[Hov's Cats]

[Fresh8]

I really love your pics man.

[The X]

Derrick Rose had his fair share on the Bulls' blowout win

Beautiful pic

[Martti.]

Damn, very poor start. Don't go after the Nets' record.

You need a legitimate scorer, Jackson's too inconsistent. I like him and I still have him in my Bobcats dynasty, but still. (I got Deron, but that's irrelevant)

[hova-]

Around the Cats ... Hov gets angry




With the 0-6 start I finally decided to take a look at what I have done so far and what I could have done wrong. Why does this team not click the way I want it to. There were many issues. The whole Boris Diaw thing. Who should start as our Shooting Guard? Who could be the guy to lead this team on offense? Who are the key players, is there a 8 to 9 man rotation? What kind of offense do we want to run? Fastbreak, halfcourt, inside, outside? I felt like I did almost everything wrong so far and put on big work to analyze things, read statistics and roll over my mind. I did not want to talk to Doug Collins or any others. This was my problem right now and I knew it. You look at the horrible season some players were having and what they achieved last season. Gerald Wallace scoring 9 points per game on .38% shooting. Boris Diaw 8 points per game on .40% shooting. I wanted them to lead this team. Our offense ran without a plan at all. On defense we were always a tad too late and left players wide open that should be guarded until they're sitting in their goddam team bus.
"I've been too nice", I mumbled. "They're doing what they want and the assistant coaches cannot teach them the game that I thought they had already learned the season before me", I was talking to myself. I sat down and worked until deep into the night to analyze our biggest problems.

BEEP BEEP BEEP, my alarm clock rang. It was not a comfortable night on my office's sofa but I would not forget this night.
"Mrs. Jones, please hand me a coffee ... and hey, tell the players that we meet in the conference room in two hours. I have some words to say ...", I said as I left my office for the bathroom to get myself some fresh water and to wash my face. My eye lids were dark blue. "That's the right look", I thought. I won't be the nice coach anymore.

Two hours later ...

I entered the conference room. Every player was there except Ajinca who was with the Maine Red Claws, our D-league team. Players were talking and no one really knew what I had to tell them. Many expected some sort of an emergency session. "Okay guys, here we are. Sit down please. We want to start so please stay quiet", I started. They listened cordially.
"So guys, why are we here?", I asked them. "You wanna lay into us, I guess., Stephen Jackson said.
"Ah, okay ... any other opinions ...?, I wanted to know.. "I'm with Jax, I think that you want to tell us how bad we did the last games and I would totally understand it", Gerald Wallace added.
"Okay. You are totally right. Both of you. Guys, we've had six games so far. And six losses. Six fuckin' losses!", I started cursing, something I usually did not do, but I thought that I had been way too soft.
"And now guys, after six losses of which ahm let me say four were really embarrassing, I, as a coach, have to ask myself: Why the fuck do we get our asses kicked like that? Can you tell me that?.
Silence in the room. As I went louder I noticed the eyes of most players getting bigger. Some thought I was acting though.
"So I locked myself into my office last night and worked out a plan that should help us getting on the right track." The players were looking at each other like "What should this plan bring anyway". They started joking around and not listening.
"Now give me some minutes, FOR FUCK'S SAKE", I hit my fist on the table and everybody was staring at me. No, I did not want calm down no. It was about our goals we had and about the things I wanted to achieve and to proove Michael.
"I want to win, guys!", I shouted. "Now listen up, things will change from now", finally they seemed to listen to me, I got them on my side.
"At first on defense, guys. I know you are all passionate defenders. We do not have a problem with that. But our rotation and help defense is really bad. Why are you leaving you're men wide open and trying to help all the time. Is that what the goddam old man has taught you? The next guy who leaves his man to help out although it's not necessary will have a nice 1 on 5 session. Than he can try to help himself and rotate a looooot.", I was still on fire.
"On offense. First of all. We will have a new starting five. Gerald won't start on SG any longer. I thought it was possible to play with rookies on this team but you proved me in a great way that we are just too weak to give some juniors the possibility to acclimate in this fucking league Say thanks to your veterans, rooks. I can't give you the minutes.", rookie Henderson did not take it all too hard as I could see.
"Jax will start on the shooting guard spot. I designed some plays for you were you can use your size and strenght advantage. I want to see you taking mid range shots and posting guys up,no more jacking up shots just because you're a fuckin' Jack-son, you hear me?", I looked into his eyes. Jackson was pleased with my tough language and speech. "I hear you, coach, whatever you want", he answered.

"On Small Forward I want to see our captain, Gerald. I don't have to tell you that you played like shit so far. And I know that you are the last one I have to tell to get his ass up. And I also don't want to give you the fault since I did not give you the right place on our offense. I had some good ideas on some backdoor cuts for you. This could really bring back your A game around the basket. I designed plays for you so that you can finally attack the basket. We need you to score, you know that and I want you to take as many shots as each other go-to-guy on any team.. Wallace only nodded. He was a good guy. He wanted to do everything for the Cats. I knew that.
"On the four I want YOU to start." I pointed at Boris Diaw. "Me? C'mon coach, you said I would not start until I get into better shape and now you take everything back?", he answered impudently. He wanted to let me know that it was my fault that I did not start him. He wanted me to admit that it was the wrong decision and a reason why we were at 0-6. However, I did not want to do him this favour.
"Yeah, I take everything back. You know why? Because you're lazy as fuck. I look at you and I don't need to be a weightwatcher to see you having 10 pounds too much. You get to start now because I cannot see you on the bench any longer with all that fat wobbling under your shirt. Wake up, Boris. We need you in shape! If you don't get into shape off the court than you have to get on the court. You took it personally that I sat you on the bench, hell I thought you would do everything to make it into the starting five. Instead you did even less. You better start being a professional, dude. You better start showing off", I shouted at Diaw in front of the whole team.

"You wanna blame me for all that? Stop shouting at me. You want to start me and shout at me like I am a child? What do you think you'll get from that?, Diaw was totally angry now.
"What I expect? What I expect? I expect fuckin' performance from you! FUCKIN' performance or I ship your overweight ass out of Charlotte. And it won't be a contender ship on which you will end up if you play like that. Ever been on the Grizzlies? Or in Minneapolis? And now shut up".
Boris stood up and went to the door. On the way he threw down a table and left the room throwing french curses through the air.
"Okay, last thing. I decided to belittle our rotation. Serious playing time off the bench will go to Flip Murray, Gerald Henderson, Nazr Mohammed, DeSagana Diop and D.J. Augustin. The others, just try to work on yourself on the coaching sessions and show me how I can use you on the court. I can't run anymore tests oncourt. Mike wants results".
I noticed that especially Derek Brown felt disappointed. He had never really gotten a chance with our depth on the SF spot. But I was not here to share out presents.
"I'm not here to share out presents. Now pack your things and get to the locker room. We got some work to do ...".

[kibaxx7]

Soft coach no longer. You really opened this guys' brains. Specially Diaw

[Fresh8]

I want you to make the team run suicides... lots of them... make their feet and legs burn!

[Valor]

I want you to make the team run suicides... lots of them... make their feet and legs burn!

yeah! turn into Coach Carter

[Lightning Strike]

Oh shit, you just went crazy on them. I like Jackson's reply to his criticism though, Diaw is a big girl. That was a great installment, superb writing.

[|)e8*]

The Angry Hov is real scary

[Lamrock]

Great chapter. Awesome pwnage of Diaw. I bet you are going to pick up a win next week.

[hova-]

thierryhenry50, thanks Ye, Diaw is a hard case, I like his talent and what he can do, but if he would be just a bit more athletic he could be more productive.

Sit, haha, sucks that Sit is no Coach but only GM. He would definitely get more out of the guys than Coach Karl.

Lightning Strike, thank you, man. Jax did not take it all too personally I guess. Diaw did so

De8, ^^ well after six losses in a row.

Lamrock, thank you. I hope so. I really changed many plays and found some good for Wallace especially. I love to run plays you know, and jacking up shots with my bad shooters does not work anyway.

[hova-]

Iverson returns to Philly!



Philadelphia, November 7th
The Philadelphia 76ers and Allen Iverson will reunite after parting ways in 06-07 when the Sixers traded away Iverson to the Denver Nuggets. Both sides agreed on a 1-year deal which is said to be worth slightly below the mid-level exception. Being at 2-4 the Sixers decided to bring in a veteran scorer to help the so far not succeeding Andre Igoudala and Elton Brand.
Iverson won the Rookie Of The Year and Most Valuable Player award in Philadelphia and also helped them to reach the finals where they fell short to the LA Lakers.
Iverson holds career averages of 27.0 points and 6.3 assists per game as well as 2.2 steals. He turned 34 this year and both sides did not talk about a future agreement.

Celtics' Perkins out for 1-2 weeks

Boston, November 7th
The not so successfull Celtics have to take another shot with starting Center Kedrick Perkins missing up to two weeks with a separated shoulder. Perkins has problems with his shoulder since the NBA Final 2008 where he had to sit out with a shoulder injury. He is averaging 7.2 points and 8.1 rebounds so far this season but the Celtics had a bad start to the season sitting at 3-4.


Patty Mills out for season!

Portland, November 8th
Portland Trailblazers rookie Patrick Mills suffered a season-ending patella injury this week in training as he came down akwardly during scrimmage. Mills already has surgery but will not be able to start with rehabilitation until early February. The guard had a good start into the season mostly playing garbage minutes, but with great output averaging 15 points in his first four games (of which the Blazers won 3).
"It's a shock for him and his family. Paddy worked hard since he's been a Blazer and now he has to start from scratch which is always tough to accept. We wish him the best", Coach Nate McMillan told media after the release of Mills from the Hospital.

Bobcats sign Melvin Ely to a 10 day contract

Charlotte, November 8th
The Charlotte Bobcats have agreed on a 10 day contract with C-F Melvin Ely. Ely had already played for the Bobcats in the clubs rookie season in 2004/2005. He had his best season in 2005/2006 when he averaged 9.2 points and 4.3 rebounds for the Bobcats. He appeared in 31 games for the Hornets last season.

[Fresh8]

Good to see Iverson back with Sixers

[kibaxx7]

I would love to have The Answer with my Blazers.

[Lamrock]

I would hate it if you were the real GM of the Blazers.

[|)e8*]

Haha Lamrock, but im glad AI is back with Sixers

[hova-]

How will the Bobcats deal with South East rival Dwight Howard & company?

Week 3 (8th-15th of November)

Coming of six straight losses of which only two were close games, the Bobcats are looking to finally get into shape and shake off their recent struggles. Coach Chris Hov told media after practice that they have turned many things around and that the players look a lot more focussed right now. He also claimed that the Bobcats want to involve Gerald Wallace on offense way more than it had happened before. Wallace was so far only averaging 9.2 points per game and shot an erratic .38% from the field. Charlotte will play the Orlando Magic at home first and will move on to Detroit the next day. After two days off the Portland Trail Blazers will come to town. Especially the first two games are in the focus of the Bobcats as they try to climb the ladder in their division and to beat direct opponents for a playoff clinch. "I don't think were as bad as they say. You can't think about what they say all the time. We have to get out there and grab wins now", Tyson Chandler stated. The center is so far the best Bobcats posting stats of 6.7 points and almost 12 rebounds per game, good enough for the third spot in the league. He will face the number one rebounder of the league Dwight Howard this week, who is grabbing closely to 16 boards per game.

The Magic (5-2) will head to Charlotte on Tuesday night. So far into the season the Magic were able to convince critics who said that the addition of Vince Carter could not compensate the loss of Hedo Turkoglu. Carter is averaging 17.9 points per game after seven games being the third option in a team that has really emerged as having one of the most stacked rosters.
Dwight Howard is having a monster season. He is averaging 23.4 points and 16.1 rebounds as well as 3.4 blocks per game. Jameer Nelson is averaging a strong 17 points per game. Rashard Lewis is only the fourth option on the team with 13.4 points as he could not find his stroke so far. "As long as we win I'm cool with that", the All-Star stated.
The Magic are tough to beat especially because they are so effective at rebounding. Right now they grab the most offensive boards and the 3rd most boards in the league. Big thx to Dwight Howard. But they also showed that they can be light-headed at times like when they lost against a weak Pistons team or when they let Chris Bosh drop a career and season high 51 points on them (which also resulted in a loss). Further they are the 3rd worst freethrow shooting team in the league. Thx to Dwight Howard ...

The Detroit Pistons (2-5) will host the Bobcats on Wednesday in a battle of two of the weakest teams in the NBA so far. The Pistons had a very "easy" schedule to start as they played against the Grizzlies, Bucks and Thunder but they dropped each of these games. So far they don't have the right rhythm which you can see at Charlie Villanueva. The new acquired Power Forward is only averaging 13.9 points and 7.3 rebounds thus far. The Pistons expect more of him since they rely too much on their perimetre shooting. Rip Hamilton is averaging 19.0 points so far and other than Villanueva, Ben Gordon has found into the Pistons offense immediately. Gordon is making a run for Sixth Man Of The Year as he is averaging 19.7 points off the bench so far having a true shot percentage of 71%. The addition of Ben Wallace has also clicked and the 11-year veteran, who wanted to retire before the season, is averaging 9.1 rebounds and almost 2 blocks per game.
The Pistons were able to grab their second win of the season on Sunday spoiling Allen Iverson's return to Philadelphia in a 90-91 win.

The Portland Trail Blazers (5-2) move on to Charlotte in their second to last game of a 5-game road trip. They won their last home game before this trip against Minnesota 100-123. Brandon Roy scored 33 in the blowout and dished out 8 assists. LaMarcus Aldridge added 28. Both of these guys are so far the Blazers' key to success. Roy is averaging 23.0 points per game and Aldridge is adding 15.9. The Blazers are handing out the 3rd most assists in the league per game with 23.3 and are the second best team in not turning over the ball behind the Cavaliers. Andre Miller and Steve Blake are also among leaders in Pure Point Rating. All that shows the great offense of the Blazers. On defense they struggle every now and then though. Their losses came to the Thunder and Nuggets or let's better say to Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony. The Blazers have problems guarding good wing scorers. They will also miss Joel Przbylla who misses the first four weeks of the season and could have brought some minutes off the bench for the too often fouling Greg Oden. Pat Mills' season has found an early end as he is had surgery on his patella yesterday.



Spurs sign Szczerbiak

November, 8th
The San Antonio Spurs have announced the signing of Small Forward Wally Szczerbiak. Szczerbiak, who appeared in 74 games for the Cavaliers last season decided to stay Free Agent before the season as he wanted to sign with a contender before postseason. With the Spurs offer, which is said to be more than the veterans minimum, he decided to make a return early in the season. The Spurs reacted to their slow start of the season and their so far horrible shooting. Szczerbiak is a .406% three point shooter for his career. He holds averages of 14.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game as well as .86% from the free throw line. The contract will run for one year.

[Lamrock]

Damn, looks like a tough week. I think Detroit is your chance to pick up a win.

[kibaxx7]

Agree with Lamrock. You will need a lot of luck against the Blazers and Magic, but if you win one of them that could start a complete turnaround.

[Fresh8]

I hope you match the real life Nets

[Mark.]

Tough week coming up, I think you should be able to manage a win against the Pistons though. The other two games will be interesting. Im picking 2-1 though, I think you will upset either the Blazers or Magic as well.

[hova-]

Rashard Lewis hit a deep three to kill the Bobcats' dreams

Late game Magic brings Orlando win

Charlotte, November 10th
Rashard Lewis had not been very dangerous this season. As he could not find his shot he saw his numbers dropping from 17.7 points last season to only 13.4 points this season. He definitely found his way out of his slump at the right time. The Magic were down by two with 1:00 left on the clock after leading for the whole first three quarters. Jameer Nelson wanted to run a pick&roll with Dwight Howard but the Bobcats were able to close the lanes and with 5 seconds left on the shot clock Rashard Lewis ran around a screen to the top of the 3pt arc. He got the ball almost 2 meters behind the line but had no choice and took the shot. And hit it. "That was our game winner today. We know we can rely on him late in the game", Dwight Howard said after the game. The Magic came away luckily.
The Bobcats showed a totally turnaround from their last game. Gerald Wallace scored 12 of his 32 points in the first and helped the Cats to stay in the game as Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis had 9 apiece.
But the Magic took a 13 point lead in the 2nd half when they had a decent run and the Bobcats could not hit anything. The run ended when Gerald Wallace went to the basket and layed it in with the foul.
In the 4th quarter Charlotte went on a decent run and another 3point play by Wallace got them within three points. Stephen Jackson finally tied the game with another three point play as he ran the break and got fouled by Vince Carter. "Normally you got to take him out for that foul. I've not seen such a dumb foul in a while", Stan Van Gundy, who drove nuts on the sideline said later. Carter showed a great performance on the offensive end with 27 points though. With the game tied the game went back and forth. Boris Diaw gave the Cats a two point lead with a 16 foot J, two of his only 7 points as he continues to struggle. We already know what happened next. Lewis sank his shot and after some freethrows the game ended closely 94-91. Dwight Howard added 18/18 and 2 blocks for the Magic who improve to 6-2. Stephen Jackson had 26 points but shot only 11-26. Nazr Mohammed surprised with 10 points on perfect shooting. Charlotte showed a clear improvement but is still waiting for the first win.

Magic Boxscore
Bobcats Boxscore
Team Stats
Vince Carter drives to the whole
VC played aggressively scoring 27
Dunk Of The Night: Gerald Wallace saying hello to Brandon Bass

phpBB [video]

The Bobcats grab their first win of the season

Bobcats beat Pistons at the Palace

Detroit, November 11th
Just after the Bobcats fell short against the Magic despite playing pretty well, they managed to grab their first win. Although they looked improved on offense, the Bobcats won this one by playing great defense. They held the Pistons to a season low 12 points in the 2nd quarter by contesting every shot and fouling when necessary. Rodney Stuckey went to the line 10 times as he often managed to drive past the Cats' defense. He was limited to 6-14 from the field though and ended up with 21. New acquisition Charlie Villanueva only scored two points on 1-6 shooting and there were some booes by the Pistons fans as they are not pleased with the ex-Buck. Charlotte let the game slip a bit in the third but never too much and thus the Pistons could not take over even when Ben Gordon tied the game late in the 3rd. He had 18 points off the bench. Raymond Felton had himself a very solid game dishing out a season-high 13 assists. He ran the plays very well which also helped Stephen Jackson scoring a team high 25. The Pistons did not find a answer for Jackson who posted up smaller Ben Gordon or positioned himself well for the kick out when defended by Tayshaun Prince. Prince was the best Piston with 15 points and 5 rebounds on .50% shooting. Boris Diaw showed his spot-up shooting skills as he hit 6-10 shots en route for 13 points. Backup guard D.J. Augustin found his shot after going for 8-25 over the last three games. He had 14 points and 2-3 three pointers.


Pistons Boxscore
Bobcats Boxscore
Team Stats
Tyson Chandler rejects will Bynum
Rip Hamilton goes inside
Ben Gordon drives baseline
The Bobcats did a good job defensively







The Blazers turn out to be too much for the Bobcats

Portland shows versatility and beat Bobcats

Charlotte, November 14th
The Charlotte Bobcats were not able to build a small streak as they could not stop the Blazers. Portland showed how many options they had eigth players scoring 8 points or more, all led by Brandon Roy's 23. Portland only tailed twice for the whole game and won every quarter except the 4th. Andre Miller took responsibility early and scored 10 of his 18 points in the 1st. He also dished out 7 assists for the game. The Bobcats offense mainly concentrated on getting Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace involved, but only the first could connect on several shots and scored 10 of his 20 in the first. In the second quarter both teams shot very well and the Blazers let their lead grow bigger thanks to the good shooting by reserves Steve Blake and Rudy Fernandez. Both teams also saw their key players in foul trouble as not only Raymond Felton and Tyson Chandler picked up early fouls, but also LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy. DJ Augustin stepped up in Felton's absence and scored 8 in the 2nd.
In the 3rd quarter Gerald Wallace finally warmed up. He had 8 points in the 3rd, ended up with a game high 26. But he also could not stop the Blazers who went on a 8-0 run and extended their lead to 11.
With Roy and Aldridge sitting out with 5 fouls each the Bobcats made a small comeback but simply could not overcome the strong play of the Blazers. Greg Oden helped them winning the key battle on the glass as he pulled down 17 rebounds and scored 11 points. He also helped limiting Chandler to a season-low 7 boards in only 26 minutes of action. Nazr Mohammed again showed a decent game off the bench with 8 points and 5 rebounds. In the end the well improved Bobcats could not beat a team that is playing for the Western Finals this year.



Blazers Boxscore
Bobcats Boxscore
Team Stats
Brandon Roy stepped on D.J. Augustin's foot, but the guard was able to continue
The Bobcats defended hard
Greg Oden outplayed Tyson Chandler
Wallace takes a jumper, Murray (background) thinks "Not ANOTHER jumper!





Z-Bo's season high lifts Grizzlies past Rockets
Zach Randolph scored a season high 38 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Grizzlies beat the Rockets and improve to 4-6.

Magic drop 2nd game in a row, fall to 6-4
The Orlando Magic suffered a tough loss at home against Cleveland as they lost the game 114-80. LeBron James had 29/6/9 to lift his team to 8-1.

Miami's one-two punch gives Cleveland second loss of the season
Dwyane Wade and Michael Beasley combined for a stellar 47 points to beat LeBron and his Cavs in Miami. It is only the 2nd loss for the Cavs who are now at 8-2. Miami improves to 4-5 after dropping some games lately.

Bulls in need of some fire power, sign Jerry Stackhouse
The Chicago Bulls have not yet found someone to replace Ben Gordon and decided to sign veteran Jerry Stackhouse to a 1-year contract worth around 800K. Stackhouse played for the Mavs in 2008-2009 but only appeared in 10 games. He was part of a trade later and ended up on the Grizzlies who waived him immediately. Stackhouse holds career averages of 18 points and 3 rebounds.

Miami without Jermaine O'Neal for two weeks
The Miami Heat will miss Jermaine O'Neal for one or two weeks with back spasms. O'Neal is averaging 13.1 points and 7.5 rebounds this season so far.

"Big Z" unhappy with "Big Diesel" in Cleveland
Zydrunas Ilgauskas is currently not satisfied with his position on the Cavaliers team and his playing time. Ilgauskas is averaging a career-low 16.7 minutes per game. "That is not what he thought he might end up with. Even with Shaq in town. He's been on this team for so long and he wants some respect. You have to understand him", a Cavaliers insider spoke. Ilgauskas has not shown up on the last press conference after the Cavs loss to Miami. He had no comments on this issue so far.

[Fresh8]

DAMN IT... u cant get to 0-18

u should trade for Z

[Lightning Strike]

DAMN IT... u cant get to 0-18

u should trade for Z

He didn't, he beat the Pistons.

[EDIT: Ahh, sorry Sit, I realize what you mean now. ]

Awesome recaps there Hov, it's a shame you're losing so much though!

[dare]

DAMN IT... u cant get to 0-18

u should trade for Z

He didn't, he beat the Pistons.

[EDIT: Ahh, sorry Sit, I realize what you mean now. ]

Awesome recaps there Hov, it's a shame you're losing so much though!

Agree to that your losing so much, you dont have to be the New Jersey Nets you know but great recaps