FIRST TRI-MESTER RECAP
It's been struggle city for the Charlotte Bobcats in the early going as the team finds itself bottom of the Southeast Division with a 3-8 record, after dropping their last 3 games to end the month of December.
The team that started the season isn't the same as it sits now, as Michael Jordan got busy. His first move of the season was to
sign 2nd year defensive guard Orien Greene to a 1 year deal at league minimum. Early in December, with a dismal 2-5 record, Jordan started to wheel & deal. The division rival Atlanta Hawks offered up 3rd year swingman Josh Childress straight up for Sean May. The team hasn't been to enamoured with May & felt that with Okafor healthy again, May's talent was just being wasted on the bench in Charlotte. The fact that the Bobcats are in dire need of a decent SG was also apparent as the team had been starting 5'10" PG Brevin Knight at the spot, as rookie Adam Morrison continued to struggle with the transition to the pro game.
With May's verdict a given, the team looked for a better offer out of the Hawks & after some failed 3 team trade talks, the Bobcats were adamant that they wanted a 1st Rounder in any deal for Sean May, as May is a talented big man with potential to boot. Whereas Childress, whilst having good size (6'8") for a SG is still relatively raw & can be more easily replicated in the league than May can. So we counter offered the Hawks Sean May for Josh Childress and the Hawk's 2007 1st Round draft pick. The Hawks immediately counter-offered this & wanted us to throw in talented, yet inconsistent, Melvin Ely into the trade. Whilst the Bobcats didn't want to give up both talented big's, a potentially high 1st Rounder in a fairly good draft, as well as a need filled at SG was too much to pass, as the Bobcats accepted the trade.
Sean May & Melvin Ely for Josh Childress & 2007 1st Rd pick.
Now the team lacked a bit of insurance at the PF spot, so the team went hunting for a young PF with some upside who wouldn't mind starting off as the team's 3rd string forward off the bench, but with the view for minutes to progress as the season wore on. The Bobcats believe they had found it in former Jayhawk, Wayne Simien of the Miami Heat. So after some back & forth negotiations between the teams, a trade was resolved. The
Bobcats sent Orien Greene (who the team thoroughly liked), Bernard Robinson (I guess the Heat were after some backup guards like real life) & the Bobcats' 2008 2nd Round pick to Miami for 2nd year PF Wayne Simien & rookie free agent guard Mike Gansey. We like both of these two new players, so we're happy with how the deal lined up.
To see the updated roster & lineup, see the 2nd post of page 1 of the thread.
Now that you know the roster, here's how the team & players have shaped up:
Pros:
- The team has played the passing lanes well, especially Wallace, Felton & Knight.
- Rookie Adam Morrison has the ability to light the scoreboard up quickly. Don't lay off Matt Carroll though, as he can light it up for outside as well.
- Gerald Wallace is the star of this team, at both ends. He's got All-Star potential in next couple of season written all over him.
Cons:
- Have rebounded surprisingly poorly at the defensive end (we definitely need more boardwork out of Meka if we're gonna win games).
- Inconsistent play from Brezec & Morrison (although Morrison leads team in scoring at about 15ppg off the bench, that number is skewed by one huge 35pt outburst he had against the Pistons).
- The team regularly goes on offensive droughts & really needs someone on the team to step up & become the go-to-guy because at the moment that just isn't happening.
- The team has been fouling too much & generally needs more discipline & patience at both ends of the court.
- New pickup Josh Childress has been pretty inconsistent himself, & really needs to get into the gym & develop a consistent jumper to keep the defense honest.
The team's owner is happy with how everything is going as I'm keeping costs down & driving profits up, as I look to build a more entertaining team, that will hopefully drive up merchandise (which has increased 50% already since I took over, maybe having Adam Morrison helps).
Team chemistry is pretty rat shit, but maybe because we're playing like scared mice, rather than mean rats.
The scouts have revealed that there are some very good prospect in the top half of the lottery & even if the season can not be turned around, there are a couple of very exciting prospects waiting in the wings, which I will cover closer to the end of the season.
Here's a few pics from early in the season:
I guess Tracy McGrady must be getting used to handling the NBA's new sticky balls by now
The Bobcats hope to add a few championship banners to their rafters
What the heck does a bear have to do with the Rockets?!? At least the cheerleaders are hotter this year
The 2006/07 Charlotte Bobcats. Matt Carroll looks pretty pale, it's probably how I'd look in tangerine too.
'Go The Mo'. That's the latest catch phrase going around in Charlotte.
I knew scouts said Jameer Nelson was too undersized to be effective as a starting PG, but I didn't realise he was that short. And how about Mo'rrison, wouldn't you like him to stalking your daughter or sister.
Back to ball, Wallace provided many highlights over the first 2 months of the season, including this postering of little Jameer.
Take it easy,
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