First of all, to David’s question. What I saw happen with Lebron last night was the tale of two halves. In the first half, Lebron looked slightly off – as if the game the night before had taken just a bit of his edge off. Not enough to bring him down to mortal levels, but enough so that the combination of double-teams, and contested shots got him into thinking about dishing the ball instead of shooting first. I think (but have no way of actually knowing) that he may also have been of the mindset that the Bobcats weren’t a serious threat, so he didn’t need to push his “A” game on the court. Once the second half got underway and the Cats were still hanging around, he turned it up a notch and helped his friend celebrate a return to action by rewarding Delonte West with some touches. West nailed a couple of shots, regained his touch and confidence and it was all over but the crying. Lebron has been around enough to know you put the ball into the hot shooter’s hands and West was shooting the lights out of the joint.

Now as to the game itself:

I’m VERY pleased. It’s early in the season and back-to-backs are particularly nasty at the start of the year when players are still getting their conditioning back into top form. The Cats DID hold their own during the first half and fatigue was a definite factor as the game progressed.

We expected it to be the Lebron James show, and although he didn’t dazzle in his normal fashion, he did what Wallace showed us a night earlier. He wasn’t scoring himself so he made his impact with defense, passing, and a powerful exhibition of selflessness that fans don’t often see amongst the NBA elite.

What can we say about Gerald Henderson? Did you folks see that AMAZING 3 0n 1 break where Henderson not only prevented the basket, but forced an offensive charging foul? That wasn’t a rookie move. He shifted position 3 times in less than 2 seconds and STILL got his feet planted for the charge. He may just have been the steal of the draft. We’re 3 games in and he has been nothing short of dazzling. Each game he takes a giant step forward. He’s making the most of every minute Coach Brown gives him. There are some frustrating nights and rookie mistakes on the road ahead, but I think this young man is going to have quite a career ahead of him.

I’ve been doint a lot of Tyson Chandler hating in my previous posts, but I like to think of myself as a fair-minded person. He is not improving as quickly as I would like, but in last night’s game he did a good job of helping to contain King James. For the first time, he showed a few flashes of learning the system and his teammates seem to be learning Chandler’s own preferences. The chemistry is starting to work. I can’t help but wonder if the hungry and tenacious play of Henderson and Felton aren’t providing some motivation. One of the biggest weaknesses of Okafor was that he didn’t seem to have a passion for the game itself. The “new look” Bobcats are showing a whole lot of heart this season and I think Tyson may be catching some of that fever as well. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, think back over the past seasons. How many times did the Cats get a few points ahead or behind and simply go on autopilot? This season there is a sense of pride that’s long overdue.

Isn’t this an odd sport? We lost last night. I think everyone – even the most diehard fans – knew it would happen. But last night the Charlotte Bobcats began to make me believe in their chances and believe in them. They didn’t give up. Despite it being the second game in as many days, despite double-overtime less than 24 hours earlier, despite injuries, a tough road game, a VERY tough opponent, so on and so on, they came to play.

Felton is playing with 15 stitches in his face. He had to be given IV fluids after the Nicks game, he was exhausted. Yet he still was in the thick of things. Wallace was obviously dead on his feet, but he was still a factor. Everyone was out there doing their best. We even saw signs of life from Vlad as he found his long range shot in one of his back pockets. Yes, Felton is still making some poor shot choices, and we’re still eating about 19 seconds of the shot clock before finding a first option. Yes, Chandler is still a good ways from getting back to form – for that matter, we don’t even fully know WHAT that form is going to be because he was injured for so long. Yes, our offense is still disappearing for entire quarters at a time. There’s a lot of room to be pessimistic.

BUT – Coach Brown says Raja will be back and seeing some minutes in Monday’s Nets game. Nets point guard Devin Harris won’t even be making the trip to Charlotte and that’s going to have a nasty impact on an already shaky New Jersey team. There is every reason to believe the Cats will be 2-0 at home by Tuesday morning. One of the major signs of improvement in the NBA is that moment when a team becomes a threat on their own court. The road is uglier in pro basketball than in any other sport and home victories are absolutely essential. But teams coming into Charlotte have considered it a grateful break since the Cats came into existence. I’m not saying opposing coaches are looking at the schedule and thinking, “Oh no! We’re going to Charlotte! We’re doomed!” – at least not yet. But it is one a tangible statistic we can track as the season develops and you can’t do better than a 2-0 start at home. It’s laughable to call the 4th game of the year a “must win” situation, but we’ll have a much better idea of what to expect in the coming weeks after the parking lot empties at Time Warner on Monday night. I’m actually starting to get excited already!