An actual game against another team!  Holy crap!  It doesn’t mean a whole lot but it’s a competition and it’s leading to something…like a run at the Playoffs.  That’s the expectation this year.  We’re done with this basement dwelling, yeah they have some nice players, doesn’t Jordan have something to do with them?

NO!  We are the Charlotte BOBCATS!  Speaking of Jordan, the two most dominant figures since his retirement (and a lot of time during his playing days) will be on the court tonight in the person of Mr. Lebron James and Mr. Shaquille “I’ve got too many BIG Nicknames” O’Neil.  The Big Aristotle and the Big Worldwide Icon…together.  When you have a 2 time All-Star backing up a 17 time All-Star and you have the only team with 2 league MVPs…Cleveland looks pretty nasty.  They added Shaq and Candice Parker’s Big Brother (who is not bad and yes I will still say he got dunked on by his sister).

Charlotte, meanwhile, traded the team’s first ever pick, face of the franchise, Mr. Charlotte himself, Emeka Okafor to New Orleans for Tyson Chandler.  Hurt for a bit, I guess but you can’t get different results by doing the same things.  Chandler won’t play tonight.  Then again neither will Okafor.  Chandler is out, Boris Diaw is out as well.  He hurt his ankle in Eurobasket ’09.  Not the discotequing after but during an actual game.

His replacement at the 4 will most likely be his French teammate (if he’d made the team) Alexis Ajinca.  Lex has been the focus of a lot in this off season.  Larry Brown rides the kid in practice like Secretariat, he called him out for not making the French National team and basically flaking out saying “He showed no interest in making their team or playing hard,” Brown said. “I was going (to France) to drink the wine and eat the food and enjoy myself. After watching him, nothing tastes good.”

So, questions, yes.  Difficult team?  Yes.  Am I excited?  Of course, it’s preseason!  It’s time to play some ball!