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January 03, 2008
Coach's claims befuddle Bobcats
Coach Sam Vincent said his two most dynamic players looked out of gas during the second half against the Chicago Bulls.
Those two stars – Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson – both looked slightly mystified when Vincent’s conclusion was passed on to them through the media. They didn’t feel tired and didn’t think fatigue was the reason they lost.
The quizzical look on the players’ faces is becoming commonplace in the Bobcats locker room. Ever since Vincent wondered aloud in Toronto whether his players were getting enough rest or eating the right foods, they don’t know what to make of their coach’s assessments.
Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that Wallace and Richardson really are wearing out (and Wallace rejects that, by the way.) What then?
The schedule so far has been anything but trying. They’ve played 20 of 31 games at home and have never gone west of the Central Time Zone. They have yet to play a road game against a Western Conference opponent.
Yet they’re 1-10 on the road.
If they looked out of gas, playing two games in four nights, both at home, then what happens when they play four games in five nights out West? Maybe Vincent really should persuade Michael Jordan to play the rest of this season, because if they’re pooped now, they need reinforcements fast.
Posted by Observer Sports on January 3, 2008 at 12:49 AM | Permalink
Comments
Good article.
I like how Vincent blames the loss on the two players that are giving it their all out there. If the Bobcats do manage to win a game, it's because Wallace and J-Rich had great nights and won despite Vincent's coaching.
How about a little scouting? They didn't look prepared against Noah or Ben Gordon. They stopped running an aggressive offense and started settling for early jumpers. I don't remember scoring coming out of one timeout.
Maybe the coach can start taking a little responsibility for himself and stop passing the blame.
Posted by: firesamvincent | Jan 3, 2008 6:13:39 AM
When will this moron leave? And when will Michael Jordan stop having authority to make coaching hires?
Gar Heard
Leonard Hamilton
Doug Collins
Scam Vincent
Posted by: H | Jan 3, 2008 7:43:26 AM
I was just as confused with Vincent's comments as the players. Chicago played Monday as well; in addition, they had to travel here. Yet they had more energy and passion last night. If anyone looked fatigued on the Bobcats, it was Coach Vincent-I didnt see him work the officials at any point in last night's game.
Posted by: Quentin Goodwin | Jan 3, 2008 8:23:59 AM
Something has got to give. The Bobcats are on the verge of losing less games this year. I still have Vincent's back, but he needs to get it together.
Posted by: Token | Jan 3, 2008 9:10:12 AM
Losing more games...
Posted by: Token | Jan 3, 2008 9:11:11 AM
So far, it's pretty clear that kicking Bernie Bickerstaff upstairs was a big mistake. Bickerstaff never had a great deal of talent, but guys seemed to know their roles on the team and the players seemed prepared for the games.
I just wonder how many more games the Bobcats could've won if they had kept an experienced head coach on the bench.
Posted by: G'boro Cats Fan | Jan 3, 2008 9:18:48 AM
This guy is a complete moron. The Bobcats have a team that is built (and I use that term loosely) to run and gun, much like the Warriors of last season. Yet Vincent wants to play a walk it up offense and hope that Rich or Wallace can just take someone one-on-one. And he wants to play Raymond at the 2, seriously? Raymond is like 5'11 on a good day, and he has never been a great shooter.
This guy is terrible and should not be allowed to run this team. There are a ton of young players here that can make a difference and he is throwing away their best years.
Posted by: Andrew | Jan 3, 2008 9:41:37 AM
Bernie was a very ordinary coach but a GREAT motivator of men.
Sam is a very ordinary coach and seems to conflict with his players - and the two hardest working guy's on our team.
Sam seems to be in over his head - but is he to blame for that or is MJ?
Posted by: Slam | Jan 3, 2008 9:47:39 AM
Vincent is in WAY over his head. There is no reason in the world McGinnis should be starting...and calling out the 2 players that show up every night. Gerald Wallace plays hard every single play, every single night. Bernie was great at getting every ounce of talent out of his players. Vincent just leaves them all confused. Raymond will never develop into a franchise point guard if you keep moving him from 1 to 2. I'm not so sure he'll become the franchise point guard regardless, but the swapping around doesn't help. MJ blew it w/ this one.
Posted by: Bobcat Matt | Jan 3, 2008 10:16:51 AM
Let's look at the numbers:
04/05 Season 18W 64L
05/06 Season 26W 56L
06/07 Season 33W 49L
07/08 Season 11W 19L Year to date
- 30 Away games remaining
- 22 Home games remaining
Next 10 games
- 4 Away (NJ/BOS/CLE/NO
- 6 Home (MIL/NJ/DET/DEN/ORL/MEM
We are headed in the wrong direction!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: The numbers | Jan 3, 2008 10:23:42 AM
Maybe they should go back to playing Mohammad at center. The team is getting outrebounded since he was taken out of the line-up. Also, the coach should worry about his teams free throws then how they look to him. 69% free throw shooting won't cut it.
Sit Mcinnis on the bench, he's a journyman. Show Okafor how to shoot FT. Start Mohammad, the team is getting out rebounded. He was playing well. Fire the coach!
Posted by: Jay | Jan 3, 2008 11:00:26 AM
I switched this year to DirectTV (got both the NFL and NBA packages) and I don't get to see as many Bobcats games (what is up with that). Every game I have seen, they have lost (with the exception to Indiana).
I agree that there doesn't seem to be any direction on offense. I thought the most glaring weakness on this team was a big man and now with Mohammad, I think this team needs a true point guard, someone who can provide direction. Felton appears clueless at times in the half-court set and McGinnis is not the answer here or anywhere else he has been outside of UNC. Come to think about it, when he was at UNC he was more of a spot up shooter who actually had a really nice mid-range jumper.
Posted by: northcliq | Jan 3, 2008 11:13:17 AM
So, the Bobcats have had injury-prone big men, a good outside shooter that works hard (Matt Carroll), a dynamic energy player who really started playing well the end of last season (Herrmann), a solid PG to share minutes with and mentor Felton (Knight), and a solid coach with a good game plan of building with youth and teamwork (Bickerstaff). First in 2006 Jordan drafts Morrisson (who plays the same position as Gerald Wallace) when he could have had Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay, or Tyrus Thomas. In 2007 he swaps a young and agile big man who has that UNC fan base connection (Brandan Wright) for overpriced J-Rich who has already had knee issues, puts in a coach who appear clueless and has put on the floor some of the worst possible combos for offense, plants Herrmann on the bench (then trades him)? With McInnis starting at PG? I wonder if the Bobcats can survive Jordan? He was a great player - and was and is a lousy exec.
Posted by: WNC basketball fan | Jan 3, 2008 11:41:16 AM
This is what I saw, before reading Sam Vincent's comments: the Bobcats played with a lot of energy and dominated the game in the first half (and about 3.5 minutes into the second half), then they fizzled and were unable to make a come back for the rest of the game. This is a consequence of the small line ups used by Sam Vincent: the big men almost didn't play together (well, they did, for less than 4 minutes...), and consequently were not much of an offensive threat; they had just 17 points together. Too much of the scoring burden fell on the two wing starters - Gerald and JRich. After the game, I was sure that, as good pros, they will deny fatigue was a factor; when you're all hyped up and focused on winning the game, you don't feel it (until your legs start really quitting on you). However, their declining production in the second half, and the way the team looked - so flat compared to the first half - speak for themselves. To win, the team needs more
balance in the offensive production between guards and wings, on the one hand, and the "bigs", on the other hand. You can't get that playing Emeka and Nazr one at a time.
Also, I hope coach Vincent saw the "wonderful" results of assigning Gerald to defend against power forwards; he was basically helpless trying to guard Joe Smith and Joakim Noah. This is no slight on Gerald, who does a fantastic job for our team; he's a very good small forward, and it shouldn't be his job to defend at power forward. Everything becomes a lot harder for the Bobcats when playing with such undersized line ups: rebounding (offensive and defensive), scoring and defending in the paint. The mismatches created by going small don't work well for the team, and also, playing against bigger and stronger opponents is physically more taxing.
The sooner coach Vincent will end his small ball experiment, the better this will be for the team. Let Nazr and Emeka work together, let Ryan Hollins play again, and end the pairing of Felton and McInnis.
Posted by: Sandy | Jan 3, 2008 12:28:29 PM
I don't understand what this coach is trying to do. Are we a running team or do we only run when it's convenient? Why can't he figure out a good enough rotation after 30 games? Where has Jared Dudley been? Good things happen when Dudley is in the game and I haven't seen him in the past couple of weeks. Where is Hollins? Why is Raymond Felton starting at SG? That is just a small list of question I have.
Posted by: DS | Jan 3, 2008 1:25:40 PM
Bulls fan here. I watched the entire game and many replays of the 4th quarter on the DVR. The Bobcats were flat in the 4th. Tell me you didn't hear the boos with 1:10 remaining, down 10, and Jason Richardson FIRES up a terrible three point attempt that was actually blocked by Deng(if I recall correctly). It was just awful. JRich had no angle. He didn't have his feet set. What was he doing? It was a desperate attempt to steal 3 points. He wasn't trying to earn them.
Second, Gerald Wallace fell in love with the jump shot in the 4th. He wasn't getting much in the form of result penetrating against Joakim Noah so he started settling. Wallace isn't a very good shooter. He needs layups and dunks to elevate his shooting percentage.
Jason Richardson couldn't guard Ben Gordon in the 4th. Gerald Wallace couldn't box out Joakim Noah. These were signs of fatigue. One Bobcat was going to the rim in the 4th quarter and it was Raymond Felton. However, he also picked up fouls along the way. He wasn't playing very good defense either, but it was good to see him go to the rim to try and create. Unfortunately, the rest of the Bobcats stood around and waited for more dribble penetration from Felton.
The Bobcats weakness is their front court. Gerald Wallace cannot guard 6'11" big men. His defense is on the perimeter. He can steal here, fill passing lanes here, disrupt an offense, and come help for those nice blocks. He's not stopping anyone with a low post bruising back to the basket offensive game. He's overmatched in this position.
Posted by: Gabriel | Jan 3, 2008 2:06:23 PM
The problem is Felton guys! Sam wants to keep him on the floor, but he's incapable of running the team, so he has to have Jeff on the floor. Drafting Morrison wasn't a bad choice. I would have preferred Gay, but Adam is a tough player who will be better next year. The biggest mistake we made was not trading up to get Chris Paul. Paul was clearly the best PG in the draft and we have two picks that year. J. Rich was a great addition. I think we have a solid team, but the PG has to be the glue.
He had 5 turnovers the last game. Shot 6-15 from the field. That's unacceptable from your PG. You can't have 5 turnovers and shoot horrible. He's shooting below 41% from the field. I still don't understand why Sam puts him at the 2G when he shoots such a low percentage. I would like to see Matt play over Jeff.
Posted by: Bobcats Fan | Jan 3, 2008 5:33:32 PM
Felton HAS to be at the SG spot because he's proven since the moment he stepped into the league that he can't run an offense.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Jan 3, 2008 6:08:39 PM
Send him back to Africa.
PS Send Boob Johnson and Mikie Jordan with him. Maybe they can chase some african women's team tail.
Posted by: kevin | Jan 3, 2008 6:27:37 PM
Felton at the SG spot is retarded. McInnis playing 30 minutes of PG is even more ridiculous. "Bobcats Fan", your comments are ridiculous. What offense is there to run? Do you see any organization out there? Do you see plays being ran at all? Do you see guys working hard off the ball to get open and setting good screens? Do you see a versatile big man who can score out there? Do you even see a big man who can catch a pass? Do you see spot up shooters? These things have nothing to do with Felton and pretty much every top PG in the league has nearly all of those things, you cant expect him to produce similar numbers when he's only got two guys who can score around him, both of them are wing players, and one of them(Wallace)doesn't like to catch and shoot, but create himself. Having shooters and an offensive big allows you to run pick and rolls, pick and pops, drive and kick and just penetrate and get to the basket a whole lot easier, which opens things up for your jumpshooters, if we had more than one guy on the floor who could shoot. If all your big men can do is tip in putbacks then the lane will always be clogged and a 6 footer isn't going to have much success in there. The only thing Felton could do better is shoot, and if we had a scoring post player and another shooter, we wouldn't need to rely on him for point production. Felton has always been a streaky shooter, and for some odd reason, Vincent thinks he should play half the game in the role of "spot up shooter" at the 2 spot.
Sam Vincent's play calling, lineup managment and the lack of a scoring big man is what kills this team. Felton has nothing to do with that. To the guy above who commented on Felton's 5 TOs last game, take note that 3 of those were off the hands of Emeka who can't catch a pass to save his live. If the recipient of the pass never gains control, the TO is normally charged to the passer. Take those TO's away and you've got 9 assists to 2 TOs. Felton is doing about as good as he can considering what he has to work with. Hiring Sam was a horrible mistake. They should have taken Van Gundy.
Bernie was a pretty bad coach, but at least he got the players to put in maximum effort. Like Sam though, he was horrible at managing the lineups and designing a system of plays.
I am so sick of seeing Sams silly comments. Blaming a loss on guys who had huge nights, calling Felton a combo guard. When will the incompetence end? and would Bob Johnson please sell this franchise to someone who wants to win?
Posted by: SamSucks | Jan 3, 2008 10:22:17 PM
One word.....FUSTRASTION!!!
I work inside the arena! I see and talk with these players on a daily basis!
These players...ALL of them are very fustrated!
They all have the attitude like most working men have about the job that they tread going to every day!
I blame this on the COACH! He is supposed to be the captain of this ship! He is the one that is supposed to keep his men motivated to perform well! How can these guys stay motivated with so many changes and terrible decisions by the coach! The players went on to win 2 games in a row after picking up Nazr (would have probably been 3 if the travel plans were better) The players saw what was supposed to be a positive difference. Instead our CAPTAIN has ALL BUT ABANDONED SHIP!
Posted by: Insider | Jan 3, 2008 10:26:18 PM
Gabriel, read the post of the Bulls fan, he hit it on the head. What are you expecting Felton to do with this team? Shoot 48% on a team that creates no spacing in the half court and getting 20 and 10 per game? That would make him a top 3 PG in the league, which is a bit much to ask for out of a third year player. In fact, if he could do that on this team he'd be the best in the league. Sure, Chris Paul is the man, but you have to understand that he has two big guys who have versatile offense and hit jumpshots(West and Peja). And he has Tyson Chandler who is like a faster Emeka that can actually catch passes. If you take those guys away and replace them with Wallace, Mohammed and Okafor and stop running plays, the lane will close back up and Paul will struggle to penetrate and create just like Felton. Paul would improve the team a little becuase he's a better shooter(Just like D. Williams, who works the highest scoring big in the league and a center who can hit 3's), but the team would still struggle due to no post offense and we'd be maybe a spot or two higher in the east, still not playoff material. I hate to see people blaming this on any one player, especially Felton(who is in a terrible position for any PG) when the real problem is incompetence on the coaching staff and lack of inside offense.
McInnis was never, at any point, a better PG than Felton, so he does NOT have to be in there for more than 10 or so minutes a game, just to give Felton a rest. They should never be in there together.
It's sad that Sam is making six figures coaching an NBA team and yet there are probably more qualified coaches in our local highschools and middle schools.
Posted by: SAMSUCKS2 | Jan 3, 2008 10:45:43 PM
whoops, I read the posters wrong, the first post was directed at Michael Procton, the second not Gabriel, but Bobcats Fan
Posted by: SamSucks | Jan 3, 2008 10:48:48 PM
Hey, anonymous guy! Thanks for your insight. Funny thing is, though, Felton's always been terrible at running the point. Chooses to shoot himself too often, makes ridiculous turnovers trying to make bullshit wannabe And1 moves to please the whineandcheesers in the Columbia blue sweater vests, and doesn't find his teammates in positions to score like a true PG does. As horrible as his teammates are at catching the ball, shooting, etc., Brevin Knight always managed to have vastly superior assist numbers with far lower turnovers. If you want to think it's all Emeka's fault, though, feel free.
You do have one thing right, though: McInnis isn't the best PG on the team. Derek Anderson is.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Jan 3, 2008 11:14:15 PM
When did Felton hog it and shoot all the time in college? Never. In fact, he hardly shot at all and was awarded the Bob Cousy award(top college PG). He was in a better system with comparably better teammates. He had post players who could finish and hit jumpshots and a better coach. Sam Vincent's system is "everybody stand around and do nothing and hopefully Felton can jam his way into the overcrowded lane and make something happen. once the shot clock runs down the guy with the ball shoots". The things Felton can do are greatly limited by the coaching and players around him. Do you understand how basketball works? PG's don't create plays out of nothing singlehandedly all game long. It might happen a couple times, and Felton does that, but no team is going to win like that because no PG can do that all game. You need at least one or two bigs who are a enough of threat to consistently draw doubles in the post when they receive the ball and can step out and hit jumpshots. some of your bigs have to be able to drag their man our of the lane at least a little bit in order for your PG to have easy access to the lane. If all they can do is get putbacks then that will never happen. If you're bigs are working properly, everything opens up for everyone.
As far as Knight's "vastly superior" numbers, what a joke. Knight had two seasons with higher numbers for the Cats(one of those seasons was before Felton arrived). During that time, Primoz was effective. He also had Kopono for one of those seasons and stretches with Sean May. Felton has yet to have a season where he was playing half as many minutes at PG as Knight did in those years. Knight would never have put up 8-9 assist playing 15 minutes of PG. His numbers were always misleading as the team was better while he was injured his last two seasons in Charlotte. I was always baffled by his assist numbers since he rarely penetrated. And anyways, you're comparing the numbers of a guy in his prime, with a different supporting cast playing 2-3 times as many PG minutes to Felton, which is nonsense considering the situation is completely different.
If you're going to do that, then let's point out that Nash didn't have numbers like Felton's 2nd year until his 5th season, and he had been playing more PG minutes than Felton since his second season. Now Nash is an MVP. You can't shut the door on a guy in his third season when he hasn't been given a real opporitunity to develop and play in a real system with skilled players.
Maybe Felton can't find the open man because guys aren't in position to score, do you watch the games? If you did you would notice no plays are being ran, guys aren't moving and setting screens and the big guys can't help spread the floor at all. no PG can find the open man when there isn't one idiot. If you read my posts, then you should have been able to see all of the obvious reasons for our struggles. The only PG in the league with good assist numbers that doesn't have a good offensive big, solid coaching, and good jumpshooters is Jason Kidd. He at least has one of those things, Felton has none of them. If you look at the other top guys, they're basically working with a who's who of top bigs and coaches. Look who is surrounding Williams, Parker, Nash, Paul, Tinsley, Davis, Billups and Calderon. They all have good coaches and bigs. Some of them, like Billups, Nash and Parker are surrounded with great everything. Playing PG on those teams is not comparable to playing for the Cats. If a good PG was playing for Boston or Orlando, they would have enormous numbers as well.
It's not Emeka's fault we suck, its his fault he can't catch a simple pass.
There isn't a single PG in the league who could correct this team. There's probably not one who could make a substantial improvement, because no PG can make Sam a good coach and turn our bigs into versatile scorers, force guys to move around more on offense, or heal our banged up bench for that matter. The team is in desperate need of low post offense and coaching. Without those things, its going to be tough to have a winning team.
Posted by: Michael Prickton | Jan 4, 2008 1:18:35 AM
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