Bobcats Centric Links

• Calling me and others out, ziggy says knock off the Rasheed Wallace crap.
• Speaking of ‘Sheed, Queen City Hoops is thinking about it too…

Brotherhood of the MVN Links

• Michael gets, er, fanciful in his description of how the Lakers got Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies.
• James says the Lakers go down in 6.
• The Inferno is hyped over the impending arrival of Rudy Fernandez.
• As usual: Lakers Library and Celtics 17 are must reads, especially now.

Outer Hooptopia Links

• Hardwood Paroxysm and the preponderance of cynicism re: Paul Pierce.
• Hornets 24/7 wants to make a deal.
• Doug Moe was more than fish tires and goofy offenses. He could be Larry Brown’s perfect foil.
• The Association doesn’t buy Paul Pierce.
• The Porter era starts now.

Rick Bonnell posited this in his column:

The Bobcats should consider trading for Detroit Pistons big man Rasheed Wallace.

Pistons basketball operations chief Joe Dumars made it clear Tuesday, after firing coach Flip Saunders, that he’s open to breaking up his team’s core to freshen the roster. Wallace, in the late stages of his NBA career, would be a logical piece to move.

Acquiring Wallace would seemingly reject the best practices of the Bobcats so far. They haven’t spent huge money on older players and have generally avoided players with attitude problems.

Now I admit, this is intriguing.

There are rumblings afoot that none of the players that will be available to the Bobcats in the draft will be a good compliment to Emeka Okafor’s defensive game. Wallace would be the near perfect compliment, with an outside game to create his usual matchup nightmare. He’s a strong complimentary defender. And Larry Brown seems more than capable of bringing out the best in Wallace, taming his legendary temper long enough to win a championship and get to the conference finals. And he’s a Tar Heel….bonus! OK, maybe not so much that, but still.

I remember when Dennis Rodman came to the Bulls in 1995. I was, well…disgusted. I don’t know if I can really express to you how much I loathed Rodman. His self serving, narcissistic attitude along with his persecution complex just pissed. me. off. But he was able to be controlled (as much as Rodman could be controlled) by Michael Jordan’s dominant personality, Phil Jackson’s coaching, and his own desire to win. He was integral to the second half of the dynasty as a rebounder and defender. And I still hated him with the intensity of a thousand burning suns.

Now my dislike for Rasheed Wallace doesn’t even approach this. Maybe only two or three burning suns. But I wonder what it would be like for Wallace to be on a team that doesn’t quite compete at the same level he was used to, both in Detroit and way back in Portland (we’re not counting that cup of coffee in Atlanta). How many technical fouls would he rack up? How many crazy postgame interviews with ‘Sheed going off his nut would we have? How long before he and Gerald Wallace came to blows over who hoisted too many ill-advised threes?

But you know…it would really shake things up around here. He would really be one of LB’s guys, and he would be a real difference maker. He’s no star, and doesn’t want to be, but would become the focal point of every media scrum from the moment he entered the practice facility until the ‘Cats are eliminated from playoff contention or the playoffs. And that would, of course, piss him off.

I’m leaning toward “let’s do it and see what happens.” If it fails, you blow it all up and start over. If it works, you’re in the playoffs, which was your goal all along.

Bobcats Centric Links

• Check out another Bobcats blogger, Ethan at Bobcats Baseline
• The Bobcats Ford LTD in full regalia.
• Buried in Tom’s search for a PG for the Kings, some more about the Wright-Richardson trade.
• D.J. Augustin? More tiny point guards for us!

Brotherhood of the MVN Links

• Christopher discusses the Kobe-Jordan comparison and….Doug Collins? Wha…? Just go read.
• Amar looks at the Cavs’ path to LeBron’s pathetic supporting cast…it’s not a pretty journey.
• ManchVegasBob and the surreality of the Celtics returning to the finals.
• Billy Knight leaves, Rick Sund comes in: a net positive for the Hawks, says Chase.
• Mick looks at the wreckage of the Piston implosion and decides is might be time to send Flip Saunders packing.
• Ed and Josh have really been cranking ‘em out at Lakers Library. Go, er, check something out.
• Chris Douglas-Roberts to the Hornets?
• Timberwolves radio broadcasts go back to KFAN.

Outer Hooptopia Links

• Tom Ziller again: this piece on combo guards is a must read.
• In-depth info on the Pacers from Indy Cornrows.
• Blog-a-Bull is comfortably dumbfounded. I say again: Doug Collins? Really?
• BDL’s breakdown of the Pistons-Celtics tilt.
• Free Darko sometimes confuses me, but it’s worth the read anyway.
• Wages of Wins goes after the NBA Draft.

I talked about the Bobcats draft possibilities in an earlier post. And the name that evoked the most fear (besides Kevin Love) was DeAndre Jordan.

Everything I looked at about Jordan made me say “no…please, no.” Yeah, he’s a legit seven footer. Yeah, he’s got the kind of athleticism GMs dream about. Yeah, he’s…not earthbound. But when I look at what other people have to say about him, I don’t see Dwight Howard. I see Kwame Brown.

Jordan was a big time prospect coming into Texas A&M. 7′0″, 240 pounds (said to be at 260 now), quick, “pteradactyl like wingspan,” the total physical package. And he came out of the gate fast: he set a Big 12 record with 17 consecutive made field goals. In November, Draft Express was drooling all over him like Chris Matthews over W after the mission was declared “accomplished”:

DeAndre Jordan is a special player. You can tell the second that you see him on the court. He is a legitimate 7’0 and at 240 pounds doesn’t have to do as much work physically as many young post projects. His athleticism and quickness are stunning and he possesses athletic ability that recalls Dwight Howard and LaMarcus Aldridge. However, apart from his NBA ready size, he already has some NBA ready skills on the offensive and defensive end.

Heady stuff. But it all got tempered down as the season went on. Jordan played progressivley worse as the Aggies worked their way into the NCAA Tournament, and his showing against UCLA (15 minutes, 6 points, 4 rebounds, 4 turnovers) were the capper on what was undeniably a disappointing season. The carnage was so bad that Draft Express essentially had to backtrack on everything nice it had to say about him in November:

Jordan did not finish off the season very well at all, scoring in double-digits just four times in all of January, February and March, after he was able to do so nine times in November and December. It’s pretty obvious by now that Jordan is a project with a capital P, one that will demand a great deal of nurturing and patience before he’s able to contribute much of anything in the NBA. He obviously needs another year in college to help prepare him for the pros, but the danger of not improving enough and damaging his stock badly may be too much to risk, even if it’s rumored that he is currently leaning towards staying.

And the rumor is now floating around (hopefully, if there is anything good and holy in this world, quashed by now) that the Bobcats have given a promise to Jordan that he will not get past them at #9. Because what the Charlotte Bobcats need is a physically talented, but unmotivated 19 year old who apparently has never been told he doesn’t know how to play the game to have his first 2 or 3 seasons playing for the most demanding coach this side of Greg Popovich and Pat Riley.

Right.

As much as he likes to be seen as a teacher of the game, LB hates projects (see Milicic, Darko). DeAndre Jordan is as big a project as Milicic, even though his upside is greater. And honestly, if he can’t contribute any more than Ryan Hollins, it’s not going to help at all. And by the way, he’s a 43% free throw shooter, and despite that wingspan and quickness, not much of a shot blocker.

Here’s the rub though: no GM want’s to be the guy who passed someone like Dwight Howard again. Jordan will tantalize a GM into thinking “we can fix him!” And he ends up on a team that needs him to play many more minutes than he really deserves, takes a beating physically and mentally, and is a journeyman by the time he is 23.

Sound familiar (cough*KWAME*cough)?

These days, it’s tough to find a guy this deep in the lottery who can contribute right now. And guys like Jordan have the ability to validate a GM’s work in one fell swoop. But I believe that if the Bobcats take Jordan, it will hasten the departure of the other Jordan in the organization unless Brown can lead this team to the playoffs noisily and quickly.

I am a proud graduate of Northwestern University, BAMus 90. The Northwestern Wildcats have never been a powerhouse in the athletic area. There has been some success at baseball, a few players into the NFL, with the biggest moment being their appearance in the 1996 Rose Bowl. Other than that shining moment, which was a loss to Keyshawn Johnson and the USC Trojans (earning Keyshawn my eternal hatred), the bright spots were few and far between.

Then, in 2005 the Wildcats took home the national championship in women’s lacrosse. Led by coach Kelly Amonte Hiller, the Wildcats became the westernmost team to ever win the women’s championship, beating three time champion Virginia, and crashing the East Coast party.

They won again in 2006, beating Dartmouth.

And again in 2007, downing Virginia again.

And this weekend, the Wildcats established themselves as a dynasty.

“Wildcat” and “dynasty” sound like they go together better when referring to some other Wildcats. Kentucky men’s basketball of course, or Arizona. But these young women have earned their place and their titles as dynastic champions.

Over the Memorial Day weekend, Northwestern defeated Penn 10-6, finishing their season 21-1, avenging a loss earlier in the season to the Quakers, and giving the Wildcats their fourth consecutive NCAA chmpionship. Junior Hilary Bowen earned her second consecutive NCAA Championship MVP with 17 goals in the postseason. She had 81 goals and 101 points for the season, the highest single season goal total in NCAA history.

And folks, she wasn’t even the ‘Cats best player. Junior Hannah Nielsen had 51 goals and 63 assists on the season, putting her in line to win the Tewaarton Trophy, the NCAA season MVP. She had the second best season in school history with 114 points.

Terrific, yes…but a dynasty?

Undoubtedly. The graduating seniors on the team never lost a home game in their four year careers. They were 83-3 over the four year period. Only one other school has won more championships (Maryland, 9) and more consecutive championships (Maryland, 7 from 1995-2001). Kristen Kjellman received the Tewaaraton Trophy in both 2006 and 2007. And there’s this:

Four Wildcats were among the 48 players named to the 2008 IWLCA/US Lacrosse All-American teams. Junior midfielder Hannah Nielsen (Adelaide, Australia/Brighton Secondary) and senior defender Christy Finch (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) received first-team honors while junior attacker Hilary Bowen (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) and junior midfielder Meredith Frank (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) were named to the second-team.

If you ever attended a school like Northwestern, you know the somewhat enforced inferiority complex when it comes to athletics. We were the originators of the cheer “That’s all right, that’s OK, you’re gonna work for us someday.” Seriously. We used to have the longest losing streak in NCAA Division I football history (34 games, from 1979 to 1982). And we didn’t have Duke’s basketball program (the Wildcats have never even received an NCAA men’s basketball tournament invite) or Stanford’s occasional jump up to the big time to buoy us. And not being an Ivy League school, we didn’t have the cachet of a Harvard or Yale. Hell, it was often suggested that we drop out of the Big 10 (11? Whatever…) because we couldn’t compete.

But now we’re a dynasty. Not just a champion, a dynasty.

Congratulations to Coach Amonte Hiller and her staff, to Ms. Bowen, Ms. Nielsen, and the entire Wildcat team for their incredible run.

And thank you yet again from this Wildcat for giving me something to be proud of. My daughters will raise their sticks to you, the “Fourth”-western Wildcats.

Oh yeah…Bobcats. Did you know they are indigenous to the Charlotte area?

There you go.

• Ridiculous Upside really really hopes DeAndre Jordan didn’t get the same promise Sheldon Williams did.
• brilliantblinking jumps on the bandwagon at Bobcats Planet.
• Also over at the Planet, BigSlam figures out how O.J. Mayo slips to the ‘Cats in the draft
• Rick Bonnell says take it easy on the Jermaine O’Neal thing.

Brotherhood of the MVN Links

• The tears of joy at the Bulls lottery luck have begun…and Derrick Rose should be the guy.
• Amar gets an interview with the Akron Beacon Journal’s Brian Windhorst.
• Get caught up at Celtics 17. It’s the right thing to do.
• Chase reviews Al Horford’s very successful rookie year.
• Kingly does some more Wiz speculation post lottery.
• Mick sours on the latest Piston home effort.
• Josh and Ed revel in Laker dominance.
• The Inferno re-ignites.

Outer Hoops Blogtopia Links

• Ah, the joy of mock drafts…at Draft Express, NBADraft.net, ESPN, DocSports, InsideHoops….oh, go here to see them all.
• BrewHoop speculates on #8.
• TrueHoop is still waiting for that Stern promised referee transparency.
• Ryan talks about the Celtics’ shaky PG play, even with a 2-1 advantage.
• Hornets 24/7 continues analyzing the Hornets’ franchise draft history.
• The Association points out the Lakers are not the Hornets.
• SonicsCentral is still on the beat.

Yes, Gerald Wallace has been the object of my affections since he had his breakout season with the Bobcats. But before G-Force, there was Kevin Garnett.

Garnett was a man-child player in South Carolina before coming to Chicago to play at Farragut Academy for his senior season. No, he’s not a born and bred Chicagoan, but he quickly became a part of the landscape in the city, doing stuff like this.

He came into the NBA in 1995 as the first high school player to jump directly to the pros since Darryl Dawkins and Bill Willoughby in 1974. He was the vanguard of the high school baller “invasion,” followed quickly by Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O’Neal, and Tracy McGrady. I have to put quotes around “invasion, ” simply because the actual number of high school players who have made it to the NBA since Garnett coming into the league is simply not that large:

• 1996 - Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O’Neal
• 1997 - Tracy McGrady
• 1998 - Al Harrington, Rashard Lewis, Korleone Young
• 1999 - Jonathan Bender, Leon Smith
• 2000 - Darius Miles, DeShawn Stevenson
• 2001 - Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, DeSagana Diop, Ousmane Cisse
• 2002 - Amare Stoudamire
• 2003 - LeBron James, Ndudi Ebi, Travis Outlaw
• 2004 - Dwight Howard, Shawn Livingston, Robert Swift, Kendrick Perkins, Sebastian Telfair, Kendrick Perkins, Josh Smith, J.R. Smith, Dorrell Wright
• 2005 - Martell Webster, Andrew Bynum, Gerald Green, C.J. Miles, Monta Ellis, Louis Williams, Andray Blatche, Amir Johnson

That’s it. 37 players (including Garnett) who leapt from preps to pros, 32 of which are still active, with 45 All-Star appearances between them. Still, it’s something that Garnett in many ways has had to answer for.

Garnett came to a Minnesota Timberwolves franchise that had yet to find itself in the NBA. They had never lost fewer than 53 game, never made the playoffs, never even looked vaguely competent. Before KG there was Tony Campbell. Pooh Richardson. Felton Spencer. Doug West. J.R. Rider. He legitimized basketball in the Twin Cities, even as they struggled to get out of the first round, and the apparent competence of the Glenn Taylor/Kevin McHale management team dwindled. In Minnesota, Garnett put up 20.5 points, 11.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.7 blocks per game over 927 games, while making 10 All-Star appearances and 7 All-Defensive teams. He is the only NBA player to reach at least 20,000 points, 11,000 rebounds, 4,000 assists, 1,200 steals, and 1,500 blocks in his playing career.

He also was unofficially named player least likely to lead a team to a championship, the best second fiddle ever, without a first fiddle to take on all the pressure of taking the big shot at the end of a game. For all of his vaunted versatility, Garnett lacked the killer instinct of champions. Indeed, the best individual season in KGs career, 2003-04 when he was named MVP, came when Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell were taking an enormous amount of pressure off his thin shoulders.

Does he deserve some of the criticism? Yes. After seeing him shy away from big shots against the Hawks and the Cavaliers in this playoff season, it’s hard to argue otherwise. He defers to Paul Pierce, to Ray Allen too often, and in road game fourth quarters, he has been virtually invisible. Against the Hawks, he averaged about 3 shots each game, not much more than that versus the Cavs. It is just not in his nature to take over offensively. Not for a guy who has never scored 50 points in a game (his career high is 47), averaged more than 24 points in a season, or averaged 20 attempts a game in any season of his career.

His intensity is legendary; he cannot stop himself from getting so hyped up at the beginning of a game that it seems there is nowhere to go emotionally at the end. Take the 10 minutes to watch this 2005 interview with John Thompson if you haven’t seen it before, especially starting at about the 4:30 mark.

Kevin Garnett’s intensity works both for him and against him. He is the best team player in basketball, but his self criticism sometimes leads him to paralysis when action is needed most.

I’m familiar with the feeling.

As the NBA playoffs wind down, the storylines are there.

• Can the Spurs finally make it a back to back championship for the first time in their “dynasty?”
• Can Kobe lead the Lakers back to a championship, validating his stardom in the post Shaq era?
• Can the Pistons finally win that second championship with the Billups-Hamilton-Wallace core?

But for me, the biggest storyline is this: can Kevin Garnett finally win the championship that he has been burning for his entire career, and give himself the redemption for his style of play that he so desperately needs, while at the same time lifting Celtic Nation back to the level of excellence it hasn’t seen since the Bird-McHale-Parish triumverate?

It’s a lot to ask of anyone. Even an 11 time All Star with an embarrassment of riches in skill and intensity.

But I am hoping for his redemption.

There was a time when I would sit down with pencil and paper in hand and write down all the picks with notes about what they were, who took them and why, and share them with…well, nobody. Except maybe my buddy Gene, but…OK, yeah I was a draft geek.

So coming into this year’s draft, we have a similar situation as last season. Two players, Kansas State’s Michael Beasley and University of Memphis’ Derrick Rose are the clear top two choices, and the consensus is that no one will go wrong taking either one. There was no magic in the lottery for the Bobcats, so they will be long gone by the time the Bobcats’ pick rolls up to the podium at #9 (by the way, shouldn’t Michael Jordan have been the ‘Cats representative at the lottery?). The other “consensus?” Whoever the Bobcats take, Larry Brown probably won’t play him.

That being said, I’m trolling around the Tubez checking out the various mock drafts out there and getting an idea about who’ll be available around the time the ‘Cats pass the note up to the Commish.

A lot of folks see Kevin Love as the pick here, but there are still options. Let’s go through some of the prospective picks one by one. (more…)

In a flurry of comments received overnight, I was challenged to “look at [Gerald] Wallace’s team effect, rather than his net stat effect.”

I have admitted that I am an unabashed Wallace fan, but I have also noted that his play this past season was not at the level it had been in previous years, all ground covered in his season review post from a couple of weeks ago. Wallace was out during the 5 game winning streak in February, which started a lot of the questioning about whether they were a better team without him. (more…)

From DraftExpress, in March of 2005:

When Sean May got to college many considered him nothing more then just a fat, slow, short post player that’s getting by on his pedigree, but he has proven over his career so far that he is anything but that. He has worked hard to become better conditioned and a true dominating force in the post on the college level. During some games, he simply is a beast down low that’s unstoppable no matter who is guarding him. I believe his height will not be a major issue at the next level, the bigger issue is the fact he plays center in college and will have to play PF in the NBA, so his overall lateral mobility and quickness could be a concern. That is the only real transition issue I see, because he looks to be a legit 6-8, and he has long arms for a player that height. People will say that he is obese, but he runs the court well considering he is on a fast break up-tempo basketball team in UNC.

May struggled as a freshman at North Carolina, with injuries and conditioning. Tar Heel fans remember his somewhat doughy frame trying to get up and down the court.

But he worked on his frame and his game. He improved over the course of his college career, losing weight and picking up footspeed, and became an inside presence, dominating the paint his junior season. He averaged 17.5 points and 10.7 rebounds a game, with multiple 20 rebound games to his credit, including a monstrous 26 point, 24 rebound performance against the hated Duke Blue Devils in the final game of the ACC regular season. He was the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament as the Tar Heels won the national championship over Illinois and Deron Williams.

For a time, it looked as if May would stay in school following their championship run, but he eventually declared for the draft, and was selected 13th by the Bobcats. His power game would translate to the NBA, even though he is slightly under height for his position at 6′9″. Long arms and good hands would serve him well.

But just as it looked like May would start to exercise some of that potential, the injury bug that plagued him early at UNC followed him from Tobacco Road to the Queen City. He was limited to 23 games his rookie season, 35 the next, and missed the entire 2007-08 season after showing decent progress in summer league games, but having to undergo microfracture knee surgery just before the start of the season.

This season, the Bobcats missed whay May brings to the table: a solid rebounder and offensive presence in the post His per 40 minute stats from the 2006-07 season proves that. His absence forced the acquisition of Nazr Mohammed, a move that somewhat solidified the power rotation, but will cost the ‘Cats dearly down the road in Mohammed’s contract.

With the hiring of Larry Brown, the consensus has been that this is Sean May’s make or break season. Brown doesn’t suffer fools or malingerer’s lightly (even though he has a tendency to be one or the other himself at times). And though there have not been the “May working diligently to rehab his knee” stories, there have been anecdotes of seeing him out and about on the club scene in Charlotte.

Of all the players who have had the dreaded microfracture surgery, it could be Sean May who recovers the best. He was never an above the rim player, relying on his bulk and positioning for rebounds and offensive opportunities. In order for that to happen, however, he must have been dedicated to his rehab over the past few months. He would have to have rediscovered the work ethic he displayed in losing the weight and improving his conditioning that got him to the MOP Award in 2005. Hopefully he has put in a call to Coach Brown, former Tar Heel to former Tar Heel, and pledged to shed the pounds and strengthen his knee. And then followed through.

Why is this the crossroads for a player that is only 24 years old?

• Because Brown can make a player, or break a player who doesn’t put out the effort he really wants.
• Because this is the last year of May’s rookie contract that will require either an extension or his release, and if he is let go as “damaged goods” that is unmotivated to work, he’s done.
• Because he is replaceable. Mohammed isn’t as good as May potentially could be, but he fills a role and is on the hook for a few more years.
• Because he has not proven he can stay healthy. There are players who have been through worse (Antonio McDyess comes to mind) and come back to be productive players, so the model is there.

This is it, Sean. Let’s hope you are up to the task.