<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Comforting as it is to avoid the worst record in the NBA, the real matchup between the Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks isn't tonight. It's in May and June. That's when the teams most likely to have the top two picks will divvy up the best players in the 2005 draft. By beating the Hawks on Monday in Atlanta, the Bobcats (16-61) took a four-game lead on Atlanta (12-65) at the bottom of the league standings. Since the Hawks have never won back-to-back games this season, it's a foregone conclusion that Charlotte avoids the cellar. To a first-year team, that counts for something. "You never want to be the worst at anything, and everybody thought we would be last," Bobcats guard-forward Jason Kapono said. "At this level, who makes the playoffs is what matters. But we've definitely done better than people thought. We want to win every game we can, but we've done our jobs." Now it's management's turn. By topping the Hawks, the Bobcats gave themselves a slightly worse chance of ending up with the top pick in the May 25 draft lottery. The Hawks would have 250 of 1,000 Ping-Pong balls in the weighted lottery, 51 more than the Bobcats.</div> Source I've respected the heart of this team all season long. The Bobcats could have easily given up and tanked the season to get a better chance at the #1 pick in the draft. Instead, Bickerstaff has them competing in all of their games and overachieving. The franchise is definitely headed in the right direction.
That's what they should be doing. I know I wouldn't have my team half a-- if I was Bick, expansion team or not, you just have to get out there and win games, no matter the situation. The determination they have makes me glad that I'm a Bobcat fan, they impressed the heck out of me in their very 1st season ever. In the next couple of years, Charlotte won't be one of the doormats in the league anymore.
