Who Can Lead the Charlotte Bobcats Out of the Cellar?
It may seem hard to believe anyone can say this, but I like the Charlotte Bobcats. I think this team has a lot of promise and a whole lot of very young talent. I can see this team along with whoever they get in the coming draft at least being competitive next season.
Keep in mind, I just said competitive in a general sense. It would take the mother of all turnarounds for these guys to become post season bound, but you never know. The Rams were supposed to suck when they won the Super Bowl back in 1999.
The difference maker for the Rams then will be the same for the Bobcats next season—coaching. Paul Silas may have been good at one time, but last year he was awful beyond words. You can blame injuries and a lack of experience, but I think he wanted to win as bad as Kobe Bryant wants to run the Amazing Race with Shaq.
So who’s next?
A veteran head coach would be something the fans would love to see. Last season they had no reason to go see Bobcats home games other than to check out the opposition’s superstars and the Lady Cats (because those ladies have great personalities). A veteran would give the fans reason to believe that the team will improve; it will give them a reason to buy tickets.
Bobcats GM Higgins Narrows Coaching Search Down to “Somebody Who Wants to Win” (Part 1 of Blogcat’s Season Recap)
Last week, the Bobcats decided not to bring back Coach Paul Silas for the 2012-2013 season. Though it should be noted that they’re keeping him on as a consultant, which—given this team—is arguably a crueler thing to do than simply firing him. Anyway, the search is now on for his replacement. Besides the qualities mentioned in the headline, GM Rod Higgins told the Charlotte Observer’s Rick Bonnell that the Bobcats are looking for someone who views the job as an “opportunity” and stresses that he doesn’t necessarily have to be an ex-NBA coach. Bonnell somehow found this gibberish insightful enough to produce several articles’ worth of analysis, including one with an elaborate 3-legged stool metaphor. Poor Rick.
And speaking of “stools,” let’s talk about last season. Now that we’re a week removed from harmful exposure to the carcinogenic 2012 Bobcats, yet still comfortably far off from the lottery, it’s time to reflect on what has happened…before the slowly-but-steadily increasing anxiety at the thought of losing the lottery completely devours my brain like Kahn’s ear worms in Star Trek 2. Like my midseason recap/toxicology report, I’m going to go through each player in descending order of playing time (which also means I’ll be going through each player in descending order of my mental sanity). We’ll see how far I can get, but chances are we’ll have to break this column up into a few parts; otherwise I’ll just collapse to the floor and start laughing hysterically like Tom Hanks in The Money Pit. Here we go…
Coach Paul Silas – Okay, he technically didn’t play, but that’s okay, because he often technically didn’t coach either. Still, a few words are in order for our dearly departed coach. In his defense, he had a lineup that was intentionally terrible (thanks to management), and he lost the 6th most man-games to injury (side note: hey, look at that, we were among the league leaders in something!). But in his “offense” (?), what’s Paul Silas known for? Okay, other then looking more confused on the sidelines than Katie Couric after a Sarah Palin response? He’s known for rebounding and toughness. So at the very least, he should have instilled those characteristics in his team. And in this endeavor he completely failed; the Bobcats were 28th in overall rebounding rate and allowed the most shots at the rim of any team. The frontcourt couldn’t have been less intimidating if they had decided to start every game off with a reenactment of the video for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It).” So for this reason alone, I have no problem with letting Silas go. Also, his contract was up. Also, with a potential superstar rookie coming on board and some big name coaches available, it’s probably better to start fresh…Oh yeah, and also, this was the worst team of all time.
Would Harrison Barnes be the Consolation Prize or the Booby Prize?
For those that have been paying attention, yes, I have been on a ‘who should they draft’ kick for the last month. With the team doing as poorly as they did, it was getting to be a little too depressing to talk about it. At least in the end the team did one thing right and got rid of Paul Silas.
Going forward (since it is too depressing to look back) it appears that the Charlotte Bobcats are virtually guaranteed at least one talented player. Odds are good they’ll get the No 1 pick and highly likely that they will at least get the No 2 or 3.
What if they the basketball Gods decide to spit on Jordan the Owner since he was so successful as Jordan the Player and the ‘Cats get a later pick in the lottery (all the way down at 4)?
Most of the predictions and mocks that I’ve read all said the same person is expected to go No 6—North Carolina small forward Harrison Barnes. On the off chance that the Bobcats happen to be at the 4th spot or if they trade down a few slots, should they pick him and be happy?
Absolutely not.
I didn’t watch much North Carolina ball last year or the year before (I live in Indiana; I think there’s a law against watching anyone but IU and Butler). To talk about this guy I had to do my research.
Everyone says he has the body of a NBA small forward at 6-foot 8-inches and 210 pounds. Most people call him athletic (there was a couple that said he lacked athleticism). The 7-foot wing span is nice. People said one thing in many ways, but when you cut through the crap all they were saying was he’s a good shooter.
Paul Silas, Out As Bobcats Head Coach
"What the hell man? Can't have the worst win % and come back?"
I thought it was strange, early in the year, when there was a meeting that apparently absolved Paul Silas and his coaching staff of all responsibility of the misery heaped upon the franchise through epic losses. I thought Silas might see the Bobcats through whatever was coming after this horrible season, but I was further confused when I heard Marv Albert and Mike Fratello on the TNT broadcast basically sealing Silas’s fate as Bobcats’ coach.
They said, basically, that Silas could come back to the team, in some aspect, but likely not as the head coach. This was confirmed today, by Rick Bonnell of the Observer. For all we know, this could be Paul’s decision. He has had health issues, some serious and he’s no spring chicken. If you ask me, however, this was simply a case of not rewarding a guy who led the worst team in NBA history. Read More…
Is Jared Sullinger The Best Backup Plan for the Bobcats
The only good thing about being so bad this season is that the Charlotte Bobcats are virtually guaranteed to get a pretty solid player in the coming NBA draft. That can’t always be said, but the talent pool looks pretty darn good so whether they get the first, second, or third pick (or lower) via the lottery they are going to get someone who can contribute immediately.
That is, unless His Airness does something crazy, but in Jordan we trust right?
As the whole world knows, Mr. Unibrow (aka Anthony Davis) is going to be the No 1 pick in the draft. Should that pick not belong to the Bobcats, who else should they choose?
They can’t go wrong if they opt to go with the sophomore forward from Ohio State Jared Sullinger.
His stats are solid. As a freshman– the year most people expected him to enter the draft—he averaged a double-double with 10.2 boards and 17.2 points a game. That number dipped a tad last season (9.2 boards but 17.5 points a game), but he went up in many other areas.
He went from averaging a block every other game to 1.1 a game. His free throw percentage improved from .704 to .768. As a big man he will not be expected to drain a lot of 3s, but he got better at that too hitting 40 percent (16-40) last season compared to 25 percent as a freshman (3-12). His field goal percentage took a dip (.519 to .541), but with his smaller size he was likely taking more jump shots than he did as a freshman.
Bobcats End Season Lacking Dignity, Commas in Their Fan Appreciation Ads
Look at it this way, Bobcats fans: at least “.106 winning percentage” doesn’t make for a very catchy derisive chant. Not only is Charlotte officially the worst team ever, with 23 losses to close out the season (23—the Irony-Meter’s on 10), one month-old Bobcats fans everywhere are wondering if the Bobcats will ever win a game in their lifetime. At least Scott Fowler should be happy. The Charlotte Observer columnist wrote an idiotic article on Saturday hoping that the Bobcats would lose out in order to achieve a sort of “worst-ever” celebrity status. “Make this season one for the record books,” Fowler wrote, “and then rebuild.” Call me crazy, but I see no upside in being associated with the worst-ever team.
Actually, Fred Carter would call me crazy. The unofficial spokesman for the 1972-73 76ers, the NBA’s now-former worst-ever team, really did seem to revel in the notoriety. Back in 2010, when the Nets were threatening to displace the 76ers as the worst-ever team, Carter told the New York Times that he hoped it wouldn’t happen. “Immortality only comes in so many different ways,” Carter reasoned, sounding disturbingly like how I imagine Charles Manson looks back on the Tate-Labianca murders. Then again, Carter also claims credit for being the person who invented the fist-bump, so he might be a few beers short of a six-pack. I’m even slightly worried that Carter might take out a lawsuit against the Bobcats for a combination of defamation and copyright infringement.
