GT: Charlotte v. Atlanta 10/18 7:00pm

[CatNation]

nice effort sean

[CatNation]

way to run the break mek

[CatNation]

wow. i like justin williams already

[fatlever]

well another loss, unless a miracle happens, but we seem to be playing a bit better, just not making shots. much better than a few games ago when we simply werent generating open looks.

okafor had a really solid game. felton was aggressive. took a few too many early bad jumpers, but was strong attacking the rim.

why does ronald murray hate the bobcats?

good minutes from justin williams and andre brown. hollins and davidson should watch out.

what the hell is wrong with hammer? is the new baby keeping him up all night?

wallace is in midseason form it seems.

i'm still waiting to see this midrange game from jrich that we have been hearing about.

[spectre_]

Was it just me or did Mek seem more aggressive going to the rim in this game? LB said that's what he was going to work on with him, and if he succeeds I'll be his fan for life.

Shannon Brown, Andre Brown and Justin Williams (tho we've seen a little you have to like his motor) all look like good bench guys. Problem is to keep all of them a guaranteed deal will have to go.

Disappointing to lose, but I'm liking what I'm seeing...obvious progression.

[ohara]

Guys, I'm sorry, but I feel this team is not even as good as last year's team. We have serious problems. I'm feeling more like last in the Division rather than a #8 seed.

[W_HAMILTON]

Larry Brown comes in, trades away our future picks, then makes us suck. We are being Knickerbockered!

[ohara]

Larry Brown comes in, trades away our future picks, then makes us suck. We are being Knickerbockered!

____________________________________________________________________________-

I swear to God I didn't see this coming, but I have this gut wrenching feeling that your statement, whether meant as a joke or not, may be much closer to the truth than any of us dare to consider. There is no way to put a silver-lining in this crap. Without a bold move, we will bring up the rear of the Division. I don't believe in any of this "it's only preseason" or "it's not about winning at this time, but rather the little things LB is looking for". We need to see quality play and wins, and we are not.

[Felton for Pres]

As much as I hate to admit this, everything Bonnell said in today's paper is true. They are all trying to hard. There are a lot of positives to take away from last night, primarily the fact that we still can't throw the ball off the side of a barn. Once we loosen up on offense and shoot a respectable number I like our chances.

And LB didn't trade away next years draft. Its lottery protected and even if we make the playoff he basically made next years pick a year early by drafting frenchie. That means he's got an extra year to get stronger and learn the game. I think that trade is going to work out very nicely in the long run.

[W_HAMILTON]

Its lottery protected and even if we make the playoff he basically made next years pick a year early by drafting frenchie.

Oh, thank God. For some reason I was thinking that it wasn't protected. Looking it up now, it looks like it will be at least top-10 protected through 2011, which is a good thing.

The way things are going now, a season worth of this + no draft pick = hopelessness.

[fatlever]

i'm not worried yet.

[Walt Cronkite]

ditto

[W_HAMILTON]

I don't see how you can't be at least a little bit worried. You can chalk it all up to the fact they are "learning," but they aren't looking all that impressive. And while preseason means "nothing," I remember reading a study where it actually can be somewhat of a predicator on how a team does in the regular season. I can't remember where it was from, but it basically said there is some correlation to how a team performs in the preseason compared to how they end up performing in the regular season. So, if we go 0-for in the preseason, I would say that would be pretty damn awful, and a bad sign for this upcoming season.

[fluffernutter]

I don't see how you can't be at least a little bit worried. You can chalk it all up to the fact they are "learning," but they aren't looking all that impressive. And while preseason means "nothing," I remember reading a study where it actually can be somewhat of a predicator on how a team does in the regular season. I can't remember where it was from, but it basically said there is some correlation to how a team performs in the preseason compared to how they end up performing in the regular season. So, if we go 0-for in the preseason, I would say that would be pretty damn awful, and a bad sign for this upcoming season.

I'm a little worried. But some players have just been sucking bad. MC has been simply wretched. And he's an excellent shooter, a smart guy, hard worker, and just seems completely out of sorts. He's getting offensive fouls, and just making a mess of things. I can't help but feel that when MC is rattled and playing badly, that big changes are happening and it's taking everyone a long time to adjust.

But yeah, a little worried to be sure.

[Walt Cronkite]

I don't see how you can't be at least a little bit worried. You can chalk it all up to the fact they are "learning," but they aren't looking all that impressive. And while preseason means "nothing," I remember reading a study where it actually can be somewhat of a predicator on how a team does in the regular season. I can't remember where it was from, but it basically said there is some correlation to how a team performs in the preseason compared to how they end up performing in the regular season. So, if we go 0-for in the preseason, I would say that would be pretty damn awful, and a bad sign for this upcoming season.

I actually remember reading this now, too. I've been searching for it for 15 minutes or so to no avail.

edit:opp... found it! http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/in ... &year=2007

Basically there's less of a correlation when teams do poorly in the preseason than when they do well. Unfortunately for us, this isn't as true for teams that had a losing regular season record and then lost in the preseason. I should've explained myself better when I replied with "ditto", so here goes.

I've been pointing to a trend of Eastern conference teams getting better than our favorite squad for the past couple of years, but this was really obviously the case this offseason. I love the upgrade at pg, but other teams did that also (Chicago, Indiana, NY, Cleveland--and personally I'd add NJ because Harris is better than Kidd). The most groundbreaking acquisition we made was getting Larry Brown, but Milwaukee and NY made significant coaching changes as well. Basically, the preseason games are meaningless to me because I don't expect us to improve that substantially from a record standpoint. I do, however, expect for the team to improve from a quality of play standpoint.

The Bobcats have taught me to set the bar low. I can't be disappointed that way. Hopefully the team plays well and improves at a quicker than expected rate, but I can't stomach watching a season like last year.

[e4Nf6]

The Redskins lost every pre-season game and won the Super Bowl....

Different sport, but still.....

[W_HAMILTON]

I think the one I read might have been from 82games.com. Whichever one it was, it basically predicted Toronto to be "good" (back when they had been sucking) based on their preseason record, and they ended up being much improved that season. I think the same thing happened with Atlanta. I don't want to say for sure, since for all I know Atlanta was 1-7 last preseason and I don't feel like going back and checking all their records, but I'm pretty sure it was these two teams.

And there are going to be flukes either way (I think Cleveland is sucking this year, and Minnesota or somebody is undefeated), but for the most part, it can be a pretty useful indicator. At least certainly better than "completely useless."

[spectre_]

It takes time to remove the stink from a skunk. Just think of The Idiot's time in Charlotte as being very smelly.

[Walt Cronkite]

I think the one I read might have been from 82games.com. Whichever one it was, it basically predicted Toronto to be "good" (back when they had been sucking) based on their preseason record, and they ended up being much improved that season. I think the same thing happened with Atlanta. I don't want to say for sure, since for all I know Atlanta was 1-7 last preseason and I don't feel like going back and checking all their records, but I'm pretty sure it was these two teams.

And there are going to be flukes either way (I think Cleveland is sucking this year, and Minnesota or somebody is undefeated), but for the most part, it can be a pretty useful indicator. At least certainly better than "completely useless."

Yea, Hollinger's blog was about Beech's (82games guy) work. The teams that were indicated to do better based on preseason play were Orlando, Indiana, Atlanta and Memphis. I believe it was true for every team. Still, it has mixed relevance for our team because there's a stronger correlation when teams do well in the preseason than when they do poorly.