<font color="black"><font face="Verdana">[IMGl]http://espn-att.starwave.com/i/teamlogos/nba/sml/trans/cha.gif[/IMGl]</font></font> <font color="black"><font face="Verdana"><font size="5">Bobcats Season Preview</font> </font></font> <font color="black"><font face="Verdana"><font size="1">By Shapecity</font></font></font> <font color="black"><font face="Verdana"><font size="3">The 2004-2005 Charlotte Bobcats Off-Season Review & Season Outlook</font></font></font><font color="black"><font face="Verdana"> </font></font><font color="black"><font face="Verdana">by Shapecity</font></font><font color="black"><font face="Verdana"> </font></font><font color="darkorange"><font face="Verdana"><font size="3">Rebirth of Charlotte Basketball</font></font></font><font color="black"><font face="Verdana"> The Bobcats will make their mark on the NBA season by bringing basketball back to Charlotte. Without much to operate with, the Bobcats made the most out of their expansion draft by adding young players with a lot of ?upside.? Players like Gerald Wallace, Melvin Ely, Eddie Hart, and Jason Kapono will get a chance at starter minutes instead of warming the bench on talented rosters. The Bobcats also managed to get the player they coveted in the draft with the 2nd overall pick, by landing Emeka Okafor. With a team filled with players who were 13th on their former team?s depth chart, the expectations are not high for the Bobcats this season. That being said, the Bobcats should give their fans an exciting style of basketball with their athletic squad. The Bobcats also swept through the summer leagues with a 5-0 record, led by Gerald Wallace and Loren Woods. The big question will be if this ownership in Charlotte makes a commitment to it?s fans by being aggressive with their signings and keeping their stars. ------------------------- </font></font><font color="darkorange"><font face="Verdana"><font size="3">Off-Season Player Movement</font></font></font><font color="black"><font face="Verdana"> June 23, 2004 Acquired a future first-round pick and cash from the Phoenix Suns for agreeing to select center Jahidi White in the expansion draft. June 30, 2004 Named Gary Brokaw assistant coach. July 10, 2004 Named Jeff Capel assistant coach. July 15, 2004 Signed guard Jason Hart, who had been with the San Antonio Spurs; signed forward Tamar Slay; acquired forward Melvin Ely and guard Eddie House from the Los Angeles Clippers for a second-round pick in 2005 and a second-round pick in 2006. July 27, 2004 Signed center Emeka Okafor, their first-round pick, to a three-year contract. July 30, 2004 Signed free agent guard Corey Benjamin. August 4, 2004 Signed guard Omar Cook. August 17, 2004 Traded forward-center Predrag Drobnjak to the Atlanta Hawks for a second-round pick in 2005. September 1, 2004 Signed guard Brevin Knight, who had been with the Milwaukee Bucks. September 17, 2004 Signed guard Steve Smith, who had been with the New Orleans Hornets. September 21, 2004 Exercised the fourth-year contract option on center Melvin Ely for the 2005-06 season. October 1, 2004 Signed center Primoz Brezec to a multi-year contract extension. ------------------------- </font></font><font color="darkorange"><font face="Verdana"><font size="3">Breaking Down the Bobcats (Starters)</font></font></font><font color="black"><font face="Verdana"> </font></font><font color="darkorange"><font face="Verdana">Jahidi White - C</font></font><font color="black"><font face="Verdana"> 6?9? 290 lbs. 2004-2005 Salary: $5,884,500 2003-2005 Predicted Stats: 4.2 PPG on 52.1% shooting, 4.2 RPG, .8 BPG in 14.0 minutes Meat in the Middle Jahidi White will likely be the starting center, but he will have Ely, Okafor, and Brezec, pushing for his minutes all season long. The main reason the Bobcats brought White aboard was to give them size in the paint and to take advantage of his contract after this season. I doubt the franchise has any long-term plans for the big man, so I don?t expect him to keep his starting job for the duration of the season. The Bobcats will be better off giving more playing time to Ely and Brezec and possibly seeing if Okafor can play the 5 spot in the NBA. </font></font><font color="darkorange"><font face="Verdana">Omeka Okafor - PF</font></font><font color="black"><font face="Verdana"> 6?10? 252 lbs. 2004-2005 Salary: $3,739,680 2003-2004 Stats: N/A Franchise Worthy? The Bobcats believe they got the steal of the draft by getting Okafor with the second pick. Despite chronic back problems, Okafor will have to carry this team on his shoulders and emerge as the leader for this squad. He will be a force in the paint and should be one of the premiere shot blockers in the league. It will be interesting to see how he handles A LOT of losing, after playing for perennial winners in High School and College. He will also need to stay healthy for this team to be competitive on the court. He?s the favorite for ROY, let?s see if he can deliver. </font></font><font color="darkorange"><font face="Verdana">Gerald Wallace - SF</font></font><font color="black"><font face="Verdana"> 6?7? 215 lbs. 2004-2005 Salary: $1,377,045 2003-2004 Stats: 2.0 PPG on 36.0% shooting, 2.0 RPG, 05 APG in 9.1 minutes Star in the Making? Gerald Wallace brings his high flying act to the Bobcats, after a disappointing, injury plagued season with the Kings. Unfortunately for Wallace, he played on a team loaded with talent at the Swing position. With a fresh start in Charlotte all eyes are on Gerald Wallace to lead the team in scoring and develop into a superstar player. He was compared with the likes of Kobe and T-Mac when he first came into the league, but his work ethic has been a question mark and his desire to reach his potential forced the Kings to make a difficult decision in leaving him unprotected. Wallace led the team in scoring during the summer league averaging 16.8 a game. He also did a nice job on the boards, but will he prove to have the mental toughness to go along with his undeniable athleticism or will he be another player with a lot of ?upside? who never reached it? </font></font><font color="darkorange"><font face="Verdana">Eddie House - SG</font></font><font color="black"><font face="Verdana"> 6?1? 175 lbs. 2004-2005 Salary: $825,000 2003-2004 Stats: 6.5 PPG on 35.9% shooting, 2.5 APG 37.5 3PtFG% in 19.8 minutes Instant Offense? Eddie House is undersized at the 2 guard, but he is the best pure scorer on this team and one of their best shooters. The Bobcats will need him on the court and ready to hit from outside. The downside with House is his tendency to dominate the ball and get the rest of the offense out of sync. He will need to mature as a player with his new team and learn to pick his spots on the court. His size makes him the ideal point guard for the NBA, but his desire to score makes him a shoe in as the starting shooting guard for this team. Hopefully he can be the poor man?s Allen Iverson for the Bobcats and provide a lot of highlights running the floor with Gerald Wallace. </font></font><font color="darkorange"><font face="Verdana">Jason Hart - PG</font></font><font color="black"><font face="Verdana"> 6?3? 181 lbs. 2004-2005 Salary: $1,500,000 2003-2004 Stats: 3.3 PPG on 44.7% shooting, .5 SPG, 1.5 APG in 12.5 minutes Best Kept Secret? The starting point guard was the hardest position to predict. The Bobcats have a lot of directions to go with four players competing for the starter minutes. The Bobcats can go with a veteran in Brevin Knight or JR Bremer, or they can go with youth with Cook or Hart. The dark horse choice for me to win the starting point guard position is Jason Hart. He was the backup to Tony Parker last season with the Spurs, and plays a similar style of basketball to him. Hart is a speed guard and very accurate with his mid range shooting. He also does a nice job of distributing the ball and knows his role on the court and on a team. I expect him to make a mark in the preseason games and solidify himself as the starter. He needs to improve his range, but I could see him among the league leaders in assists if he gets the minutes. </font></font><font color="darkorange"><font face="Verdana"><font size="3">Breaking Down the Bobcats (Bench)</font></font></font><font color="black"><font face="Verdana"> The Vets? After getting their core young stars, the Bobcats made two nice moves acquiring two well respected veterans of the NBA. They added Steve Smith, who is a multiple Sportsman of the Year winner. He will bring a great locker room presence to this team and will be a community leader for the Bobcats. I expect him to be a great mentor for Okafor, and possibly get the chance at an office position once he retires. Brevin Knight brings heart to this team and also a floor general down the stretch of games. He will be responsible for getting the young point guards, Omar Cook, and Jason Hart into playing conditioning and will teach them the importance of defense. </font></font><font color="darkorange"><font face="Verdana">Steve Smith & Brevin Knight </font></font><font color="black"><font face="Verdana"> The Bobkittens? </font></font><font color="darkorange"><font face="Verdana">Jason Kapono, Melvin Ely, & Omar Cook </font></font><font color="black"><font face="Verdana"> The Bobcats will have bench filled with young players looking to make their mark on this team and in the NBA. Jason Kapono gives the Bobcats a versatile forward off the bench with an accurate perimeter shot and a deadly free throw shooter. He shot 47.7% from behind the arc last year and 83.3% from the free throw line. Kapono is a liability on defense, but with a team and league lacking solid shooters, Kapono is a valuable player coming off the bench for the Bobcats. Melvin Ely was shipped to the Bobcats with Eddie House for cap reasons, but the Bobcats were happy to accommodate the Clippers by adding a talented big man to their roster. Ely is capable of playing the 4 and 5 for the Bobcats, opening up the possibility of playing him and Okafor on the court at the same time. He has shot blocking instincts and is a great offensive rebounder. He had a breakout game against the Nuggets last year when he was given 34 minutes. He scored 15 points, pulled 8 boards, and had 5 blocks in the game. Ely will give the Bobcats a lot of energy in the paint and will be more effective once he develops a better post up game and two or three go to moves. After being a highly touted high school Blue Chipper, Omar Cook, gambled and lost by trying to make the jump to the NBA. Omar Cook is looking for his second chance on this expansion team, but finds himself in a dogfight for minutes at the point guard position. Omar Cook has the most talent out of the players he?s competing with, but he doesn?t have the best leadership qualities and decision making a coach looks for from a point guard. However, being a young team not expected to win much, should benefit Cook and allow him to grow as a player without all the pressure of winning. The goal for Cook should be to provide a spark off the bench and help rally his team when they fall behind in games. He also needs to improve his lateral movement on defense and to not get caught up in a one on one showdown against his defender.</font></font>
I like this preview aswell. I think you broke it down quite well. However, I don't think White should start at center either.
Primoz Brezec will start...but Jahidi isn't doing so bad (as a Bobcat, anyways). Good job on the preview :thumbsup: EDIT: Actually...nba.com reported on the recap of the Hawks/Bobcats game that Emeka will more than likely start at center, with Brezec and Wallace as the forwards, and Knight and Kapono as the guards.
