The back of Cory's head--and that Griffin kid.

If you have not watched basketball in the last week, than you have no idea who Jeremy Lin is. To find out all you have to do is turn on ESPN. The Asian Sensation has become the hottest name in basketball as he has stepped out of obscurity on February 4 to lead the Knicks to a much needed win over the New Jersey Nets.

Most of you are probably still asking who this kid is. Well, in a nutshell he could be one of the most perpetually underrated talents. The big schools ignored him even though he was clearly one of the best players in California. Harvard gave him a chance, and he went on to be a two-time All-Ivy League first team player.

Just like after high school, he was largely ignored by the NBA once he was finished playing college ball. He got some interest as an undrafted free agent, and ended up taking less money to go with the Wizards; a year later they kicked him to the curb.

Now he’s led the New York Knicks to a five-game winning streak, and is dangerously close to making them relevant again.

By now I bet you’re wondering what in the world this means to the Charlotte Bobcats. Easy—

Where in the world is our Jeremy Lin?!?!?!

The Bobcats game against the Knicks was blacked out again for those of us in the NYC-area—and that was the highlight of the week.  That relatively close loss was followed up with increasingly worse results against the Rockets and the Hawks.  Opposing teams aren’t just dribbling circles around Charlotte, they’re dribbling Epcot Centers.  The offense is entirely too dependent on long-range, low-percentage 2’s, and the defense is a full-fledged, catastrophic atrocity.  Teams are scoring on us every which way—through guard penetration, put-backs, 3’s, and however it is that Chandler Parsons put up 20. Oh, and don’t forget the foul line: the Knicks and the Hawks shot freebies a combined 68 times. Meanwhile, with both teams tied at 33 in the second quarter in Tuesday’s game, Houston went on the lamest 10-point “run” ever, featuring a stretch of six straight free throws (they also missed three of them—the entire gruesome sequence should be under investigation by the FCC).  The Bobcats never recovered, nor did traumatized audiences at home.  In short, it was the type of week in which every shot of beleaguered coach Paul Silas’s facial expressions reminded me of the look my dog makes when my wife tries to make him wear a t-shirt.

Jumping out to an early lead Monday night in Gotham was nothing more than a tease as the lowly Bobcats drop another heartbreaker.  Then again, when your starting center is DeSagana Diop, it’s very difficult from the outset to envision a win.  The ‘Cats came out of the gates with a bang and were very efficient in the early stages of this contest.  Charlotte lead at one point 10-0 before the Knicks collected themselves, and stepped up their game.  Before you could blink your eye, the Knicks were in front of the Bobcats by nine points in the first half and kept their distance.  Charlotte trailed by five at the half and kept nipping at the Knicks’ heels throughout the second half.  Carmelo Anthony had an average night and did most of his damage from the foul line.  Amare Stoudemire (25 points) and Tyson Chandler (20 points) exposed the putrid Bobcats’ frontcourt all evening as they dictated the flow in the paint.  The main player that stuck out for the Knicks though was rookie guard, Iman Shumpert.  Though he didn’t eclipse the Carmelo’s and Chandler’s of the world, the former Georgia Tech standout was a floor general all night.  He directed the New York offense with precision and did a lot of dirty work that you won’t find on the stat sheet.

Well this is interesting.  According to the Charlotte Observer’s Rick Bonnell, after the atrocity in Cleveland, coach Paul Silas motivated Boris Diaw to a stellar performance against the New York Knicks with an emotional, heart-to-heart discussion. “We had a pow-wow after the game. I told him he just can’t play like that,” said Silas in Bonnell’s piece. “I don’t want to get on him, but he’s got to bring it every night — this is a business.”  However, according to the AP recap of the Knicks game, Silas said nothing at all to Diaw after the Cleveland game. “I didn’t say a word and I knew that he was going to come with it tonight because we’ve gone through that before and the next game he’s played very well,” said the “AP Silas.”   So which is it–did Silas talk to Diaw or not?  Or does coach Silas have an evil twin?

What up people, Toocool here with a blog in 2012. Won’t be blogging too much due to my promotion to Mod, where I do my daily duties as a friendly neighbourhood mod. But it’s refreshing after the lockout to wake up at 8:30 am today to watch the Bobcats, more refreshing to see them win. Yes, you might say ‘But we be in tank mode!’ Doesn’t mean we can’t beat a few teams so we don’t go all emo and cut ourselves.

Regardless of whether we be tanking or not, Knicks versus Bobcats was us on the big stage in Madison Square Garden. Many angry Knicks fans were there, Commissioner D. Stern and ex-Bobcat, the man with hands of stone, the rock in the middle, the amazing defensive presence Tyson Chandler. Oh wait…not even Tyson Chandler can help Anthony or Stoudemire’s crapass defense.

But that’s the reason why we won. The Bobcats shot the ball well, and we were allowed to really take whatever we want, and watch the Knicks flounder on defense. We saw guys like Diaw and Hendo hit consistently, with Diaw actually taking shots. Melo and Stoudamire got their usual high points, but they really gave it right back on defense. And well, we lead them the entire way since the first quarter.

After back-to-back embarrassing efforts against the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat, the Bobcats followed it up with their worst yet against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs manhandled the Bobcats like they were a younger brother. Cleveland is an improved team this year but for Charlotte to get spanked like it did is beyond concerning. Due to a condensed schedule, teams won’t have the luxury of practicing nearly as much as they would have been during a normal season. The lack of practices will hurt this Bobcats team which will be forced to gel on the court in games as opposed to developing better chemistry in practice.

Tonight, Charlotte gets the task of playing a much better team than the Cavs in the New York Knicks. The Knicks have been shorthanded the past couple games with Amare Stoudemire out with an ankle injury, and it’s possible the All-Star power forward will be back in the lineup tonight along with Iman Shumpert who has been out since Christmas day. Getting the two back would be devastating for the Bobcats’ chances of winning tonight, especially if Amare plays.