Bobcat's Season Strategy Emerging

[Bassman]

Reading the FO and LB's comments from the Chandler press conference, and looking at our situation, here is what I think they are attempting to do, and how they are addressing it:

> LB wants this team to operate better off the break, to get more baskets in transition. He also wants to create mismatches that they can exploit either on offense or defense. They have to do this with a limited budget, using the talent they have. As a result LB craves players who can play more than one position.

> Not sure if this will work, but LB believes Chandler is the more fluid, athletic big that can fit his game at the 5 (compared to Okafor), and swing to the 4 at times to spell Diaw (or as part of a "BIG" lineup). As a result, barring a surprise trade, we are done looking at PF's.

> I do think the Cat's are seriously considering signing Iverson. Not sure if they will start him or use him off the bench, but in Larry's world I suspect he will start. Iverson fits LB's desire to play transition ball, break hard and penetrate to the basket. Felton and Iverson together could be somewhat deadly. With Bell and Henderson, Iverson wouldn't have to play monster minutes. I think the Cat's believe Henderson is a season or two away from being ready anyway (as a primary reserve; certainly as a starter he will need experience).

[arh1109]

If we sign Iverson and bring him off the bench then its been a good offseason. Not sure how this season's strategy is any different that last seasons though.

[fatlever]

i think its easy to see what they are doing...

they had 3 problems and this trade addressed all three.

1 - lb did not think okafor was a great fit for his team at center. okafor was slightly undersized as a center and not really quick or agile. lb as said before he likes bigs who are fast and agile and long. he uses his bigs to set picks on offense and to cover lots of space on defense. okafor was not good in the pick and roll. he set poor screens (note the 100s of illegal screens called last year), he doesnt dive hard to the basket, doesnt catch the ball well in transition, does pop out for jumpers. defensively, okafor is limited to guarding the rim. he gets pushed around by huge centers and doesnt get out on the perimeter on defense. lb doesnt post his centers often, so its not like lb wanted a center he could give 20 touches to in the paint. chandler is a better fit for what lb wants to do with this team.

2. our cap is a mess. we have too many bad contracts for a team that is probably not going anywhere past the 1st round. plus we have a coach who probably wont be here longer than 2 more years. we had to sign okafor last year to avoid losing him for nothing. but his contract was too larger in the last 3 years. now we have the chance to go for the playoffs for 2 more years under lb. when he leaves in 2 years we have a chance to start over fresh assuming this team doesnt really go places. vlad, nazr, bell, chandler will all be off the payroll by then.

3. bob needds to sell the team and this helps. getting a new owner will be a good thing because bob has clearly given up and the relationship is now beyond repair.

again, my only beef is that we didnt find a way to get more out of NO in the deal, but that is too be expected from our front office.

[RichBoy923]

If we sign Iverson and bring him off the bench then its been a good offseason. Not sure how this season's strategy is any different that last seasons though.

I thought Iverson said that he wanted to start. But I guess for Larry he can be the sixth man. But I can see more problems arising down the road if Iverson gets frustrated on the bench.

[Battery]

Iverson is not coming here. LB's goal is to build a TEAM who SHARES the basketball. You know, teams that prefer to win games through unselfish basketball. Not like teams are beating down his door to sign him. Memphis even said no.

[fatlever]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/bobcat ... 57817.html

“Tyson athletically has great length and great quickness,” Brown said. “Emeka is more your prototype center. Tyson can get up the floor more and press more, which is something we like to do. Tyson can guard on the perimeter and if you look at this league, there are so many teams that like to pick-and-roll after pick-and-roll. With your center and your (power forward), you have to have guys who can handle that.”

as larry says... chandler fits what he wants to do better than emeka did. AND it also addressed problems 2 and 3. so, the fact that okafor is an all-around better player, is equalized by the fact that chandler is better for problems 2 and 3, which in the end, makes this a good deal.

the stragegy emerges.

the bobcats will be faster, quicker and more aggressive defensively. offensively, we will use more pick and rolls and run the floor more to get easy baskets.

[fatlever]

“We want a center who's out on the break, rebounding the ball and bringing it up with a couple of dribbles. Tyson has those skills.”

all alluding to a faster tempo

[CatNation]

I'm sure you guys already know I want Iverson more than anyone but I think that would mean Felton or DJ would have to go. I just don't see how there are enough minutes to go around for Felts/DJ/AI/Bell because I think we would be forced into used AI/Bell a lot just for defense, using AI and Diaw as our primary playmakers. I'd say we would need to use that lineup at least 8 min per game, leaving 40 for Felton and DJ to split and I think we all agree they deserve more.

[Battery]

As long as TC is healthy, I said I loved the deal from the start. Now listening to Larry talk about his plans makes me love the trade even more and very much looking forward to this season. Hopefully as a team we stay healthy because it will be funny watching all the haters disappear when we're playing great basketball this season. We need to get Raymond signed too.

[truthbtold21]

im loving this trade more and more and bringing in AI would be the icing on the cake.

[e4Nf6]

I'm skeptical that we'll be running more. It seems like every year teams get a new coach or new players and say they are going to "run more" and it doesn't happen. We were 27th last in pace last year and I don't see how trading for Chandler changes LB's philosophy that much.

[ccbballin]

2. our cap is a mess. we have too many bad contracts for a team that is probably not going anywhere past the 1st round. plus we have a coach who probably wont be here longer than 2 more years. we had to sign okafor last year to avoid losing him for nothing. but his contract was too larger in the last 3 years. now we have the chance to go for the playoffs for 2 more years under lb. when he leaves in 2 years we have a chance to start over fresh assuming this team doesnt really go places. vlad, nazr, bell, chandler will all be off the payroll by then.

Glad you pointed that out about the contracts being gone in two years when LB is gone. It worries me that he's molding a team in his image that very few other people seem to agree with. But in LB I trust.

[spectre_]

i think its easy to see what they are doing...

they had 3 problems and this trade addressed all three.

1 - lb did not think okafor was a great fit for his team at center. okafor was slightly undersized as a center and not really quick or agile. lb as said before he likes bigs who are fast and agile and long. he uses his bigs to set picks on offense and to cover lots of space on defense. okafor was not good in the pick and roll. he set poor screens (note the 100s of illegal screens called last year), he doesnt dive hard to the basket, doesnt catch the ball well in transition, does pop out for jumpers. defensively, okafor is limited to guarding the rim. he gets pushed around by huge centers and doesnt get out on the perimeter on defense. lb doesnt post his centers often, so its not like lb wanted a center he could give 20 touches to in the paint. chandler is a better fit for what lb wants to do with this team.

2. our cap is a mess. we have too many bad contracts for a team that is probably not going anywhere past the 1st round. plus we have a coach who probably wont be here longer than 2 more years. we had to sign okafor last year to avoid losing him for nothing. but his contract was too larger in the last 3 years. now we have the chance to go for the playoffs for 2 more years under lb. when he leaves in 2 years we have a chance to start over fresh assuming this team doesnt really go places. vlad, nazr, bell, chandler will all be off the payroll by then.

3. bob needds to sell the team and this helps. getting a new owner will be a good thing because bob has clearly given up and the relationship is now beyond repair.

again, my only beef is that we didnt find a way to get more out of NO in the deal, but that is too be expected from our front office.

That was a great post Fats...agreed with everything you said.

[thruthefire]

I'm skeptical that we'll be running more. It seems like every year teams get a new coach or new players and say they are going to "run more" and it doesn't happen. We were 27th last in pace last year and I don't see how trading for Chandler changes LB's philosophy that much.

It's like when Vincent was here ... we changed our court to look more like the Phoenix Suns', we had the "Elevate" campaign, and Vincent said we would be an a running team, but really, we weren't. Then LB comes around and we're one of the slowest paced teams in the league, but now he wants to get up-and-down the court? I find it hard to believe Mek restricted us from doing that last year. Maybe I'm wrong, but isn't Okafor one of the faster centers in the league, too? It's not like New Orleans was getting up-and-down the court with Chandler. They were near the bottom of the league in pace, also.

I hope it works out for us, but what I've come away with so far as to why this makes basketball sense is that Chandler can play some back up power forward (Why not get a real backup power forward? And however limited the sample, Okafor wasn't terrible at power forward.) and that he goes crazy whenever he scores.

[thruthefire]

“We want a center who's out on the break, rebounding the ball and bringing it up with a couple of dribbles. Tyson has those skills.”

I'm having a hard time seeing that.

[Bassman]

im loving this trade more and more and bringing in AI would be the icing on the cake.

Indeed, getting Iverson here (even as our starter versus off the bench) has the potential to maximize LB's game plan. If A.I. can play to a close approximation of his talent and skill level (by virtue of operating within Larry's system) he becomes a deadly part of this offense. Bell off the bench is a huge bonus, as his minutes are lower and his health is maximized. If Henderson develops quickly, just more depth available. Also, Larry always wants a swing guard, so having Iverson allows him to utilize him in situations as necessary if Felts or DJ is in foul trouble/injured.

[moevil]

Was just thinking about our lineup.
From Positions:

C: Chandler, Diop, Nazr
PF: Diaw, Chandler, Ajinca, Brown
SF: Wallace, Radmanovic, Brown, Henderson
SG: Bell, Henderson
PG: Felton, DJ, Jefferson

Looking that lineup, I got decent feeling about C - Chandler, SF - Wallace and PG: Felton+DJ.
Don't get me wrong, Diawow is good, but PF, who makes 6 rebounds and 5 assists, is not very natural PF (also 3 TO's). I would expect a bit more scoring from PF and definately more rebounding. Still, PF spot is near to decent.

Biggest concern is SG position. Bell is not a starter. His 13 points per 35.6 minutes is not enough for SHOOTING GUARD.

I would love to trade Bell + Nazr for some proven SG. Hamilton for example. His contract looks horrific, to be honest. Do we have any other team, who could take 1y expiring and backup C, 2y expiring for starting SG? (Detroit seems the best option atm)

[fatlever]

i should have added a fourth point to my original post.

4 - we desperately need help at pf. its looks like we are stuck with what we have, unless we make a last minute play for a pf, but even then, we are left with a 10th man type at best. therefore we are probably going to have to cover the pf spot (when diaw is out) with guys on the team, either sliding wallace, brown or vlad up from sf to pf or sliding diop, nazr or chandler down from c to pf. chandler seems to be a better fit (in spot minutes) as a pf than okafor due to his ability to guard a larger range of bigs. dont be surprised to see us play stretches with nazr/chandler or diop/chandler together. sure, it wont be pretty, but i think it will be better, at least defensively than a pairing with okafor at pf.

[Olajuwon34]

If we can add Iverson which I don't see why we can't this will be a really solid team!
We've replaced Okafor pretty effectively on d from the looks of it and if chandler can play minutes at pf(hes got the speed) and we sign AI we have the potential to either play big or small like the celtics.

Either way good d versatility and matchup problems seem to be what LB loves.

[Paydro70]

I can't wait to see what a Chandler-Diop frontcourt can do on the offensive end. Truly that would be a thing of beauty.

I am extremely dubious of any claim that we will be more uptempo. Chandler is faster than Okafor, but the hell if he's a ballhandler, and he turns it over even more than Okafor does, for all the talk about his hands.

I also don't see why Chandler fulfills the post defense role any better than Okafor. He's lighter, he has a smaller standing reach, and lately he hasn't been blocking shots as well. I can buy the pick-and-roll defense, but people saying we got more of a "true center" are kidding themselves.

I do agree with Fats' #3... having Bob Johnson sell the team may be our only chance to see a competitive team.