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January 15, 2008
Bobcats building toughness, trust
It was interesting Monday night to hear Gerald Wallace address the lack of mental toughness that pervaded the Bobcats much of this season.
This wasn’t in response to a question. He just volunteered postgame that there were "people" saying the Bobcats lacked the fight they had their first three seasons.
That wasn’t a perception, it was a fact. The Bobcats did nothing the first 30 games to make you think they could tough out anything.
The Bobcats played hard night after night the first three seasons, and that was about Bernie Bickerstaff’s coaching. He was honest and fair, and made them accountable to each other.
Coach Sam Vincent has had a hard transition to his first season as an NBA coach. Earlier this season, the Bobcats typically didn’t win on the road or challenge the league’s better teams. Those are signs of a fragile team.
Lately that’s changed. The win in Boston validated the victory against New Jersey. Pushing Cleveland and Detroit to overtime showed some persistence and beating Denver on Monday was a nice surprise.
They’re learning to trust each other. I don’t think all the problems are fixed, but there’s less of a tug-of-war between the post players and the perimeter guys.
Posted by Observer Sports on January 15, 2008 at 12:35 AM | Permalink
Comments
Hi Rick,
I'm a season ticket holder and have been to several games this year. I'm not a fan of Michael Jordan taking the reigns from a business standpoint and still think he has not made a difference or even attempted to sell this team to the community. I think Sam Vincent was a cheap hire and he probably would've been better served being an assistant for a couple of years and then maybe stepping into the role. Paul Silas would've been the perfect fit for this team to have some much needed toughness.
Posted by: Keith | Jan 15, 2008 8:11:28 AM
Sam Vincent has definitely made some mistakes this year. I am sure he was hired, in part, because his services come cheaper than more established coaches. Nevertheless, the Bobcats play 82 regular season games. There is plenty of time for them to rectify their shortcomings.
The Raymond Felton isolation play in OT against the Cavs and plays similar to it have me going crazy. However, we should all reserve judgment until the end of the season. He is a rookie coach and growing pains are to be expected.
Posted by: Token | Jan 15, 2008 9:12:08 AM
The last five games have been great. The team shows energy and a will to win. Whoever came up with the zone defense did a great job. Earlier this year I stated a close loss = bad coaching...so Sam V (as much as this pains me) - great work last night!
Posted by: NC_Bobcats_Fan | Jan 15, 2008 11:21:41 AM
Token,
In fairness to Sam, the Felton play at the end of OT was a good call, but poorly executed. Felton and Okafor have to work the kinks out of their pick and roll the way he and Nazi have. HOWEVER, Felton did a poor job of using the screen to go to the hole, as he should have. He settled for the jumpshot. Driving, he could have had a higher percentage shot, gotten fouled, kicked it out for a better shot opportunity, or created an offensive rebound opportunity. Settling for a fadeway over a 7 footer did none of those things.
My bigger gripe in the Cleveland had to do with playcalling down the stretch in that game that got us into OT to begin with. It never should have made it that far. We built an 8 pt lead running the pick and roll with Nazi and Raymond, but inexplicably went away from it down the stretch. We were dragging out possessions trying to isolate J-Rich (who had lost his touch) and Gerald while having Matt Carroll popping up to the top of the key to swing it to them.
We should have just kept going with what was working until they stopped it. Sam outcoached himself there. I think that he has been trying to groom a superstar closer and that is why he did it (and maybe he has), but at the time it was the wrong move. Nonetheless, I think the Felton play at the end of the first OT was more poor execution of Felton's part than playcalling on Sam's. In fact, we have more successfully used the pick and roll down the stretches of games earlier in the year.
Posted by: jperry | Jan 15, 2008 12:22:56 PM
Here's to the kinks being worked out between new coach, system, players, and teammates. BTW, Nazi Mohammed has been a GREAT acquisition for us.
Posted by: jperry | Jan 15, 2008 12:24:50 PM
How 'bout some television coverage. I'm only seeing one or two 'Cats games a week, if that. Its hard to build a fanbase if people can't see the team.
Posted by: Jeremy | Jan 15, 2008 1:42:43 PM
i am a sattelite subscriber and i can barely see any of bobcats game for the reason that most of their games was being played on cable not on sattelite. can the bobcats have a tv coverage that can be seen even if you're not a cable subscriber?
Posted by: denz | Jan 15, 2008 1:59:19 PM
Hey guys, just stopping by to give you a hint that the guy is called Nazr Mohammed. Not Nazi. I'm from Germany and I'm pretty shocked that some of you think that he could be spelled "Nazi". I think a guy named Nazi wouldn't even play in the NBA...
Posted by: Richard | Jan 15, 2008 2:32:26 PM
Richard,
My apologies as I know I am guilty of that often. Most of the time, I am simply going with the phonetics/nickname over the fullname without acknowledging the other overtones. I know how his name is spelled and will try to type Nazr as to not derail basketball discussion.
Posted by: jperry | Jan 15, 2008 2:39:44 PM
I had a gut feeling the Bobcats (esp. Wallace) could revive their season. It is apparent Felton's going to have to improve on his shot selection and limit his turnovers for them to have a decent post-season. I wish we had J-Rich/Wallace here in Seattle...dang!!
Posted by: NWfan | Jan 15, 2008 3:33:53 PM
Slow down, there. The Bobcats have played well over the past week but only went 3-2, which doesn't really get them much closer to the playoffs with the hole they've dug. Let's not make any postseason projections just yet.
Good win last night, but there was still no defense to speak of and the offense stalled out again. If Anthony doesn't get called for travelling w/ 6 seconds left we could be talking about losing another close one.
Posted by: firesamvincent | Jan 15, 2008 4:46:51 PM
I live in Wilmington and the only way to see Bobcats' games is with league pass. Can't even see them on cable because there is no UPN affiliate in Wilmington. Kind of messed up since it is his Airness's stomping grounds.
Posted by: Bro D. | Jan 15, 2008 5:31:28 PM
Give it time. They will continue to bring themselves out of this whole. Jperry much respect to your response back to Richard. The site usually freaks out over stuff like that. But the Bobcats of course have alot of work to do. As long as teams like Boston, Orlando, Philly, New Jersey, Detriot, Bulls, Toronto get there loses throughout the season we will be fine. Because we will eventually be in the mix of all those teams. So we may be aight. We just have to put on a few of consecutive
5-8 game winning streaks over the next months. We just have to continue to improve and grow. And dog on it Gerald Wallace is an ALLSTAR give it up allready!
Posted by: Bobcat Fan D | Jan 15, 2008 6:01:41 PM
This team is playing ball now. They are competitive and thats better then what was happening before.
The free throws cost us the games against Detroit & Cleveland. I don't know who is responsible for free throws in practice but we could of gotten better by now.
Also I know there have been some downs this year but we might just turn this season around. If we continue to play smart down the stretch then we are definitely going to knock off more contenders. We just need to avoid losing to the bottom feeders. No more CATFISH losses!
Posted by: CEREBRUM | Jan 15, 2008 6:35:04 PM
Keep up the great effort and wins will come more often. Playoff? Playoffs? Don't think about playoffs! Playoffs? Just doin my best Jim Mora. Go 'cats
Posted by: D-Cat | Jan 15, 2008 8:10:12 PM
We know why Vincent is the coach. He is BLACK and will work CHEAP. End of story. PEACE.
Posted by: jason | Jan 15, 2008 9:30:38 PM
Hah..."a few 5-8 game win streaks"? Not for THIS team. No consistency at the PG position or in the post. Our best players (Wallace and Richardson) get far too reliant on having their jumper fall for us to rattle off that kind of success, especially with the way the schedule will soon tilt. We've seen what can happen when one of them is hitting (Richardson's 19(?) in the first a few games back), but when they don't (the next three quarters), we struggle to score points and fail to recognize that drives and trips to the line are a good way to break out of a slump from the field, particularly J-Rich, who may still be recovering from his knee injury? I never watched him much before he got here, but when I did, I saw explosiveness that's been hard to find this year from him.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Jan 15, 2008 9:35:11 PM
There are certain websites out there that I cant mention here that does post links to the game to view online. I live in Asheville, and can only see Charlotte games when they come on WMYA until I found this website that gives me a link every night to view them. Havent missed a game yet.
Posted by: Jason Warren | Jan 15, 2008 11:20:05 PM
With the seemingly obvious big man problems slowly getting better now that Mohammed is in the fold, why hasn't there been more discussion of bringing in Chris Webber or P.J. Brown (who did seem to like it in Charlotte last time around) to help out at the Power Forward spot? This deep into the season, it can't cost the Bobcats THAT much to sign one of them, and might be the shot in the arm they need to make a push for the playoffs.
Posted by: Clayton | Jan 16, 2008 10:52:44 AM
Good thoughts Clayton, but at this point in those player's careers, they are not going to play in Charlotte. They will go to a contender, not a team that might claw their way into the playoffs. And we don't need an attitude like Webber in the mix. Brown would be nice, but there is no way he comes back for a team not in the hunt presently.
Posted by: Bobcat Matt | Jan 16, 2008 12:49:52 PM
Jason, What does race have to do with the Bobcats coach? I don't see anyone complaining about NHL coaches race. Any assistant head coach would of come cheap to the Bobcats that did not have any prior NBA head coaching experience. It is totally asinine & irresponsible to put RACE in the equation when dealing with the Bobcats head coach. I believe people care more about wins & the playoffs then what color the COACH is on the bench. Any assistant head coach from any nationallity would of come CHEAP period! Also it is the choice of the Bobcats to hire whom they please according to NBA guidelines. I believe Vincent was hired for his potential. He has made mistakes this year but any first year coach would. So in the future if you can't say something intelligent & meaningful to add to the conversation then don't say anything at all.
Posted by: CEREBRUM | Jan 16, 2008 3:57:44 PM
Of course, I like how they have played the last week or so. The first 30 games were depressing to watch especially watching a new coach learning the hard way loss after loss. However, if they can continue in the same vein it bodes well for the future. Nevertheless, being an NBA fan for several decades (was a MN Timberwolves season ticket holder) it may be better to miss the playoffs and take one more shot at the draft lottery then to sneak into the last playoff spot and lose right away. I could live with it either way but the next draft may one of the best in many years.
Posted by: RoyFan | Jan 16, 2008 4:58:55 PM
Cere, I understand your perspective, but given the hiring patterns of this organization within the front office, executive staff, and broadcast teams, it's tough to suggest race ISN'T an issue. What ere Sam Vincent's qualifications? He's never even been a lead ASSISTANT in the NBA, and his biggest claim to fame is coaching an African women's team to a victory in a QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT. And as to your point about hockey coaches, how many qualified blacks can you name who could coach a team? Grant Fuhr? I'm a hockey fan, and that's the only name I can think of.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Jan 16, 2008 5:26:38 PM
It was good to see Bob Johnson the other night. No, it wasn't at the Bobcats game, it was on TV shilling for Hillary. Isn't there something really wrong about a guy who made his money with Rap Videos on BET hammering on poor Barack Obama, a well-spoken, educated guy trying to become America's first black president? In EVERYTHING BJ does, he stresses that we need to promote black causes and black people....then he supports Hillary.
Posted by: Rodney Whitehead | Jan 16, 2008 6:24:00 PM
Michael, the issue is the constant reference to race. I enjoy hockey and other sports but never place emphasis on the race of the coach. Bobcats choice of personnel raises eyebrows but everything in our society is not perfect nor fair. People hire people they are comfortable with. Parcells hired a coach for the Dolphins because he is comfortable with Sparano as his choice. I don't care about Vincent receiving the criticism as a HEAD COACH. He may not be the choice everyone expected but he is the coach now. How many rookie coaches in the NBA or NFL are CRITICIZED based on race? Rookie coaches make mistakes just like players do.
Also the NHL reference leads to my next point. The coaches in that sport coach because of their experience with the sport or as former assistants. Rookie coaches in that league are criticized because of the mistakes they make and I am sure some of them were not the first choice of every team but they are the coach.
If we based the selection of NHL coaches on involvement of racial groups then it would be a small percentage for any minority.
So if that held true for the NBA then the HC positions need to go to more minorities but that is not the point. Vincent is Black and he is the Bobcats coach.
If Jordan had picked a White coach with a similar coaching pedigree no one would of made a reference to him being White based on his mistakes or salary. Financial responsibility is important for a team trying to establish itself in a market that lost a team before.
I know RACE is an everyday fact of life but it does not mean anything when teams are trying to score points and win. If they sniff the playoffs this year and the team makes it next year then what will the naysayers have to say then?
This team is young and the coach is young, give him a chance! Dean Smith would of never been great if people gave up on him after the first couple of years.
Posted by: CEREBRUM | Jan 16, 2008 7:11:43 PM
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