It’s been a few days since we’ve heard much from the Bobcats, but it looks like they’re ready to cough up some info about their upcoming season. While they’re tasked with determining how to best utilize the No. 2 pick in this year’s NBA Draft, a couple of other jobs have kept the team busy for the summer.
First Up – a New Coach
After loads of rumors about high-profile or somewhat recognized names coming to Charlotte to take charge of this dreadful roster for next season, the Bobcats went and did something that no one saw coming. They hired Mike Dunlap. Like just about everyone else, I don’t know a thing about this guy. But, I can assume that he works cheap and he’s got patience for young guys that might not “play the right way.” It’s pretty clear that this is a cost-saving move, but there’s no reason that the Bobcats should pay top dollar for a head coach, when they’ve got a roster that’s closer to the D-League than the Playoffs. If Charlotte’s going to tank the 2013-14 season (which seems to be the plan), you can’t blame the team for rolling the dice on a guy with a little potential and could bring some new blood into the league.
The Bobcats are going to be loaded with young players, so a coach with an understanding of both the college and pro challenges should be helpful to the development of a lot of these guys. Let’s just hope that Tyrus Thomas doesn’t look to Mike Dunlap for tips on bulking up this summer.
Oh, and New Uniforms
The Bobcats or Cats just unveiled their new game uniforms. It’s not much of an impressive upgrade. The Charlotte Observer reported that Michael Jordan wanted some Carolina blue involved in the team’s palette. Can we credit him with slapping on some lettering of awkward proportions, applying a good deal of inconvenient negative spacing, and shortening the team’s nickname in order to improve the team’s brand and sell merchandise?
I definitely don’t see this as a step forward for the team’s image. How many times are they going to try to change their jerseys? It only makes me agree more with the grand rebrand scheme that fellow Baseliner A.S. Chin has suggested. In theory, we’re to believe that the Bobcats are trashing their roster, burning it to the ground so that they can build it back up with little tying them to past mistakes. Why wouldn’t the team do the same thing with their brand identity? The club is making a half-hearted effort to give it one more go as “Cats” and let folks fully detach from the organization’s name. Strategically, this looks like they’re dumping “Bobcats” and I can’t imagine anyone is gonna fall in love with this new “Cats” thing. So, what choice will the team have but to bring the buzz back? Teal, white, purple, and a cartoon bug with shaky wings. You’ve got to admit that these proposed Hornets uniforms look much better than what MJ & Co. just rolled out.
Quick Notes:
After analyzing the data and trying to ascertain just exactly how a team gets as bad as the Bobcats, I think I’ve found a breakthrough in understanding Charlotte’s issues. As it turns out, modern NBA teams are in love with a concept of a “Big Three.” If you happen to catch the NBA Finals, you might see that the Miami Heat have a “Big Three” made up of their most highly paid players – Dwyane Wade, Lebron James, & Chris Bosh. Many other teams like the Boston Celtics (Pierce, Garnett, Allen), the LA Lakers (Bryant, Gasol, Bynum), and the NY Knicks (Anthony, Stoudamire, Chandler) have used this template to collect and reward a core of their most talented players with the majority of their payroll. After a quick look at Hoops Hype’s salary info, it was evident that the Bobcats have a “Big Three” of their own – Corey Maggette, Gana Diop, & Tyrus Thomas. It can take a while to run the numbers, but you’ll find that Charlotte’s “Big Three” doesn’t seem to perform at the level of the league’s best teams with a comparably paid “Big Three.” I’m not fortune-teller, but it looks like this is going to cause problems for the Bobcats this coming season despite their high Draft pick.
-Mike
They need to change the name….no matter what you do it is still a house cat and NOBODY here likes the name. Matter of fact only 3 percent of 11,000 plus voted for the BOBcats name. We want something that is significant to the area. Hornets would be GREAT but flight and Independence would be good if you add Carolina to the name. Seeing as there is a little above 15,000,000 people the Carolinas I see that as a good move. All our other teams have Carolina in their names. Carolina Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes. Only name I see as not needing the Carolina is Charlotte Hornets. They are just ignoring fans and I wonder who they poll???? People who are already JohnsonCats fans? Crazy because nobody will follow the team with a name so ridiculous and anyone who questions names being important should check out the billions of dollars companies spend just to get their name out there.
I would wager heavy on the Hornets coming back. It may have to wait until ’13-’14 or even until ’14-’15 but they’ll be back. And yes, Bob Johnson was a weirdo and an ego-maniac. True blame must be assigned to David Stern. He’s saddled us with a couple of unimpressive franchise owners over the years.
After thinking about these new uniforms, I’m starting to wonder if the negative space will be used for corporate sponsor logos.
Could they drop a Duke Energy or BofA logo right there next to the numbers? Or maybe the logo of the local fireworks stand?
Sounds like an Onion article. Broke-ass Bobcats defy league, stick local sponsor decals on uniforms.
Those Hornets uni’s look tight! I would actually pay attention if they went back to teal and purple. Secondly, why did the Bobcats hire some unknown coach? They might as well hired Al Snow or someone else from the Job Squad. “Got Head?” As far as corporate sponsors go, I vote for Cheerwine.
I think some nice Cheerwine and Bojangles stains + logos would look great just to the left of the numbering.
I don’t get it. Is this some sort of inside joke?
Actually, after letting the new uniforms simmer for a bit, I think the team just might be changing the name. The color scheme pretty much shouts – ThunderCats!
Bring Back The HORNETS!!!!