AP/Chuck Burton
The Charlotte Bobcats dropped their home opener 104-101 to the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. The Cats led most of the game, and by 5 with 3:18 left, but crumbled after that. Both DJ Augustin and Stephen Jackson got decent looks at potentially game-tying 3s on the last possession, but neither found the mark.
There were multiple problems down the stretch. The Cats had several fourth-quarter turnovers. With 3 minutes left, Gana Diop got stuck on Danny Granger after a screen; Granger nailed a 3 (his sixth of the game) and goaded Diop into a soft foul for a 4 point play. DJ Augustin couldn’t contain TJ Ford on the pick-and-roll. Gerald Wallace missed two free throws. And Tyler Hansbrough, of all people, scored the last four clutch points for the Pacers.
This is the kind of game that the Bobcats won last year. At home, against a team of the Pacers caliber, they would have put the hammer down in the fourth quarter — instead they gave up 31 points in the last 12 minutes (not to mention 104 overall). At the very least, last year’s Bobcats would have made a big play or two in cruchtime to eke out the win.
But this year’s edition of the Bobcats is not as tough defensively with DJ on the court, and isn’t getting the decent play from the center platoon that it did last year. Those issues aren’t surprising; but one thing we hadn’t predicted was Stephen Jackson’s slow start.
Following his lackluster performance Wednesday night against the Mavs, Jack got into early foul trouble against the Pacers, limiting his first half minutes. In the second half, he still couldn’t really get anything going. Jack finished with just 10 points on 4-13 FG (0-3 3pt), though he did add 6 rebounds and 6 assists. It’s not clear what the problem is, if there’s a problem at all.
Maybe it’s the ankle he tweaked earlier this week in practice. Maybe the threat of quick technicals is mellowing his harsh. Whatever it is, let’s hope that Jack breaks out of his funk Saturday night in Milwaukee.
Notes:
- As expected, the Bobcats exercised their team options for next year on DJ Augustin and Gerald Henderson, as per their rookie scale contracts.
- Nice tidbit from Bonnell: Time Warner Cable, the predominant cable supplier in the Charlotte area and naming-rights sponsor of the arena, will be adding the HD version of SportSouth in the coming weeks so that fans can watch the Bobcats in HD. Of course, it’s ludicrous that this wasn’t in place weeks ago; but for a franchise that’s still digging out from the curse of C-SET, we’ll take what we can get.
- Next game: Saturday night in Milwaukee, 8:30 PM ET start. Go Cats.
I’m loving the site now. The new format. Spot-on on the recap.
Thanks for the compliments on the site… It’s been a big shift, and some elements still need attention.
We’ll keep tweaking to get things just right.
Thanks for reading!
Few Points:
1. Refs are openly baiting JAX into a tech. He was the poster boy for new anti-complaining rules and he’s getting the League’s full attention.
2. DJ is getting absolutely crushed on those high screens. Hope this is something he can improve upon and not fundamentally due to his size. MAJOR defensive liability down the stretch.
3. I wouldn’t worry too much about the first month of the season. We all know that Larry Brown’s teams start very slow and then catch fire near the end. I’m suspecting a trade for PG will happen sooner than later.
4. Gotta love that Derrick Brown and Gerald Henderson are playing big minutes and contributing. Second unit of Livingston/Tyrus/Sequel/DBrown/Diop looks surprisingly strong.
It was awesome to see Gerald Henderson knock down jumpers. The crowd loved it seeing he and Derrick Brown out on the floor.
Actually, it was kind of weird. Last year, everyone would have been there for Psycho-T and would have had a grudge against Henderson (via post-UNCC, Duke careers). Last night, the crowd was all about the Bobcats and booed Tyler.
So, do you guys think Stephen Jackson was playing injured or drunk last night?
He was super slow, out of position, and out-hustled all game. I do wish he could have hit that straight-ahead three to tie the game. Nevertheless, he’ll hit those half the time.
I’m thinking that ankle is still a hindrance. He definitely had some sweet moves carving up the lane but still not at his best. Which means he shouldn’t have been taking that last shot. I get it though; he makes love to precious, er, pressure. GW3 is 40%ish from 3 so I was hoping he was taking that, or Diaw.
Sorry I missed this disappointment. I did see bro at moogfest dressed in full-on Bobcats gear.
I’ve read a bunch of backlash after last night aimed at Jax for his general malaise last night. Maybe he’s playing a little hurt after he sprained his ankle early this week but some people didn’t take to kindly to the play where Jackson didn’t get a call and he stood there as play continued on the other side of the court.
I didn’t like that but it was blatant and the refs were stealing the game. somethings gotta happen. mostly though we were holding the lead until diop fouled out and we went small, thus our packing in the paint for help defense, but they drove the paint anyway. nonetheless, keep in mind Jack is working on a triple double. He was 10-6-6.