Anyone want to convince me that Kwame is not being fouled here?  Yeah, according to the refs he wasn't...but this is one of many non-calls.


OK.  I’m still remaining positive.  The Pacers lost again tonight.  That keeps us 1 game back of the playoffs even though we lost.  We still have a chance into the playoffs.  The problem is, however, at some point, we have to figure out how to get more than 1 guy playing on any given night.  The Denver game had Matt Carroll being the sole guy playing.  Through the first couple minutes of that quarter, things looked promising.  Cue the lights, camera, and action.  Bobcats lose 92-84

 

 

DJ was really trying hard.  Jax wasn’t getting any open shots, and for 2 games in a row, our team captain contributed zilch.  He wound up sitting on the bench for the rest of the game by the end of the 3^rd quarter with his left hamstring bothering him pretty bad.  The big issue, however, is the lack of quality depth at SF.  Without Jax, we’re looking to McGuire, Cunningham, or going big or small at the position.  Regardless of what we seem to do, we couldn’t quite get a grasp on the game.  If we would close in on the Lakers, another run would occur and put us down as far as 12, 14…

You get the picture.  As deep as the 4^th quarter, we pulled as close as 10, only to watch the Lakers go on another scoring rampage to pull ahead by double digits over and over.  The lopsided foul shooting didn’t help much either as we went to the line 9 times while the Lakers shot 21.  There were many, many non-calls in the game, but overall, there just was no scoring threat in the game again tonight.  This lack of depth of scorers is going to hurt us a great deal in the run for that last playoff spot.  The sore hamstring indicates to me that Jax was most likely having issues with it in Denver, and it was really hurting tonight.  We really need his scoring out there, and DJ as well.  Henderson needs to find the courage to start slashing to the basket to either:

A)    The highlight dunk

B)     The foul

C)    Draw defenders in to open up 3 point shooting

D)    The lay-up and +1

 

We did keep the Lakers under 40% shooting on the night, and that is a positive thing.

Another positive?  Our bench outscored theirs.  A bright spot on that bench was McGuire, and the hustle of newcomer DJ White…and his 11 points.  As a welcome, and a reward for his hustle and play, DJ White, you get my Game Breaker award for the night.  Welcome to the world of the Bobcats, and bask in the glory of Trade Street.

 

What’s Next?

Well, we get to see Gerald Wallace and his new team, the Portland Trailblazers.  This is a team that is struggling with chemistry as we are.  We all know what Gerald Wallace is capable of, but their chemistry issues are coming from the return of Brandon Roy, and the lack of depth at the C position.  What are the folks at www.beyondthebeat.com and www.blazersedge.com have to say about tomorrow’s game. 

 

Editorial

I do not like to preach on subjects, but yet again, we had so many non-calls tonight where we should have been shooting several foul shots after making points via lay-ups and shots in the paint.  Steve and Dell, and even some of the guys on the Lakers were often cutting their eyes towards the refs after a Bobcat would make a lay-up after being hammered by a Lakers defender.  I do believe I need to award a 6^th man of the night award to the referees.  I mean there was just no way they could allow the Bobcats to sweep the series against the defending champions.

 

Trivia!

I am so happy as to the way this trivia is working out.  I’ve had 4 unique attempts at the questions, and 3 very fast answers.  I guess you guys are really, REALLY wanting to score those autographs from Andrew Lail and Bruce Barker.  I mean the tickets to the Wizards game are nice too, but I mean autographs from Bruce and Andrew?  WOW

 

LOL

 

Here’s tonight’s question:

Which 2 Bobcats made the 2007 NBA All-Rookie Second Team?

I’ll give the first right answer posted here 3 points on this one.

Good luck!