Worst Team in NBA History

[BigSlam]

7 wins and 39 losses.

Are we really that bad? We didn't have a true training camp or summer league (like everyone). We've had some injury set backs (DJA, Hendo, Mags, Reggie). We've had some guys under perform (Boris, Tyrus). We have a weak coaching staff and losing breeds a losing culture.

But if we had a full summer, no injuries, guy's playing to their ability and a strong coaching staff how much would that change our wins and losses? Is it more than those things? Is the talent level just not there?

Thoughts?

[vorbis]

hard to evaluate hypothetical 11/12 seasons for the bobcats due to the youth of major parts of the roster. who knows what biyombo would be doing with a full training camp. likewise kemba, perhaps he would be much more in tune with the offense. maybe there would be an offense beyond a cavalcade of bricked 12ft jumpshots. maybe they would have gotten off to a start better than 3-20 or whatever it was, and tank mode would not have been activated so early. so many variables.

[Eoghan]

We're actually a little worse than our record suggests. We shouldn't have beaten that dysfunctional Knicks team and definitely shouldn't beat the Magic ever. Our talent is mostly not there. Kemba, Biz, Hendo, DJA (when he's not pouting), and Bad Porn are all marginal talent, would be relegated to role players or 6th men on good teams. Reggie Williams, Mullens, and Brown are decent filler. We don't have a single "the man" type of player that can carry a team and command double teams, etc and we don't have a guard with Jason Kidd's brain that can make teammates better.

I'm speaking in the here and now, odds are that Kemba, Hendo, or Biz won't dramatically turnaround and become "the man" type of talent but you never know. We're still a dynamic scorer in the post and backcourt away from being a playoff team.

[chrbal]

The Bobcats would've been bad with a full season, but not this bad. Injuries and inexperience is partially to blame, but you can never really expect a team to be injury free. The Diaw drama didn't help. And I'm sorry to the longtime Bobcats fans, but I see Mullens as Primoz Brezec 2.0. Prove me wrong. Can't expect a teams best rebounder to get 5.6 a game, while the team shoots about 41% from the field and not be bad.

The messed up thing is I honestly think MJ tried to build an expansion team this year for the rebuild.

[Eoghan]

In Mullens' defense, not that I want the job of his apologist, I don't think he's a Paul Silas kind of player. Paul is really old school, he would force Nowitzki or Bargnani to post up all game whereas Mullens is definitely in this new (current) generation of 7 footer that would rather stand around the perimeter and face up. Don't get me wrong, he definitely needs to work on his rebounding, defense, and other things you should be good at as an NBA big but I don't think he's quite right for Silas' system, as opposed to DJ White who is only suitable for YMCA pickup games.

[chrbal]

I think Mullens can be a good player, I think Bismack and him should spend the off-season working out together so that they can work on them chemistry. I think their styles of play could really benefit each other.

[Eoghan]

^ +1

I think so too, I'd like to see Mullens at the 4 and Biz at the 5 more often. It kind of sucks we have to start Biz b/c if we had a good starting center for Biz to learn from, he and Mully would be a nice tandem off the bench b/c Biz would probably defend well enough to allow Mully the green light on offense.

[countryboi]

Yes we are...we are just that bad.. This team is some of the worse collection of talent I have ever seen. I remember going to the open to the public practice they had before the season and I thought they would struggle to win more games than the panthers

[LamarMatic7]

Actually, when looking at our roster on paper it doesn't seem like a 7-39 team to me. After watching a game or two, we look even worse than a 7-39 team.

[fatlever]

i agree with lamar. at the beginning of the sesaon, on paper, we didnt look like a historically bad team. i thought we'd finish about 3rd worst.

diaw - proven starter on playoff level teams
mags - 20ppg scorer
augustin/tyrus/hendo - 3 former lottery picks with starter experience
biz/kemba - two more lottery picks
mully/white - 1st round picks
reggie - one year removed from 15ppg on 49%

on paper that is not historically bad. i have seen teams with much less perceived talent play much better.

i think 3 things happened that really killed us early and took us from top 5 bad this year to top 5 ever.

1. no kwame - losing kwame was a massive blow. center was the one spot where we didnt have any experience and kwame was the anchor of our defense last year.

2. vets are out of shape - diaw, diop and tyrus coming into the season in the shape they were in absolutely destroyed the team. we were going to rely so heavily on those 3 this year, especially with kwame gone and all 3 came into camp no where near ready to play (at least diop had somewhat of an excuse). diaw gave up and the team spiraled from there. w/out an in shape, motivated diaw, we had no chance.

3. injuries - you have to say early injuries to tyrus, dja, mags and later hendo played a major part. there is no way around it.

4. no training camp - we were always going to lean heavily on young guys, more than most teams, and w/out a camp, this killed us. plus it seems silas put in his own offense this year and the team didnt have much of a chance to digest.

5. no leadership - augustin would rather cut his arm off than to be a leader, which is why he will never be a great point guard, at least on a team starving for a leader. kwame, wallace and jax were gone. there was a massive leadership void. mags tried, but its hard to come in and be a leader when you are new, especially when you are injured. kemba/biz are rookies, so that wont work. tyrus is nuts, and carroll and najera werent playing. given these things, it seems hendo would have been the guy who could maybe take over, but perhaps thats not in his personality either.

these are all things that dont really show up when you see the team on paper.

but as lamar said, when you see the team actually play, its a miracle we won 7.

[Bassman]

It's hard to be worse than this record suggests, but we are. This team consistently loses by large margins, does not compete in most games, and frankly surprises me when they win. Agree with a previous poster that our talent level is extremely low. Combine that with our youth and we're a perfect storm of yuck.

The biggest problem is we have no leadership and no go-to players. Agree that DJ has zero command as a PG, which will forever relegate him to an average performer at best. Kemba has the eye of the tiger but his mama's shot. He must develop his skills to a far greater degree if he is to contribute significantly to this team. Biz is raw and learning, but shos some promise. Still, he is undersized for a 5 and will never have the skills needed to play the 4. He could be a tweener that never impacts consistently. Let's hope both those guys turn into something.

Hendo has his moments but I fear will forever be an average player (versus a star). Tyrus took a huge step back this season. Even if he returns close to his previous form, he is a limited impact player.

Bottom line, we will suffer even next year, until we get several more players via the draft and free agency who can IMPACT in this league.

[Jaruff]

Yes, we are.

Who expected otherwise? This year was going to be ugly.

[LionOfLannister]

I'm not certain we are as good as our record suggests.

[TheKingofSting]

I'm not certain we are as good as our record suggests.

This

[SWedd523]

Yes, we are.

Who expected otherwise? This year was going to be ugly.

ohara

[Diop]

Yes, we are.

Who expected otherwise? This year was going to be ugly.

Kenny Smith

[Jaruff]

Yes, we are.

Who expected otherwise? This year was going to be ugly.

Kenny Smith

I forgot all about his playoff prediction for us. TNT should fire him for that.

[BobsBuddy]

I wonder if Nate McMillin or Mike D had coached this team this year what our record would be like?
A record of 7-39 with 20 games left is really Bad.But that's what we are at. That reflects on both the coaching staff and players.
I expect MJ to clean house after the season ends,bringing in an entire new staff before the draft.
The players on this team are long and built for speed,not 1/2 court. I expect us to bring D'antoni and his assistants and draft for his system. We are last in the league in scoring.that will change next year.
If we draw #1 in the draft we probably will keep it and select Anthony Davis and start him in 2012-2013 at 4. Biz will be our 5. Mags our 3. Hendo at 2 and DJ/KW at 1. If there is some way we could package DJ/TT/Carroll and our Second round pick and pick up Kaman (1 year sign and trade) and Marshall NOH 12th pick. We then would have a decent team for 2012-2013 and alot of cap space $ available in 2014.
KW/Marshall/Higgins
Hendo/Rwill
Mags/Dbrown/ FA 3
Davis/ White
Biz/ Kaman/ Mully/ Diop

[dmutombo321]

Kaman was a hot commodity a couple years ago. Most of us preferred him to Okafor since he was a legit center with Offensive Skills. He's 30 now however. He'll really help some playoff team but we dont need him for rebuilding. With this draft as weak as it is (aside from Davis), there are no quick fixes. We'll pick up a decent role player but we're at least two more seasons away from being competitive and returning to the playoffs.

I am very high on Marshall however and am all for making a move for him if we can get a selection in the 12-16 range. Assuming we lose DJA, a playmaker and traditional PG like Marshall would be a great asset to this team and would make a great 1-2 punch at the PG with Walker.

[Olajuwon34]

I think at this point, we might be worse. We could have been better, but the veterans on this team really let us down. Team culture is very important in basketball, the only vets we have are essentially paycheck grabbers. I think the focus and preparation shown early in the season by the Diaw's and Thomases just carried over, we are basically reaping the results of a horrible off-season.

Every now and then we get it together and play like an nba team but THATS THE WAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE EVERY NIGHT!