Fortunately the Bobcats’ season remains the only thing in a vegetative state. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had to be carted off in a stretcher after whacking his head on teammate Jeff Taylor’s hip and/or knee, but as of this morning he appears to have suffered nothing more than a bad concussion. Other than in pro wrestling, it’s never fun to see the paramedics running out with those wheeled gurneys and the neck brace, as they did last night while MKG lay motionless on the court. It all happened in typical MKG fashion, too: he was hustling to try to block Toney Douglas on a driving layup, there was contact, and he fell back into a trailing Taylor.

One of the concerns with MKG was that his rugged play would lead to chronic injuries and an ultimately shortened career, and here we are. He’s already scratched his cornea and gotten a brutal concussion after just 46 games; at this rate, by year 3 he’s going to be playing with a hook and a peg-leg. Of course, I and I’m pretty sure everyone else loves MKG—he’s on pace to capture that place in our hearts that Gerald Wallace still dives around in—so let’s hope little Crash, Jr. can come back soon and be less effective at identifying new ways to maim himself.

Another tough NBA fight, another difficult loss for Bobcats fans to swallow. Sure, Charlotte gave Houston a run for it’s money on Monday night, but in the end dropped their second straight game and (once again) started what could develop into another lengthy losing streak.

Despite forcing James Harden into difficult shots (he shot just 5-for-20 from the floor), Charlotte couldn’t figure him out defensively, as he penetrated at will and reached the charity stripe an incredible 21 times. When a player like that gets there that often and hits 19 of his tries, you know you’re in for a long day.

Fortunately, the Bobcats actually made a game of it, though, as point guard Kemba Walker abused Jeremy Lin and dropped a game-leading 35 points on the Rockets. In fact, he single-handedly kept the Bobcats within striking distance, as he hit 6-of-7 three balls to help Charlotte head into the final period with a seven-point lead.

I’m paraphrasing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when I say that I have a dream that Fox Sports South never throws up a stupid jinxing graphic like this one again. As soon as I saw it flash at the end of the third quarter in the Bobcats’ latest excruciating loss to the Rockets, I knew that the Bobcats were toast—toast in Mrs. Hughes’ toaster. There’s nothing deadlier than those types of stats; they ought to have their own show on Fox primetime and be hunted by Kevin Bacon, who gets called in for one last mission but is in danger of getting too close—is he the hunter or the hunted?

Nah, that’s not true. Howlin’ Wolf ain’t superstitious, and neither am I. And I don’t believe in Peter Pan, Frankenstein, or Superman. Besides, why make up reasons for the Bobcats’ pants-wetting performance when there are so many real ones? Starting with James Harden. Harden finished with a line of 5-of-20 shooting, 0-5 on 3’s, 4 TOs, 7 assists, 7 boards, -1 plus/minus, and 19-of-21 from the free throw line. This is one of the strangest lines I’ve ever seen that didn’t belong to Bismack Biyombo and wasn’t made of cocaine. Harden had so many free throws you’d think he’d won a throw raffle. They were all of the infuriating Dwyane Wade-style, too. You know the kind: Harden relentlessly bum-rushes the rim and gets knocked down, so the ref has got to call something on someone. This afternoon that someone was usually Gerald Henderson, Biyombo, Kemba Walker, Jeff Taylor, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist—it was pretty much anyone other than James Harden.

First of all, I’m so pissed that Michael Pena of Red 94 stole my thunder.  I was all over that line from Houston Rockets color analyst/balding community icon Clyde Drexler about Tyrus Thomas not having “enough sand in his pants.”  The game was well into the third quarter and the Bobcats were already down by a million, so I was counting on the fact that I was one of the few people still watching, and therefore that gem of a line was going to be my reward.  But Michael beat me to the punch!  So instead, I’ll call up another zinger from ol’ Glide a few years ago when he compared some easy task (I forget exactly what it was—perhaps getting Bonzi Wells to overeat at a Cheesecake Factory) to “clubbing baby seals.”  Yikes!  Where was Drexler raised?  A ditch in Antarctica?

Second, I disagree with Rick Bonnell’s post-Rockets game assessment that the Bobcats are “barely going through the motions.”  I think their motions have actually been quite robust; I just think they’re a terrible team.  None of the starting five should actually be a starter, and only Thomas and Corey Maggette are performing noticeably worse than their career averages.  Also, after all of the 30-point blow-outs, why does Bonnell suddenly now think that they’re barely going through the motions?  Against Houston, Charlotte only lost by 20 on the road to a playoff team that just beat OKC—hey, for Bobcats fans, that means it’s Miller Time!  With this level of talent, opposing teams should be crushing Charlotte every night.  As Drexler would say, it’s like beating up a crippled nun.

The first time the Charlotte Bobcats won a game on national television, they did so behind a strong game from an overweight power forward on his home court. That formula held true for the second time, as Boris Diaw channeled his inner Sean May and led the Bobcats to their first national tv win since December 14, 2006.

Diaw, who had 20 points (9-14 shooting, 2-3 3pa) and 10 rebounds, was the catalyst tonight, but was hardly the only Bobcat to make an impact in front of majority owner Michael Jordan, who was attending his 7th game of the season. Nazr Mohammed chipped in with 15 points and 7 rebounds after playing four minutes combined in the two games against the Knicks this week. Stephen Jackson had 16 points (7-14 fga, 1-3 3pa) and Gerald Wallace, despite a poor shooting night (6-21) managed 21 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. DJ Augustin continued his strong season as a distributor, with 11 assists to just 1 turnover. Shaun Livingston added 10 points off the bench and the Bobcats defeated the banged-up Houston Rockets 99-89 on ESPN2 to move to 6-10 on the year.

Bobcats are a legit playoff contender.  It’s not secret.  Gerald Wallace is a legit All-Star calliber player.  Whether the coaches and players realize it remains to be seen.  He was not on form last night against the Houston Rockets.  The Rockets come in with a team of “Huh?  Who?  Wow, He looks exactly like a Q-Tip!” players but they are winning, in the West no less!

The ‘Cats played from behind most of the evening with Gerald Wallace, cold.  I mean COLD like the weather for the last 3 weeks cold.  Gerald played all 48 minutes against Houston on a 2-10 shooting night.  He did keep up the rebounds and the defense of course with 9 rebs, 2 steals and a block but he just wasn’t there.  Raymond Felton really wasn’t either.  2 for 7 and 4 assists but you know what?  IT DIDN’T MATTER!

Stephen Jackson with a breakout, all time Bobcats high, 43 points.  Quietly, Mrs. Doris Meow of France had 19 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists!  Who knew?  I kid about Boris, he’s not all bad but man, he’s been killing me.  I think the problem is the attitude.  He misses a shot, makes a turnover get’s blocked, whatever bonehead disappointment he puts forth, he gets this look on his face like when I was in 7th grade band.  I’d miss a note or make my saxophone honk like a Canadian goose and I’d get this confused, “Must have been the instrument” look on my face and the director would give me a look like “The girl sitting beside you isn’t fooled.  And PS I know that’s the only reason you’re in the band.”  Boris does the same thing, like this disappointed because something should have worked perfectly.  Meanwhile, the other team has taken his weak telegraphed pass down to the other end for a dunk.

You like that trip down BigCat memory lane huh?  I did too….ahhh memories.  On to the ‘Cats.  A real team, on an off night from the “Super Star” and a straight up bad night from the point guard positions (7 points and 5 assists between them), the Bobcats still found a way to win.

No matter what Rick Bonnell tries to tell you about Tyson Chandler missing and Gerald Henderson not getting a lick of playing time, this team is still 2 games from .500 and we’re almost 40 games in.  There aren’t glaring problems.  There are no missing links.  If a guy has a bad night, like Gerald, Ray and DJ did against Houston, I believe that this team can pull out victories.  Consistently is another issue all together but hey, I’m talking about the past not the future here!