Writing the Pine

AP Photo/Chuck Burton

PROJECTED RECORD: 31-51
MOST IMPORTANT PLAYER: Raymond Felton
PLAYER TO WATCH: Tyson Chandler
STRENGTHS: Ball Movement, Defense (I guess)
WEAKNESSES: Offense, Lack of Identity

When Larry Brown agreed to coach the Charlotte Bobcats, I had high expectations of them. Now I will fully admit that I am biased towards them because Raymond Felton is my favorite player in the NBA outside of LeBron James. For this reason, I may have looked at the team through rose-colored glasses.

I should’ve known not to be so optimistic though when Brown and Michael Jordan decided to take DJ Augustin over Brook Lopez, who clearly was the better fit. Augustin is a good player and was great last year but the Bobcats did not need a 6’ scoring guard when they had an out-of-position Emeka Okafor playing center and the 800 lb. Sean May who came off microfracture surgery playing power forward. (I love May too and he probably has one of the best set of post moves in the NBA but it’s a fact that he was fat and out-of-shape and not able to contribute which is why he’s not on the team anymore.) I suppose I was more irked at the decision to draft Augustin because I am such a fan of Felton but honestly, I don’t get all the hate that has been geared towards the former Tar Heel. It angered me whenever I read John Hollinger or Chad Ford saying Felton is only a backup point guard at best and left him off the top available free agent lists.

However, many other articles I’ve read about Raymond Felton during his time in the NBA, especially recently, just confirms everything I’ve already known following him throughout his career at Chapel Hill.

(Just read Bill Simmons excerpt in his column about the 2008-2009 NBA MVP race.  He lists Felton #51 and says about him: The guy I’d pursue this summer if I ran an NBA team. Ten weeks of trade rumors bounced off him and he never held a grudge. He has lottery pick pedigree (fifth overall in 2005), and if we’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that many blue-chip point guards take awhile to “ferment” (for lack of a better word). He’s one of the five or six best people in the league by all accounts. I’ve never seen a Bobcats game where he didn’t play as hard as he could. The arc of his first four years looks exactly like Chauncey Billups, and like Chauncey, his game will open up once he starts making 3s. Just a lot to like. Couldn’t have said it better myself Bill.)

He’s a great person, great leader, hard-worker, unselfish, comes to play everyday, and oh yeah, pretty talented too. He was, after all, the #1 point guard in his recruiting class. He’s quick, can handle the ball, has great court vision, and plays tough defense. And it’s not like he hasn’t been productive in his career so far. Granted he hasn’t put up the same numbers as Chris Paul and Deron Williams, but career averages of 13.6 points, 6.7 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.4 steals isn’t bad over a four-year span. Take into account the fact that his teams have been absolutely awful and he’s had some atrocious coaches totally misutilizing him and shuttling him between the point guard and shooting guard spot and you have to be more impressed. Everyone says he has no jump shot and it’s no doubt shaky at best, but he has a similar jump shooting percentage as Devin Harris and Tony Parker and is way better than Ramon Sessions and Baron Davis. In fact, Felton’s biggest weakness is not his jump shooting; it’s his inability to finish at the rim. For a guy who can get to the hole whenever he wants, he definitely has to be able to finish. He does get blocked a lot (seemingly a problem for a lot of UNC guards) but perhaps more frustratingly, a bunch of his layups roll in and out of the basket. If he remedies this problem, there’s no reason he couldn’t average 20 ppg and be known as one of the elite point guards in the league. I was hoping and praying that another team would offer Felton a long-term deal this past offseason and was genuinely shocked when I did not read about a single offer going his way. I am happy Felton only took the qualifying offer from the Bobcats and will become an unrestricted free agent next year. The franchise has only derailed his development and he needs to get out of there even with Larry Brown being the coach. Unfortunately for Felton, we all know next year’s free agent class is absolutely loaded and he won’t get the money he deserves. But some team will get a hefty bargain for a point guard who will give his all to them. Hopefully it isn’t Charlotte.

The Bobcats were the lowest scoring team in the NBA last year. A big reason why is they were dead last in field goal attempts. Their percentages are pretty good across the board as are their other offensive numbers. In fact, they were second in assist-to-field goals made ratio. Their ball movement is superb, they just need to get their shot a little faster. They also can’t get blocked so much. I mentioned before that Felton got blocked a lot when he drove to the basket. That seemed to be a problem for the entire Bobcats team as they were the most blocked team in the NBA. Even the ultra-athletic Gerald Wallace had 20% of his “close” shots blocked.  When points are already tough to come by, it doesn’t help to get swatted left and right (another reason why drafting a 6’ scoring guard was questionable).

What was interesting when looking at the team stats is how similar the Bobcats’ statistics were to their opponents’. They didn’t really do any one thing better than their opponents, nor did they do anything much worse. Basically they didn’t outplay anybody and they weren’t really outplayed themselves and this just tells me that the team doesn’t really have an identity. I always heard the “experts” saying a team needs to find an identity and I always thought that was all just made-for-TV garbage but I guess I can kind of see it now. If you don’t know what your strengths are then you can’t really play to them and by the same token, if you don’t know what your weaknesses are then you can’t stay away from them. I can’t really say I know what the Bobcats are good at and what they’re bad at. I can guess they’re good at defense and bad at offense but when you lead the league in fewest possessions per game, both are going to look to be true. Larry Brown has to figure out who his team is so they can be that team (if that makes any sense) or the Bobcats will be looking at another so-so 35-win season.

The bad news is that it may take some time to figure out that identity. Emeka Okafor, the first ever draft pick by the franchise and a core piece of the roster, was traded away to the New Orleans Hornets for Tyson Chandler. The good news is that Okafor blew and was a big reason why Charlotte was never good, particularly on offense. Maybe blowing is a harsh word for a guy who has averaged a double-double every season since he’s been in the league and shot well over 50% the past three seasons, but he could be so much more productive than he’s been. I always get frustrated watching Okafor play because he doesn’t know how to catch a basketball. If he could catch a ball, he’d average 20-25 ppg easily and make his point guards (SEE RAYMOND FELTON) look a lot better. He also might be the most robotic player in the league. He has no fluidity in his motions and everything just looks forced. It looks like Charles Washington is out there playing. Too bad for Bobcats fans that Chandler isn’t much better. What’s good, however, is that Chandler doesn’t demand the ball as much and generally takes only makeable, open shots (dunks). Sure all his points came off alley-oops from CP3, but I don’t see why Felton and Chandler couldn’t do the same thing (assuming of course, Chandler is healthy).

The trade last year that sent Jason Richardson to Phoenix in return for Boris Diaw and Raja Bell seemed questionable at the time. But Diaw with his versatility and Bell with his shooting and defense stepped in beautifully and definitely made Charlotte a better team. A full training camp for those two combined with the Wallace’s all-around play, development of Augustin and addition of rookie Gerald Henderson make the Bobcats a more well-rounded squad and a contender for the 7th or 8th seed in the East. I just think Chandler will miss too much time and his injuries will create a huge void in the middle. It will be back to the drawing board for Michael Jordan and his team next offseason and they’ll need lots of luck. I highly doubt any marquee name will want to sign with Charlotte (and why would they?) I just hope that Felton finds another home next year (NEW YORK WITH LEBRON???????) or gets traded before the deadline so he can shine like he should be.