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I have not logged into the site since the now-long-gone "Felton wars". If you don't know, don't ask.

I've not paid any attention to the team for 3-4 years, although I was once a fan (with more time on his hands).

I'm considering "tuning in" again if the Bobcats have an interesting team. That's all I care about. Is it interesting?

Is it?

yes

yea it is interesting, Hornets coming back, Al Jefferson (biggest FA signing in Bobcat history) Kemba a budding all-star, Zeller and MKG two high upside high potential players (on offense and defense respectively), new coaching staff that seems to know what they're doing including HOF player Patrick Ewing, could have 3 1st round draft picks in a loaded 2014 draft, Jordan finally hired a real GM in Rich Cho who knows what he is doing, also have Bismack Biyombo (high upside defensive center) and got rid of Tyrus Thomas and Diop

holy crap, a fluffernutter sighting. i had to do a doubletake when i saw your name. i just assumed someone had bumped a thread from many years ago.

to answer your question, yes, i believe the team is worth paying attention to again. this team is young, athletic and hungry, with enough talent to make it worth watching.

hopefully, welcome back.

This season is going to be interesting to say the least.

Interesting is literally the perfect word to describe this season.

Let's run down the roster real quick:

Al Jefferson - big time scorer in the post, can't play defense- easily the best big this team has had since rookie Okafor, definitely best signing in Bobcats history

Cody Zeller - nice PnR player for Kemba, also can't play much defense, this pairing could be awesome or terrible depending on how good they are on offense or how horrific they are defensively

Bismack Biyombo - probably needs another year of development before he contributes much, but he's the defender that is near hopeless on offense as it stands now

Josh McRoberts - kind of our utility role player big who just plays the right way. Makes the right plays, hustles hard, but occasionally gets overambitious, won't have a huge impact.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist - I have no idea whether we're going to see more of the same from last season or a big 2nd year jump ala Shawn Marion. Still likely to be limited offensively, but solid on boards and D.

Jeff Taylor - 3 and D role player. Worst that can happen is he doesn't progress much from his rookie year. Don't really know what to expect from him. As long as he makes sure I never have to see Gordon, he's good.

Gerald Henderson - great two-way wing, needs to extend his range further, and needs to be more consistent on defense. Could be a 19-20ppg scorer or slip back into 13-15ppg territory.

Ben Gordon - maybe he has a good season this year under Clifford and at least returns to Detroit form? But every time I get my hopes up for Ben Gordon, he sh**s out about 8 games of crap defense and useless chucking and dribbling off his foot. I don't want him to see the floor but he's a vet so he probably will.

Kemba Walker - top 12 pg at the worst last season, could take a step back with a new coach and new game plan, or could take a step towards stardom with newly signed help from Big Al and Zeller. Who knows?

Ramon Sessions - solid 6th man off the bench. top 5 backup PG in the league, easily. Kind of hit-or-miss game to game.

Others: Jannero Pargo (shoots 3s), James Southerland (shoots 3s), Brendan Haywood (shoots airballs and bricks), Jeff Adrien (hustle big man), and Anthony Tolliver (gets his knees rubbed by Michael Beasley by accident, I don't really know what he does)


There is no sure thing on this roster, and that's what makes it interesting. We could be bad enough to contend for Wiggins/Exum/Parker/Randle/etc or good enough to sneak into the 2014 playoffs as a 7th or 8th seed. This is going to be one hell of a ride. The first couple months are going to be totally unpredictable.

^ I think Zellers defense is severely underrated on this forum.

Well thanks for the feedback. I'll watch the first few games and see if I get that feeling back. The old feeling, you know, like you felt so often in college and only much later realized how rare it was and how worthwhile it would have been to cherish every evil sweaty second - but nobody does, right? I suppose there are a few geniuses out there who mature far before their years - this seemed to happen a lot in the 18th century when you would get these 19 year old prodigies who seemed in ways other than youth grizzled 40 year olds - but not often anymore, at least nobody I know, at least not me (for sure).

I'll give it another shot.

Fluffernutter - lots of great descriptions above from fellow fans about the talents and skills of our various Bobcats. That's the nutter. Here's the fluffer: This is a very interesting group of guys personality wise. Almost every one on this roster is hardworking, gritty or happy go lucky kind of guy you will find it easy to root for, and will really want to root for:

Kemba (fierce as a lion), Zeller (very funny, great tweeter), Biz (lovable as a puppy), MKG (who has a speech impediment to go with his manchild body) Ramon (who chose to leave LA to come here), Hendo (dirty), Al Jeff ( a Mississippi backwoods kid), Jeff Taylor (Viking!), McBob (McSuave), Tolliver (very funny). If they don't grab you right away, come back in '14 for the Hornets rebirth, but I think you're gonna like what you see now.

Liver_Pooty wrote:^ I think Zellers defense is severely underrated on this forum.

I don't think so, he's not anything to look at defensively. His defense isn't horrid but certainly isn't that good, and pairing him with another below-average defender in Al Jefferson could cause problems. I expect us to toy around with the lineup a bit if this doesn't work out (and I'm not positive it will) and we need Bismack in the starting five for defensive purposes. Pairing two offensive minded big men who don't play great defense doesn't always work out. Ask Wolves fans how that's worked out for them so far.

Biz Gilwalker wrote:

Liver_Pooty wrote:^ I think Zellers defense is severely underrated on this forum.

I don't think so, he's not anything to look at defensively. His defense isn't horrid but certainly isn't that good, and pairing him with another below-average defender in Al Jefferson could cause problems. I expect us to toy around with the lineup a bit if this doesn't work out (and I'm not positive it will) and we need Bismack in the starting five for defensive purposes. Pairing two offensive minded big men who don't play great defense doesn't always work out. Ask Wolves fans how that's worked out for them so far.

Biyombo doesn't need to be near any starting five until he gets better.

I don't disagree with you there, but if Zeller hits a rookie wall and needs to play against second units for a while to re-gain some steam from earlier in the year, I do like the idea of Bismack and Jefferson playing together- contrasting playing styles and we are going to need a defensive big sometime.

How could you just stop being a fan for 3-4 years, wait until they are getting better again and then say "I want back in". I could just never do that, for me and I imagine a lot of others we love the team no matter what, they could be the worst team in the NBA for the next two years and I would still root for them and spend money on the League Pass Broadband.

Biz Gilwalker wrote:I don't disagree with you there, but if Zeller hits a rookie wall and needs to play against second units for a while to re-gain some steam from earlier in the year, I do like the idea of Bismack and Jefferson playing together- contrasting playing styles and we are going to need a defensive big sometime.

If/when that happens McRoberts should step in. I hate the thought of Biyombo playing PF right now.

Welcome back, I hope. This team is interesting, and I think they are going to be far more entertaining and competitive than many think. This goes against the "tanking" plan for this upcoming stud filled draft. But we will still enjoy a fun season and still have a good pick (or two, or three) .

Snidely FC wrote:
Kemba (fierce as a lion), Zeller (very funny, great tweeter), Biz (lovable as a puppy), MKG (who has a speech impediment to go with his manchild body) Ramon (who chose to leave LA to come here), Hendo (dirty), Al Jeff ( a Mississippi backwoods kid), Jeff Taylor (Viking!), McBob (McSuave), Tolliver (very funny). If they don't grab you right away, come back in '14 for the Hornets rebirth, but I think you're gonna like what you see now.

Snidley,

When you describe Hendo as "dirty", what do you mean by that? Is Hendo a dirty player? I like the fact that Hendo sticks up for his teammates when other ballers try to push them around or get too physical after the whistle.

Hendo is a little dirty. On a scale of 1 to Chris Paul he is about a 5.

Biz Gilwalker wrote:

Liver_Pooty wrote:^ I think Zellers defense is severely underrated on this forum.

I don't think so, he's not anything to look at defensively. His defense isn't horrid but certainly isn't that good, and pairing him with another below-average defender in Al Jefferson could cause problems. I expect us to toy around with the lineup a bit if this doesn't work out (and I'm not positive it will) and we need Bismack in the starting five for defensive purposes. Pairing two offensive minded big men who don't play great defense doesn't always work out. Ask Wolves fans how that's worked out for them so far.

I think Zeller will be a good to very good PnR defender - great lateral movement. His defensive limitations are definitely going to be in the low post.

Lottery_Mafia wrote:How could you just stop being a fan for 3-4 years, wait until they are getting better again and then say "I want back in". I could just never do that, for me and I imagine a lot of others we love the team no matter what, they could be the worst team in the NBA for the next two years and I would still root for them and spend money on the League Pass Broadband.

Raising two kids will do that to you. Try it sometime.

I stopped paying attention to the team the year before their solitary postseason run. So it's not a matter of fleeing an abysmal team; it's more to do with the impact of watching a game on my life. Let's say the game starts at 7. It eats up at last 2.5 hours, 2 if you are lucky. Granted, you can still do some chores during those 2.5 hours, but not many. It felt like a huge luxury to do it once a week; more than that? Pure indulgence.

Yeah, that's my life. Don't hate. Sympathize.