| Auditing The Bobcats 2007-08 Season Authored by Christopher Reina - May 12, 2008 - 8:37 pm
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Fair or not, Emeka Okafor and Raymond Felton will always be compared to who they are not (Dwight Howard and Deron Williams/Chris Paul) and now that the Bobcats are out of the 'very bad' strata, they are in the dangerous 'no-man's land' where they aren't good enough to be a contender and aren't bad enough to get better via the draft. This is a characteristic element of teams packaged with this caliber of a core.
In 2007-08 the Bobcats were ranked 23rd in team FIC differential, which was a decline from 06-07, an unexpected drop given the upgrade of Richardson and the anticipated improvement of Okafor and Felton.
Player: Overall Rank, Season FIC, Per 40 FIC, Reina Value
- Jason Richardson: 31st, 1056, 13.4, +17%
Year one of the J-Rich for Brandan Wright trade looks good for Charlotte; Richardson stayed healthy and had his best shooting season of his career.
Richardson went from 12.8 per 49 FIC in his last season in Golden State to 13.4 this season with Charlotte.
As the showmanship of his high-flying act diminishes, will he continue to be an effective jump shooter and rebounder?
- Emeka Okafor: 34th, 1053, 15.5, +131%
Okafor saw a drop-off in rebounds (11.3 to 10.7), but his decrease in blocks (2.6 to 1.7) was extremely disturbing and a bad indicator. He has always been more of a position and effort defender, but his decline in elevation was noticeable. He had 1.27 blocks per foul a year ago and 1.00 this season, as his stronghold in the paint decidedly decreased.
He had a 17.6 per 40 FIC in 06-07, so his two point drop cannot be downplayed. Dwight Howard went from 17.3 last season to 19.8 this season as the league's most dominant center.
Furthermore, the Bobcats were only marginally better with Okafor on the floor (+0.2 net per 100 possessions) compared to 06-07 when the club was +4.8 net 100 possessions with him on the floor.
Now of course he is a restricted free agent and how expensive can you allow a player who regressed as significantly as Okafor in his fourth season to become?
- Raymond Felton: 60th, 842, 11.0, +181%
Felton's development seemed to plateau a bit this season, as his per 40 FIC dropped from 11.2 and his numbers across the board were virtually identical to 06-07.
The Bobcats seemed to be torn if Felton is a true point or a shooting guard in a point guard's body; his upside is obviously much higher as a point and they need to leave him there. Even if Felton was 6-3, he'd be undersized for the position and you need to be a truly special player to do well as the two.
His assist/turnover ratio was at a career high 2.7 and he shot over 40% from the field for the first time in his career, but he looks like he is settling in as a below average starting point guard.
- Gerald Wallace: 72nd, 785, 13.2, -12%
Wallace had another very good season but he was limited to just 62 games because of another concussion and a late season groin injury and his efficiency did decline mainly because of decreases in shooting percentage and rebounding.
Wallace shot 50.2% from the floor and attempted just 1.7 3-pointers per game in 06-07 when he had a 14.8 per 40 FIC and he shot 44.9% from the floor and attempted 3.6 3-pointers a night this season. He also grabbed one fewer offensive rebound a game.
The difference Wallace makes on defense continues to be tremendous as the Bobcats yield almost five more points per 100 possessions when he is off the floor.
- Nazr Mohammed: 130th, 562, 13.6, -5%
Mohammed played well once he was traded to Charlotte, improving his shooting percentage to 52.0% and rebounding well, but he didn't seem to mesh too well next to Okafor.
- Jared Dudley: 190th, 395, 11.4, +186%
Dudley had a nice rookie season but like so many of the other players on Charlotte's roster, his limitations are glaring. He is an athletically limited three or an undersized four. He shot 46.8% from the field but with limited range and a weak first step, creating his own offense will continue to be difficult.
- Matt Carroll: 195th, 390, 7.7, -43%
Caroll had a 9.7 per 40 FIC in his walk year (just under the NBA median) and even though he shot an improved 43.6% from 3-point territory, he was less effective because his usage went down.
- Jeff McInnis: 255th, 231, 6.6, +0%
McInnis was waived in February and is likely done in the NBA. He was one of the most ineffective player in the league during his 54 games in 07-08 and it is hard to fathom how Vincent found 26 minutes a night for him.
- Ryan Hollins: 311th, 120, 9.0, +65%
Hollins' playing time was limited again in his second season with Charlotte but he did show improvement as a rebounder.
- Earl Boykins: 313th, 119, 8.3, +221%
Boykins shot just 35.5% from the floor and had a 2.3 assist/turnover ratio, both were lows since he blossomed for Golden State in 2003.
- Derek Anderson: 338th 82, 8.3, +7%
Bringing in veterans like Anderson and McInnis is not horrible in theory but the 'experience' they bring doesn't make up for the lack of 'talent' they posses as this late stage of their careers. Patrolling the D-League for back-ups should be the preferred option heading forward.
- Jermareo Davidson: 359th, 62, 7.7, +80%
Davidson was very cheap and scored and rebounded at a decent clip. He has a lot of upside and could develop into a nice role player in the coming seasons.
- Othella Harrington: 398th, 24, 5.7, -82%
Like McInnis, Harrington has had a nice career for a player taken in the second round of the 96 draft, but he is likely on his last contract as he's signed through the 08-09 season.
- Adam Morrison: DNP, -100%
Even if Morrison gets healthy and somewhat productive he will be nothing more than a high volume scoring specialist and the decision to leave Brandon Roy on the table is already proving extremely costly.
- Sean May: DNP, -100%
May had a nice season in 06-07 as he improved his scoring efficiency, so his absence was especially difficult for the Bobcats, mainly Okafor.
How The Bobcats Were Acquired
- Davidson, Dudley, Felton, Hollins, May, Morrison and Okafor were acquired via the draft.
- Anderson, Boykins, Carroll and Harrington were free agent signings.
- Mohammed and Richardson were acquired via trade.
- Wallace was claimed using the Expansion Draft.
- Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM and the creator of The Reina Value which determines the value of players in relation to their contract. |
