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November 19, 2007
Brezec needs a good cut man
Remember that line from the Rocky movie? "Cut me, Mick!"
That might be the only way Primoz Brezec plays tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers. His left eye is swelled shut, after it took several stitches to close a wound he suffered in a collision with assistant coach Paul Mokeski.
It happened after practice Sunday, when Mokeski -- the big-man specialist on the Bobcats coaching staff -- was running a post-up drill with Brezec and Emeka Okafor.
Former NBA center Mokeski ("I'm old and I'm slow") didn't react quickly enough when Brezec swung through the lane. So Brezec collided face-first with Mokeski's head.
"I have a head that's a little harder than his eye," Mokeski joked at today's shootaround.
As of this morning Brezec, the Bobcats' starting center, couldn't see out of the eye. Though he participated in shootaround and enjoyed the attention ("I'm a warrior, man!"), coach Sam Vincent said he might choose not to play him tonight unless the swelling goes down.
Vincent would likely start Ryan Hollins in Brezec's absence. Hollins played 25 minutes off the bench (to Brezec's 11 as a starter) in the victory over Seattle Saturday.
This is the second time in a week Brezec has taken a blow to the face. Okafor hit his nose with an inadvertent elbow in a one-on-one drill.
Posted by rbonnell on November 19, 2007 at 11:32 AM | Permalink
Comments
Generally, injuries hurt a team. However, this one I am all in favor of. Good job coach Mokeski. Let's see what a combo of Hollins and Davidson can do at the 5. God knows it can't be worse than Brezec. Who knows, he might shoot it better if he can't see the rim?!
Posted by: BustaCat | Nov 19, 2007 11:56:37 AM
What if this means that Harrington gets more burn?
God forbid!!
Posted by: Slam | Nov 19, 2007 1:43:07 PM
primo needs to be cut. he by far is the worst big man in the league.i could start
for the bobcats at center and im only 5'7
Posted by: dee | Nov 19, 2007 2:08:46 PM
At this point it's pretty clear that neither Harrington or Brezec are going to be any help in our quest for more frontcourt quality. This leads me to two conclusions. One, play Hollins and Davidson. Not only are they our best options right now, they need to be given a chance to develop. And two, get ready to deal Brezec and Harrington (who both have expiring contracts totalling about $5 million) for some decent help at the 5 (someone from the Knicks? Heat? Sonics? T-Wolves? The Knicks especially may want to clear some cap space. How about David Lee?).
We could even throw in Morrison, who doesn't have a spot on this team and still may be attractive based on potential and his contract (team options for the next two seasons at between 4 and 4.5 million). That would give us space to absorb $10 million in salary, space on the roster, and still room to resign Okafor for a REASONABLE price.
Posted by: BustaCat | Nov 19, 2007 2:17:58 PM
Dear Bonnell,
I love you and we cannot possibly win without Brezec.
With Love,
M. Procton
Posted by: LeeL | Nov 19, 2007 2:21:52 PM
On the back of that last comment, here are my two dream scenarios. Brezec, Harrington and Morrison to the Sonics for Collison or Sene and Ridnour... or Brezec, Harrington and Morrison to Memphis for Swift or Warrick and Kyle Lowry. Both Ridnour and Lowry are buried in their respective pg situation (ridnour behind Watson and West, Lowry behind Stoudemire, Conley and JC Navarro) and would be great backups to Felton (maybe even challenge him in the case of Lowry). Collison is a nice rebounder, Sene is a LONG shot-blocker who could develop and Warrick and Swift are essentially the same player- long, athletic, running big men that would just add to the athleticism we put out on the court anyway.
Both Memphis and Seattle could absorb subtractions to their pg corps easily, they both have some depth in the frontcourt (especially Memphis) and I'm sure they wouldn't mind having Brezec, Harrington, and if they wanted to Morrison coming off the books next season. Oh yeah, both teams have won TWO games so far, so they might be looking to do some restructuring.
Posted by: BustaCat | Nov 19, 2007 2:35:54 PM
nobody cares about you blogs Rick Bonnell
Posted by: skljf;la | Nov 19, 2007 9:30:26 PM
This is an interesting article Bonnell, but can we get more analysis on the Bobcats season so far? The guys have been playing hard and we are currently 4th in the Eastern Conference. We are now 10 games into the season and the team is 6-4. That's a huge improvement from last year when the team went 2-8 over the first 10 games. We play the Wizards next and we could be 3 games over .500 going into the a 3 game stretch against some tough opponents. We play Orlando, Boston, and Miami. D wade is back, so Miami should have a chip on it's shoulder after losing two games to the Bobcats this season. It's crucial we win the wizards game.
Show your worth to the public! Show us why you accepted this job. Earn your pay!
Posted by: Bobcats Fan | Nov 19, 2007 10:30:41 PM
If we can win a few more I am going to increase ticket prices.
Posted by: Bob Johnson | Nov 19, 2007 10:42:04 PM
I wanna be Bob Johnson, your attempt to be humerous failed.
Posted by: Bobcats Fan | Nov 19, 2007 10:52:25 PM
Bonnell, Primoz doesn't need a cutman, he needs an early retirement along with Harrington. Maybe a buyout. The B-cats are doing very good and one of the reason they are not better is because of the lack of support and passion for both Primoz and Harrington. These two guys, they don't even have the intention of playing some basketball, and even less when you are asking them to play at NBA level.
Posted by: RobC | Nov 20, 2007 9:09:32 AM
Correction: "lack of support and passion FROM both Primoz and ..."
Posted by: RobC | Nov 20, 2007 9:10:46 AM
They should look for a trade maybe with Denver or Dallas. Nene and Dampier will be willing to play for Charlotte (a real contender for a Playoff spot) in exchange of getting some more minutes and be part of the succes instead of just watching from the bench. They both can average 8-12 pts and 8-10 rebounds in 25+ minutes in Charlotte. Also Hollins and Jermareo will be very good backups and can really learn something.
Posted by: RobC | Nov 20, 2007 9:16:06 AM
The Bobcats aren't going to get David Lee in exchange for their garbage, but Jerome James is probably available.
Posted by: Zeke Dolan | Nov 21, 2007 2:52:54 AM
I'd trade for Sene and Kurt Thomas. That way I got good prospect, but also a vet that might be more interested in a team on the verge of the playoffs. And he's a great defender.
But, right now, Thomas is nicked up.
Posted by: Matt Dooley | Nov 23, 2007 2:12:17 PM
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