Bobcats Stifle Heat 104-65
by David A. Arnott on Jan 20, 2010 9:42 PM EST
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PrintThe Charlotte Bobcats continued their impressive roll through various NBA playoff contenders by pounding the Miami Heat Wednesday night, 104-65. That makes 9 straight home wins for the Cats.
Little went wrong for the Cats, as they've turned in game after game this homestand that resembles video game dominance. This game might have been the most dominant. At one point, Charlotte had a 40 point lead and Larry Brown was spotted on the bench actually smiling. Smiling!
Highlights and lowlights after the jump:
BAD
-- The Cats turned it over 20 times. No, really. In a game in which they destroyed the Heat and only trailed 4-2, the Cats kept turning it over. Boris Diaw and Stephen Jackson each gave it up 4 times, and a bunch of other Cats gave it up twice each.
GOOD
-- Holy crap, the Bobcats' defense was fantastic. They held the Heat to 29% shooting from the field. The Heat were 2-23 from three. Charlotte outrebounded Miami 50-34. That's ridiculous, even for a very good team facing a poor team, let alone two teams fighting for lower-tier playoff positions. Dwyane Wade ended up with 16 points on 16 attempts and Michael Beasley got a mere 6 points on 11 attempts. Oh, and they combined for 6 rebounds.
-- Gerald Wallace has served notice. Barring injury, the man will probably get down ballot MVP votes, and this game showed why. Coming off a sprained ankle, he put up 20 points on 11 attempts, 10 rebounds, 2 steals, and 5 blocks.
-- Stephen Jackson turned in as efficient a performance as we'll see from him. 24 points on 10 attempts, including 10-12 from the line.
-- But wait, there's more! Nazr Mohammed played only 16 minutes, but scored 16 points on 9 attempts and pulled down 10 boards.
-- And if you order right now, we'll also tell you that Raymond Felton was 6-8 from the field, DeSagana Diop grabbed 7 rebounds in 16 minutes, and every single player on the active roster got more than 6 minutes.
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5th in the East!!!
This win has put us 5th in the East!
Now I know we’ve struggled on the road this year, but we’ve NEVER played this good at home EITHER! Just imagine if the Cats carry some of this momentum out on the road with them!?!?!
LETS GO CATS! LETS GO CATS!!!
But then I would have to stop chanting it for Diop
(and I’m not kidding. I’ve chanted MVP when Diop goes to the charity stripe)
Lemonade was a popular drink and it still is.
by Ben Swanson on Jan 20, 2010 10:07 PM EST up reply actions
He was right...
Great win for Charlotte…
I had a huge smile when they showed the dancing guy that used to be at the Hornets games…
I missed that guy and I’m glad to see him around for the ’Cats
by andrewlail76 on Jan 20, 2010 10:18 PM EST up reply actions
GO BOBCATS !
Awesome win folks. These past few weeks have been great for all us fans. Kudos to the team’s hard work during this homestand, and best of luck to them on our upcoming road games!
I’ll be in Denver cheering on the team on Tuesday. GO BOBCATS!
I want to see your team in the playoffs.
13 yr old straight out of Providence RI!!!!!!!!!!! 634 fo life!!! In p-town city right now and BR0Y is mvp fo sho
and Wallace is underrated in this league.
13 yr old straight out of Providence RI!!!!!!!!!!! 634 fo life!!! In p-town city right now and BR0Y is mvp fo sho
by L-TrainFTW! on Jan 20, 2010 10:29 PM EST up reply actions
A few observations
The majority of us here at ROF display 2 tendencies – and I’m bad for doing both, so don’t think I’m getting high and mighty.
1. When we’re winning we tend to get overexcited and start talking crazy and the sky becomes the limit.
2. When we’re winning we start talking about how the team really isn’t THAT good and the fall back to earth is just around the corner.
We do the first because we love this team and get excited. We do the second to shield ourselves from disappointment and try to sound realistic.
I’m through with both.
The Charlotte Bobcats are for real. I…Am…A…Believer. Not only did I drink the Kool-aid, I said, “please sir, I want more.”
For several games during this homestand Charlotte has played so well that there isn’t a team in the NBA that could have beaten us. Even our “scrubs” that haven’t produced all season are playing solid ball – not just for one night – but every single game. There is really only one question that remains to be answered:
Can we take this amazing show on the road?
We’ll have the answer in just a couple of short weeks, but our road performance lately has already stepped up to a new level. If we remain dismal in our road performance then the team will likely live up to the higher end predictions made at the beginning of the season. Barring another trade to strengthen the team, we’ll be looking at 33 to 37 wins and maybe being competitive in the opening round of the post season.
But…
If we come back from the road trip with a .500 record or better for those 6 games, I think it’s time to believe that barring injury the Charlotte Bobcats have a very solid chance to crest 50 wins and be outside contenders for the 4 seed in the East. I can very easily see the Fightin’ Felines playing in the Eastern Conference Finals. We really need one more solid utility swingman to help weather the storm should one of our critical players get injured for a stretch, but if we stay healthy, it’s no longer a crazy pipedream to believe we can dive DEEP into the postseason.
Every season or two some team comes out of nowhere and becomes contenders. I don’t know why people are surprised when it’s so often Larry Brown at the helm of such teams, but they still are.
But every night we watch and wonder if this is the night we begin to drop back to earth. Yet every night instead of falling apart, the Bobcats continue to get stronger. Like I said, I drank the Kool-ade. Cherry flavor. Tasty. Friday I’ll try the grape. At the risk of being accused of being guilty of item number 1 at the beginning of this post I’m going to go ahead and say it.
Ladies and gentlemen… we are looking at the Cinderella team of 09/10.
The Cinderella Bobcats.
by Ourdaywillcome on Jan 20, 2010 10:51 PM EST reply actions
Hyperbole aside
This is no fluke. We should be gunning for the 5 seed. That should be the goal. Most likely Atlanta in a best of 7? Not only is that a good matchup, it would be incredible fun. Those games are always a little more intense than others.
Seriously, look at our margin of victory. Against good teams. Playoff contenders, title contenders… It doesn’t matter. I’m stoked for the west coast swing. I want to see what we can do.
And I’d like to give a shout out to Stephen Graham. We give him a hard time and it’s almost out of hand. He put in good minutes today BEFORE the game was mailed in and we played 4 wings players along with Derrick Brown.
Can we PLEASE get more fans at the game? This team deserves it. Something needs to be done. Maybe once the ACC season winds down. With Duke, State, UNC AND Wake in action today, it might have just been too much competition (NNNNNN CCCCCCC STAAAAAATE! NC STATE!!!). Hopefully that game on Saturday with the Magic is packed and we have a good showing.
According to what I've been hearing
the NASCAR stunting for the game is bearing fruit. NASCAR is probably my least favorite sport (unless you count extreme cow-chip tossing) but the presence of drivers at the game is selling a lot of tickets. The marketing dept. thinks they may be close to a sellout once same-day receipts are in.
But that’s just one game. It doesn’t fix the overall problem. Attendance is creeping up, but not at the pace it should be for a team suddenly looking like real contenders. Marketing is doing everything they can to get the team name into the media in a 4 state region, particularly in eastern Tenn. and South Carolina. They feel they can especially pull Clemson fans to travel north a bit to get their fix once the Tigers regular season winds down.
There’s also going to be a push regarding Michael Jordan including pushing an angle with MJ buying a larger stake in the team (perhaps even a majority ownership) to “keep it in the North Carolina business family.”
by Ourdaywillcome on Jan 21, 2010 11:07 AM EST up reply actions
North Carolina buyers, Marketing, & Clemson Tigers
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a (group of) NASCAR driver(s) cough up some dough to buy a part of this franchise. Those drivers have unreal amounts of money, and might be interested in investing into a new franchise on the upswing like the Charlotte Bobcats. Those drivers are young, rich, and many have either permanent or seasonal homes in the Charlotte Metro/Lake Norman area. A NASCAR affiliated part owner would potentially be a draw for NASCAR fans — particularly from Thanksgiving through January, which is NASCAR’s off season.
Another Marketing strategy that DEFINITELY needs to be addressed is the television broadcasting. Fox Sports does a reasonably good job with their coverage inspite of the 25 or so games that they do not air, but it would be great if the team could work out a deal with a local network affiliate to carry some of the games. If all the games were on regular TV /basic cable (like channel 48, the WB/UPN affiliate), surely that would go a long ways toward drawing in new local fans from an early age.
Clemson fans might be drawn in next season for sure if the Bobcats can find some way to get this guy on their roster, Clemson Forward Trevor Booker. As the video in the link correctly identifies, the Book is Beastly.
through a stroke of amazing luck
I sat 5th row on the side across from the bench for this game. Probably the best seats I will EVER get. I am on cloud nine about our defense and rebounding in this game. we won by 39!!!!!!!!! they scored 2 pts in the last like 8 minutes of the game. I love the Bobcats man.
"ANOTHER Iowa running back down!"-any sports caster
Gerald Wallace's stat line
20 pts 10 rebs 5 blks 2 assists 2 stls & 0 turnovers ; 45% fg 50% 3pt +39 +/-
Dude is BOMB bad!
U know whats funny?
when you read the opponents blogs and comments after the bobcats whoop up on them, they all feel like its the low point of the season and they want to give up and trade everyone. I noticed it with miami and phoenix.
I read them too
Whenever I have the time I’ll read them both before and after. With few exceptions (The Raptors SB blog being the main one) there is still no respect for the Cats. If we beat their team, it’s always because of bad calls or because the coach played the wrong combinations or whatever. It’s never, “wow, these guys are better than we thought.”
But it’s all good. We’ll keep taking ’em by surprise and eventually the respect will arrive.
by Ourdaywillcome on Jan 21, 2010 12:53 AM EST up reply actions
Agreed.
I checked Fear the Sword last time we beat them, and there wasn’t even a post game summary. It just went to the next game like nothing happened.
by CharginChuck on Jan 21, 2010 6:11 AM EST up reply actions
2 more things
Ourdaywillcome is right, MOST people on here are quick to bash when we lose and quick to praise when we win! I do not! I praise this team for the heart and the effort even when we lose. I have faith in our coach and in our players and chose to respect there decisions rather than question and scrutinize every trade and rotation set.
With that being said, I think its safe to say we ALL feel proud of our cats as of late! Eric Snow pointed something out on NBATV after the game that I think everybody, EVERYBODY in the league needs to hear:
Since the beginning of the new year, Charlotte is 9-1. WE ARE THE BEST TEAM IN THE NBA SINCE THE START OF THE NEW YEAR!
Just thought I would share that with everyone! lol
One quick apology...
I didn’t read the ENTIRE post Ourdaywillcome. Sorry, I didn’t quite get all the points you were making the 1st time through! haha, my bad! I agree with you man! I’v e got my fingers crossed that this high power play will contine out onto the road. And if/when that happens…look out playoffs, HERE COME THE CATS!!!
We are the hottest team of 2010 thus far.
Bar none. We just have to go on the road and take some games. I’m not expecting another streak like the one we are riding on, but we HAVE to steal some of those games. The 5-8 Playoff spots are still really competitive, and we have a long way to go.
It won’t be easy, but we are certainly capable of it. It seems like the Bobcats are gaining some swagger and confidence.
On to the Next One.
I've noticed something about myself lately.
I spent almost 20 years living in Boston and watching the Celtics at the Gahden. Back then fans would look at the upcoming schedule and not even break a sweat worrying about most games. We could assume wins and just focus on teams that might be a challenge. Nobody sweat it when the Pacers or Mavs showed up. We were too busy analyzing what was going to happen when Philly or LA would be rolling in.
Well, in the past couple of weeks I’ve caught myself doing the same thing looking at the Bobcats schedule. I look at each game and my thoughts go, “hmm, NJ… we’ll take that one… Wizards… no prob… ooOOoo Atlanta…better check their injury report, that one could be tough….”
My point is, I used to worry about every game and think of a thousand ways we could lose to even the doormats of the league. In November I scrolled the rest of the season and counted up 33 wins for the season IF we won what I thought we could. I did the same before yesterday’s game. The total was 52 and that’s with us only winning 1 out west. My confidence in the team has grown that much. I fear the Western Conference probably more than I should. But in the East, I feel like we own the game against most, have a mighty good chance against the “best” teams like Cleveland and Atlanta, and the only team that worries me is the squad in green that I once loved so much that I almost wept when I read the news about Len Bias.
by Ourdaywillcome on Jan 21, 2010 11:26 AM EST up reply actions
i saw that.
So awesome. I just hope this streak keeps up and the Bobcats themselves realize that nothing is out of their grasp. Dave Arnott were you at Wild Wing in Epicenter after the game?
"ANOTHER Iowa running back down!"-any sports caster
by HAWKEYESBABY on Jan 21, 2010 8:17 AM EST up reply actions
aight
I saw a dude there with a group of people that went to the game that looked just like your profile pic. Oh and I saw you’re a Niners fan too. Glad to see there will be atleast one other one at the Niners/Panthers game this fall.
"Smokey this isn't 'Nam this is bowling. There are rules!"
by HAWKEYESBABY on Jan 21, 2010 9:04 AM EST up reply actions
This is CRAZY
If you look at the Hollinger playoff odds in the East, we are rated second most likely to go to the finals and second most to win it! Madness! To elaborate, we are the second most likely to team to make it in the nba finals from the east. Not in the whole nba
Lemonade was a popular drink and it still is.
wow. I hate that though
you get your hopes up so much because of runs like these. I wanna believe. I do believe, but you know. It’s hard to TRULY believe. I will after this road stretch though. If they come out of the road stretch over .500 I will not doubt this team in the least again.
"Geraaaaaaaaallllllld WALLACE WALLace wallace wallace.....WITH THE SLAM!"
This is the moment the badwagon truly starts
David, methinks we’ll get a lot of new users on RoF soon!
Me, I don’t really care… yeah, bandwagon fans can me mildly annoying but this team is now putting out a product that will peak the interest of the average Carolinian, which is very good for the long term success of the franchise.
GO CATS!
Cat Scratch Reader's resident optimist.
I think they're already arriving James.
There’s a lot of new names in the post lately. Some have jumped right in to the thick of it with gusto. A couple have come in with flamethrowers loaded. Either way, we all have the same monkey on our backs whether it’s just climbed on or not. This team needs all the junkies it can find. Like you said, some can be annoying, but we’ve been waiting 6 years to have something to get excited about and I’m even excited at sharing it with some new faces.
We talked about this a week or so ago but I think it’s worth mentioning again.
I think it would be great if the regulars could make plans to get together someplace to watch a game together at a sports bar or something. It’d really be an excuse to get face-to-face with some of the folks we chat with here at ROF. We could even do it a couple of times between now and the end of the season if it turns out to be a good time. I’m thinking someplace around Lake Norman or even Statesville so that some of us living north of Charlotte have a better shot at getting there. By the time the playoffs hit we’ll have found us an official ROF hangout and we can cheer the team into the second round together in person.
by Ourdaywillcome on Jan 21, 2010 11:39 AM EST up reply actions
Bandwagon fans are good
I’ve been reading this board for a while, but mainly just lurk. I have been going to Cats games for 3 years now, and I have never seen the Arena at full capacity for the Cats. We need the Bandwagoners and new fans to jump on board, because the players deserve to have more butts in the seats.
Imo the big thing is getting Mac and Pac-man to talk about the Cats more, they spend 5x more air time on UNC and the Panthers (even in the offseason) than they do on our beloved Cats. I think those guys buying in would be huge for Charlotte.
Loving this run we’re on, and being at the game last night was amazing!
by Nomad_Hokie on Jan 21, 2010 11:57 AM EST up reply actions
Critical mass:
That’s what this team is building towards hopefully. A critical mass of fans discussing them on blogs, showing off their merch, talking up their game. Once you reach that level and hook people in, they can follow you through lean years and good ones. First the team had to do something, anything, to make them worth watching, but now they manage a real feat in my eyes—a defensive brand of basketball that’s still fascinating to watch because of the athleticism and unique skill sets of our rotation. And now the organization needs to keep itself together long enough to let this play sink in, convince fans, and build that critical mass that makes environments in the arena, in sports bars, at parties, and at home so much better than without a major group of fans.
by LonghornedBobcat on Jan 21, 2010 1:10 PM EST up reply actions
Nice post
And I agree with 100% of what you just wrote.
A crazy thought
I just had a crazy thought. You can call me out if I’m wrong, or if I’m right.
These Bobcats are like the 2003 Panthers. Flying under the radar of most teams, but gaining momentum. Players were relatively playoff inexperienced but talented. Strong defense. Hoping the star wouldn’t get hurt (Stephen Davis).
So you tell me, colleagues: am I on to something? Am I remarkably dumb in your eyes? Let me know
Lemonade was a popular drink and it still is.
What about the 2002 Hurricanes?
Hockey in North Carolina? Sounds like a complete bust. Everyone in the NHL thought Ron Francis was done. The Whalers had been consistently awful for years. Then the chips just fell in place. And I’m hoping those same ‘Canes fans that made the RBC Center the loudest in the NHL can do the same for the Box. I’ve said it before (as have so many others) and I’ll say it again, I wish we could embrace the college style of fan-dom with the ‘Cats. Drop all the standard NBA stuff (wtf is with that “Everybody clap your hands…” thing that EVERY TEAM USES!). College fans feed off the team and each other, not some stupid sound effects. Granted the overpriced lower bowl tickets make that harder (stupid business people there just for the image), but I wish we could recreate that atmosphere to a degree. Think OKC. Love what they’ve done.
Great win Cats! Me and my wife were at the Sac game, shes from Sacramento and is a huge Kings fan. I got a little nervous in the fourth, but the Cats pulled through with the W! I really had a great time, I’ve been following the Cats since 2005 but that was the first game I ever went to. I plan to go to the Sac game in Cali next month too! It’s so good to see fans hop on board, I don’t care if they are bandwagon, this team needs as many folks to get behind them as possible! I feel like a proud dad watching his son grow up and mature into an outstanding man! It’s such a great feeling, being with this group from almost day one and watching them become something special right before my eyes! The team store was PACKED after the game Monday, hopefully more revenue and fans will gather!
"It's a bad day to have a bad day" - Coach John Fox of the Carolina Panthers
AP Story about Bulletin Board material from Michael Beasley
Looks as though there was a little extra incentive for the ’cats to pour it on. Saw this in the San Francisco Chronicle….
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/21/SP2I1BL5L3.DTL
We have had a few blowouts the last couple of weeks which has lead to alot of garbage time. I have seen enough of Gerald Henderson to understand why he has not been getting minutes. He cant make an open shot and alot of the time he looks lost on the court. The min hes getting are against backups mostly If he cant contribute vs backups how can he be in vs starters. I know I will catch hate for saying this but Steven Graham is a better option at this point. Graham can actualy hit an open J. Hendo will be a player, and with any improvement he will be way better than Graham but right now hes not.
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