The Bobcats vs. the Jazz 2/24/10

It is pure frustration when the highlight of a game, (for your team), is two technical fouls called on the head coach resulting in his ejection! I wish that there was one problem I could point to as the cause of the teams’ frustrating play since the All-Star break. I think there will be those folk that complain about calls by the refs. I see that as a weak (non-excuse) when the Bobcats when to the foul-line 34-23 against the Jazz. There is not just one problem I fear. It is starting to look (to me) as if we’re seeing an organizational meltdown. In the next 5-6 days we’ll know (supposedly) who the new team owner(s) will be, I can only hope this settles the team, as they remain in the play-off chase. But, if the “wheels” continue to come off, game-after-game, there is little hope of this team making the play-offs. I’ve rarely watched the Bobcats play a better first half. They made few mistakes, drove to the basket, out-muscled a physical Jazz team, and looked every-bit the play-off team we’ve thought they’d be this year. Timely substitutions were made, the bench looked good, and the game was managed very effectively by coach Brown. The second half was a completely different story.

The team stopped driving, stopped fighting for rebounds, and frustration (from the coaches and players) seemed to grip the team. When Raymond Felton had to sit, (with four fouls), the match-up between D. Williams and DJ Augustin was akin to watching a grown man push a child down a hill, not much of a match-up. Boris Diaw, (mercifully), was on the court for only 7 minutes in the first half. Unfortunately, for the team, he played 23 minutes in the second half. Why was that a problem? When he was on the floor we usually had one Bobcat player trying to rebound against 2-3 Jazz players. When he was off the floor as many as three ‘Cats players were under the boards trying to rebound. I can’t tell you why this happens because I don’t know why it happens! But, after controlling the boards in the first half, the Bobcats finished the game being out-rebounded by the Jazz, 42-34. The timely substitutions were not duplicated in the second half. The dunk of the game (for me) was a vicious-left-handed-throw-down by rookie D. Brown. He brought energy and intensity for the time he played in the first half. Where was he in the second half…on the bench! With very tough teams coming to Time-Warner Arena things do not get any easier. The ‘Cats had a chance to pull back into the eighth seed with a victory, that did not happen.

The loss keeps the Bobcats in the ninth position in the Eastern Conference and out of the play-offs for the moment. We can only hope that a resolution of ownership will help the team correct itself. The Bobcats are now two games under the .500 mark at (27-29).

The Good:

Gerald Wallace with 27 points and 8 rebounds.

Theo Ratliff with 4 blocked shots.

Tyrus Thomas with a season high 20 points.

First-half bench play.

The Bad:

Team shooting (41.2%).

The Ugly:

DJ trying to guard D. Williams.

The second half.

Out-rebounded 42-34.

Next game for the Bobcats: Wednesday 2/26/10 8:00pm at Memphis Grizzlies