Streaks Start in Charlotte – Toronto Topped 107-101
Here we see Mullens hitting one of his 3-pointers for the night. He was 3 of 4 from downtown.
We’re streaking folks…you heard me correctly…we’re streaking in Charlotte…
No, no Bruce…Not THAT kind of streaking! We actually won 2 games in a row. I know, it’s been a while and that kind of mistake can be made, but believe me, the last thing we need is streaky windows and mirrors…use the good stuff when cleaning. (What did you folks think I meant? Y’all just terrible)
It is true, however, that the Bobcats have won 2 games in a row, making the first streak in existence since November. It feels really good. Follow me, if you will, and take a look at how this came about.
The Raptors are now streaking as well...2 losses in a row...just sayin'...Streaks Starting in Charlotte...
I’m not going to lie to you folks…I had every intention of watching this game, wire-to-wire, but I lost track of time, and didn’t tune in until there was 8 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. The best news was when I heard that the Bobcats were on a 7-0 scoring run that had tied the teams up. Not sure what happened in the 1st other than the box score staring at me said 26-22 and we were currently tied up. If you’ve been suffering…I mean…watching the Bobcats games this season, the theme that has been very evident for every game, this year and last, was that there wasn’t much pizzazz on the floor. Body language was terrible and the game play matched it. Lo and behold, a single trade that was deemed a low level move on our part had us parting ways with Warrick and bringing in McRoberts. I believe the comments included, “Well we flipped Matt Carroll’s $4.3 million contract for McRoberts’ $3.4 million contract. Either way, it was a contract that was going to expire at season end.” That was my comment specifically. I would like to formally retract that statement. I’d also like to personally apologize to Josh McRoberts for seeing him as a big that the team could throw on the bench, should any of the existing team got hurt. I couldn’t have been any further from the truth. McBob brings so much to the floor that we haven’t seen in a long time. He has tireless hustle, court vision like a point guard, and shows emotion on the floor. I personally love it. The comparison I read tonight on Twitter put it best. McBob is a more athletic, less lethargic version of Boris Diaw. I’ll take it. I have to go one step further to point out that McBob is a heck of a rebounder, and knows when to make the extra pass and when to shoot. Diaw always seemed to struggle with that. Did we even have a shot clock violation tonight? If we did, maybe it was before I started watching. At any rate…as the 2nd quarter ended, we saw the Bobcats put up a 31-point quarter, and holding a 53 – 48 lead. I’m thoroughly enjoying having a lead at halftime instead of being down by double-digits that we have to make up in the second half. The 3rd and 4th quarters were just quarters that you needed to see. There were scoring runs by both teams, but inherently, the Bobcats just held it together. There were sloppy plays, but the team held strong, made the plays needed, and walked away with a victory. They also did so with Kemba fouling out with a little over a minute left in the 4th. With that said, there were lots of bad calls on both sides of the ball. Terrible touch fouls, phantom fouls…terrible. Let me share a few of our Bobcats stats on the night:
Byron Mullens = 25pts/5 rebounds/2 assists/2 steals/3 blocked shots/ZERO Turnovers!
(The key in the next game is consistency)
Gerald Henderson = 21pts/7 rebounds/5 assists/1 steal/2 blocks (Still playing like a man on a mission. Another great game for him. Perhaps he’s finally hitting his stride and has figured out what his role has to be with this team)
Ben Gordon = 16pts
Kemba Walker = 14pts/7 rebounds/8 assists/1 turnover/4 steals
Josh McRoberts = 12pts/12 rebounds/3 assists
Key stat on tonight’s win was shooting 50% from the 3-point line and 46.7% from the floor. We limited our turnovers to 12, and that is what it takes to win games in this league. Great work guys!
I’m giving tonight’s Trade Street Post Gamebreaker award to Josh McRobers. His double double was much needed, and a key rebound at the end of the game allowed us to get a second chance opportunity that put the game away. Way to go McBob. You might be the missing ingredient we were needing to get the chemistry flowing with this team
Ba-da-bah-bah-bah, I’m lovin’ it.
Something is different on the court now for the Bobcats. They are playing and having fun. The guys are learning and trusting one another, and that’s a great thing. It does seem as though lots of this started sparking when McBob arrived and showed us all what hustling is all about. Maybe he’s rubbing off on the rest of the squad. All I know is that there is chemistry now. There are good things happening on the court, and the team that we figured would lose a good bit of games but would be fun to watch…well…they are getting to be fun to watch.
I know I’m not really unleashing tons of information about the game specifically, but I really don’t want to jinx anything. If you follow @tradestreetpost on Twitter, you might have noticed on our last losing streak that I was going to shave my beard if we snapped the streak. I made mention to @stephanieready, @bobcatsmartin, and #DellCurry, as well as @byron22mullens and @GhJr09 that if we could snap the streak, #win=shave. Well, they snapped that streak, and the beard was gone. I sport a goatee and mustache, so my next promise on the #win=shave was that if we could get a win streak going, I would shave off the mustache and goatee that I always keep. I shared this with the gang above, and after tonight’s game, #win=shave. I know it isn’t much, but the Bobcats have to know that the wins mean a lot to the fans. They hate to lose as much as we hate to see them lose. If I can make one person in the organization smile by some silly antics, I’ll do it.
I am open for suggestions as to what to do next. I will not be shaving my head, so cross that off the list.
Our next game is at home Saturday against the Detroit Pistons…yep…we should do all we can to extend this streak to 3 wins. It is very doable. We just need to stay focused and play ball like we have for the last 2 games. A 3-game win streak is just what we need before we head back out on the road to face Miami on Sunday.
Let’s Go Cats!
