| The Bad The Ugly And The Downright Ridiculous Authored by David Mosley - March 3, 2005 - 9:56 pm
| Current Featured Columns | | The First Three Weeks of 2008-09 Now that we’ve had a little time to watch free agency unfold, along with the usual accompaniment of trades, let’s look at some of the key moves and how they impact the teams involved.
Grading The Deal: W's Sign Maggette And TuriafThe Boom Dizzle era is over, and the Warriors quickly recovered by signing two nice pieces to complement their young core.
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10. Losing to New Orleans – Sure, we beat them in December on a few questionable calls (yes I finally admitted it) but I wanted the sweep. Lights out, start the buses, get out the brooms because you just got swept by the expansion team that replaced you. There would have been no better way to humiliate the lemon-haired midget George Shinn than to beat him in his precious new home in New Orleans. Unfortunately, Hornet legends such as Dan Dickau (believe or not, this is only the first of two Dickau references in this piece) and Jackson Vroman killed my dream. Blast you vile Vroman. By the way, I just wanted to point out that Jamal Magloire has missed 46 games with a sore finger. That has to be an NBA record for the biggest cop-out in league history.
9. Jamal Sampson - Raise your hand if you saw Sampson play this year and actually thought the Bobcats might have found a keeper. Now raise your hand if you were puzzled when he was promptly cut last month. Out of hands yet? Apparently Bernie Bickerstaff was not impressed with Sampson’s effort and his inability to play through injuries, of which were seemingly endless. Considering Jamal is notorious malingerer Ralph Sampson’s nephew, we should have seen this coming.
8. Okafor’s Shot blocking – Maybe I am naive or just a moron or both, but I was really expecting Okafor to be a much better shot blocker in the NBA. We are talking about a player who defensively dominated the NCAA for 3 years averaging over 4 blocks per game during that span. As a rookie in the NBA, Okafor is only averaging a mere 1.5 blocks per game. It’s looking more and more like Okafor is closer to Buck Williams than Alonzo Mourning, which is not a bad thing. Buck Williams was a stud. It’s just not what I expected.
7. Rufus Lynx – This would be the ridiculous section of the list. Come on Bob Johnson; was this the best you could do - a big orange furry thing that looks like a cross between a Grateful Dead dancing bear and that Syracuse orange thingy? Charlotte is the town that spawned Superhugo, the king of all trampoline dunkers. We aren’t impressed with a mascot that wears sunglasses, a leather jacket and rides a motorcycle. Now a fire breathing dragon that flies around and torches fans in opposing jerseys would be a different story. This brings me to my next point…
6. Team Name – Don’t get me wrong, the name Bobcats is growing on me, but I’m still a little upset that my submissions of the Charlotte Wonderfunk and the Charlotte Aliens got turned down. Of the three finalists - Dragons, Flight and Bobcats, the later was definitely my least favorite and finished last in online fan voting. Yet Bob Johnson decided to use Bobcats anyway.
5. Expansion Draft - Overall I think Bernie Bickerstaff did an excellent job in selecting players via the expansion draft. He did what we all expected and took young, cheap, hungry players. However, I don’t understand how he could have passed up both Juan Dixon and Dan Dickau (see I told you). Both players are young, had cheap contracts and are the type of players that just needed some burn to prove they belonged. I just don’t get it. If I had one question to ask Bernie this would be it. How could you pass up Juan Dixon and Dan Dickau for Lonny Baxter and Desmond Ferguson, both of which are out of the NBA?
4. Jason Kapono and Keith Bogans – These are the two players that have disappointed me the most this season. Kapono was primed to shine this season. He had every chance to earn playing time and all he needed to do was show a reliable outside shot and he hasn’t come through. Keith Bogans looked like a steal in his first game as a Bobcat when he scored a franchise record 28 points versus the Jazz. It’s been all downhill since then. Bogans is shooting a wretched 36% from the field this season.
That’s just not acceptable, even for a player whose strength is defense. I don’t expect to see either player re-signed this summer.
3. Blown 4th Quarter Leads – On one hand, I’m thrilled whenever we are actually leading a game in the 4th quarter, but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing to watch this team repeatedly fall apart at the end of games. The last 6 minutes of a recent frustrating loss to the Bulls personified the problems the Bobcats have closing out games. During those 6 minutes the Bobcats had 13 offensive possessions that resulted in 1 of 9 from the field, 2 free throws, 3 turnovers and only 4 points. I understand this team is young and filled with guys who aren’t used to being go to players but it’s still frustrating to lose games you know you should win. This goes for NBA teams all the way down to 3 on 3 at the local park when you and your weekend warrior, out-of-shape, Converse Weapons wearing buddies are up 10-7 on the neighborhood punks and you let the one dude with the goggles and the Christian Laettner Duke jersey drain five straight jumpers to beat you. Man that smarts.
2. Attendance – When I go to games now it’s hard to believe that this is the same city that led the NBA in attendance for 9 straight seasons. The Bobcats are convinced that the fans will return once the new uptown arena is opened next season. The Bobcats are convinced the fans will be hooked for good once the team is able to use their full cap and field a better team. However, I’m sure they expected to draw better than 14,300 fans per night, which is the 3rd lowest in the NBA ahead of only New Orleans (way to go George) and Atlanta. If attendance doesn’t get better soon this thing could get ugly real quick.
1. CSET – I know most of you have no idea what I’m talking about or could care less, but this is the biggest disappointment of the season for the Bobcats. Instead of showing their games on regular cable for the majority of the Carolinas to see, the Bobcats decided to instead make their games part of a regional sports network owned and operated by Bobcats owner Robert Johnson. Sounds like a good idea, right? Nothing beats a late night with the Bethune-Cookman Coaches Show. The problem is CSET is only available to Time Warner digital cable subscribers. If you have basic cable you can’t get CSET. If you have a cable provider other than Time Warner, which a good portion of Carolinas does, you can’t get CSET. If you have a satellite, which most restaurants, bars and most die-hard NFL fans do, you can’t get CSET. Right out the gates the Bobcats eliminated the majority of their viewing audience. This doesn’t make sense for a franchise that is trying to repair a fan base that was disgusted with the NBA after the Hornets left. If you want to generate fan interest then you need to make the product available. Hopefully Robert Johnson and CSET can work out some deals next season to make the channel accessible to a wider viewing base.
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