Grading the Bobcats so far this season

[BobsBuddy]

So what grade would you give the bobcats overall since Larry took over as coach?)
I would give the bobcats a "c" overall as we are no better off and not much worse than last season.
Larry made one move that should help us the second half of the season and needs to make another trade to better balance the team. 10 wins and 19 losses after over a third of the season gone is not what I expected from Brown, but the team shows respect for Larry and is starting to buy into his system. Considering Vincent had lost the teams support and Larry had to rebuild keeps me optimistic about the next 53 games this season. if we can end the season 35-40 wins I will move the grade to "b" and anything over 40 will be an "a"... If team rebounds, assists and points increase this can happen. The first move for Diaw/Bell helped the assists immensly and other players are scoring more down low, but we still lack that offensive in the paint "monster go to post scorer" which will take us to the next level and beyond. Hopefully Larry makes that second trade before too many more losses are put on the Bobcats board.

[ohara]

I'm inclined to give a C at this point also. I fully expect that the way we are beginning to gel, we will hit a streak here and there and have our best season. If so, I will then bump it to a B, and if we make the Playoffs, it becomes an A-.

[fatlever]

D

we have no injury excuses this year. 10-19 is unacceptable, regardless of what we did last season. we had a ton of homes games and blew it, a healthy team of guys who have played together for many years and a HOF coach. while i didnt expect the players to excel in LBs system right away, i certainly did not expect to see us last in scoring.

13-16 would have gotten a C

15-14 would have been a B

18-11 would have been an A

[Rich4114]

the last in scoring part hurts. Not only are we a bad team, we're also not even fun to watch. It wouldn't be so bad if we had the same record but scored 105 every night - at least we could be entertained and just make fun of the crappy defense.

[W_HAMILTON]

Well, we have had some injuries with Richardson (and of course, Wallace missing a few games due to the deaths in his family).

After 29 games:

2004: 8-21
2005: 10-19
2006: 8-21
2007: 11-18
2008: 10-19

I give them a "D" as well.

And I wouldn't give them anything higher than a "D" until this Hall of Fame coach gets this team producing at a level higher than what Vincent's team did last year.

[fatlever]

god, how sad is that "after 29 games" stat?

just once in 5 years you would thing this team would have gotten off to a hot start, or even a luke warm start. we are a miserable nov/dec team.

[ohara]

Everyone's grade is just like a Hammer, apply as you want. But for those giving a D and saying there are no excuses, aside from J-Rich and Crash missing some games, we also have to remember that we had a new Coach with a not so easy game plan to learn to utilize. That is why his teams seem to start slow and then pick up steam. You can give a D if you want and rightfully so, but I think a C is more fair given the circumstances. That learning curve for learning the LB system has to be calculated in somewhere along the way in the first 1/3 of the season. Fair, or am I being too lenient?

[fluffernutter]

I think a C is fair.

Let's remember some of the good things.

DJ seems to be, at the very least, a "solid" pick if not better at his spot in the draft. For us, that is huge.

Diaw has given us the hope that Okafor will become a real offensive threat (long-term), and is the type of player we never had before.

GWall seems to be doing well with Diaw/Okafor.

They are buying into LB's system.

Our offense is still sucky but our defense is, well, a little better. I think.

We now have two decent PG's, a real 4, a real 5, wings-a-plenty, etc. SG is weak, of course. But that's better than it was 2 months ago.

I see room for major improvement. Carroll, Okafor, Diaw are all playing better (coincidence? LB? Player group gelling? Let's see). There is a reason to watch the games now... to see how much we are improving.

That's worth a C.

[fatlever]

i do think the team is finally heading in a direction (hopefully the right direction).

diaw gives me a little hope, because he seems to be such a good fit next to wallace and okafor.

i didnt have unrealistic expectations of this teams to start the season. i think 13-16 would have been about what i expected, factoring in LBs new system and the easy schedule. that would have been a C in my book.

10-19 falls short of my expectations (especially after reading about how the entire team was at the arenas a full 2 weeks prior to training camp playing every day.) and knowing we were adding dj, ammo and may to the team from last season.

[BobsBuddy]

Fatlever--- I can understand a veteran like yourself grading this team low, but I really feel "if" LB,MJ'BJ make this second trade we should do 15-10 the next 25 games or better.
Yes there is alot of talk about getting Curry and Lee from NYK. Its what we trade back to them that will define this years Bobcats team. Trading Richardson for Diaw and Bell was the right move. now I would keep them and ship off Wallace Felton and May to NYK. I know they want Diaw but he will replace Wallace at the 3 and be paired with Lee and Okafore down low. Curry can be platooned for 25-30mpg and still give us an awesome post scoring presence .. Lee and okafore will give us more defensive rebounding also... The wings will open up and morrsion at sf and carroll at sg will ran in 3s..Bell will still give us a defensive 2 in the front court backed up by Brown and Augustine and Singltary can run the point.. We can trade Nazr near the deadline to a team that needs a backup center for another 2 or wing scorer. Also with veteran bigs around Hollins and Ajinica will develop even more...This might get us into the 7-8 seed in the east.. It would be nice to see the excitment in NBA basketball back in Charlotte and sellouts will start to happen as the city rallys behind them..

[W_HAMILTON]

Newsflash: you get graded on what you've done so far, not on what you are going to do in the future.

[HuggyBear1688]

pre trade- a "D"

post trade- a "B"

I'm really encouraged by the way we've been playing since the trade, Bobcats are showing more energy, more life on the court, and some good D aside from the GSW game, and are making things happen of late,

[Dexmor]

This is a bad question. They are an F until they are 50%

[SamBone]

This is a bad question. They are an F until they are 50%

A little harsh but I agree with your point. I like how they arte playing now and would say they are a D+ and with potential to soon upgrade to a C

[Walt Cronkite]

[channeling tenacious d powers]
F....plus!