Bobcats drop another, this one to Clippers

What has 20 thumbs and exposed themselves as an offensive liability?  (If the Bobcats roster could do anything together, the players that entered the game tonight, should all do the two thumbs up towards themselves)

Since the trade deadline, save the Sacramento anomaly, are averaging 81.2 points per game.  That’s 5 games, 406 points, topping out at 87 tonight, thus the closest game of the five.  Even Boris Diaw got into the act.  He was the story of the first half, 15 points which is approx 500% more than he’d been scoring in 4 previous complete games.  He had 4 points in the second half, which makes me sad. You can say that Blake Griffin had 4 in the second half as well but the Clippers still won both of the final quarters.

Charlotte kept it close enough to do that, most annoying thing in the world to me, which is that fouling at the end of the game to try and get closer than the 5 points they were behind with a minute left.

I guess, technically, basketball people will tell you, the only way to get there is to foul, hope for a miss, take the ball out of the other team’s hands.  I just hate it because, honestly, I’ve never seen it work in the NBA.  You have to count on the other team doing so many things wrong:  getting the inbounds either stolen or passed to a low percentage free throw shooter, then to miss a shot.  For the team shooting free throws, there are only 2 guys near their basket, leaving the shooter and 2 guards back.  So, you’re banking on them missing, which league average is only missing 24% of the time or so, and they aren’t dumb enough to leave the Kwame Browns of the world out there, so it’s probably less likely than league average.  Then, you’re counting on them to not get back and defend, and in that situation, to not allow more than an easy two, almost defying the team to attempt a quick layup so they can get two more easy attempts.  It’s just a pet peeve and I need somebody that went to that Sloan Conference explain it better in the percentages and for basketball-reference.com to come up with a metric for how often it’s used and how often it works.

So, with Jackson out, Wallace gone, Thomas still out, can you say the Bobcats have excuses?  Sure.  But if you’re looking for losses followed by valid excuses, what are you?  A Royals fan?  A fan of disappointment?  Go watch paint dry.  Cheer for the start and park, underfunded teams in NASCAR.  I don’t want to hear Paul Silas say “When you lose your leading scorer, you’re going to suffer a bit.  Look at Dallas, when they lost Nowitski they lost 7 straight or something.”

DJ Augustin has to make himself a legitimate force for this team.  He’s got the ability, I’ve seen it.  With Stephen Jackson out, DJ has to look to score on his own.  He often has this frustrating look on his face but he has to get it together and make it work.

Diaw, give him credit for the 15 in the first half, move on, and then you have to jump on his case.  He’s so versatile, has such great court vision.  Maybe he needs the ball more in his hands?  Maybe he needs to play a bit of point guard?

Kwame can catch a bit of my wrath while we’re handing out disappointments.  He was on it early, getting in deep under the basket, hitting a couple of his little hooks but he got out of his own mind somehow.  I think he’s either looking over his shoulder at Przybilla or he’s confused after about 10 minutes of playing time.

I will say this about tonight’s game:  The Los Angeles Clippers did not impress me.  Blake Griffin is a talent, he plays well but all he looks for are alley oops and put-backs.  He does well on the boards somehow, getting another double-double tonight but he disappeared down the stretch, when this game could have gotten close.  Mo Williams still has a bit in the tank, I’m sure but again, not much better than what they had in Baron.  They couldn’t pull ahead like Porland, Denver or the Lakers did.

Looking ahead, Chicago and Portland this week, two strong teams.  The Bobcats may steal one of those two, they did play well against the Bulls earlier in the season, but they have some serious soul searching to do in practice tomorrow.  Look for Silas and Oakley to break down a couple guys and heads hanging, maybe even a bit of Stephen Jackson if he feels up to it.  Something to keep people in the stands for the rest of the year.