Charlotte Signs Earl Boykins

[Walt Cronkite]

LOL Spectre

[GoBobcats]

Instant improvement!
We have a shot at the Playoffs!

[e4Nf6]

If Boykins replaces mccinnis this is a HUGE upgrade, however I can't imagine Mccinnis dissapears entirely given how much Vincent plays him now.

Would love to see:

Nazr 30min
Mek 40 min
Crash 40min
Jrich 35 min
Felton 30 min

Carrol 20min
Dudley 20min
Boykins 20min
Hollins/Mccinnis/Anderson 5min
Harrington 0min(or cut/traded)

More likely with mouthbreather:

Mek 35min
Crash 40min
Jrich 35min
Felton 35min
Mccinnis 25min

Nazr 25min
Carrol 25min
Boykins 15min
Dudley/Hollins/Harrington/Anderson 5min

either way it lengthens the bench by one which will help everybody...

I don't think Boykins and Carroll can play at the same time... we would get shredded.

[W_HAMILTON]

Oooooh, and he's a career 88% FT shooter.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

I like the move talent wise. Boykins is a sparkplug that has really helped a few teams in the past.

I wonder what this is going to do to team chemistry though. It seems like the team has finally gotten into a groove where things are working. Boykins will take shots from J-Rich, Crash, & Felton. And speaking of Felton this kind of signing probably isn't going to do anything good for his self-confidence. And what about Okafor? Will he get any more touches in the paint with Boykins around?

[fluffernutter]

All valid, good questions.

It would probably take a coach with a lot of experience and a light touch to get Boykins slotted into the rotation effectively.

Expect that not to happen here in Charlotte.

[Paydro70]

I don't feel like we're "in a groove." It's more like we jumped out of the groove that was losing every game, and so now we're sometimes looking horrible, sometimes good enough to win some games.

Bottom line, there is no worse player than Jeff McInnis. A player not named Jeff McInnis may be taking minutes away from Jeff McInnis. Thus, we have improved.

[chrbal]

WHY DIDN'T WE DO THIS 2 MONTHS AGO!?!?

If we were going to do it, we should have ages ago.

Your talking about a franchise that first brought up Hermann in either the 1st or 2nd season then eventually signed him for the 3rd season, then waited until the last 1/3rd of that season to see if he had any talent.

[Walt Cronkite]

Good point Chrbal. How's he been doing in Detroit, getting any burn?

[chrbal]

Barely. I still think hes better for Detroit then Hayes. Hayes is seeming like a 6'8" Juan Dixon...either hes on and effective or hes horrible.

[Walt Cronkite]

How's Primoz looking these days with JMax/Amir/Anyone ahead of him? Has he started researching clubs in his native Slovenia yet? Union Olimpija at least gets to play in the Euroleague...

[Bowens]

Boykins is no great shakes. Really just another body if you ask me. Someone that Shiny Head can throw out there instead of Everybody Hates Raymond. The type of point guard we really need is someone who can control the tempo of a game. Also someone who won't be a liability on defense.

[Walt Cronkite]

We're not getting anyone like that right now. I think both Boykins and Felton can push the tempo and I think one reason we haven't seen enough of that is because Ray can't play 48 minutes of up tempo basketball and McInnis can't do it at all.

At least now we can try.

[Bowens]

We're not getting anyone like that right now. I think both Boykins and Felton can push the tempo and I think one reason we haven't seen enough of that is because Ray can't play 48 minutes of up tempo basketball and McInnis can't do it at all.

At least now we can try.

Push the tempo? How so? Because he can race up the court like a chicken with his head cut off?

You still need to be able to get everyone involved. That is the job of a point guard.

[Walt Cronkite]

Boykins has played for a lot of uptempo teams, he's incredibly fast and thrives in transition because he can rarely get his shot blocked by the basket, as opposed to say, any starting center in the league in a half court set.

Boykins did well in Denver distributing the ball in 25-28 minutes he got 4 a game. This is almost identical to McInnis, who forces us to play against one of our strengths.

From ESPN even! " Status Alert: Bobcats coach Sam Vincent said he expects Boykins to speed up his team's pace, the Charlotte Observer reports. (Feb 2)"

[W_HAMILTON]

-= original quote snipped =-
Push the tempo? How so? Because he can race up the court like a chicken with his head cut off?

That'd be a welcome addition to this team.

McInnis can't do it.
Felton chooses not to for most of the game.

Hell, that sounds like a description of Wallace lately, which -- while it may have resulted in a lot of turnovers -- helped turn our offense around from it's pitiful level earlier in the year. Wallace just pushing the ball, running up and down the court, resulted in his team mates doing the same -- and that's what spurred on our offense in several games over the past few weeks.

It's not ideal, because he's not a great ballhandler or decision-maker, but it's better than the "nothing" we had been getting the first couple of months.

[fatlever]

nothing makes me happier than watching wallace snag a rebound and start a one man 90 foot sprint towards the other basket like chris anderson trying to dunk from the ft line. something exciting always follows, not always positive, but exciting.

[Paydro70]

Honestly, Boykins is not a bad player at all on offense. Very good jump shot, good handles (very hard to steal from a guy that low to the ground), very quick, and actually very strong as well. He just has that one enormous handicap of being 5'5", which means he's an automatic liability on defense and he's got some issues on offense.

No matter what, he's a useful player who has helped several teams in the past, was undoubtedly the best player out of the NBA once Chris Webber signed, and I think he'll be able to help us.

[realfung]

but Boykins is too short to be effective.....

[giordunk]

Go Boykins!