Worst Frontcourt Since ABA Merger? Current Bobcats?

[fatlever]

My argument is the Charlotte Bobcats frontcourt (power forward and center) from the past two seasons is the worst overall frontcourt in the NBA in at least the past 40 years. I am saying this as a Bobcats fan so obviously this is not a post meant to troll.

This is a serious question. Can anyone recall a frontcourt for a team for an entire season that was worse than what he Bobcats are putting on the floor this season? I’m not talking about a few games when starters were injured; I am talking about the entire depth chart at power forward and center for a season.

For those not familiar with the current Bobcats frontcourt, here is the team as of today (ranked by PER):

Byron Mullens: 11.6ppg, 7.8rpg, 37%fg, 71%ft, 46%ts, 12.4per
Jeff Adrien: 2.8ppg, 4.4rpg, 46%fg, 42%ft, 47%ts, 11.4per
Hakim Warrick: 6.7ppg, 3.5rpg, 40%fg, 65%ft, 46%ts, 11.4per
Bismack Biyombo: 4.8ppg, 6.9rpg, 46%fg, 53%ft, 48%ts, 10.2per
Brendan Haywood: 4.2ppg, 5.1rpg, 48%fg, 41%ft, 48%ts, 9.3per
Tyrus Thomas: 5.5ppg, 2.8rpg, 31%fg, 88%ft, 40%ts, 8.6per
Gana Diop: 0.6ppg, 1.8rpg, 26%fg, 0%ft, 26%ts, 7.5per

7 bigs on the roster,
highest PER is 12.4
only one player averaging in double figures and that one is shooting 37% from the field
leading rebounder at 7.8
leading shoot blocker at 1.6
none shooting over 48% from the field
three are shooting 40% or less from the field
only two are shooting over 65% from the line
none with a true shooting percentage over 48%
best defensive rating is 107
best offensive rating is 98

Who can find me a worse overall frontcourt from the past 40 years?

[kodo]

05 Sonics? Starting Jerome James and Reggie Evans.
But we had Collison coming off the bench.

[fatlever]

some other truly awful frontcourts

1998-99 Clippers
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAC/1999.html

1992-93 Mavs
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DAL/1993.html

1998-99 Bulls
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHI/1999.html

1988-89 Hornets
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHH/1989.html

1991-92 Twolves
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MIN/1992.html

all of these teams were really awful at power forward and center, but I am not sure any are collectively worse than the 2012-13 Bobcats.

who else?

[Left Side Drive]

Won't be so bad when you guys draft Nerlens Noel.

[fatlever]

05 Sonics? Starting Jerome James and Reggie Evans.
But we had Collison coming off the bench.

04-05 or 05-06?

both of those teams had several guys that would be by far and away the best big on the current bobcats.

wilcox had a PER of 20.4 in 05-06
lewis if you count him as a power forward was over 20
fortson was over 15
collison and radmanovic both over 13

[Litany]

Probably. Biyombo is awful. I remember watching a game when the Bobcats were playing the Jazz.

He got the ball at just inside the 3 pt line and he just started running towards the basket, no dribbling. Obviously called for a travel, turnover.

I was laughing so hard.

He was a terrible pick.

They got it right with MKG, hopefully they make a smart choice this draft.

[YamiRain]

If you could redo the draft
would you go with drummond over mKG?

[Litany]

If you could redo the draft
would you go with drummond over mKG?

I would probably still go with MKG, but thats partly because I am not rational when it comes to him.

[HornetJail]

Last season's frontcourt was worse. Almost the same, but sub out Haywood, Adrien, and Warrick with DJ White and Eddy Najera. Mullens was worse in some ways last season, but better in other ways, Tyrus Thomas was playing like complete ass last year, this year he's playing like 90% ass. Biz looks a little more lost this year in what I can only categorize as a sophomore slump, but he's a better rebounder now, which was literally the only thing I expected anything out of him so early in his career. So yeah, give me this year's frontcourt over last year's.

If you could redo the draft
would you go with drummond over mKG?

Drummond was actually my first choice with MKG as a close second (everyone thought I was nuts for not wanting Bares, Beal, or Robinson), and both have been better than I expected so far. I haven't watched Drummond close enough yet this season to make a definite choice now, but I have been really really impressed with MKG's abilities on offense. If I had to do it over, I probably wouldn't change a thing. I think MKG and Kemba with a really good scorer at the 2 (Jeremy Lamb? Shabazz or Wiggins possibly?) will be an elite backcourt.

[Miasma]

Your T-Wolves link is a Charlotte duplicate.

[Doddage]

I thought at the time the Bobcats should have picked Drummond. Better yet, they should have traded down with Cleveland or Golden State to get Drummond+ for MKG. Center is a more important position than wing and it would have been worth their while to take a risk on Drummond. Him + Biyombo at PF would have a nice defensive frontcourt going forward.

[TheGoodDoctor]

Wow that's atrocious.

[Left Side Drive]

Should run their offense through Diop he seems like the best option of the bunch.

[Litany]

I thought at the time the Bobcats should have picked Drummond. Better yet, they should have traded down with Cleveland or Golden State to get Drummond+ for MKG. Center is a more important position than wing and it would have been worth their while to take a risk on Drummond. Him + Biyombo at PF would have a nice defensive frontcourt going forward.

I think the last 20 years would be proof that center is definitely not more important than the wing.

MJ, Kobe, LeBron, Wade vs Shaq and Duncan.

Both are very important, but if you asked me if I wanted the dominant wing or the dominant big, i take the dominant wing 10 out of 10.

[amcoolio]

LOL at Gana's statline. I think he makes the most out of all our bigs.

Don't expect anything from Biyombo until 2014-2015. Unlike other Euro busts Biyombo has had some solid games but is wildly inconsistent and has been playing with terrible teammates.

[fatlever]

oh no, not another MKG vs drummond debate, we've been down that road already.

1988-89 heat were pretty terrible up front. seikaly didnt have a good roookie year. grant long was best big on team that year.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MIA/1989.html

[Fred Williamson]

Right now, yes. If Mullens is back, I'd say it's debatable. Even though he's quite trigger happy and selfish, he can score and is quite useful offensively. The rest is just awful. His presence also made things for our backcourt so much easier

[fatlever]

Your T-Wolves link is a Charlotte duplicate.

thanks fixed

[fatlever]

i think this years cats frontcourt is worse than last year.

as much as we hated diaw, he was still better than anything we have right now. also mully was more efficient last year, despite being a worse rebounder. derrick brown played some at power forward and did OK. najera was better than anything we have at the end of the bench this year. white might have been atrocious as a defender, but he is better offensively than anything we have this year as well.

[NashtyNas]

They definitely need to add quality up front, that much is certain. I wouldn't say they're the worst, but Mullens and Biyombo, both currently suited as bench bigs, are forced to play all their minutes as starters, which is bad. Mullens would be an excellent 3rd big for them due to his shooting, which would be a lot better if he played with guys who demanded some attention from the defense.

Sessions, Henderson, Diop for Millsap, Foye, Watson and Evans?

Kemba/Watson/Foye
Gordon/Foye/Taylor
MKG/Williams/Evans
Millsap/Mullens/Evans
Biyombo/Mullens/Haywood

Sessions/Tinsley
Henderson/Burks
Hayward/Williams/Carroll
Favors/Williams/Carroll
Jefferson/Kanter/Favors