| One Half Down, One More To Go Authored by Danny Thompson - February 22, 2006 - 11:07 pm
One half of the season is down and one half left to go as your Charlotte Bobcats look to improve on a first half where anything and everything has seemed to go wrong for the second year team. Injuries and a long losing streak have doomed the Bobcats after a promising start.
Gerald Wallace who was on his way to possible All-Star consideration was hurt on two separate occasions and the effect has been disastrous on the team. Wallace was leading the team with 14.7 points per game and was the only player in the league to average 2 steals and 2 blocks a game. Wallace, who is known for his athleticism and high wire play has been a missing hole in the starting line-up. The Franchise Emeka Okafor has been hurt since mid-December with his injury and rookie Sean May season-ending injury has made the Bobcats front-line a virtual MASH unit of missing spare parts and non-experienced players. Injuries haven’t just hit the front-line. Injuries to former Bobcat Keith Bogans, Kareem Rush and last week’s car accident featuring Raymond Felton have made a lot of games watching very hard to watch because there were more players in suits and street clothes than guys who could suit up.
By the way, from late December through late January, the Cats have suffered one of the longest losing streaks the league has seen in years. At one point they Bobcats lost 16 out of 17 games in a row including 12 in a row from January 12 through February 1st.
For the positives in half number one. Well Melvin Ely’s play in the post has been a breath of fresh air for the Bobcats. Ely, who is a free agent in the off-season, has stepped his game up tremendously and has made his name a hot can date for trades for contending teams as the deadline gets close. Ely’s post up game has helped clear out lanes for Raymond Felton, who if he wasn’t sitting the bench for the first month and a half of the season, could have his name in the mix for rookie of the year and Jumaine Jones who has stepped in for the injured Wallace and been a scoring touch that has helped the team. Jones had a career high 31 against the Lakers on February 3rd. Don’t forget Brevin Knight’s solid play at the point. Knight is right up there in the league leaders in assists for the second straight season even without having a top flight scorer on the roster.
Any Questions or Comments feel free to email me at QCBigCat21@aol.com. |
