Bobcats Defeat Thunder After Slow Start

Charlotte Bobcats vs Thunder 3/17/10

The Bobcats scored another win, 100-92, over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. The Cats had to overcome an awful start that had them down by as much as 19 points late in the second quarter. Stephen Jackson led the Cats in scoring with 20 points; Kevin Durant led all scorers with 26.

AP recap here | Box score here

The Bobcats poor start seemed to be due to a general malaise; meanwhile, the Thunder were making it all look so easy. The trio of Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green and Kevin Durant did most of the damage as the Thunder built their big lead. But the Cats woke up for a quick 11-0 run in the last couple minutes of the second quarter to seize the momentum.

They kept it going in the third quarter, winning the frame 30-19 and overtaking the Thunder for the lead. As usual, the run was keyed by the defense. When the Cats weren’t racking up blocks inside, they were forcing contested jumpers outside. Durant may have led all scorers with 26, but he needed 26 shots to do it (9-26 FG, 0-7 3PT).

The Thunder threatened briefly in the fourth quarter, cutting the Bobcats lead down to one at one point. But Stephen Jackson soon responded with a three and the Cats were able to keep the Thunder at arms length the rest of the way.

Stephen Graham

Dude gets his own section. After setting a new career high in last night’s loss to the Pacers with 19 points, Graham got another start for the injured Gerald Wallace… and responded by tying his new career high with 19 again (7-9 FG, 1-1 3PT, 4-6 FT). Graham added 5 rebounds and a block to go along with his efficient offensive performance in 30 minutes of playing time.

In the three games Graham has started for Gerald, he is averaging 16.6 points and 6.3 rebounds in 30 minutes per game. Huge.

Tidbits

In case you missed it, the NBA’s board of governors unanimously approved Michael Jordan’s bid to but the Bobcats today, so it’s all nice and official now.
Speaking of, apparently bobcats.com will be posting a Q&A with His Airness in the morning, while Stephanie Ready has scored the first on camera interview since he became owner; this will air during the Hawks game Friday night.
The Cats are now 35-32 overall (25-8 at home) and alone in 6th place in the East. 5th place Milwaukee just lost, which brings the Cats to within a game-and-a-half of them. Behind the Cats, the Heat were off Wednesday and are just a half game back. 8th place Toronto won a thriller to keep pace, while Chicago lost their ninth in a row to fall further out of the race.
The Bobcats (and Gerald’s ankle) have a day off before a tough Southeast Division road back-to-back in Atlanta and Miami on Friday and Saturday. Good luck, Cats.

-Dr. E

Charlotte Bobcats vs. Thunder 12/3/08

1. Two in a row! The Bobcats took care of business at the Cable Box tonight, defeating the Thunder 103-97. AP story here, box score here.

2. The exclamation point in the previous item was kind of forced. This game was an absolute sleeper. The Cats clearly looked like the better team all night, and did just enough to keep Durant and company at bay. I’m not sure if we should be disappointed that they never were able to definitively put the Thunder away, or impressed that they won in such ho-hum, business-like fashion. A little of both, probably.

3. There are no wildly impressive lines in the box score, and that pretty much jibes with my experience of the game. No one really dominated. That said, Emeka Okafor certainly deserves special mention. He led the Bobcats with 25 points (8-11 FG, 9-12 FT) and 13 rebounds (6 offensive). Very efficient game for Mek tonight. As opposed to Monday night, they weren’t really looking for Mek in the post tonight – most of those shots were putbacks and layups. He was the beneficiary of more than a few of Raymond’s 12 assists.

4. Sean May had what was easily his best game of the year, going 27 minutes and grabbing 11 boards to go with 10 points. Much to my surprise, he can still dunk and did so off a feed from Raymond early in the third. Overall, May is still a quarter-step slow and still has a lot of rust to knock off, but this game was certainly a step in the right direction.

5. J-Rich had a very average game (18 points on 16 shots) but did pass 10,000 career points and got a nice hand from the crowd.

6. Larry Brown has really tightened up his rotation in the past couple of games. Nazr Mohammed and Ryan Hollins were inactive tonight; neither Matt Carroll nor Alexis Ajinca got off the bench again tonight. And Shannon Brown, Adam Morrison and Dwayne Jones only had brief stints in the first half.

6. Other than Kevin Durant (who had 24 effortless points and is clearly a special talent) and Russell Westbrook (who has a lot of potential, but is too raw to contribute in any meaningful way), the Thunder look like a bunch of role players. Mouhamed Saer Sene, Johan Petro and Robert Swift, where are you!?!?!?

7. Next game: Friday night in Milwaukee. Go Cats!

-E

Last Minute News, Rumors, Tidbits and Thoughts…

Only about an hour away now. I’ve read so much Chad Ford in the past week that I think I deserve an honorary degree in International Conflict Resolution from BYU-Hawaii.

Here’s the way things are shaping up for the Bobcats:

Bonnell reported today that the Bobcats were (desperately???) working to line up a trade with Memphis to get their #5 pick. Presumably this would be to ensure that we can get Russell Westbrook, who may not be there at #9.
Would a package of #9 and #20 be enough to get this done? Both Bonnell and Chad Ford seemed to think not today. Bonnell specifically mentioned that Gerald Wallace was available as well, but Wallace + #9 is way too much to give up, and Wallace + #20 doesn’t seem like enough. And should we be giving up anything to move up, when Westbrook may be there at #9 anyways? Could Kevin Love actually be the target at #5?
I read somewhere today that there are some in the Bobcats front office who are high on DJ Augustin, and are pushing him for the #9 pick. Please God, no. Hopefully that one’s all smoke screen.
If we don’t make a trade to move up to #5, then two trades that happened today affect who will be left at #9. The Clippers and Supersonics have agreed to swap their #4 and #7 picks, with the Clips sending their 2009 pick along in the deal (with some protections). The Clips would pick Eric Gordon (good for us, we’re not interested). Then the Sonics would likely take Brook Lopez (also good for us). In another trade however, the Bucks picked up Richard Jefferson for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. This puts some doubt into the thoughts that Joe Alexander will be the pick for the Bucks (as Jefferson and Alexander are both SFs), and makes it more likely that the Bucks will be after a guard: Jerryd Bayless (OK, fine) or Russell Westbrook (Nooooooooooo!).
So here’s my last minute amended prediction about what the Bobcats’ draft board looks like this right now for the #9 pick: 1) Russell Westbrook, 2) Kevin Love, 3) Anthony Randolph or Brook Lopez.

We’ll know in a little over an hour…

-E

A Waste of Time and Effort

Over the past couple of days, sentiment around the internet regarding Thursday’s draft has turned rather sour. John Hollinger gave us a smug two-part statistical analysis on this year’s prospects, showing the objective evidence behind the slides of Anthony Randolph and DeAndre Jordan, among others. Yesterday morning, Rick Bonnell took a dump in everyone’s cereal bowl by declaring predictions about the Bobcats’ draft picks a “waste of time [and] effort” and gloating about agents “outsmarting” themselves by not allowing certain teams to work out certain players.

Even Bill Simmons and Chad Ford, two unabashed NBA Draft fanatics, sounded like they were writing a eulogy for the 2008 draft class today when they did their interactive mock draft. Eventually, the negativity seemed to get to Ford, and he came to his senses:

I think calling this a bad draft may be an overreaction. Typically every team starts hating the next draft by July 1. By March, everyone loves it. And by June, when it comes time to make a choice, every team is deathly afraid of everyone in the draft.

It’s a strange phenomenon — sort of the equivalent of dating. When it comes time for commitment, every wart starts to show. This is altar fever. A week from now, everyone will be talking again about how great this draft is.

So let’s get over our cold feet, have some fun and waste some time and effort!

Without further ado, here’s a list of potential outcomes for the Bobcats’ #9 pick in Thursday’s draft, with their respective percentage chances of happening. Continue reading

Only 6 Shopping Days Left!!!

That’s right — less than a week left! The 2008 NBA Draft is next Thursday, June 26th. The deadline to drop out has passed, workouts are in full swing, and rumors are flying around at a dizzying pace.

Let’s take a look at some of the rumors that directly involve or affect the Bobcats. Most, if not all, of this stuff comes from DraftExpress or Chad Ford on ESPN.com. Bobcats.com has also been delivering top-notch coverage of the workouts the Bobcats have conducted, complete with video. Continue reading