Player Profiles: Charlotte Bobcats

Hollinger By John Hollinger
ESPN.com



We shared our forecast for the Bobcats in 2010-11. Now it's time to
take a closer look at their roster. Here are my player scouting
reports and '10-11 projections.

(Note: Projections are for players who played 500 or more minutes in
the NBA in '09-10.)

STARTERS
SHAUN LIVINGSTON, PG

 Projection: 13.0 pts, 3.9 reb, 5.9 ast per 40 min; 12.71 PER | Player
card

•  Very tall point guard with great court vision, but tends to force
passes.
•  Plagued by knee injuries. Has some trouble defending position
despite length.
•  Will post up small guards on left baseline. Poor long-range
shooter.

Livingston's career was on life support after his early season release
by Oklahoma City, but he joined Washington late in the season and
played quite well. His April stats -- 15.5 points on 62.7 percent
shooting -- were particularly eye-popping, as was the fact he could
play 36.8 minutes per game.

Livingston's knees are obviously an issue and his jets may always be a
limitation, but he's learned how to post up smaller guards for shots.
He continues to make far too many turnovers and has no shooting range
to speak of, but if he can stay ambulatory for more than 50 games,
he's a decent backup at the very least.

STEPHEN JACKSON, SG

 Projection: 18.6 pts, 4.8 reb, 3.8 ast per 40 min; 14.29 PER | Player
card

•  Big guard who can play over the top of defenders with high-arching
J.
•  Tough defender despite average quickness. Competitor who can get
overexcited.
•  Has high dribble and will lose ball in traffic, but sees floor
well. Loves pull-up 3s.

Jackson's role changed dramatically in going from Golden State to
Charlotte -- he lost only a tenth of a point off his scoring average,
but he finished with barely half as many assists. I don't have a good
way to search for how often this has happened, but I'm guessing you
could count it on your digits and have several fingers and toes left
over.

Obviously, he had a lot more worthwhile passing options in Golden
State. Playing for a Bobcats team whose second-leading per-minute
scorer was the immortal Nazr Mohammed, Jackson was something of a
godsend. Only three shooting guards owned a worse pure point rating,
but between Jackson's scoring, durability and defense, he was one of
the most valuable players at his position.

GERALD WALLACE, SF

 Projection: 17.4 pts, 9.1 reb, 2.4 ast per 40 min; 17.69 PER | Player
card

•  Athletic wing who is spectacular finisher in transition or on
drives to basket.
•  Great anticipation off ball for steals and blocks, but will lose
track of man.
•  Excellent rebounder. Can score in post, but cross-body jumper
rarely connects.

Wallace booked his first-ever All-Star berth largely on the basis of
phenomenal rebounding numbers in the first half of the season. On New
Year's Day he was averaging more than a dozen rebounds a game, a
monumental figure for a 6-foot-7 small forward.

With an equal lack of warning he cooled off, slipping to nine boards a
game the rest of the season. This, mind you, still destroyed his
previous career high, but it changed his overall rebounding
improvement from "historically unprecedented" to merely unusual. It
was, however, more than enough to lead all small forwards in rebound
rate.

Wallace also ranked in the top 10 at his position in blocks and steals
per minute, and finished second in free throw attempts per field goal
attempt. That latter item was noteworthy because it marked a career
high for Wallace even though he took dramatically fewer shots at the
basket (63.0 percent of his total versus 72.0 percent a year earlier)

TYRUS THOMAS, PF

 Projection: 16.0 pts, 10.5 reb, 1.9 ast per 40 min; 16.28 PER |
Player card

•  Shot-blocking forward with length and timing to impact games
defensively.
•  Terrible finisher despite leaping ability. Can hit midrange jump
shots.
•  Lacks strength and instincts to score in post. Must reduce
turnovers.

Although Thomas averaged a healthy 16.7 points per 40 minutes, right
now his value is mostly at the defensive end. He rated second among
power forwards in both blocks and steals per 40 minutes and 11th in
defensive rebound rate; Chicago in particular defended dramatically
better with him on the court.

As for his offense … it's rough, man. Thomas is 6-10, can leap and has
a decent midrange J, but he doesn't have a good feel for the game and
is terrible at adjusting in midair. As a consequence, Thomas converted
only 51.1 percent of his shots in the basket area, which is subpar for
a player of his size.

And the turnovers … oh, the turnovers. Thomas led all power forwards
in turnover ratio with miscues on 14.3 percent of his possessions,
evenly spread between out-of-control charging fouls, passes into row
17 and dribble drives that fell into enemy hands. At the moment he has
more confidence in his offensive ability than he really should. That
said, he's just 23, he's very talented and he made some nice
improvements in the other phases of his game last season. The question
is whether he'll ever become enough of an offensive threat to justify
his salary.

NAZR MOHAMMED, C

 Projection: 6.0 pts, 11.4 reb, 1.2 ast per 40 min; 16.66 PER | Player
card

•  Intelligent big man with innate understanding of rebounding angles.
•  Undersized for five and a C athlete. Struggles to defend away from
basket.
•  Will hit awkward behind-head jumper from 12 feet … if he catches
the pass.

After a quiet couple of years, the fluke rule returned with a
vengeance in 2009-10. Mohammed was the most obvious example,
inexplicably posting a 19.46 PER after being kept in cold storage for
the previous two seasons. Apparently even his own coaches didn't trust
it, because in the playoffs he was out of the rotation behind Theo
Ratliff and Tyson Chandler.

The fluke rule, for those who don't recall, states that players aged
28 and older who experience a year-to-year jump of more than 3.0
points in PER are unlikely to sustain those gains the following
season. In fact, 90 percent see their PER decline the next season, and
on average the decline is almost exactly 3.0 points. With that as the
backdrop, let's look at last season's crop:

Mohammed's differential from 2008-09, when he eked out just a 7.17
PER, would have been even greater had he played enough minutes to
qualify. Nonetheless, it was a real outlier. His points and rebounds
per minute and his TS percentage all set new career highs, and his
turnover ratio was a career low. Mohammed, in fact, scored 3.3 points
per 40 minutes more than he ever had, which is a huge increase at any
age, but a shocking one at 32.

In short, he won't be doing this again. The good news is that he won't
have to. I've long thought Mohammed was an effective player despite
his iffy defense and bad hands. In addition to consistently posting
PERs in the 15 to 16 range, he's a strong rebounder and provides
surprisingly robust scoring. He's likely to start at center and could
average a double-double … even if his PER slips back to the 15 to 16
range, as the fluke rule expects.
Fluke Rule Players, 2009-10
Player Team 2008-09 PER 2009-10 PER Change
Luke Ridnour Mil 12.95 17.81 +4.86
Carlos Boozer Uta 17.28 21.42 +4.14
Nazr Mohammed Cha 15.83* 19.64 +3.81
Ben Wallace Det 12.18 15.84 +3.66
Sam Dalembert Phi 13.22 16.84 +3.62
Corey Maggette GS 16.91 20.40 +3.49
Jamal Crawford Atl 15.15 18.50 +3.35
* 2007-08 PER. Did not play enough minutes to qualify in 2008-09.

KEY RESERVES

D.J. AUGUSTIN, PG

 Projection: 15.8 pts, 2.6 reb, 5.0 ast per 40 min; 12.67 PER | Player
card

•  Small, quick guard who can penetrate. Decent outside shooter, too.
•  Defensive liability due to lack of size. Only average laterally.
•  Looks more to score than to pass. Struggles to finish at the
basket.

Augustin struggled with his shot early in the season and seemingly
lost confidence, taking dramatically fewer shots as the year went on.
By the All-Star break, he was passing up open looks left and right,
which is never a good thing for a scoring-minded point guard. He
played better over the final 25 games, but by then the damage was
done. Augustin finished with a 38.6 percent shooting mark that
included a ghastly 37.5 percent on twos -- the league's third-worst
percentage from inside the arc.

Augustin also needs to improve at the defensive end, where he has to
get stronger to offset his inability to bother shots. It would be nice
if he got a rebound once in a while, too -- only three players had a
worse rebound rate last season.

BORIS DIAW, PF

 Projection: 12.9 pts, 5.9 reb, 4.3 ast per 40 min; 12.32 PER | Player
card

•  Ballhandling big man who loves to pass, but often turns down easy
shots.
•  Mediocre outside shooter. Rarely draws fouls on drives. Poor
rebounder.
•  Excellent defender when in shape, but conditioning a question mark.

Diaw led all power forwards in assist ratio and came in second in pure
point rating, but he reverted too far to his passive ways as a scorer.
Diaw averaged just 12.7 points per 40 minutes -- the lowest among the
10 Bobcats to play at least 900 minutes, and shocking considering how
many touches he got.

Diaw also tends to shun contact en route to the hoop, resulting in
just 0.19 free throw attempts per field goal attempt -- 55th out of 63
power forwards. Plus, he's a lousy rebounder, ranking fifth from the
bottom in rebound rate at his position.

At this point, his main benefit is his defense. Despite questionable
conditioning, Diaw can guard any spot one through four. He doesn't
block shots, but he's strong and has good feet. Alas, he looked like
he'd packed on some pounds while playing for France over the summer
and will have to ease up on the macaroons this fall.

KWAME BROWN, C

  Projection: 9.4 pts, 11.0 reb, 1.5 ast per 40 min; 8.62 PER | Player
card

•  Offensively limited big man with terrible hands and poor instincts.
•  Active defender with good size and strength. Guards pick-and-roll
well.
•  Improved rebounder, but an awful foul shooter.

Just how much worse can this guy get from the free throw line? Brown
shot 70.7 percent from the line as an 18-year-old rookie in 2001-02;
last season he hit 33.7 percent. It's been a steady decline through
the 60s, 50s and 40s to get to this point, and the only conclusion one
can reach is that he's not putting in the work. Brown posted the
fourth-highest rate of free throw attempts per field goal attempt at
his position, but because of all those bricks at the line, he finished
last among centers in TS percentage.

Brown's coaches have finally stopped talking themselves into the idea
that he can be an offensive player, allowing him to focus on
rebounding and defense. He's perfectly fine in those two areas, but
any points he gets are gravy and he can't be on the floor late in
games because of his foul shooting.

DERRICK BROWN, F

  Projection: 13.9 pts, 5.8 reb, 1.5 ast per 40 min; 12.83 PER |
Player card

•  High-jumping, long, left-handed combo forward who can drive and
draw fouls.
•  Needs to prove he can defend either threes or fours. Could use more
strength.
•  Work in progress as an outside shooter, but has solid form and may
improve.

Brown offers some promise and could emerge as a rotation player this
season. His rookie numbers indicate several strong, positive markers
-- sixth among small forwards in free throw attempts per field goal
attempt, fourth in offensive rebound rate and passable ballhandling
numbers.

Physically, it's obvious how he'd take a step up. He can really jump
and had some wicked finishes at the basket, and his length helps him
challenge shots. He'll be able to play a lot of four once he fills
out, and while his shooting numbers last season weren't good, he
doesn't look hopeless out there.

GERALD HENDERSON, G

 No projection | Player card

•  Defensive-minded guard with quickness and strength to check NBA
wings.
•  Poor offensive instincts and iffy jump shot. Excellent rebounder.

Charlotte's first-round draft pick hardly played and did little of
note while he was on the court. Henderson is a good athlete who can
defend, but his offense last year -- 35.6 percent shooting, 9.3
rebounds per 40 minutes -- was simply unacceptable. He played 43 games
and made 10 outside shots. Ten.

DOMINIC McGUIRE, SF

 No projection | Player card

•  Wing defender with length and athleticism to bother shooters; also
can play four.
•  Miserable offensive player who can't shoot or handle. Excellent
rebounder.

Here's my most amazing stat from 2009-10: Dominic McGuire played 307
minutes without making a single foul shot. He earned only seven trips
to the line, and shanked all seven, further cementing his rep as one
of the league's least threatening offensive players. McGuire is a good
defender, especially against small ball fours, and annually posts
among the best rebound rates at the small forward spot. But he
averages only 6.3 points per 40 minutes for his career, and his
turnover rates are astronomic. His only real use is as an end-of-
quarter defensive specialist, where you know ahead of time there's no
chance of him playing offense.

DeSAGANA DIOP, C

 No projection | Player card

•  Big defensive center who can defend post, but nimble enough to help
vs. guards.
•  Dreadful on offense -- no shooting range, hands or ball skills.
Willing passer.
•  Horrific foul shooter (47.7 percent career). Solid rebounder.

Diop has his moments as a third center, but his offensive game has
made him unplayable for any longer than a few possessions at a time.
The Bobcats thought so little of him that he was inactive during the
playoffs against Dwight Howard -- the one player he might have some
use against.

MATT CARROLL, SG

 No projection | Player card

•  Good outside shooter, but lost his speed three years ago and never
recovered.
•  Solid team defender but hopeless in one-on-one situations; a
walking target.

Carroll played only 121 minutes last season and didn't make a case for
more extended burn. He used to have a good first step going to the
hoop and getting himself to the line; last season he drew six free
throws the entire season. He is a 39.5 career 3-point shooter and may
have some limited use as a zone-buster for the Bobcats.

EDUARDO NAJERA, PF

 Projection: 8.5 pts, 6.3 reb, 1.6 ast per 40 min; 7.95 PER | Player
card

•  Tough, physical frontcourt player who gets under opponent's skin.
•  Anemic offensive performer who no longer has zip to work offensive
boards.
•  Fouls way too often. Can't jump or finish.

It's tough to sell yourself as an "energy" guy when you can't run the
floor or rebound. Najera was 56th out of 63 power forwards in rebound
rate and scored an anemic 9.2 points per 40 minutes; since he's
already an undersized four, he brought very little to the table and at
this point is a 12th man. He's tried to recast himself as a floor
spacer, but he was 19-of-64 on 3s last year and is at 31.3 percent for
his career.


2010-11 Forecast: Charlotte Bobcats

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Hollinger By John Hollinger
ESPN.com
Archive

Michael Jordan & Larry BrownKent Smith/NBAE/Getty ImagesNow that the
team's no longer Bob's Cats, what will Michael Jordan and Larry Brown
do next?

GO TO: 2009-10 Recap     Offseason Moves     Biggest Strength/
Weakness     Outlook

2009-10 Recap

The Larry Brown experience has a predictable trajectory: He'll build
his team up until the point that his neuroses and erratic personnel
choices wears them down. By then, he's on to his next job and the team
he left has to pick up the pieces.
HOLLINGER'S '09-10 STATS

W-L: 44-38 (Pythagorean W-L: 46-36)
Offensive Efficiency: 101.5 (24th)
Defensive Efficiency: 100.2 (1st)
Pace Factor: 92.8 (26th)
Highest PER: Nazr Mohammed (19.64)

If the Bobcats are on the same flight plan, and it appears they are,
last season looks like the peak. By letting Larry call the shots on
personnel in addition to those on the sideline, the Cats are in danger
of becoming capped out, old and hopeless faster than you can say
"Ajinca."

But here's the thing: Along the way, Brown takes you for quite a ride.
The Bobcats' journey on the Larrycoaster lifted them to 44 wins, with
Brown somehow eliciting the franchise's first-ever playoff berth from
a deeply flawed team.

While they were blown to smithereens by Orlando in the first round,
last season was huge from a franchise-building perspective. In the
first year after the bumbling ownership of Robert Johnson gave way to
Michael Jordan, the franchise took its first, cautious steps toward
respectability. With that came some actual ticket sales and, it's
hoped, enough revenue that they'll stop being so cheap in the future.

As he's done at every stop, Brown has endorsed some wacky personnel
moves, with his 2008 decision to trade a future first-rounder for the
rights to the now-departed Alexis Ajinca leading the way. Those types
of impulsive decisions have ultimately led to his teams' downfall
(except in Detroit, where Joe Dumars wouldn't let him make personnel
calls). But in the meantime he squeezes as much from the talent on
hand as any coach in the game.

Last season was an instructive example. Believe it or not, the Bobcats
led the NBA in defensive efficiency. You read that right. It wasn't
the Celtics, or the Lakers, or even the Magic. It was the Charlotte
freaking Bobcats (see chart).

Def. Efficiency Leaders, 2009-10
Team Def. Eff.
Charlotte 100.22
Orlando 100.23
Milwaukee 100.9
Miami 100.9
Boston 101.1
LA Lakers 101.1
League average 104.9

The fact Brown pulled off this feat with such a limited roster is
nothing short of miraculous. While all five starters are above-average
defenders, there was no Dwight Howard equivalent looming on the back
line and the bench was shaky at best, particularly prior to the trade-
deadline pickup of Tyrus Thomas. Moreover, center Tyson Chandler
played only 51 games, leaving the limited Nazr Mohammed and veteran
retread Theo Ratliff in the middle on many nights.

Brown succeeded largely by turning one of the game's main statistical
tenets on its head. In general, teams that shoot lots of 3s have more
efficient offenses, and those that allow a lot of 3s tend to get
burned on defense. Not the Bobcats, however. They gave up more 3-point
attempts than any team in basketball -- 25.9 percent of opponent shots
originated from beyond the arc -- yet they claimed the league's top
defense (see chart).
Most Opp. 3PA Per FGA, 2009-10
Team Opp. 3PA/FGA
Charlotte .259
Detroit .245
Chicago .244
Toronto .244
Minnesota .243
League average .222

Their approach worked for two reasons. First, Charlotte permitted only
33.8 percent shooting on those 3s -- an indication that opponents were
settling for 3s because they couldn't get a clean, close-range look
against the Bobcats' stingy D. Second, Charlotte forced enough
turnovers -- 16.4 percent of opponent possessions, good for third best
in the league -- to lead the league in defensive efficiency despite
ranking only sixth in opponent true shooting (TS) percentage.

There was a third, lesser, factor too -- they got lucky. Charlotte
opponents shot just 74.3 percent from the free throw line, the lowest
figure in the league. This, obviously, was pure luck. The good fortune
saved the Bobcats about 0.4 points per 100 opponent possessions.

Charlotte is unlikely to defend quite as well this season, especially
with Chandler and Raymond Felton gone and Boris Diaw seemingly intent
on eating every available skewer of barbecue in the state of North
Carolina.

Most Turnover-Prone, 2009-10
Team % Poss. end in TOs
Charlotte 16.8
LA Clippers 16.5
Minnesota 16.4
Boston 15.8
Utah 15.7
League average 15.4

But the real concern is on offense, where the Bobcats ranked 24th a
year ago and could be much worse this time around. The big problem for
Charlotte is its high turnover rate -- the Bobcats led the NBA with
16.8 percent of their possessions ending in turnovers (see chart).
That fact makes it even more shocking they led the league in defensive
efficiency -- league-wide, live-ball turnovers are converted into
opponent baskets at a much higher rate than are other plays.

But with so many possessions wasted, it was tough to shoot well enough
on the rest to score at a decent clip. While Charlotte's TS percentage
(53.8) stood near the league average of 54.3, only Boston took fewer
shots per possession.

Most Own Shots Blocked, 2009-10
Team % of shots blocked
Charlotte 8.0
Houston 7.7
Memphis 7.3
Sacramento 6.8
Utah 6.8
League average 5.9

And the shots Charlotte took invariably got spiked. Despite trading
the eminently rejectable Emeka Okafor, the Bobcats still managed to
lead the league in own shots blocked at 8.0 percent (see chart).

It's tough to see how the offense will get any better in 2010-11 with
Felton gone and Mohammed unlikely to repeat a glorious fluke year
(55.3 percent shooting, career-high PER). Additionally, Brown
basically papered over a lot of offensive weaknesses by riding
stalwarts Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace into the ground -- they
were fourth and fifth in the NBA in minutes. At ages 33 and 29,
respectively, those two will provide some seriously diminishing
returns if that's the Bobcats' usage strategy again.

Offseason Moves

While last season provides cautious optimism, the offseason
demonstrated just how thoroughly the Brown-Jordan team had painted the
Bobcats into a corner personnel-wise. Pressed against a luxury tax
threshold that they had no desire (or ability) to exceed, and having
spent all their draft picks in previous deals (including the 2008
trade for Ajinca), the Bobcats were forced to stand idly by for much
of the offseason. The deals they did conjure up were at best
uninspired, if not downright destructive.

At least Jordan pulled away from a truly bad deal at the last minute.
He had agreed to send Diaw and Tyson Chandler to Toronto for Jose
Calderon and Reggie Evans, before realizing he'd have no frontcourt
remaining and squelching the deal.

Let Raymond Felton go, signed Shaun Livingston for two years, $7
million. Charlotte made a mistake letting Felton go, because the
contract he ended up signing with New York came at a price the Bobcats
could have afforded. Instead they reached into the bargain bin for the
oft-injured Livingston. He played reasonably well down the stretch for
Washington last season, but there's no way he can stay on the court
for 80 games this year -- especially playing a starter's minutes,
which appears to be the plan.

At least Livingston represents another long defender in the mix, but
offensively his shortcomings are plain for all to see. He wasn't that
good even before his injuries, with a wayward jumper and a propensity
for turnovers, so it's surprising they consider him a decent solution.

Tyrus Thomas
Re-signed Tyrus Thomas to five-year, $40 million deal. The Bobcats
maneuvered to acquire Thomas from Chicago at last year's trade
deadline, and given Thomas' youth and solid numbers late last season,
it's hard to get too upset about the price. Other free agents who
received similar money (Drew Gooden, Amir Johnson, Luis Scola) don't
offer nearly the same upside as does the 24-year-old Thomas, and the
Bobcats' paucity of decent prospects increased the incentive to lock
him up.

Traded Tyson Chandler and Alexis Ajinca to Dallas for Matt Carroll,
Eduardo Najera, Erick Dampier and cash. I didn't understand this deal
at all. Chandler and Dampier are the only two guys in the deal who can
play, but Charlotte couldn't afford to keep Dampier -- he had a non-
guaranteed contract and his cap number would have put the Bobcats into
the luxury tax. Thus, Charlotte waived him before training camp.

So they gave away Chandler for … what, exactly? I'd call this a salary
dump, except the Bobcats didn't really save any money. Najera and
Carroll have dead-weight contracts that pay them $17 million over the
next three years, while Chandler and Ajinca combined will make only
$14.1 million guaranteed. The Mavs threw in the league-maximum $3
million, but that makes it only a break-even deal for Charlotte. So
it's unclear why they chose to give away their starting center, or
what else the team hoped to accomplish.

Signed Dominic McGuire for one year, minimum. McGuire is a good
defender who can't play offense at all, but Brown has proven very
clever in using players like this in one-possession situations at the
end of quarters, or when he knows he's about to call timeout. I'd
expect McGuire to play nearly every game but average less than five
minutes a night.

Signed Kwame Brown for one year, veteran's minimum. Everyone is
talking about the irony of Brown playing for Jordan, after their rocky
tenure together in Washington, but it's not likely to be much of a
story on the court. Brown will battle DeSagana Diop for backup center
minutes behind Mohammed and will be little more than a cheap source of
interior defense for 10 minutes a night or so.

Biggest Strength: Coaching

The one thing the Bobcats have going for them is Brown's ability to
harness every bit of potential from a limited roster. Of course, he's
often the reason for those limitations in the first place, thanks to
his impulsive urges to reshape the roster and to take on toxic
contracts. However, he has few peers when it comes to his prowess on
the sideline.

This season should prove an even greater challenge for Brown,
especially at point guard and center. He'll have to start the
defensively limited Mohammed at center and back him up with something
off the scrap heap, and he may end up pairing the 6-8 Diaw and 6-9
Thomas up front for long stretches -- something that would put his
club at a severe size disadvantage. In the backcourt, Brown has to
find a solution at point guard among the oft-injured Livingston and
the disappointing D.J. Augustin.

And then there's the bench. Charlotte has a crop of largely
disappointing young players -- Augustin, Gerald Henderson, Derrick
Brown -- that could provide a boost if they improve. Coaching up young
guys has never been Larry Brown's strength, but this season it might
have to be.

Biggest Weakness: Scoring

I just don't see how this team is going to score enough points to win
many games. Jackson and Wallace are their only two above-average
offensive players, and in Jackson's case, we're talking about a 32-
year-old guard who played more than 3,100 minutes last season.
Mohammed isn't going to provide nearly what he did a year ago, Diaw
looked horribly out of shape over the summer, and the downgrade from
Felton to Livingston at the point will subtract more points.

The potential improvement comes from having a full year of Thomas and
any gains he can make in his thus-far disappointing offensive output,
plus whatever the kids can add off the bench. Again, that puts the
onus on failed Charlotte draft picks like Henderson and Augustin to
provide some relief.

And if there's an injury or two, forget it. Dead weights like Carroll,
Najera, Kwame Brown and Diop litter the end of the Charlotte bench.


Outlook

The Bobcats made their first playoff appearance a year ago, but they
might end up waiting a while for their second. Brown conjured blood
from a rock last year, maxing out a flawed roster, but this year's
edition is even more suspect. The Bobcats lost Felton and Chandler and
failed to adequately replace either, while the Wallace-Jackson core is
unlikely to play either as frequently or as well as it did in 2009-10.

Charlotte should continue to overachieve at the defensive end, but not
to the extent that the Bobcats repeat as league leaders in defensive
efficiency. Offensively, meanwhile, they seem primed to go off the
rails given the absence of a proven point guard and the lack of
firepower coming off the bench.

One hopes they can at least sneak into the postseason a second time
and establish some kind of bond in the city, which finally seemed to
rediscover its basketball team toward the end of last season.
Certainly Jordan's ownership group has been a more competent bunch
than Johnson's. In the short term, however, it may not get any better
results, because the Larrycoaster looks set to begin descending.

Prediction: 30-52, 4th in Southeast Division, 11th in Eastern
Conference

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