussions to coach the Jamaican national team… Come on Jamaica, You’re better than that.

Have you called The Ham Biscuit Hotline?