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March 27, 2007
Bobcats should play to win
With Emeka Okafor back, there’s a good chance the Bobcats will do well in their last 11 games. I suspect that will lead some of you to complain the Bobcats should be tanking games to gather a few extra ping-pong balls in the draft lottery. Sorry, but I don’t buy that. Good as either Greg Oden or Kevin Durant would be on this team, I don’t believe you’ll win by setting out to lose. The lottery is unreliable. I think only twice in recent memory has the worst team in the NBA received the best pick in the following draft. More importantly, you’d send a dangerous message to this locker room if you essentially told the players to take April off. The best thing about this expansion process has been establishing a culture that winning matters whenever you step on the court. When they won the last four games last season, there was an electricity among the players. Maybe it was foolish, but they believed they’d make a run at the playoffs this season. Injuries killed all that, but a coach or a front office should never extinguish the players dreaming big.
Posted by rbonnell on March 27, 2007 at 03:58 PM | Permalink
Comments
I 100% agree with every word written here Rick.
Winning breeds a winning mentality.
It also rewards guys like Okafor, Wallace, Carroll, Anderson and Herrmann who have put in 100% of the time all season.
Posted by: Slam | Mar 27, 2007 4:16:32 PM
I gotta say that I'm right there with you. It's sickening to see everyone writing about how teams should tank to get a player when there are no guarantees that the player will even enter the draft, much less be a great pro. Teams need to stop trying to luck into finding the next Jordan and focus on developing and keeping the talent they have. How many championships did Orlando win with Shaq?
Posted by: Dave | Mar 27, 2007 4:50:08 PM
I don't think there has EVER been a game where the Bobcats have tried to lose. This is a great bunch of guys who play their hearts out every time they step onto the hardwood.
Posted by: Jacob | Mar 27, 2007 6:32:17 PM
You are right! Gerald plays so hard he has BODY cramps ... come on, a lot of players in the game might, MIGHT get a muscle cramp, but DANG!! Its not just him either ... Raymond has played with pain all year and so has Emeka. They need rewarded for that. If I was a player and a coach or front office guy asked me to tank ... I would play that much harder and MAKE them put me on the bench ... then I would bust rank and tell the entire world what was said!!!! They have hearts of winners and that should NEVER be played down. That is what will make us great with a couple of more peices ... NOT a draft pick.
Posted by: B_Cats_Fan | Mar 27, 2007 6:42:58 PM
Players don't ever tank games, management does. Right now, without Okafor, the Bobcats have actually managed to find a chemistry that needs shaking down, so why not bring back Emeka now? LOL
You don't have to play to lose to tank games, just don't play your best players; like Emeka Okafor, like Sean May; or you keep the lineup unbalanced by playing 3 point guards at the same time.
Last year's draft didn't matter, this one could. Bringing in a Durant or Oden, if they come out, would quickly change team chemistry and marketing visibility. True, neither of them in themselves will make us instant winners, they both need time and support, but its naive to think that their impact won't be huge.
Sure we'd love to be a playoff team right now, but we're not. And that makes winning a few games at the end of the this season relatively unimportant. Business-wise, it's a long term view vs. a short term one, and this year's deal is worth many millions in revenue to the team and the city. Of course, its only ping-pong balls, so its not really black and white; you CAN do a little of both here at the end; winning and losing. I'm sure MJ and BB have it worked out and know what they're doing either way. It all seems good so far. Isn't Hermann a nice surprise!
Hey, its just bball and tanking is a subject that's offered some real comedy out of Boston and Charlotte too...isn't Ainge sitting next to Durant's Mom just a great NBA moment? What a season! I can't wait to see the Celtics end up picking 5th; long after our Cats have taken somebody very good. Let's hope!
Posted by: Bobcat Gamer | Mar 28, 2007 5:47:13 AM
You're absolutely right, Rick! These Bobcats
are playing hard every time - and that's a mentality that was established in time, not something you can turn on and off. I wonder,
however, what is the management thinking now. It was weird to see, in some games, a line-up of 3 guards (2 of them point-guards)
and 2 small forwards on the floor, with some
healthy big men on the bench. In the game with the Nets, which the Bobcats have been so close to winning, Adam Morrison was kept on the floor through the last quarter and most of the overtime although he clearly got tired and lost any efficiency, while Alan Anderson was kept on the bench although
he was having a very good game. I'm not
interested in criticizing this or that gametime decision, I'm also not a suspicious
person, but... the things I mentioned here
don't look like regular Bernie Bickerstaff
decisions, and they are a bit too strange not to make you wonder. I just hope no one
in the team ownership would try to make Bernie do such things as a a gamble meant to enhance lottery chances. Just leave this to Danny Ainge!
Posted by: sandy | Mar 28, 2007 4:21:56 PM
It's become apparent that the Bobcats best rookie this year is Walter Herrmann. He seemed like a joke to start off, but his play of late has really made Bernie's decision to develop him look like a really smart GM move.
Adam Morrison can't defend nearly as well as Herrmann and I don't think any of the other rookies can be trusted in decisive stretches of the game. If Herrmann's progress had begun about 8 weeks earlier, he could have been considered for rookie of the year.
Posted by: Mike | Mar 28, 2007 10:36:47 PM
How many current players in the NBA have the same injury as Sean May? What can Sean May do to increase the time and number of games he play per NBA season? What off-season treatment and what doctors are doing to treating patients with the injury or injuries Sean May endures.
Posted by: SEW Jr. | Mar 29, 2007 10:08:08 AM
Rick,
Please get off Brevin Knight's bandwagon. He isn't that good. He has cost us a lot of games. Your quote in the observations section "he passed up two layups to give Gerald Wallace dunks." That is his job. He is suppose to do that. He is the point guard. He is the qb. If Jake Delhomme had two completions instead of running the ball, would scott fowler talk about how good he was. No, and remember that 4 game winning streak you talked about in this article. Raymond Felton started all four games and Brevin Knight was on the bench or hurt. Just please stop. Obviously, you might not know what you are talking about since you were the one saying we should cut Hermann earlier this year. Actually, YOU, rick said we should cut him out of camp. That is looking like a great call right now. I am officially starting the "Get Brevin out of Raymond's Way" Fund. If you would like to donate to this fund, please send money via paypal to www.getbkoutofraysway.com. I love the Bobcats, I love this team, but I'm tired of seeing Brevin Knight pull this team down and people like you talk about how good he is. He is terrible, he is too small, he gets way too many technicals for the "great player/person" he is and he has cost us many games with these technicals. Anyway, PLEASE donate to this fund. I will be giving all the money to the Bobcats as a bribe to get him out of here.
Posted by: Dougie | Mar 29, 2007 10:12:11 AM
Sean May can lose a few pounds from his fat ass, that's what.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Mar 29, 2007 10:37:54 AM
And as for BK, the difference between him and Felton is that Ray would have either jacked up a 3 (and missed) or gone in for a layup with his 'incredible' slashing skills. Herrmann has developed, yes, but his roster spot would have probably been much more valuable going to a guy who could have actually contributed for the first 4-5 months of the year, like Anderson. Herrmann really had done nothing to show he belonged on the team during training camp or the summer league outside of his FIBA performance.
And I'd rather BK cost us a game with a tech (which I can remember no such instances of) than Ray Ray with his endless stupid turnovers and awful shooting. Carolina fans like you probably love it when he shows off at the arena, though, regardless of the fact that it only works about one in every four times.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Mar 29, 2007 10:43:55 AM
I hate Carolina. I'm a Clemson grad. But the reason that the BOBCATS drafted Raymond Felton was to be the POINT GUARD. Not the shooting guard, not the backup POINT GUARD. I'm not happy with losing anyway it comes. I think in games I've seen (season ticket holder) Raymond has done some dumb things. But, he gets people involved which I can't say the same about Brevin. He really never passes the ball to A.Mo. He only throws it to emeka downlow or Primoz. Our team is young, the need confidence. With more shots for are younger players, comes confidence. Brevin does not bring this confidence. We act like he has played for winning teams his whole career and he is doing us a favor by coming to play for us. He isn't. We are just as good with him as we are without him. Did Jordan mention him in his interviews over the past month, NO. he mentioned, ray, emeka, gerald, a.mo, hermann even. This team is gonna be good, but not with an undersized point guard that has a too quick temper. Don't bring me that garbage about being a carolina fan. I was there when this team was named, i watched when stern said charlotte was getting a team again. BK sucks. He was good for our expansion year. Then we got ray and we should have let him learn on the job. Instead, we start this fougaisie BK and raymond probably will never reach the potential he should have. Did Chris Paul start his first year in new orleans, YES. Look at the year Deron williams is having in Utah. He is starting at Point Guard right?
Posted by: Dougie | Mar 29, 2007 12:32:38 PM
Procton,
how many foreign players have come over and been instantly one of the best players on the team. It took Dirk 2-3 years. And he is probably the best foreign player ever. Give me a break. Do you know what this guy ahs been through. Hermann has had one of the roughest couple of years anyoen would see and we go off and write him off after a bad training camp and the first 3 months of the season when he was only play 10 minutes a game. give me a break.
Posted by: Dougie | Mar 29, 2007 12:37:34 PM
I'm reading the stats, and they say that in almost the exact same number of minutes, Felton (who HAS started the majority of Bobcats games this year) is the lowest scorer, the lowest assist man, shoots worst from the field and only is only second in 3pt-% and rebounding. I guess he has the most turnovers, though, so that's good for something...amazing that could have happened, though, spending all his time playing at the 2-guard spot, as you say.
Additionally, you really don't need to lecture me on Herrmann...I was behind the signing myself from the beginning (and aware of the story about his sister and parents) and spent considerable time making posts on here regarding his recent success, but Bonnell was certainly justified in saying the Bobcats had every reason to cut him before the season. As I said before, he had shown no reason to hang on to him through the end of the preseason.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Mar 29, 2007 6:26:22 PM
Everyone needs to lay off of Felton. At least he is out on the court trying to make plays. The two team members people should be talking about is May and Primo. These two guys suck. One guy missed 85% of the season and the other guy is a waste of 7 feet whatever inches. Primo sucks!!! I do agree with this article. The bobcats should be out trying to win ever game possible. I do beleive that they are about to turn the corner and the city is finally ready to get behind this team. Primo Sucks!! We just need to bring in a coach who can teach this team how to win during the final minutes of the game and we should be okay. By the way, Primo Sucks!!!!!!
I am excited about the future of the Bobcats
Primo Sucks!!!!!!!
Posted by: bobcatfan4life | Mar 30, 2007 5:22:19 PM
Glad to see Walter Herrmann playing at his past years level. I saw him playing with the Argentina national team, beating some fine national teams and making his way in the Olimpycs. In last World Champion he was the lead scorer of Argentina, so in Spain. I had to confess that when season started I had the impression that he will never make it in NBA. Most of all, cause the no playing time and the devastating chritics of Rick Bonnell (maybe many of us were kind of dissapointed about WH, but you went too far with that, admit it Rick). Gerald Wallace is a monster player, it will be hard to retain that kind of playing if we start tanking. Good to see Emeka back!
Posted by: Consiglieri | Mar 31, 2007 2:52:48 AM
I think Walter Herrmann has improved a lot this last month.He is the future of he team with Morrison, Wallace and Okafor.
If the owners of the team gets a good guard and a pair of good players for next season this team will be in playoffs.
Posted by: Adriano | Apr 2, 2007 10:34:19 PM
Teams don't try to loose. Fans may want them to loose in hope that their favorite team gets the next big star in the upcoming draft. BUT teams don't try to loose. Guys play to win and would never try to loose... because well, that new player is going to replace somebody on the current team, so why would anybody let their guard down???
Posted by: Todd | Apr 5, 2007 12:03:44 PM
I can't lie. In the first half of the season I hated it whenever Bickerstaff put Herrmann in the game because he was never productive. But he has made almost a complete turn around and turned out to be a major scorer and defender. Although it would be nice to get a player like Durant in the draft, we really dont need to tank anything. I honestly would put a healthy Bobcats team up against any group of guys in the league. Herrmann brings a missing peice that was simply lacking earlier in the season, and while he's no star, he fills out a roster of really solid young players.
Posted by: Sean | Apr 5, 2007 3:51:32 PM
I think Bobcats they will play to win. if they have some more good players because bobcats has a good players, but even they have a good players they need more good players, so they can win all the game. Watching the wining Bobcats game will make us very happy, and it will be more fun to watch the game. Wining is a tradition the Carolinas, so for management to stress not wining, giving away games, it is wrong. The Bobcats should win every game they can because it is only right. The fans also appreciate a winning team. No team should ever try to lose.
Posted by: Mebrat Asghedom | Apr 10, 2007 1:45:38 PM
Just watching the NBA conference semi-finals last night I noticed how close the Bobcats are to being a factor in the next couple of years. On a talent level, the Bobcats have just as much as say Golden State, the difference is getting the respect of the officiating. The league gives home teams calls that are sometimes questionable at best. Lackluster crowds lead to fewer calls, feverish, hostile crowds can cause referees to swallow their whistles. This is magnified if you are a team without a clear cut superstar,(examples are Utah, Golden State, Detroit,etc). So with that being said, we need to make our 10,000 sound like 20,000. Almost becoming hornery, this worked for the Hornets, and it could speed up the learning curve of the Bobcats.
Posted by: Darrell J | May 16, 2007 2:05:01 PM
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