TONIGHT IT’S TIME TO SILENCE THE CRITICS
After all the speculation, hype, confusion, and absurd levels of anticipation, the Charlotte Bobcats season finally begins tonight! Forget the sports pundits and their pre-season analysis, because the games will now count for real. This year’s Bobcats team faces some challenges in order to reach the NBA Playoffs, but there are great signs that tonight will be their first step toward achieving that allusive goal.
Several “experts” have written editorials that the current roster would need to play flawless basketball to compete this season. Most of these writers don’t give the Bobcats the slightest chance at the 8th seed of the Eastern Conference. These stat geeks seem to all recite the same question – “Which player will score the points for this team?”. Well, it looks like these so-called basketball experts are just showing a huge lack of imagination.
The Bobcats have only one star to carry this team. Unlike most teams, he’s not covered in tattoos and he doesn’t even wear a jersey. The star of Charlotte’s roster is Coach Larry Brown and he’ll be the one to provide the offense for the Cats. With the current line-up, this team does seem to need a “go-to guy” and Larry will fill that role. It might be unconventional, but it’s going to be fun to watch. With the clock winding down in the fourth quarter, most teams hand it to their star and let them freestyle a shot attempt that has little probability of a successful outcome. For the Bobcats, they’ll simply be calling a 20 Second Time Out and getting their “go-to guy” to draw up a shot attempt that will give them a much higher probability of winning.
In the NFL, the Miami Dolphins have reshaped the way teams plan their defense by fully committing to their “Wildcat” Offense. Though they lacked a star for their offense in a true Quarterback, that football team had to create a way to stay competitive*. In a similar manner, Coach Larry Brown will innovate to create basketball offense for the Bobcats. In order to create more scoring and keep his team in contention, Brown will incorporate his knowledge as a Hall of Famer to draw up what the Cats need to fight for the Playoffs. If he’s successful, all of those unimaginative commentators will be spouting their love of the revolutionary “Bobcat” Offense.
*The “Wildcat” Offense made it’s first appearance in the NFL during a 2006 game between the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons. The Panthers had no decent QB, thus allowed offensive coordinator Dan Henning to plan a game based on direct snaps to Running Back DeAngelo Williams. A season later, Miami adopted the offensive formation.
Boston delivered a serious beating on the cats. I really can't believe the cats couldn't score more points.
This was probably the worst game I've ever seen. Really tough to watch. This didn't help sell too many tickets for the opener either.
No special offensive plan from Coach Brown. Just no offense at all.
I got home from work excited to see if the Bobcats at least hung with the Celtics. They didn't even show up if I am to go by the box score. Felton had more TO's than assists, DJ dropped a big 1 pt. "Lex" made George Zidek look good. 31% from the field thats garbage. It's gonna be a long season.Maybe the problems come from the top, I mean who put these jabronis together and had the notion they could compete. This isn't Hoosiers, this is big business NBA and these guys need to start earning their keep. I'm disappointed not that they lost but that they appear to have just even tried. Was there not any first game adrenaline or is that to much to hope for. Is Kendall Gill still playing or how long until he is in game shape? What a letdown. At least the Knicks are next, the 2 worst run franchises can duke it out. I'm going to resist the urge to start ripping on Jordan until at least the first month is over with then he's fair game
good call on the panthers and the wildcat offense. i remember that game. it was at the georgia dome and the panthers only passed like 10 times. it was like watching a high school football game. what time does the bobcats game come on?
So much for silencing the critics, I think the Cats just gave them a bullhorn.