Charlotte Bobcats vs. Boston Celtics preview -- Game 23; Is Larry Brown checked out?

That’s true, but it effectively disproves his argument for benching Derrick Brown. Derrick Brown worked his ass off over the summer; it wasn’t any secret. He wasn’t training to get his glutes super rock-hard so the bench wouldn’t give him sores anymore. He put in work to play in the NBA. Dominic McGuire isn’t sitting on his haunches either, but he basically got a contract and lots of minutes based on some whim LB had and LB’s determination to make him the annual ‘Larry Brown pet player.’

As David noted, we’re not playing our young players nor developing them when we should be, which is right now.

I’ll be at my first game of the season tonight. Kind of excited but also kind of blah. We’ll see how it goes.

P.S. – I want that sweater.

It’s a test balloon to see how the fans react to the idea of the Bobcats “next coaching decision.”
Something is in the wind and it’s been in the wind since I first started talking about a coaching change back around game 10 of the young season. I don’t know the hows or whens, in fact I was also told that it was going to happen after we lost 3 of 4 games in a one week stretch, so obviously I don’t always have all the correct facts. Contrary to what some (mostly at another site) believed, I wasn’t BSing this past summer either. I just got overexcited and blurted some things I was told that I shouldn’t have. Everyone caught the fever and that whole thing was at least 80% my fault.

So please – don’t take this as gospel. It may happen tomorrow morning, after the holidays, or not at all. But 2 of the 3 folks I know are telling me this will be over before the holidays unless something dramatic changes the team fortunes in another way. As to the ‘Melo thing mentioned at the top of the thread… as far as I know, Higgins has been calling Denver periodically just to let them know that under the right circumstances we’d be very interested in a deal. I’ve not thought much of it because at least a dozen other GMs are doing the exact same thing and NJ is calling them more than the others added together. If something IS in the wind that will bring ‘Melo to Charlotte I can guarantee you that little will be said about it until a press conference is called unexpectedly by one or both clubs. They don’t want another big deal trade getting blown up because of premature medialation. Also, any Carmelo Anthony deal that brings him to our club is going to hurt us in other ways. We not only would have to make the money work, we’d have to match the talent up in a way that appeals to Denver. They aren’t in nearly enough chaos to let us toss Diop on the pile just to make the money work for example. We would have to say goodbye to at least one or more players that are loved enough that they have their own homer fan club devotees. Also, don’t expect ‘Melo to plan to stay with this club for long without some well-known wishes of his being fulfilled and we simply don’t have the money or space to accomodate those demands. He’d likely be a 60-game rental and not enough to fix what’s ailing our team. What I’m saying is, don’t get excited about any impending deal rumors and don’t get excited about any actual deal until you know what we’ll have to give away in the process. I unintentionally lit a bonfire this summer. I’m trying to make some small amends for that by preventing the ignition of another one in December.

Please don’t email me asking for inside dirt “just between us and I promise I won’t tell anyone” either. Not only is it unfair to everyone else, it would potentially cause far more problems and not result in any positives at all. It isn’t that I care about any further hits to my “creds,” it’s that I don’t want to inflate people’s hopes again. There is no quick-fix solution that will magically transform our team into contenders. It’s going to take work, time, and several steps that could take at least 2-3 seasons to implement. It’s way past time to grab for short-term gratification at the expense of long-term “actual” success. If we’ve learned nothing else from the first 5 years of the Bobcats existence, hopefully we’ve all learned the hard way the folly of pursuing that course. In my opinion, putting Anthony in a Bobcats uniform at this point would just be a crowning example of repeating the mistakes of the past.

Thanks in advance for understanding guys.

Kendrick Perkins is out for several months, Jermaine O’Neal is out for sore knees or something, and it was recently reported that Shaq will miss the game too, as he’s been day-to-day as well.

Can we take advantage of this?

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/columns/story?columnist=sheridan_chris&id=5908902

As you will see, there is really nothing to it. Also, as we expect, we would have to give solid assets just to get a rental, which would obviously be a terrible move.

I’d start Livingston. No offense to DJ, he’s been good this year but I’m afraid Rondo destroys him. DJ has trouble against quick point guards and the Celtics set a lot of screens.

With Livingston, his height and wingspan advantage significantly cut into Rondo’s passing lanes. Plus with Liv on the court, switching off on screens doesn’t become a big deal since you basically have 3 small forwards in the backcourt that can switch off at will.

I just see the disadvantage of DJ on Rondo overwhelming whatever advantage we get from Livingston on Robinson

On December 15 the free agents that teams signed over the summer can be included in trades.

Also note that the Collective Bargaining Agreement CBA expires on December 15, 2010. Nothing to do with trades, but it should make for a fun off-season next year. I believe on page 304, subsection 23A, paragraph e, of the proposed new CBA, the “Jordan Exception” will allow MJ to sign players who are contractually obligated to the Jordan Brand to minimum salary player contracts for the duration of their Jordan Brand contract. That last part is just a rumor I made up, so be careful not to fall into the “Sarchasm”.

Rose is miles ahead of Rondo as a scorer, and is his probably his equal as a playmaker. Rondo has the edge on defense and rebounding.