Bobcats fans are buzzing with excitement as the season is only ten days away! As a Celtic fan, I have tried to adopt the Bobcats as my second team because of their proximity to Spartanburg, as well as the 10 dollar tickets. Despite the Bobcats best efforts to try to sabotage their own team in the last few years, it looks like they are going to be good enough to compete for one of the last spots in the Eastern Conference playoffs this year. Unfortunately they got stuck with a monster opening schedule this year as they have Cleveland, Detroit, New Orleans and a much improved Miami team in four of their first five games. Their roster hasn't changed much over the offseason, however they did add point guard DJ Augustin in the draft as well as veteran coach Larry Brown. Also, the team gets back Adam Morrison and Sean May who were sidelined for almost the entire year last year with injuried.
Why the Bobcats will be good: Although the team has no all-stars, they have a core set of solid starters. Gerald Wallace, Emeka Okafur and Jason Richardson would start on almost any NBA team. They should provide the scoring and leadership the team will need throughout the season. Larry Brown is an upgrade at coach who has a reputation for being a genius when things are going well and a cancer when things start looking bad. You may know Brown as the only coach who has ever won an NCAA championship as well as an NBA championship. He was the prime reason an above average Detroit Pistons team managed to beat the NBA's last dynasty, the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA championship. While center Nazr Mohammed is not a primary scoring threat, he will be the shot blocking and rebounding presence the team desperately needed before he came to town. Rookie Alexis Ajinca is a mystery, being a seven foot rookie from France.
Why the Bobcats will be bad: Unfortunately the Bobcats have suffered from poor management in the last few years. Giving Michael Jordan a great deal of power in the organization has turned out to be a near disaster. He has constantly brought in overpaid and underperforming rookies such as Adam Morrison, Sean May and Raymond Felton. It has been suspected that Felton and May were primarily chosen to appease local fans because of their University of North Carolina ties. May has also been reported to be extremely out of shape recently. This is disappointing news as he was already the token fat guy on the team the last few years. While Augustin looks like the point guard of the future, coach Larry Brown has been notorious for not playing rookies any significant time. The team has very little bench depth and an injury to any of the starting lineup will most likely cripple the team. Actually, an injury to Felton might help the team as Augustin could prove to be the new direction at point guard the team needs. Brown is also a wild card as the last few years have shown that his coaching skills have begun to diminish. He almost single-handedly destroyed the 2004 Olympic basketball team by giving Richard Jefferson and Carlos Boozer big minutes over younger guys like Amare Stoudamire and Dwayne Wade. His last coaching stint in New York with the Knicks is widely considered the worst coaching job ever performed in NBA history.
Pictured to the left: A good reason to root for Gerald Wallace this year.
i still think a bolg about me would be the best ever!!!! ;)
Posted by: guess who | October 21, 2008 at 10:30 PM
Worst coaching job in NBA History? What about Isiah's tenures with both the Knicks and Pacers?
Posted by: Mike Walsh | December 29, 2008 at 04:30 PM