Inside the NBA

Chandler appears out vs. Pacers

Charlotte Bobcats center Tyson Chandler spent about five minutes on the court, trying to loosen up his back before returning to the locker room. As he walked by, I asked if there's any chance he'd play versus the Indiana Pacers.

He responded with a disappointed shake of the head. And you could tell from the stiff way he was moving why he'd leave the court that quickly.

Chandler suffered back spasms while landing awkwardly late in the first half in Philadelphia Wednesday. He missed all the second half and Friday's game in Milwaukee. In fact, he stayed back in the training room during the Bucks game, to get further treatment on the injury

Looks like Chandler is out tonight

It's almost certain that neither the Chalotte Bobcats, nor the Milwaukee Bucks, will have its starting center tonight.

Milwaukee's Andrew Bogut is out 2-4 weeks with a left leg injury. And Charlotte's Tyson Chandler (back spasms) sat out shootaround this morning.

Chandler said there's a "slight'' chance he could play if he wakes up from an afternoon nap feeling dramatically better. But even that sounded optimistic. He's talking as if the goal is to play Sunday versus the Pacers.

I asked coach Larry Brown if he'd start Nazr Mohammed in Chandler's absence. Brown said that's contingent on what the Bucks do; if they start a conventional center, Mohammed would start. If the Bucks go small, that would give the Bobcats the choice to do likewise (which I assume could mean starting Boris Diaw at center and Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson in the frontcourt).

It will be interesting to see what Brown does with the inactives if Chandler can't play. Could be point guard Acie Law's first chance to suit up as a Bobcat.

Bobcats look pointless

My teenage son called me in Philadelphia last night, knowing when I'd be off deadline. He asked what happened, since he'd seen the score but missed the ending.

I told him they screwed up, that they should have won, but didn't. I said Stephen Jackson was on the wrong side of the court and that was excusable because he's gone through a single Bobcats practice.

 The part that was harder to excuse was Raymond Felton not seeing how messed up this was. He either should have moved Jackson before the ball was in-bounded or called timeout.

I'm not a guy who revels in placing blame after the fact. And I think the world of Felton, for his character and toughness. But Felton isn't getting it done and D.J. Augustin isn't giving him much competition. The Bobcats have four guys who could play point guard, and none is particularly effective.

The Bobcats look pointless

My teenage son called me in Philadelphia last night, knowing when I'd be off deadline. He asked what happened, since he'd seen the score but missed the ending.

I told him they screwed up, that they should have won, but didn't.

 I said Stephen Jackson was on the wrong side of the court and that was excusable because he's gone through a single Bobcats practice. The part that was harder to excuse was Raymond Felton not seeing how messed up this was. He either should have moved Jackson before the ball was in-bounded or called timeout.

I'm not a guy who revels in placing blame after the fact. And I think the world of Felton, for his character and toughness. But Felton isn't getting it done and D.J. Augustin isn't giving him much competition. The Bobcats have four guys who can play point guard, yet none is particularly effective.

Chandler out with back spasms

Charlotte Bobcats center Tyson Chandler left Wednesday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers with back spasms late in the first half and is not expected to return.

That's a shame because Chandler seemed to be getting some rhythm back -- he played 15 minutes of the first half without fouling and scored seven points off four shots.

The Bobcats don't anticipate Chandler's injury being particularly serious. He's being treated with heat and stretching exercises.

On Jordan, Jackson and cap space

 I wrote some in Tuesday's Observer about the salary-cap implication of the trade with Golden State, but I thought it might be helpful to discuss this in more detail:

The Bobcats made a significant bet that Stephen Jackson will work out here. He's owed nearly $28 million over the next three seasons. Had the Bobcats stayed with what they had, they would have owed Vlade Radmanovic about $6.9 million next season and Bell nothing (his contract expires after this season).

This is consistent with Michael Jordan's strategy since he started shaping the Bobcats' roster. Jordan doesn't give a lot of interviews, but when he does speak he's pretty candid: He's said repeatedly that trading for existing contracts is a more reliable way to upgrade talent than hoarding cap space to pursue big-name free agents.

In general, I think that's sound reasoning, particularly for a team in the Bobcats' market size. But it reemphasizes the stakes involved in Jackson working out here on and off the court.

Now who's the backup power forward?

 Some post-trade thoughts on the Charlotte Bobcats entering tonight's game in Philadelphia:

 -- If you thought the Bobcats were shaky at power forward with Vlade Radmanovic as the backup, imagine how they'll be without Radmanovic as the backup.

Radmanovic was trying to make this work and there wasn't a real alternative behind Boris Diaw. Now the Bobcats have little choice but to play Gerald Wallace there on a semi-regular basis. Wallace knows he can play power forward. He also knows, from past experience, that when he's asked to bang in the lane with guys way beyond his weight class,he wears down over time.

I'd love to see the Bobcats swap one of the point guards for a viable alternative at power forward. I know the intent was for Tyson Chandler to play some power forward, but right now he's having enough trouble out-quicking centers. That ankle needs to heal once-and-for-all.

-- I'm glad Raja Bell is having surgery to repair that injured wrist. It will resolve the issue before Bell becomes a free agent in July, and it's not as if him playing for the Warriors would get them into playoff contention. It's obvious the Warriors' attraction to Bell was acquiring his $5.2 milion expiring salary. If that's so, then not asking him to tough out this injury was only fair.

Acie Law said Tuesday his contract is also expiring ($2.2 million salary this season), so he's essentially on a five-month tryout here. I like Law's game -- he's bigger than Charlotte's other point guards and effective in pick-and-roll. But his jump shot might have the least rotation I've ever seen.

-- I think Larry Brown will try to play rookies Gerald Henderson and Derrick Brown more, though not dramatically so. It's apparent Stevie Graham is slipping out of the rotation. One way to find minutes for Henderson is using Stephen Jackson at small forward and Wallace at power forward. But that makes the Bobcats awfully small.

-- The biggest difference between Bell and Jackson at shooting guard is Jackson can create offense for himself and others. He's more of a ballhandler  who can score off the dribble and attack the basket. Bell was a stationary offensive player -- he'd be the first to say he wasn't a driver -- so he was dependent on the point guards to set him up for jump shots.

-- This stretch -- at Phlly and Milwaukee, followed by Sunday home versus Indiana -- seems kind of important, if the Bobcats still fancy themselves a playoff contender. Nazr Mohammed makes this point often that getting into the last two or three playoff spots is more about beating your peers than upsetting great teams. Right now the Sixers, Bucks and Pacers are teams the Bobcats would have to beat to scratch their way into the eight-spot in the East.

Innocent Bobcats? Not anymore

 Those innocent Bobcats ran amok Monday. They found that guy in the leather jacket who smokes and drinks and gets away with it.

Stephen Jackson is a hold-your-breath kinda guy, and he's genuinely the first in Bobcats history. Think about it: The baddest dude to date is Kareem Rush, and that's because he was self-entitled, not self-destructive.

Jackson is the guy slugging a fan in Auburn Hills, Mich. Jackson is the guy shooting a gun outside an Indianapolis strip club. Jackson is the guy allowing his agent to trash Don Nelson (and perhaps deservedly so) to get himself out of Oakland.

Five-some years ago I'm at this outdoor rally to give the Bobcats a nickname. Bob Johnson stands in front of several thousand and says he, his franchise and his players will never embarrass Charlotte. I'm hearing this, I'm used to Johnson's inexperienced gaffs, and I'm still thinking, "Wow! Never heard anything that lacking in savvy.''

I called the league for comment. They were stunned into scared silence. I set up an interview with Johnson, and he talks all around what that actually means, because clearly he was ad-libbing without a clue as to the standard he set.

Now it's 2009 and this is what it means: Steve Smith can sucker-punch teammates. Rae Carruth can plot the death of the woman he impregnated. And it doesn't stop one PSL holder from renewing his Panthers tickets. But that's the NFL and we know that's the Teflon league.

If a Bobcat jaywalks, he's a "thug'' to half the ticket-buying public. And that makes this trade a fascinating walk down the darkest of alleys.

My, how this is about to get interesting. 
 

Brown on Iverson-Grizzlies split

Since you asked....

Yes, Allen Iverson's people reached out to Bobcats coach Larry Brown Monday when Iverson and the Memphis Grizzlies parted ways less than a month into the NBA season. So naturally you're asking, any chance of Iverson ending up a Bobcat?

Put it this way: For that to happen, there'd have to be some other, potentially significant, roster moves, Brown said this wouldn't work unless he knew Iverson would be at least a top-three guard in Charlotte's rotation. And right now, that wouldn't necessarily be the case.

Don't misconstrue what I just wrote: The issue isn't whether Iverson might be a top-three guard here, but whether Brown could ascertain that. The Memphis experience confirmed what pretty much everyone in the NBA already knew: Iverson can't handle being anything but a star wherever he goes. And when AI is unhappy, everyone else suffers.

Jackson's parting shots at Warriors

New Charlotte Bobcat Stephen Jackson is known to be an emotional guy, and he sure proved that in his first interview post-trade Monday. Here's what he said in the locker room, prior to the game against the Orlando Magic.

(Happy about this trade?)

"I'm happy because it gives me a chance to compete, it gives me a chance to be where I want to be and that's the playoffs where I belong. I don't belong being at home at the end of April, watching the playoffs. I belong in the playoffs and I have a good chance here with a great team, a team that competes, and the type of coach I like -- who has your back. If a coach has my back, I don't mind giving 110 percent for him.''

(How badly did you want to be out of Golden State?)

"I wanted to be out pretty bad. Things were going bad and I was getting blamed for everything. I wasn't seeing eye-to-eye with the team. I got fined in preseason for one-hundred-and-some thousand. It was a lot of things that I didn't agree with going on from when I got there. We made history by beating Dallas in the first round. Then things started getting worse and winning stopped being a priority. Once winning stopped being a priority, I didn't want to be a part of it.''

(Describe the decline of the Warriors:)

"It started when we got rid of Jason Richardson and then the next thing you know, it was Baron (Davis) And then it was Al Harrington and Matt Barnes. The team that we had when we made that run, that beat Dallas in the first round, went South. Once it started doing that, I didn't want to be a part of it.

"As great as we played -- the Warriors hadn't been in the playoffs in 13 years -- if you want to break that team up, obviously winning is not your priority.''

(The Bobcats have never been to the playoffs. Can you handle them not making the playoffs this season?) 

"Yeah, because I know the effort and attitude is there. Any time you have a guy running the team like Rod Higgins -- who I know well, that's the reason I went to Golden State -- those guys are competitors and they want to win. Those are the type of people I want running a team that I play for.''

(Larry Brown said he's excited about your versatility and your ability to create your own shot.)  

"That's one big thing I do a lot different from a lot of guys -- not only do I play at both ends, but I can create shots for other guys. I take pride in being able to do everything.''

(surprised you'd start on such short notice?)

"It's the league. I've been here for 10 years. You're supposed to expect the impossible. This isn't the first time I've been traded and not the first time I've had to adapt (on the fly).''

(How long does it take to get up to speed with a new team's system?)

"A lot of the offenses in this league are basically the same and I think Coach Brown will be a coach who's easy to get accustomed to.''