Bobcats Baseline Observations: Charlotte @ Dallas 12/12/09
It won’t show up in the standings but the Charlotte Bobcats won a big game against the Dallas Mavericks Saturday night in a valiant defensive effort as Gerald Wallace, Raymond Felton and Stephen Jackson all topped 20 points and held a solid Western Conference contender to just 39% shooting from the floor. Final score 97-98.
AP recap here | Box score here
Where Have You Gone Tim Donaghy?
I’m not going to recount it here in detail but the officiating was worse than brutal tonight. You could sense as much as the Bobcats headed into the 4th quarter up by eight, 70-62. The Mavs were struggling, yes, but Mark Cuban was at his manipulative best by trotting out The The Protectors of Freedoms and Liberties on the sidelines complete with Gary “Lt. Dan” Sinise leading the charge. What official in his right mind is gonna let this many war veterans go home unhappy with a loss to the Charlotte-freakin’-Bobcats? Thus we had several magical off-the-ball fouls on the ‘Cats to get them into the penalty early in the quarter and combined with the team’s sloppy handling of the ball (18 turnovers to 13), allowed the Mavericks to come back and tie the game, send it into overtime and let Dirk go to work.
Bullets:
- Gerald Wallace gave Nowitzki fits all night on defense until Rick Carlisle wised up and switched Dirk off of him. Wallace’s 23pts and 16rbs gave him his fourteenth double-double of the season. Outside of his 5 TOs (including a terrible one at the end of regulation), Wallace’s effort was incredible. He played 51 minutes and never let up on either end of the court.
- Raymond Felton continued his development into a Derek Fisher-type by hitting clutch basket after basket in the 2nd half + OT. He nailed half of his shots going for 20 points and dropped in 8 dimes to boot.
- For all of Dirk’s heroics at the end of the 4th and OT, he actually played a very poor game and was handled easily by Boris Diaw for most of the night as he finished a tawdry 14-34 from the field. His pump/headfake from the perimeter is still unguardable though as I can only imagine trying to stop a deadly long-ball shooter who releases the ball a good 10 feet in the air. Great job by Boris.
- D.J. Augustin got a little playing time but didn’t do much with it. In fifteen minutes, he made a three, dished out an assist and got totally schooled by J.J. Barea. Barea, who is absurdly listed at 6 feet but is closer to 5’9″, actually blocked one of Augustin’s shot attempts. Have you hit rock bottom yet, D.J.?
- Stephen Jackson went on a personal 14-0 run for the Cats late in the 3rd/early in the 4th and finished with 28. Jackson has been an offensive godsend to a Bobcats team that still needs at least one more creator on the roster.
- Can’t believe how quickly this supposedly “old” Mavericks team still pushes the tempo. Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion looked very quick and the Mavs didn’t slow down much with Terry or Dampier out there as well. They look more like Nellie’s old Mavs than they have in quite a while. That said, the Bobcats stellar D held them to just 98 points.
The Bobcats have the Knicks and Pacers up next and will need to take both of those games if they want to continue to float around the .500 mark.
Until next time, Enjoy the Loss Bobcats Fans…
#*$& Nowitzki. Texas teams are lame.
well, at least we know that we are capable of playing anybody on any given night.
too bad we also know that we are capable of giving the game away to anybody on any given night.
really wish i could know exactly what was going on, but i was forced to listen to the Dallas radio stream from NBA.com (these columbia people havent caught that bobcats wave yet i guess…) and man, they were givin tyson a hard time. as well as boris, so i guess that means that we arent the only ones witnessing this madness.
big time players make big time plays. dirk nowitzki is a big time player. theres nothing you can do about that except curse the man.
realistically, the Cats had this one all wrapped up for christmas with around 7 minutes left in this game.
and im with ASChin, theres no doubt Cuban has EXTREME pull in games.
Wish I could blame the refs as vociferously as you, but there were other factors as well. Most of all, I was completely unsurprised that the Bobcats blew this one. Totally predictable. On the road, when the going gets tough, they simply can't get buckets. Gerald's "attempt" at a gamewinning drive at the end of regulation was inexcusable. Ball should have been in Jack's hands, or Gerald should have at least tried to back his man down – not drive wildly.
Secondly, I think we could have done a little more to slow down Nowitzki in 4th quarter/overtime. Early in the game, we were giving Dirk different looks. Wallace, Jackson, Graham and Diaw all spent time guarding him and Nowitzki had a terrible time getting into a rhythm. But in the fourth and OT, even as Dirk heated up, Brown stubbornly stuck with Boris guarding him.
When Dirk sees another soft, finesse Euro as his cover his eyes probably get as big as saucers. Just the kind of guy he wants to back down, spin and fade against. Does anyone remember how Stephen Jackson totally intimidated Dirk just a couple years ago when the Warriors beat the Mavs in the first round of the playoffs? Why not switch Jack onto Dirk as he was heating up – Dirk would have shrunk with a scowling, aggressive Jack covering him.
I love CSI: NY! I’m director of the Gary Sinise Fan Club, and we send out a daily newsletter Monday – Friday pertaining to all the latest news regarding Gary, CSI: NY, Steppenwolf Theatre and Operation International Children, along with Gary Sinise and the Lt Dan Band. The newsletter includes a daily photograph in professional mat and framework not available anywhere else.
I believe you would enjoy what we post and share about the CSI: NY show.
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/GarySiniseFa…
If you would like to have all the news first hand, come see us.
I’d love to have you, and very site!
Victoria
the Raja Bell billboard is still up because Gerald Wallace said so.
your bobcats suck, and thats why you lost
If anyone has seen Tim Donaghy's interview or read clips from his books, the refs in the NBA are so crooked. David Stern doesn't want "star stoppers" like Crash stopping Dirk Nowitski. So a few off the ball fouls later, Dirk has a little bit more room to work. That said, I haven't watched two minutes of a game this year, so really I'm just popping off. Speaking of popping off, Mark Ingram had no business winning the Heisman last night. Toby Gerhart was snubbed. I know this is a Bobcats site, but as sports fans, what do you guys think? By the way, the Raja Bell billboard is till up.
Weirdest comment thread ever.
We have some routine comments from Reggie and myself, followed by some spam from a Gary Sinise fansite, followed by Jody slobbering on Toby Gerhart, then a Mavs troll spouting off.
Happy Holidays, all!
I may have a small man-crush on Toby Gerhart, but to say I was slobbering is out of line.
im quite certain that quietsavant and Mark Cuban would be having a cry-session with Tim Tebow if the Mavs lost last night.
nuff said. "fans" like you (and the Lebronites) make the game terrible.
Reggie representing the Bobcats. Congrats on the tickets. Have fun at the game.
thanks jody! i will
and i know the cats arent the most credible team in the league, but youd think that three straight years of owning the Kobes would do something for us right?
refs gave gwallace 4 fts to win the game, you have no grounds on this one. Take the loss and regather
Wow quietsavant. You sound really tough and manly. And your name, it's so clever.
Are you out of your freakin mind blaming the loss on Seats for Soldiers night? It's an annual event thats gone on for at least 6 years now. Apparently you don't watch many Mavs games. Their record is pretty damn good when they are shooting less than 40% this year. You gonna tell me THOSE nights were Seats for Soldiers nights too?? What WON THE GAME FOR THE MAVS was 20+ second chance points by outrebounding the hell out of the Bobcats, clutch shots by Dirk Nowitzki which NO ONE could stop, lockdown D on Jackson by Jason Kidd…by the way I didn't see Kidd marching the the free throw line at the end of the game and I also didn't see Jackson score another point after he scored the first 3 in the 4th for the Cats, allowing Dampier AND Marion MONSTER DOUBLE DOUBLE and just flat out out husseling your team in the final minutes. Your team is what? 0-9 or 1-9 on the road?? AND YOU WANNA BLAME MARK CUBAN AND SEATS FOR SOLDIERS?? DUDE, YOU NEED TO GET A CLUE
No drinking from the homer water fountain here. I live in California, and though I did grow up close to Charlotte, I watched the Hornets on TV, not the Bobcats. And I would rather watch Baron Davis than Jason Kidd, Tim "worse clutch free throw shooter than Shaq" Duncan, and the best IR list (Rockets) in the NBA. I agree that Texas teams have been successful in the past, but only due to MJ's first "retirement", his second "retirement", and a misguided era of slowball.
First, good morning from the West Coast (Best Coast). Second, I will reiterate that I would rather watch Memphis/New Jersey (Roc-a-fella, ya'll)/Charlotte/Golden State/Your L.A. Clippers than any of the three Texas teams, which are–historically–some of the lamest excuses for basketball entertainment in the National Basketball Association. Third, the referees called a ridiculous foul from the other side of the court on an in-bounds pass with seconds left to play, which gave Dallas a free throw and the ball. And this wasn't even the worst call made at the end of the game. To second what Jody said, it is nothing new, especially in the David Stern-era, for the referees to sway the game in favor of the big market teams. It was a sorry excuse for officiating, and the Dallas/Charlotte game is one that each referee likely feels ashamed of as they are tucking their children in at night.
And while the Dallas trolls are around, how is that Jason Kidd/Steve Nash thing working out for ya'?
Sorry, Jason, but anyone claiming refs are rigging games in December to favor big market teams has to be drinking out of the homer water fountain. Seriously?
Plus when you put down Texas basketball, where teams have regularly won 50+ games over the past decade, as lame excuses in favor of the…wait for it…Clippers, then that's the definition of trolling?
Anyways, to the actual Bobcat fans, it's a shame more of your teams games aren't shown nationally. I barely get to watch the squad, but seeing Gerald Wallace for the beast he is, is rather awesome. Diaw and DJ both are guys that could help out any team. They play some rough, well-coached ball, and hopefully they can keep up that play and work their ways into the playoffs.
Complaining about the refs is easy, Mavs fans can attest to that, but even in defeat, on the second of a back to back, the Bobcats should hold their head high. They've come a long way.
I think Chaz's comment about the rest of the nation not being able to watch Bobcats games is best summed up by one of his following lines:
"Diaw and DJ both are guys that could help out any team."
Any team but the one that they are on apparently.
Mavs fans-
Officiating was horrendous in this one down the stretch. I was (still am) one of those people that think your team got screwed against Miami in the finals. It was none other than Mark Cuban who shouted to David Stern "Your League Is Rigged."
You can't have it both ways though. Until Stern goes and the League reworks the officiating, making it more transparent, the NBA's image will continue to suffer and the sport will be relegated to second or third tier status.
Oh, and if you can consistently watch the Warriors/Bobcats/Clippers, you really do love basketball.
Go Gary Sinise!
I do pepper my Warriors/Bobcats/Clippers with a little Lakers/Celtics/Cavs.
jason,
i was about to say–its physically impossible to watch the Warriors, Bobcats, and Clippers without starving yourself of exciting basketball (although, the Cats may be on to something)
as for the Mavs peoples, i know that i didnt blame the "seats for soldiers" on the loss. i simply claim that Mark Cuban has pull on the way Mavs games may be swayed.
not JUST Mark Cuban though, im certain that every star-caliber player may be able to take an extra step, get a way with a foul, or grab the ball on it's way down into the goal.
the NBA is a business, and like all good businesses, you cant have your high-profile executives looking bad.
The inequality of calls in the NBA has never really changed since I've been watching. Maybe it was different at some point decades ago, but it's not really worth believing that the NBA is going to take any drastic action on this. This is the way the game has been for over two decades and we're all still watching it – obsessively.
The NBA was more than comfortable helping Jordan become the most recognizable athlete ever under these conditions. Kobe, Lebron, and Wade have been able to study the system and exploit it to optimize their games. Why would Stern or anyone afterward want to change it? We shouldn't expect to ever see the preferential treatment of stars eliminated from the game. There will always be those who call for exception in any pro (marketing-dollar-driven) sport. Dallas has a star and the Cats don't. That's pretty much it. The Bobcats have to play perfectly to overcome that discrepancy when they're on the road. The didn't play perfect basketball and lost to the home team with the 2006-07 MVP Award Winner.
The old "small-market Charlotte team can't get calls" argument becomes obsolete when either the Bobcats finally get a star talent on their roster or Charlotte develops into a "large-market." I think getting a basketball star might be easier.