Charlotte Bobcats vs. Thunder 12/3/08

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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

2 thoughts on “Charlotte Bobcats vs. Thunder 12/3/08

  1. That was a big milestone for J Rich. 10,000 points! While it may have seemed like an average game for him, some of the shots he made were tough ones. I guess, we just expect that from him when he suits up.

    It looks like the Cats are focusing on getting the ball inside to Okafor / May to get the opposing team out of sync. I'm sure most scouts key on the ability of the wingmen to drive it. Now, they've an extra variable to include in their preparations. Okafor is really taking advantage of this new scheme, though. He's playing like an entirely different guy on the offensive end.

    Felton had another solid game. The team was much more efficient with him at the point. D.J. is surprisingly good this early, but he still has a way to go. I think the trade talk about Raymond mind have to wait until the week of the deadline. Maybe Augustine will be ready to take the reigns at that point. Additionally, we should recognize Shannon Brown for putting in a few good minutes. He really made no mistakes when he slipped into the line up. Signing him seems like a smart move for the team, if they can develop him over the run of the season.

    Also, how about the Raptors firing Sam Mitchell. He was a season removed from the coach of the year award and now he's got to move out. I think the Cats are lucky to have locked up Larry Brown. I bet several teams would have courted him by now, otherwise.

  2. The Milwaukee game on Friday night will give us a very good indication of where this team is going. The Bucks have a similar record and have often created matchup problems for the 'Cats; especially Okafor on Bogut. It'll be nice to see what Okafor does with his new-found confidence. They will need it against a team that returns Michael Redd and features Rick Jefferson on the wings. Looking forward to see how exactly this game plays out because the 14-3 Cavs are in town Saturday and you'd love to be able to sneak in 3-in-a-row before Lebron starts throwing down at the TWCA.

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