<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">1. Foul shooting Only Miami had a worse free-throw percentage, and only a team with Shaquille O'Neal can get away with that and win. At times Melvin Ely or Emeka Okafor going to the line felt more like a turnover than an opportunity. 2. Help defense Coach Bernie Bickerstaff believes Okafor can be a great help defender, but says that won't happen until his teammates learn to rotate better when Okafor leaves his man. The NBA term for this is "help the helper" and the Bobcats seldom do it well. 3. Closing Ultimately all those close losses were still losses. Unless the Bobcats can convince the NBA to start playing 46-minute games, they need to learn how to manage a lead. 4. Creating shots Part of the problem in closing was the inability of almost any Bobcat to create his own jump shot off the dribble. Trading for Kareem Rush was supposed to address this, but then he sprained his knee. 5. Ruggedness Point guard Brevin Knight says the Bobcats need more tough guys, perhaps someone like Chicago's Antonio Davis who can stand up to a bully and bump him back all night. -- R.B.</div> Full Story
On ruggedness - A.Davis has a huge contract, even though it's expiring. There are a few bruisers in the draft, though not as good as current players. I agree that they definitely could use someone to back them up because Okafor could use some backup if he should ever get into trouble, and he can't afford to get thrown out either. Seattle showed that the "tough guy" backup works well in certain situations with their Reggy Fort-vans combo. I think a great guy, if they could get him somehow, would be NY's Kurt Thomas. Tough without being dirty, which is a hard thing to balance, he'd be a great fit and he's also a good offensive player to boot. On closing: Closing has always been something that you need a veteran presence for, or at least someone who's clutch, a go-to-guy. There aren't many around although Nick Van Exel is available. I don't think he'd want to play on a young team, though.
