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October 27, 2008
Prepping for the real games
Some thought between the end of the exhibitions and the start of the regular season:
-- If Larry Brown runs Monday’s public practice like he does a typical practice, then you should definitely take a long lunch to check it out.
I’ve covered the NBA for 20 years and eight head coaches, and I’ve never seen anything quite like Brown’s practices. Just like Nazr Mohammed said, he sees everything, he corrects everything. It’s not so much nagging as it is meticulous. And the attention he commands from these players is impressive.
Feel free to make a bunch of snarky comments about the 0-8 preseason. But, believe me, what’s wrong with the Bobcats is not about who’s coaching them.
-- Did you read Tom Sorensen’s column Sunday? It was so predictable for some people to suggest Tom was just put out that Bob Johnson didn’t consent to be interviewed.
It doesn’t work that way. On a personal level, Tom couldn’t care less whether Johnson talks to him. Nobody ever got anywhere in journalism by caring about being liked.
But you, as fans, should ask yourself why Johnson won’t answer some very reasonable questions. It reminds me of that great line from the “Wizard of Oz”:
“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.”
-- Since my colleague Charles Chandler gave you the 15 greatest Carolina Panthers, on the 15th anniversary of the NFL awarding a franchise to Charlotte, I’ll top it:
Entering Season 5, here are the five best and worst decisions in Bobcats history.
TOP FIVE:
1. Taking Gerald Wallace in the expansion draft: He might top Dell Curry, as the best expansion-draft player ever.
2. Trading up for Emeka Okafor. So, you’d rather have Josh Childress?
3. Finding Matt Carroll in the D-League. The definition of something-for-nothing.
4. Signing Brevin Knight: A dramatic upgrade from what Jason Hart was offering as the starting point guard.
5. Trading for Jason Richardson: They should have driven a harder bargain (Warriors were in luxury-tax jail), but they found a scorer who demands double-teams.
BOTTOM FIVE:
1. Hiring Sam Vincent: In ways both predictable and unpredictable, this was a disaster beyond description.
2. Not trading for Chris Paul: Even Roy Williams would have tossed out Raymond Felton and Sean May for the right to draft Paul.
3. Drafting Adam Morrison over Brandon Roy or Rudy Gay. You don’t get the third pick every day. Use it wisely.
4. Exchanging cap room for Mohammed: There’s nothing wrong with Mohammed, but I’d rather have cap room than $18 million-plus over three seasons for a backup center.
5. Starting C-SET: It wasn’t a basketball decision, but it was the difference between a profit and loss during the first season, and it’s haunted the franchise.
Posted by rbonnell on October 27, 2008 at 01:09 AM | Permalink
Comments
Drafting Adam Morrison over Brandon Roy or Rudy Gay. You don’t get the third pick every day. Use it wisely.
HAHAHA i totaly forgot about that for some reason. WOW what a terrible choice! thats a bad one right there.
Posted by: Vieira Bhoy | Oct 27, 2008 7:51:50 AM
J-Rich is the second coming of MJ only he dunks better!
Posted by: saginawjb | Oct 27, 2008 10:03:36 AM
I can't believe you are defending Tom on his article. As a basketball and Bobcats fan why should I care if Bob Johnson live here? I should start caring when he stops writing checks to keep our players here. He also said Bob Johnson wasn't at any pre-season games when i saw him there myself. How can I trust his anything else he says if he tells lies on the guy? And did anyone see how empty out 6-2 panthers stadium was yesterday? When is the last time Mr. Richardson gave his Q and A? Why not hate on him? It just seems like you guys are very biased!!!
Posted by: TonyBelk | Oct 27, 2008 10:16:41 AM
Wow. I can't believe the Observer is claiming Bob Johnson didn't talk. He talks to lots of people. He talked to ap just last week. But because he doesn't talk to the Observer, you guys whine and cry and pretend he talks to no one.
Posted by: ObserverisSOlame | Oct 27, 2008 11:06:02 AM
How can we forget adding MJ to the management team as one of the bottom five? No MJ then add Rudy Gay or Brandon Roy over Adam Morrison. Give me Bernie Bickerstaff in the front office any day
Posted by: CGMI184 | Oct 27, 2008 12:11:17 PM
funny side note: bob johnson was on TV last wekk with mark cuban (cnn) talking about the economic effect on NBA teams, and when asked about what he thought about the upcoming seasons prospects, johnson said "were looking forward to it. we are getting some players back from injury, like SCOTT may." (!!??!!) hes out of touch.
Posted by: brendan | Oct 27, 2008 12:11:21 PM
Whether Bob Johnson talks to the Observer, or lives in Charlotte means nothing. Just give us a quality NBA product and no one would care about what Bob Johnson does. This is why Jerry Richardson gets a pass on talking to the media.
Posted by: CGMI184 | Oct 27, 2008 12:18:04 PM
how about this for a mistake: never building the arena in uptown to keep the hornets in town?
or
naming the newest franchise the bobcats?
how about not keeping bernie around?
or not allowing larry bird to be charlotte's nba team owner?
i hope things change and change soon, but it seems to me this franchise has more failures than accomplishments. and that's coming from a "fan."
Posted by: frank | Oct 27, 2008 2:36:38 PM
I agree, adding Jordan to the management team has to go down as one of the worst 5 moves. Drafting in the NBA is critical for the bottom teams in the league and it seems that the Bobcats have just missed out/been unlucky. We have yet to win a draft lottery, got Emeka instead of Dwight Howard and took Morrison over Gay and Roy.
Posted by: Mason | Oct 27, 2008 2:37:08 PM
and by the way, jerry richardson does talk to the local media. unlike bob johnson, he understands the emotional attachment fans have to their team. the panthers have put out a better product than the bobcats have. even in their 1-15 season, i would have rather attended a panthers game than a bobcats game.
the panthers are winners for this city. the bobcats have a ways to go to impacting this town the way the panthers have.
business 101: give the consumer something worth buying. right now inflated salaries for back-up talent isn't going to cut it. someone needs to let bob johnson know that you have to invest money in good players in order to win games and thus the affection of a jilted charlotte fanbase.
Posted by: frank | Oct 27, 2008 2:42:13 PM
I like Rick's list.
Perhaps the loss of Walter Herrman should have been mentioned with the "Bottom 5" # 4 about Mohammed. We still don't have anyone who can man Power Forward as well as the undersized Herrmann.
I still think that Adam Morrison can be the second option on a team someday, but wow that move looks bad right now. Rudy Gay had every tool that one could ask for in an NBA prospect. He was just a deferential underclassman teammate at an NBA farm school(UConn), and was therefore accused of "not being assertive enough." That's always a dumb reason to pass over a super talent from a loaded college team.
Brandon Roy made the most sense in the 2006 draft. But if we had taken Roy, we would not have made the J-Rich steal a year later. Who knows how that might have played out?.....
Posted by: DeLaQuest | Oct 27, 2008 3:41:20 PM
I don't care if Bob Johnson is watching the Bobcats on his HD flatscreen in some cozy mansion in another state, OR at the arena. I'm glad he brought the NBA back to Charlotte. It's that simple for me.
I personally enjoy Charlotte, but I don't expect millionaires to treat us like we are worth a bunch of visits every year.
Posted by: DeLaQuest | Oct 27, 2008 3:50:31 PM
Mason,
We were lucky when we got Emeka. Originally, we were gonna pick 4th, I believe, and we were practically donated the 2nd pick in a trade. We shouldn't have been in the Emeka/Dwight "draft realm" to begin with.
But yes, otherwise we have "missed out" in the draft. Maybe "misstepped" is a better term.
And getting picks 5 and 13 in '05, along with getting pick 9 in '08, were slightly bad luck with the lottery, if memory serves.
Posted by: DeLaQuest | Oct 27, 2008 3:59:06 PM
Sorry for the being ignorant, but what is C-SET? I must be out of touch being from Raleigh or that I do not watch the Bobcats that much b/c of the product.
Posted by: Will Parker | Oct 27, 2008 4:00:51 PM
Thanks Rick. If anyone doesn't enjoy or appreciate the material that our Observer writers put out there, then don't read it. Its as simple as that. If you have a problem with Tom, then don't click on his articles...
Posted by: TrueFan | Oct 27, 2008 4:10:34 PM
Okafor was the 2nd pick,Howard was the 1st we couldn't have selected Okafor if Howard was 1st now i'init.Hiring MJ as a P.B.O(President of Basketball Operations) should have been included in the worst 5 moves list,seriously we have f'd up in every draft and there's no going back to right the wrong.If we had gotten Roy instead of Morrison or Gay for that matter we may not have made the trade for J-Rich,but we would have had the cap space to make other moves and who knows,no scratch that we all know MJ,Higgins would have made some stupid free agent signing.Bobcats are in no mans land and i don't even think Larry Brown can save this sorry franchise,till MJ and Higgins vacates the front office sooner rather than later.
Posted by: Rufus | Oct 27, 2008 4:10:56 PM
Who does Jerry Richardson talk to? Not the observer. But you made my point for me.. It's all about winning. If the Bobcats Start winning no one will care what Bob Johnson does. And you mention inflated salaries. If the Bobcats didn't give okafor the extension everyone would be calling him cheap. He can't win with some of you. He can't help some of the players have under achieved. It's like you guys want this team to fail.
Posted by: Tony Belk | Oct 27, 2008 4:12:45 PM
It's funny how before the draft everyone wanted the bobcats to get morrison. Now they all think it was a bad decision. I wanted morrison and I think if it wasn't for his injury he would have proved himself last year. All he has played is his rookie year, give the guy a shot!
Posted by: Tony Belk | Oct 27, 2008 4:20:02 PM
Rick, with so many players getting cut where is the scouting report? Are we seriously not showing any interest in any of the guys available in the market?
What about David Paggett? How long are we going to wait before adding another big man to our team?
Posted by: bobcatz | Oct 27, 2008 4:28:31 PM
As far as I am concerned, Rudy Gay was too similar to GW. As for Roy, didn't he make it known that he didn't want to play here & cancelled a workout with us?
Posted by: Yeah? | Oct 27, 2008 4:32:48 PM
i don't want the team to fail, i think the front office is causing them to fail. i think we are overpaying under-achieving players (mohammad in particular).
by the way, stan olson did a QA with richardson on 1/17/08. and when he doesn't talk, his son does. check today's stories quoting mark richardson.
i want to see charlotte do well. but roster moves need to happen to show the front office is serious about winning some games. take a hit on some guaranteed salaries and get a quality 4. that would be the catalyst to great things.
Posted by: frank | Oct 27, 2008 4:34:59 PM
"Yeah?",
Roy supposedly didn't want to be here. But players pull that stuff all of the time and end up signing to their "unwanted" team anyway.
Gay is a small forward similar to Wallace. But he has a smoother, more fundamentally sound jump shot, and greater height/length to guard perimeter PF's.
With Morrison, we basically added a backup to Gerald Wallace. It would have been the same with Gay, only he would've been good enough to challenge Wallace for his job.
Add Rudy Gay to this team, and we might be talking about Gerald Wallace as a "6th man of the year" candidate. Also, Gay and Wallace could combine to cover the PF spot for 12-15 minutes a game.
I think the Bobcats should always take the best player available and add assets to the team, even if they are trade assets. Look what Danny Ainge did with all of the draft assets he accumulated over the years. They got turned into Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Boom! Instant championship turnaround.
Posted by: DeLaQuest | Oct 27, 2008 4:56:28 PM
De La Quest,
I wasn't saying picking Okafor was a bad move at all, in fact trading up to get him was a very good move. All I am saying is that sometimes the difference between the first and second picks are huge. If Lando would have taken Ok, we would be in a completely different position. Same thing can be said for Cleveland when they got Lebron, San Antonio when they got Duncan etc....
I was just trying to imply that we have yet to win a draft lottery and be in position to draft that dynamic franchise player. Think about if we would have won the 2nd pick in the draft last year and taken Beasly. Beasly starting at PF and our team is playoff bound. Sometimes you just need to get lucky to build a team and the Bobcats have yet to get lucky with the draft.
Posted by: Mason | Oct 27, 2008 5:13:54 PM
GW is a 3 and so is Gay. Morrison was not drafted to be a 3, but a 2. Then the trade was made later for J-Rich, which I love, but it forced Morrison (a #3 pick) to be a bench player.
Posted by: Yeah? | Oct 27, 2008 6:18:29 PM
"Yeah?",
Anybody who knew basketball realized that Morrison couldn't move well enough to be a 2. He is a 3, if anything, in the league.
The Bobcats simply drafted him because they thought he was a "go-to scorer" that they desperately needed at the time. Too many get caught up in draft-time hype.
Posted by: DeLaQuest | Oct 27, 2008 6:49:43 PM
Mason, I understand what you're saying. I just think we were lucky in '04 because we were able to move up for very little and get Okafor. Howard falling to us would have been EXTREMELY lucky.
We certainly haven't had the luck of the Blazers. But I guess we could have made our own luck and obtained Roy and/or Bayless instead of Portland doing so.
Speaking of luck and how it can turn things around, how about the Charlotte Hornets from May '91 to April '93!! LJ and Zo just falling into their laps.
Posted by: DeLaQuest | Oct 27, 2008 6:58:42 PM
I know that Adam is a 3, but I think the Bobcats drafted him to be the starter as a 2 & a go-to scorer becausse GW wasn't going to be benched in favor of Adam.
Posted by: Yeah? | Oct 27, 2008 7:18:15 PM
For all the crap Sorensen has written about the Bobcats and Bob Johnson he really expected to be granted an interview?? Are you freakin kidding me?? If I were BJ I'd have told TS to kiss my absentee owner arse!
Posted by: Hoagie58 | Oct 27, 2008 7:47:51 PM
2. Not trading for Chris Paul: Even Roy Williams would have tossed out Raymond Felton and Sean May for the right to draft Paul.
If we wanted Paul all that we had to do was to the lose the last game of the previous season to New Orleans. New Orleans had the lead, but we made an amazingly stupid comeback and won. We ended up tied in the lottery standings, lost a coin flip, and lost Chris Paul.
Do you think Detroit would trade Walter Hermann to us heads up for Adam Morrison?
Posted by: Disclosure | Oct 27, 2008 8:02:45 PM
Rick, why don't you tell the truth about who drafted Morrison? I know you know and it wasn't mj. MJ was in charged but just joined the team back then. He just went with what the team wanted. I know you won't tell because of your obvious bias towards Bernie.
Posted by: afan | Oct 27, 2008 8:38:14 PM
If Larry stays long enough to turn this team around, he will be the best decision made by this organisation.
Posted by: afan | Oct 27, 2008 8:42:06 PM
Jordan LOVED Adam Morrison, afan. He thought he had a "killer instinct."
Posted by: Michael Procton | Oct 27, 2008 11:52:44 PM
Yes he said that. But every website and sports talk show was reporting that mj wanted either Roy or Gay at the time. I wish I could find Bernie's exact quote now but he was saying that he wanted Morrison because he was the most ready. It was even rumored that the cats wanted to trade to the #1 spot so they could get morrison before jordan came aboard.
Posted by: afan | Oct 28, 2008 12:18:35 AM
yeah, what the heck is a c-set?
Posted by: billywinks | Oct 28, 2008 3:45:31 AM
by the way saginawjb i was at the panthers game and it was sold out the reason it looked emty was it was half time so if u was not there shut your mouth cause u dont know any thing
Posted by: jon | Oct 28, 2008 8:09:42 AM
I agree with top 5 choices and the bottom 5. We need a bottom 6 and I vote to add whoever hired the marketing/branding company to pick the Bobcats logo/colorway...EASY!
Posted by: KJtheGreat | Oct 28, 2008 9:38:40 AM
Rick, The hire of Larry Brown should be in your top five. Despite the preseason, Larry's track record brings optimism where previously this franchise had very little. Fans have to believe this team can win or they won't buy tickets.
Posted by: TheOtherLarryLegend | Oct 28, 2008 11:07:13 AM
C-Set was a doomed network that Bob Johnson started to broadcast the Bobcat's games. It was only available on the digital tier, not basic cable and only a very small percentage of viewers in the area could purchase the digital tier even if they wanted to(and not many did). Thus, no television for a new team that needed as much as possible. A very bone-headed decision indeed.
Posted by: James Reed | Oct 28, 2008 11:14:23 AM
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