MVN - Most Valuable Network

2007-08 Player Review: Raymond Felton

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g	mpg	ppg	fg%	ftp%	3p%	rpg	apg	spg	bpg	PER
79	37.7	14.4	.413	.737	.280	3.0	7.4	1.22	.15	13.85

Raymond Felton, like his teammate Emeka Okafor, seems to be stuck with not being the guys he is most closely linked to in his draft class. Okafor’s curse is Dwight Howard; Felton’s will forever be 2005 NCAA Championship game opponent Deron Williams and former ACC nemesis Chris Paul. In comparison to either, Felton comes up wanting, and everyone knows that with Larry Brown coming to the Queen City, he will be under the most intense coaching pressure he’s endured since leaving Chapel Hill. The question is: will he thrive under the tutalege of Brown, or will he be driven out of town at the end of his rookie contract? One thing he can hope for; he’ll get to play his position all year long.

Felton’s season was disappointing in a slightly different way than Okafor’s was. If you look at the numbers from the 06-07 season and compare them to this year, you don’t see a big quantitative difference. Here they are:

2006-07

g	mpg	ppg	fg%	ftp%	3p%	rpg	apg	spg	bpg	PER
78	36.4	14.0	.384	.797	.330	3.5	7.0	1.5	.1	13.55

2007-08

g	mpg	ppg	fg%	ftp%	3p%	rpg	apg	spg	bpg	PER
79	37.7	14.4	.413	.800	.280	3.0	7.4	1.22	.1	13.85

Raymond’s 2007-08 season was nearly identical to his 2006-07 season. With the exceptions of finally lifting his field goal percentage over the 40 percent mark and a relatively severe drop in 3 point percentage, his numbers could be swapped without much notice.

And that is the disappointing fact. Raymond Felton made almost no progress as a player in this most recent season, one where his development was key to the team making progress toward the playoffs.

To be fair, Felton was jerked around between point guard and shooting guard all season long, being replaced at the point by Jeff McInnis and generally not having the confidence of the coaching staff until McInnis was released in February. For the six games following McInnis’ release, Felton was spectacular, averaging 18.6 points and 9.5 assists. And the Bobcats ripped off wins in 5 of those 6 games. He just as suddenly regressed, and over the next 6 games only scored 10.6 per and dished 6.3 dimes. And unsurprisingly, the ‘Cats were 1-5 in that span. Mostly righting himself, Felton settled down for 16.2 points and 9.1 assists over the final 13 games, but turned the ball over 3.1 times a game through those 13. And the Bobcats? 7-6 over those games.

It is clear that the Bobcats need stability at the 1. And Felton seemingly has the tools to do it. Just as clearly, there are things that need to be straightened out;

• That Ray reached a career high of .413 from the field is nothing to celebrate. He has got to be a more efficient scorer, a la Tony Parker, a player with similar speed and quickness. If that means giving up the three pointer entirely (which he inexplicably shot fewer and worse this season) so be it.
• Somehow, some way figure out how to turn some of those missed layups into makes. He can get to the rim, he just can’t finish. Maybe the improvement of his midrange game as asked for above can open some of those lanes up.
• As I said before, call Chauncey Billups. Make friends with Allen Iverson. Get Mark Jackson on the horn. See if Gary Grant is still alive. Make sure you know EXACTLY what Larry Brown expects out of his point guards. Then start building up that emotional callous, cause you are going to get ripped no matter what.

This is going to be a tough offseason and season for Ray. Contract extension talks, plus the looming spectre of being crushed by LB on a daily basis don’t sound like a recipe for success. But that’s exactly what he has to do. He has to take to heart that always popular mantra from his most successful college career: survive and advance.

So I ask you, too: can Ray do it?

Season Grade: C

This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 8:41 am and is filed under Emeka Okafor, Raymond Felton, Charlotte Bobcats. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.