SB Nation - Alexis Ajinca

Last Night In The D-League - Where A Marriage Proposal Happened

Scott Schroeder — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 15:00:20 -0000

by HO - AP

The guy that proposed didn't look like Tony Gonzalez. And his future wife didn't look like Tony's wife, who is apparently named October. Probably because it happened in North Dakota.

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The one thing I don't like about the D-League is the fact that the majority of their games are on the weekends in the evening. It's not like I have a bustling social life, but still. Anyway, I feel we kind of cheated you by not recapping last Friday nights action, so I didn't want to be a complete failure today.

It's still the weekend, however, so in lieu of my usual great notes, I'm giving you tweets from yours truly, Matt Moore at Hardwood Paroxysm, Steve Weinman at D-League Digest, Mookie at A Stern Warning and Jim Fossel from CelticsTown. Yes, there were multiple people semi-regularly tweeting about the D-League last night. Ain't it great?!

First, some general D-League analysis:

Can we get a petition letter to get plus/minus added to the D-League boxscore? (Matt Moore)

Seriously, why not? It couldn't be that hard to include, am I right? Or, is Moore right? If it takes Jon L writing a post about this and "Blocks Against," we'll do it. Don't test us.

This stuff kills me. RT @HPbasketball RT @RUBasketball: Nothing classier than proposing at the first timeout of a D-League game. Seriously. (Slam's Holly Mackenzie)

This happened at the first quarter of the Wizards-Skyforce game. Added romanticism came with the sponsored Wizards-logo'd t-shirts the couple wore.

Futurecast drivers REALLY need to quit using the baseline cam. You are one dude with a button, not a TNT production crew. Keep it wide. (MM)

Two palming calls in Maine tonight. Will that top the NBA's season total? (Steve Weinman)

Do the D-League players have their names at the bottom of the jerseys because they're names that are on the rise? (Mookie)

Tulsa 66ers 94, Rio Grande Valley Vipers 89 (OT) (Box Score)

RGV has to be the best team in the league, right? I mean, I get Maine. But Harris, Anderson, Dorsey? With Garrett Temple? (MM)

Antonio Anderson may need to be on the call-up list this week. block on a three, a reverse, then a 10 foot baseline. I'm digging this. (MM)

Man, Harris with a catch and face-up, 20 foot jumper's good. that's 22 for Harris. CALL HIM UP (MM)

Liking Latavious Williams' aggressiveness. Needs to do that in the A. In college, they'd be teaching him to brick seven foot js on the break. God, Latavious Williams' is a physical freak. Two years and he's going to be beasting. (MM)

Overtime in Tulsa. Crank up your Futurecast! (SW)

Fort Wayne Mad Ants 113, Maine Red Claws 105 (Box Score)

Ron Howard was amazing. 9-for-13 FG, 11-for-13 FT, 30 points total + 5 steals. Who knew? (Me)

Looks like Sean Sonderleiter will lose starting role to Jared Reiner. Makes sense, makes me sad. (Me)

No Kyle McAlarney. Ow. Fort Wayne needs a backup PG. Lucky Rob Kurz dished 8 assists. Pt forward? (Me)

Bill Walker flings a cross-court pass away and then forgets his man can shoot on consecutive plays. Not ideal. (SW)

Bill Walker just posterized Rob Kurz. (SW)

Walker was frikkin brilliant. 32ish points. Kicking ass & taking names. (Jim Fossel)

Alexis Ajinca is actually getting those points inside! He looks as good as I've seen him. Very impressive night.(SW)

What's your feeling as to how long it'll be before Ajinca can be a rotation player in the NBA? Playing minutes is often all it's about. Have switched over to watch the final 2:15. (Mookie, making the D-League transition)

"We'd be amiss if we didn't mention the rubbah chicken shootin at that last timeout." #NortheasternersTalkFunny (Me)

Dakota Wizards 103, Sioux Falls 96 (Box Score)

Who's excited for pajama day tomorrow at the Dakota Wizards game!?!? That may top the mid-20-second-timeout wedding proposal, honestly. (Me)

Romel "George The Iceman Gervin" Beck. Seriously. (Me)

Has there ever been an explanation for Beck's occasional offensive disappearances? It's not that he goes cold, just invisible. AND Yup, it's really weird. Every time I watch him, he scores efficiently, just seems like he goes quarters without even a touch. (SW)

David Bailey still as quick as ever. He had some drug "issues" in Australia -- no probs lately? (Mookie)

Scoring balance: No one has 20, but 11 players are in double-figures in tonight's Skyforce-Wizards game. Cool. (SW)

Iowa Energy 95, Erie Bayhawks 88 (Box Score)

Nobody tweeted about this game, so I bring you tweets by Iowa's Cartier Martin.

Bout to play Assasins Creed 2...then it's nap time. Got a big game tonight.
Game went well...we got the dub. I'm slowly but surely gettin my groove back.
what's good bro? Man that Europe shit got a #@$%# game all f'ed up.
Me chillin at the table wit my goons! You better be careful how you run up on me..they something vicious! http://yfrog.com/4gvydj

Bakersfield Jam 107, Idaho Stampede 80 (Box Score)

Ouch (The World upon finding out Bakersfield won a game)

Maine Red Claws 96, Erie BayHawks 75; Free Trey Gilder!...?

Jon L — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:01:45 -0000

At 7-1, now who's laughing at Crusher (hint: still us) (via nbamusings.com)

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So now it's my turn to talk about these two teams. It would've been nice if the BayHawks had won so I could tout them a little bit but...

Hey guess what! I'm gonna try doing this recap Scott Schroeder bullets-stylee. Which means it might be even longer than my usual recaps. I know you're going to have fun.

Scott talked about this a little bit yesterday, but Trey Gilder probably should start somewhere. I understand that he's probably not starting in Maine while Bill Walker's around, but Gilder's good enough to make the NBA. It's a nice problem to have for the Red Claws. 23 points on 9-12 shooting and 10 boards for him, both team highs and both off the bench (if that makes sense).
Alexis Ajinca had his biggest offensive output of the (D-League) season with 14 points. Too bad it came on 15 shots. Too, too bad. No free throws either. At least Bill Walker had the good sense to get to the line while shooting 1-5 from the field.
Pro wrestling reference!
Cedric Jackson has had exactly one good game outside shooting-wise this season, so I have no idea why he's attempting four threes. Who does he think he is, Ron Howard? (jokes) The 11 assists are welcome, but let's cut down on this whole "doing-things-you're-not-good-at" thing, shall we?
Come to think of it, none of Erie's players have been that great at shooting so far this year. Ivan Harris was their big three-point specialist last year, but he has only 14 attempts over seven games this year. He's made two of them. Twice? Two times. Jackie Manuel has had some okay games, but then he'll usually follow them up with something like last night's 4-14 outing.
Donell Taylor is having a decent season so far, in that he's ' making 38.5 of his threes, averaging almost six rebounds a game and playing some decent defense, but I can't help feeling like a 27-year old former NBA player should be dominating, and Taylor isn't. Maybe he gets a pass against a stacked Maine team, but six turnovers against Fort Wayne? 9-23 shooting against Sioux Falls? Averaging more turnovers (four) than steals (3.6) on the season? 59 percent free throw shooting? I know he was originally miscast on this team as the starting point guard, but I guess I expected more.
Have you seen John Bryant? No seriously, have you seen him? If they still put pictures on milk cartons, I might suggest doing so with this guy. He got a DNP last night, okay fine, but after pretty much dominating the first four games of the year he shot 4-10 and 1-5. Dude is disappearing, which is kind of tough to do when you're as, uh, big as Bryant is.

Best Bobcats Trade Possible Contest

David Arnott — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:57:48 -0000

More photos » by Bob Levey - AP

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Seeing as the members of Rufus on Fire all know better than the Bobcats front office (yes, I count myself in that group), here's your challenge. Use the RealGM Trade Checker to come up with a Bobcats trade that the other team(s) involved would accept and that advances at least one tangible goal for Charlotte. Post the teams, players, and link to the Trade Checker in a comment.

Here's my attempt.

CHARLOTTE gets: Tracy McGrady

HOUSTON gets: Raymond Felton, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Leon Powe, Alexis Ajinca

CLEVELAND gets: Stephen Jackson, Nazr Mohammed

The big obstacle is getting Houston to go along with this. They probably don't need another guard like Felton, but Z and Powe are probably very attractive for a run at the postseason (Z's poor numbers this season notwithstanding), especially since all these contracts are really flexible and just for this season. Cleveland gets the scoring swingman they've wanted to pair with LeBron James, and they replace Z with Mohammed.

For the Bobcats, they get a real, honest-to-goodness superstar. Maybe he's too hurt to play, and Houston's doing the right thing by collecting the insurance (probably the biggest obstacle to the trade), but we dump contracts and give playing time to D.J. Augustin, all in one fell swoop. We get first crack at re-signing him, and if we don't want to make that leap, he can walk after this season. I'd pull the trigger.

YOU CAN WIN A PRIZE

The best trade proposal and explanation, in my sole judgment, will win a promotional copy of The Art of a Beautiful Game, by SI's Chris Ballard, which I received for free from the publisher. I'll announce the winner on Wednesday. Have at.

Last Night in the D-League; Free Throw Disparities Abound!

Jon L — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:00:17 -0000

One thing we've learned so far: Reggie Williams can score. (via www.nba.com)

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Albuquerque Thunderbirds 119, Austin Toros 110

This is a tough loss for the Toros, because they didn't play particularly poorly. They made half of their threes, more than half of their field goals overall and outrebounded the T-birds. Free throws were the difference, as Albuquerque shot 34 to Austin's 21. Dwayne Jones was a beast, 23 points and 16 rebounds (eight offensive), which shouldn't be too surprising given that he had Kevin Pittsnogle guarding him for most of the game. Alonzo Gee finished with 16 points, but also turned the ball over five times. Curtis Jerrells put together a solid line, 20 points, seven assists and only one turnover (which didn't come until there was less than a minute left in the game), but he also took (and missed) several shots, with 12, 14, 16 seconds left on the shot clock. And hey, Malik Hairston was in the house! He played well, as you'd imagine, with 23 points on 18 shots; he went 8-9 from the line and added five rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Make sure you pick Hairston in your Virtual Scout game, I have a feeling he'll make an NBA roster one of these days.

For the Thunderbirds, who actually won the game, Yaroslav Korolev played well, which even with it being the D-League still is weird to read and type. He had 22 points on 13 shots, got to the free throw line (8-11), grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots. See? Isn't that weird to read? Carlos Powell also played well, with 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Keith McLeod made seven of his 13 field goals, including three of his five threes, and handed out 10 assists with only two turnovers. Anthony Agudio shot 5-8 for 13 points. 16 of those free throw attempts came in the fourth quarter and there were some other weird calls on both sides, but this is still a solid win.

The rest of the games await you, after the jump.

Rio Grande Vipers 104, Tulsa 66ers 100

This wasn't the blowout I expected (though it was briefly in the third quarter), but Joey Dorsey did grab 12 board. Unfortunately, he also had eight turnovers and shot 3-9. Mike Harris played well, though, with 30 points on 19 shots and seven rebounds. The Vipers also finally got their three-point shooting on track, making almost 41 percent of their attempts, and they also did an excellent job of sharing the ball; 26 assists on 36 made field goals, which is insane. Nine assists for Antonio Anderson, seven from Jonathan Wallace, the latter of whom also had eight boards and did a good job of getting to the free throw line. Kurt Looby even got some run and grabbed eight rebounds in 19 minutes.

Mustafa Shakur's really good, y'all. 24 points, 10 assists, five rebounds, four steals, and he makes it look pretty easy. Moses Ehambe had his shot going early but then struggled a bit, and overall the 66ers made a better percentage of their threes than RGV did. They also made a better percentage of their free throws (roughly 74-66) and had about as many assists as a team (23 on 35 made field goals). That third quarter is what did them in, and there was a parade of blown layups and turnovers. Really, I count nine missed layups. The big men in particular had a hard time hitting shots, with Byron Mullens going 9-21 and DeVon Hardin shooting 2-8. Keith Clark finished 3-5, but both of his missed came on blown layups towards the end of the third. All three of those guys help put the "development" in the D-League, but this could be a frustrating year for Tulsa fans.

Sioux Falls Skyforce 110, Erie BayHawks 101

Erie managed to make 52.5 percent of its field goals and still lost. Part of that was the foul shot disparity (Sioux Falls shot 42 to Erie's 23), and part of it was rebounding. The Skyforce were able to grab 18 offensive boards, including six from Greg Stiemsma. I still don't think Stiemsma is any great shakes offensively (he shot just 3-10), but the 16 rebounds and six blocks were nice work. Reggie Williams was back to his brilliant scoring self,with 35 points on 21 shots along with five rebounds and three steals, and he really was the biggest recipient of those free throws with 14 attempts. Leemire Goldwire finished with decent numbers, 21 points on 7-13 shooting, even though he was 0-5 on threes. Again, free throw shooting helps.

Erie had some guys play pretty well, like Cedric Jackson who had 15 points, nine assists and seven rebounds off the bench, and Jackie Manuel who finished with 20 points on 8-13 shooting. They had some guys play okay, like Alade Aminu who had 16 points but only four rebounds in over 33 minutes, and John Bryant who needed 12 shots to score 12 points but who grabbed 14 rebounds. Then there was Donell Taylor, who was awful. 9-23 shooting, he missed all of his free throws, more turnovers (four) than assists (three), poor defense, and four of Stiemsma's blocks came out of his hands. Dreadful game.

Maine Red Claws 102, Springfield Armor 79

Those 102 points came in just over 94 possessions, excellent work. Of course, having a 41-15 free throw advantage will do that. I didn't catch this game, so I don't know if this was NBA veteran "savvy" or referee-derived, but Maine had better have won with those kinds of numbers, especially on a night they went 1-8 from the outside. Or heck, on any night, no especially about it. I mean, Anthony Terrell played less than three minutes and got four free throw attempts. Mario West played well off the bench with 19 points and 7-7 free throw shooting, and while Alexis Ajinca didn't have the best night offensively (1-7), he grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked five shots.

Fouls aside, Springfield's problem in this one comes down to rebounding. Only 30 total rebounds when all 10 guys played, and no one had more than five (congrats, Kentrell Gransberry); Maine had five players with five or more boards. JamesOn Curry actually shot the ball pretty well, 10-19 from the field on the way to 26 points, but he had just three assists (again, congrats to KG for leading the team with five). No one else really got going, and no one for the Armor could collect the misses. Their total rebounding number was eclipsed by Maine's 36 defensive boards. NBA-quality opponents or no, that's never going to earn a win. Oh, and backup center Major Wingate fouled out in just under 18 and a half minutes. Whee.

Reno Bighorns 101, LA D-Fenders 79

Reno had a weird first quarter. After jumping out to an 11-2 lead behind Marcus Hubbard and Russell Robinson they missed a bunch of shots and faced a nine point deficit at the end of the first quarter. At one point they had missed nine field goals in a row, a stretch that also saw multiple turnovers and Cezary Trybanski miss a pair of free throws. They got back on track once the second quarter started, and they never trailed after four minutes were left in the half. Rod Benson led the way again with 17 points on 8-11 shooting, 10 rebounds and four steals, plus some very good defense on Michael Fey. Backup center Trybanski also played well (aside from those free throws) with 10 points on four shots, six rebounds and an astounding nine blocks. He looked a lot more comfortable on the court when he didn't have to keep up with Idaho's big men. Dave Noel was another steadying presence off the bench with 10 points on 4-6 shooting. Russell Robinson had finished with 10 assists and 10 points, but needed 12 shots to get there. Desmon Farmer had 18 points and nine assists, but he turned the ball over way too much once again with eight. Marcus Hubbard had 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, but he started falling back into his old habits of hanging around the perimeter and taking some bad shots. I won't say that Reno got lucky for this win, but Farmer's turnovers and Hubbard's shot selection could be what keeps this team from winning on a lot of nights.

The D-Fenders are an inefficient offensive team, plain and simple. They have multiple guys who need too many shots to rack up the points, guys like Dar Tucker and Deron Washington and Horace Wormely. As a team, LA missed all seven of its three-point attempts, and six of those came from Tucker. Ryan Forehan-Kelly went 0-7 from the field, which is unusual for him. Diamon Simpson had his second straight solid offensive outing with 24 points (along with 13 rebounds); I'm still not sold on his offensive ability, but if he keeps this up I'll have to reconsider. LA will need that offense, too, as long as they have guys taking and missing terrible shots.

Nets End Losing Streak, Beat Bobcats 97-91; Larry Brown Should Be Embarrassed With His Performance

David Arnott — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 03:54:07 -0000

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The Nets had to win, eventually. It's only embarrassing to the Bobcats if they act like New Jersey doesn't belong in the league, which they most certainly do. Losing 97-91 on the road to them is the same as losing to any other team this time of year. All they can do is keep their focus and keep working.

By and large, the guys on the floor did an admirable job. Brook Lopez had a huge game, with 31 points and 14 rebounds. That's a little damning of Tyson Chandler, but Lopez is a rising star, and he's going to have those kinds of nights. The same goes for Courtney Lee and his 27 points. There's a reason they thought highly enough of him that they demanded he come over from the Magic for Vince Carter.

However, the infuriating theme emerging again this year -- one that everyone warned us would happen with Larry Brown -- is the inexcusable mishandling of rookies and other young players. D.J. Augustin, Gerald Henderson, Derrick Brown, and Alexis Ajinca have all had their careers adversely affected by their usage this year. Augustin's encouraging rookie season could have been a springboard to a starting job, but instead he was undermined by the retention of Raymond Felton and subsequent signing of Flip Murray. Gerald Henderson just hasn't played, buried on the bench even though when he has played he's been reasonably solid and could absolutely be the backup to Stephen Jackson. Derrick Brown has proven in his limited playing time that he deserves a shot to win a rotation spot, and with no backup power forward in sight, that would seem to be a perfect situation for him, but instead, Vladimir Radmanovic(!) got those minutes, and now Coach Brown is going through all kinds of mental gymnastics to justify reasons to not play him, like putting Tyson Chandler at the four. Ajinca is a separate case. He shouldn't have been expected to contribute last year, and yet he languished on the bench. He should have been in the D-League most of last year and this year, playing 30 minutes every night and taking his lumps, but instead, he's been jerked around. What progress he's made has no expression.

And tonight, none of those players played. The bench and free throw shooting lost this game, and none of those players played. The Nets, one of the five worst teams in the league, beat the Bobcats, and Larry Brown saw fit to play STEPHEN GRAHAM more than 13 minutes and refused to play any of his younger players, even after it was clear his preferred formula wasn't going to put the Cats over the top. I've tried to express reasonable disagreement over the course of the season, but this performance from Larry Brown doesn't deserve reasonable treatment anymore. It was disgusting. The players shouldn't be embarrassed, but Brown should be.

Highlights and lowlights after the jump:

BAD

-- What does Graham have to do to prove he doesn't belong in an NBA rotation? I'm sure he's a perfectly good guy; the broadcasters seem to like him, and you can't be a jerk and stick around as a scrub for long, and he's stuck around for four years. But you know what? He played more than 13 minutes, was 0-2 from the field, had 1 rebound, 0 assists, 1 turnover, and 2 fouls. And he's done this his whole career. It's not his fault he's being put out there, but he's emblematic of Larry Brown's myopia.

-- Nazr Mohammed has been excellent all year, and this game is probably just a bump in the road, but it's still disappointing to see him crash so abruptly. 0 points in 11 minutes.

-- 18-30 from the charity stripe is bad. Maybe the Jeff Capel School of Free Throw Shooting should be discredited.

GOOD

-- Gerald Wallace is still a beast. 13 points on 5-8 shooting, and 20 rebounds. I keep coming back to the mid-late career Dennis Rodman comparison, only if Rodman ran the floor and finished like Drexler.

-- Tyson Chandler seems healthy. The defense doesn't seem to be at the elite level, but I suspect a lot of that has to do with being comfortable with teammates, and the Cats' roster hasn't exactly been together forever. Still, 13 points and 12 rebounds is the kind of performance we need from our center.

-- Good Raymond Felton is still with us. He was a facilitator for most of the game and scored efficiently -- at one point I think he was 6-7 from the field. He's still not the creator I'd like him to be at point, and he probably never will be, but for this game, he got results, scoring 28 points on 11-14 shooting and only turning it over 2 times.

-- Congratulations to the Nets for getting that monkey off their backs. They don't deserve it, and neither do their fans. Now they can move on and concentrate on the important things, like developing their young players and gelling as a team.

Previewing Tonight's Games; Featuring the NBA Players of Both Tomorrow and Yesterday

Jon L — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:00:18 -0000

by Mark J. Terrill - AP

Bobcats assignee Alexis Ajinca joins a loaded Red Claws team in time for tonight's home opener. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Now this is more like it; five games, some nice matchups.

Reno Bighorns at Los Angeles D-Fenders

Reno is still looking for their first win, and it may just come tonight. Reno's first pair of games came against Idaho, who force teams to run with them, but the Bighorns should be able to play closer to their preferred style here. Michael Fey has had a nice start for the D-Fenders, but Rod Benson should be able to defend him pretty well. They've also acquired Doug Thomas, who I like a little better than Brian Laing (who was waived) coming off the bench. If Desmon Farmer can keep the turnovers down, I like Reno's chances. After the last game, though, that's a big if. The D-Fenders have point guard Gabe Pruitt back, and they also have several guys tall enough and athletic enough to guard Marcus Hubbard wherever he goes on the floor. They have talent, but the fact that Pruitt is still getting acclimated means their offense could struggle.

Erie BayHawks at Sioux Falls Skyforce

There should be some good individual matchups in this one, with Greg Stiemsma having to guard Erie's talented new center John Bryant, and the BayHawks' Donell Taylor likely spending some time checking Reggie Williams (at least he should be). Keith Brumbaugh and Pete Campbell have each shot the ball pretty poorly so far this year for Sioux Falls, but if they can contribute in other areas the team should be okay. Outside of Jackie Manuel's first game, the BayHawks haven't gotten much help for Taylor and Bryant. They'll need someone to pick up the slack (ideally Ivan Harris, who hasn't hit a three yet) to stay in this game, given how many guys can score for the Skyforce.

Springfield Armor at Maine Red Claws

This is already being called a rivalry game, which I guess it is for regional purposes, but let's see how they play against each other first. Maine has a stacked roster now, with ~~five~~ ~~six~~ seven players with some NBA experience (assignees Bill Walker and Alexis Ajinca plus Billy Thomas, Mario West, Will Blalock, Noel Felix and Trey Gilder). It's true that said experience only amounted to about a dozen games for a few of those players, and that Mario West was awful as a pro, and that Blalock has been less than impressive so far this season, but that's still a lot of talent. As for the Armor, well, they've reportedly signed Major Wingate, a talented center who never showed up to Maine's training camp. Plus they have an NBA guy of their own in JamesOn Curry, never mind the fact that he's shooting 31.8 percent from the field and 21.4 percent on threes so far. Actually, you probably should mind that. Even more importantly, Curry has just one more assist (nine) than turnovers (eight) this season. Perrin Johnson and Maurice Maxwell have switched off having good and bad games for Springfield, but who are we kidding; this one could get ugly.

Tulsa 66ers at Rio Grande Valley Vipers

Tulsa won a few days ago, but if you didn't read my write-up of the game (and it's understandable if you didn't; it's really long), there weren't a whole lot of players I was all that impressed with. Mustafa Shakur is good, certainly, but the Vipers have some defenders (like Antonio Anderson) who could keep him in check. Joey Dorsey and Mike Harris also should kill Byron Mullens and DeVon Hardin. Moiderize them. Either Dorsey or Harris could end up with 30 rebounds and 10 blocks. Heck, both of them could. The Vipers have had some players with turnover problems and they haven't been hitting their threes, and the 66ers have some shooters who could get hot, but the skill gap in the middle is just too large.

Austin Toros at Albuquerque Thunderbirds

I was made a fool of the last time I said this, but I'm going ahead with it anyway - Kevin Pittsnogle could be a key player in this game. The Toros just don't really have anyone who can guard him on the perimeter (caveat coming) if he's shooting the ball well. Dwayne Jones is rooted to the paint, Justin Bowen is really more of a small forward (though he can get up to block Pittsnogle's shots) and David McClure is too spazzy. The Toros also don't really have anyone who can adequately guard Carlos Powell. For Austin, they need to get Alonzo Gee involved early and keep looking for him even if he's not hitting shots immediately. More specifically they need to keep running him off of screens, where he does his best shooting. He's the best player on the team, and there were multiple possession stretches against Tulsa the other night when he was flat out ignored on offense. This could be a fun game.

Bobcats Fans Don't Have A Consensus of Trust

David Arnott — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:17:05 -0000

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Ultimately, I think what we all want from the Bobcats is a consensus of trust. I want to be able to look at whatever my team does and think to myself: "Absolutely... Makes all kinds of sense... That's perfect..." like New England Patriots fans did with Bill Belichick circa 2003, or, more appropriately, like Seattle Mariners fans are doing right now. I'm pretty certain this is what fan contentment looks like, even when the team isn't yet a championship contender:

What am I supposed to write about when they’re doing exactly what we suggest, targeting players we’ve already advocated for because they make a lot of sense? I mean, yeah, the team is getting better, but I’m running out of material. I don’t know how many different ways to write "woohoo! good move!"

And then Larry Brown goes and tells Rick Bonnell something like this:

Brown says no more than three guards should play regularly, but there are all sorts of conflicting goals to service: He is trying to develop the rookies, he's trying to help D.J. Augustin get back his confidence, and he'd rather Stephen Graham not disappear through no fault of his own.

[snip]

Short of some trade that would swap a guard for a viable 4-man, this is going to be improvisational.

"Maybe we need to re-explore playing Tyson (Chandler) there," Brown said.

The potential to play Chandler as a center and a power forward was one of the incentives for the offseason trade of Emeka Okafor. But that hasn't happened much, with Chandler still not all the way back from ankle surgery.

"We've got to get him to a point where he's comfortable and confident, and he's not playing that way right now," Brown said. "The more he plays, the more confidence he gets and then maybe we can play him more" at multiple positions.

1 -- I'd like to know what, exactly, Brown is doing to "develop the rookies", because he's certainly not giving them NBA minutes. Gerald Henderson is averaging 9.3 minutes per game, and he's played fewer total minutes than all but SEVEN first round picks this year, and five of those guys haven't even played in the NBA at all, for various reasons (Blake Griffin, Ricky Rubio, Victor Claver, B.J. Mullens, Christian Eyenga). The two others? Jordan Hill has been a disaster in New York and James Johnson was beaten out for playing time by second round rookie Taj Gibson in Chicago.

2 -- Stephen Graham absolutely should be the odd man out, and that this is an open question speaks volumes about what Larry Brown values. What does Graham do that a combination of Henderson and D. Brown at guard and forward can't do? Even if you think Graham is better right now than those two, is he so much better than either of them that the benefits of giving the rookies minutes are outweighed by Graham's awesomeness? Seems to me that explicitly demoting Graham gives minutes to the rookies. Two problems solved.

3 -- We're really going to revisit Tyson Chandler at power forward? Really? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. I understand the desire to give Nazr Mohammed more minutes based on his inspired run this season, even though I think Chandler's the better bet moving forward to be a more productive total player, but playing Chandler at power forward, given what we know about him and the rest of this team, should simply be a non-starter. There's no way he can guard the quickest PFs like Josh Smith, and the only reason we should even consider playing him alongside Nazr is if we're facing a twin tower lineup like Sheed-Garnett or Shaq-Z. If we can't make a trade for someone like Sean Williams, who's been marginalized on his current team, then we should stay in our holding pattern and give minutes to D. Brown in the power forward slot, or (deep breath) give Alexis Ajinca chances to sink or swim. Either way, I don't think playing Chandler at the four advances any objectives, whether that's giving playing time to younger guys or winning now, or trying to juggle those two objectives.

All I want is to hear the Bobcats are mulling a move, or have made a move, and know before I even look at the details, that it's probably a good idea and not just some desperate ploy, or shuffling of deck chairs in the vague hope something changes for the better.

Celtics Crush Bobcats 92-59

David Arnott — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:11:51 -0000

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The Celtics absolutely smoked the Bobcats in the season opener at Boston's TD Garden. The final score was 92-59, which doesn't really do the beatdown justice. There were flickers of life throughout the first half, but in the third quarter, the Celtics manhandled the Cats, outscoring them 25-10 and pulling away for good.

Parsing the box score, there isn't much to be happy about; the game brought to life every fear the pessimists had for Charlotte before the season. They had near-zero offensive presence on the inside, which had a cascade effect. Gerald Wallace and others couldn't slash because defenders could help more readily, and the shooters, already a mediocre bunch (even more so without Raja Bell or Ronald Murray), couldn't shoot because there was no worry about anyone trying to score from inside ten feet.

Highlights (maybe) and Lowlights after the jump:

GOOD

-- Wallace had 10 points and 12 rebounds, by default the best performance of the night. Emphasis on "by default".

-- Nazr Mohammed very nearly earned that honor with 5 points and 8(!) rebounds in only 18 minutes. Seriously, he's probably the team's biggest inside threat on offense. That hurt to type.

-- Derrick Brown certainly looks like he belongs. Obviously, this is small sample size theater, but so be it.

-- It's fair to say Alexis Ajinca has two intriguing NBA skills: backdoor alley-oops and a nearly unblockable eighteen foot fadeaway jumper. Even his most ardent haters have to admit that his greatest shortcoming last season was his complete lack of basketball IQ even close to an NBA level.

-- The Cats outrebounded the Celtics, ~~44-41~~ 46-44.

BAD

-- 59 points.

-- Tyson Chandler: 0 points, 6 rebounds, 3 turnovers, 21 minutes. Ouch.

-- D.J. Augustin, Raymond Felton, and Stephen Graham combined: 5-27 from the field.

-- 59 points. If this is any indication, let's hope for a lot of 83-78 victories.

Lakers Defeat Bobcats 91-87

David Arnott — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:45:15 -0000

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Hey! Who else wants to spend his or her Saturday night listening to preseason NBA ball on the radio? I was out in Plaza-Midwood for the Krawl (best drag show I've seen in years!), and only caught bits and pieces of the game while driving home and getting ready for bed. I regret nothing.

Let's take a look at the box score. Remember, all conclusions drawn from preseason games are for entertainment purposes only.

-- D.J. Augustin was pretty bad. Most successful teams have one or (preferably) two superstar types they can rely upon for production, and everyone else just tries to keep up. On this team, though, everyone has to produce for the team to be successful. The assists are nice, but not the turnovers (same 5/3 ratio as Raymond Felton, by the way). The point is that the reason the Bobcats have such a limited ceiling is because if one of their key producers has an off night, that's likely a loss. When so many different guys have to produce to win, it makes it more difficult to win consistently.

Compare to the extreme opposite example in Cleveland. If LBJ is off his game in 10% of games, that's roughly 8 games per season that the other team should win. Maybe the other Cavaliers step up and save the day in 1 or 2 of those games and save the day. Basically, in 74 games out of the year, it doesn't really matter if Anderson Varejao is on his game or not. It's great if he does play well, but they're not relying on him.

We rely on everyone, and the only times when the Bobcats can play with anyone in the league are those times when everyone is clicking. 0-6 from the field and only 2 FT in 24 minutes is the kind of performance that won't cut it.

-- Either the Lakers' defense is excellent (very probable), or Gerald Wallace is the only guy in regular season form, as he was good ol' Crash again: 13 points and 7 boards, with 2 blocks, all in only 23 minutes.

-- Was Raja Bell responsible for Kobe's 3-11 shooting?

-- I'm not saying I'm excited, yet, but I'm certainly intrigued. Nazr Mohammed is looking rejuvenated and Alexis Ajinca continued his run of acceptable-to-impressive play. If they play this way in the regular season, it means we won't have to go looking elsewhere for big man help come trade deadline in an attempt to make the playoffs. Mohammed might be at the end of the line for his career, so if we can get some production while we ride out his contract, all the better. Ajinca still has a long way to go to prove he might one day be a starter in the league, and he'll have to buck some longstanding trends to do it. Apparently, he's playing at center, which I think is completely weird, even if he is over seven feet tall. His fallaway jumper from 12 feet is borderline uncontestable, let alone unblockable. Let him play away from the basket a bit as the four. Boris Diaw ain't exactly a bruising post presence, so maybe Ajinca can play a similar role in the offense, but with far more limited passing responsibilities.

-- Not a good sign that Derrick Brown got a DNP-CD in preseason.

-- But Stephen Graham played 28 minutes. Hey, over four seasons he's played 110 more NBA games than Brown has. Because what we need from our 11th and 12th men is experience.

-- Off the top of my head, odds that Shannon Brown starts a playoff game at PG over a healthy Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar: 75/1.

Bobcats Open Practice!

David Arnott — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:01:34 -0000

I'm not like everyone else when it comes to the open practice, I think. My highlights had absolutely nothing to do with the actual play on the floor. In order:

1 -- Shaking hands with both Coach Browns and wishing them luck.

2 -- Running into the Lady Cats near the practice court and chatting with one of them about stuff having nothing to do with basketball.

3 -- I was absolutely faaaaaaaaaaascinated by how tall Alexis Ajinca is, at least two inches taller than DeSagana Diop in shoes. As I told the Official Roommate of Rufus on Fire, this preseason we're finally getting a chance to see the untapped potential the Bobcats brass sees in him. The problem, of course, is that even if he is a freakishly athletic 7'2" small forward who has spot up shooting range and can leap out of the building, that still has to translate into, you know, basketball production at some point. He's not destroying everyone in practice (a la Jermaine O'Neal in his Blazers days), so I'm hesitant to assign any hard meaning to his apparent improvement until the games start. The same caveats apply to Boris Diaw's return to full speed action.

4 -- Seeing my season ticket guy again.

5 -- Ruuuuuuuuuuuufuuuuuuuuuuuuus!!!

6 -- D.J. Augustin will give Eddie House a run for his money in the Most Immaculately Groomed Man race. (In all sports, no one touches Mike Tomlin.)