Bobcats Break Winless Streak Against Blazers

Some old friends were in the building, namely, myself and Gerald Wallace.  It made for a lot of energy, I’d like to think I helped section 216 but it was probably all Gerald.  Oh, and a little Jack.

Stephen Jackson was on fire, I mean jaw dropping, ruthless shots throughout the fourth quarter.  He hit back to back threes off the dribble with a hand in his face, spun to the basket for a really nice “and-1” play and then an incredible pass to DJ White who had an easy dunk.  As we’re learning and proving, the NBA is a game of streaks and Cap’n Jack provided one single handedly last night.

Eighteen points in the fourth quarter, that’s one short of a team record, held by (as most of them are) Gerald Wallace.  It was an emotional homecoming for Wallace, who, as we discussed Thursday, let it rip to the media about the trade.  The fans didn’t trade him though and a heartfelt video showing mostly hustle plays was played prior to the national anthem.

Really nice, you could tell he about had a tear in his eye.  I got a little goosebumpy just then rewatching it.  He entered the game halfway through the first quarter and it was raucous.  It was great, especially after I had to suffer through the Blazers announcers’ sappy fan-boy attitude in regards to Przybilla in his return to the Rose Garden.  It was really nice to hear that ovation for Gerald but what really was nice was the ovation for Tyrus Thomas when he entered the game.   I think, it all means that the Bobcats fans, the ones who attend games, slowly but surely, they’re getting smarter.  Cheering a returning player, when he’s coming back from knee surgery and everyone knows we’ve needed him, that’s what smart fans do.

Tyrus was not that hot coming off his time away.  2 points, 6 rebounds and a block are nice, if you’re Joel Przybilla.  I was impressed with his tenacity and aggressiveness in his 24 minutes of PT.  He went up and landed awkwardly at one point and I think it scared him a bit.  He’ll get there, and I don’t think his low point output last night is any indication of future expectations.

Jack was certainly the story last night.  18 points in the fourth….eighteen!  The kid sitting beside me was keeping up with Jack’s “and-1” plays and he shouted at me at one point “4!!! He’s got 4!!!”  Jackson finished with 29 points, 10 of 25 shooting, but damn, let him shoot.  He his 3 of his 7 three point attempts and all of his 6 free throw attempts.  I was really impressed with him.  He actually got a double-double, hauling in 10 rebounds.  Sure, he turned the ball over 5 times and missed 15 shots from the floor but when it was crunch time, the Bobcats were close, Jack made it closer and closer and took the lead and extended that lead, almost single handedly.

DJ White, yikes, hate to say it this early in his stint and with so little to go off of this year (30 total games), but he might supplant Boris Diaw in the starting lineup.  He’s played that well recently.  Sadly, Diaw has played that poorly.  21 minutes last night, 5 points, 3 turnovers?  Boris, Mortimer’s was great, I highly suggest it, but get off the Segway and out of the kitchen and get some buckets and figure out how to help Kwame and the wing players, please?

He’s such a solid, versatile player when he wants to be, but when he’s off, he’s wayyyy off.  White stepped in, while he and Tyrus struggled.  16 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks, I’m happy with that all day and twice on Sundays.

Gerald Wallace, just looked weird in his Blazer uniform.  Seeing him in red rather than Blue and Orange, it just didn’t sit right at first.  Then, he did what he does, was called for a couple charges, missed when trying to make more acrobatics than are necessary and, while he hit 2 threes in a row, thought he was a hot shooter and kept on jacking up outside shots.  He plays somewhere else now and we’ve said our goodbyes and thank-yous and we can move on now, much in the same way I hope he will.  He finished with 13 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks and Stephen Jackson’s muscles in his face.

I don’t want to leap and say “If we had to pick one, Jack or Crash, we picked the right one,” but….offensively, Jack is exactly what this team needs.  I think, if he can get close to what he did last night, maybe both DJ’s up their game (Augustin did finish with 16 pts and 5 assists), and Henderson and elevate his offensive game beside Jack, this team can be dangerous.  You add Tyrus Thomas, Cunningham and either White or Diaw (depending on if my spidey sense is correct) coming off the bench and you’re looking at a team that might make a run.  All it will take are guys to fit into their spots and for Silas to figure out what lineups he wants at what point in the game.  It would take a lot for this team to make wave in the East.  A six game skid, if not for Indy’s same skid, at this point in a season could be disastrous, but lucky for the Bobcats, Indy is slipping and Milwaukee isn’t gaining on them as much as their fans would expect.

Bye Crash, until next year and Hello Jack, welcome back, keep that Hammy loose and Tyrus, thanks for coming back as well!  What a game!