Myrtlebeachmark
08-12-2007, 12:56 PM
Hey, everyone, this is my first post to the board. I live in Myrtle Beach, SC which is Bobcat territory, I guess, even though the television coverage is all but absent except for the Bobcat channel which is very spotty and NBA all league Pass which is very expensive.
Let me give a little bit of backround first; I'm originally from Connecticut and followed the Knicks back in the 60's, 70's, 80's and some of the 90's. I lived not far from Madison Square Garden and attended perhaps two dozen games in person. I saw some of the old greats: Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and so on. I saw the Knicks develop into a great team with Walt Fraser, Willis Reed, Dave Debusschere, Dick Barnet and Bill Bradley. These were great times being a Knick fan. Later they had Earl Monroe who was a machine with his turn-around off balance shot over the defender. After winning plenty the team fell off and then re-emerged with a new cast of charactors, Bernard King, Patrick Ewing and others--it looked like more championships but it was not to be due to injuries, bad luck and fate. Later at some point I lost interest in the NBA and professsional sports in general for a number of reason including what I felt was a lousy attitude (uncaring, selfish, egotistical) of many of the athletes, the high cost of attending a game and the high cost of subscribing to sports TV. I also think that professional athletes salaries are skewed way too high. It's nuts to pay an athlete a 100 million dollar contract and then have to charge so much to see a game in person that a young family can't afford it.
I took notice of the Bobcats when Emeka was drafted by them the year after he took the CT Huskies on his back to victory in the NCAA championship. I followed the team what little I could without TV coverage (I was not aware of the Bobcat Channel on my local cable). Last year when they drafted the exciting Adam Morrison from Gonzaga and I learned of the Bobcat channel I watched nearly every televised game, got to know the team and became a true fan. It has been a tremendous amount of fun.
I have had a tremendous amount of pleasure watching this team perform over the past year. This is a really likable team for number reasons, for one thing they hustle and work hard. When you watch a Bobcat game you don't see showboating, you don't see prima donnas (unless it's on the other team), what you see are guys trying very hard to win and a good deal of raw talent. When you have a young group of guys as talented as this group is and you see their potential and witness their coming together, there is no better fan experience. Anyway, that's what I feel about that.
I am no basketball expert, not by any means, but what I see is this. Raymond Felton is a good point guard, Jason Richardson and Gerald Wallace are wonderful talents at the two guard and small forward positions. This trio ought to be able to run the pants off many teams. Emeka Okafor at center or power forward is a tremendous player who provides a solid presence in the middle and who also can run the floor. Judging from all the posts I've read on this forum I think most would agree with the above. What I am hoping for this season is that we get some solid playing time from Sean May and continuing good play from Walter Herrmann (a continuation of his good play from the end of last season) up the middle. With the above core I believe there is the talent to win a lot of games.
What I would also like to see, is a lot of substitution so that legs get rested over the long season and our bench gets the time to develop. We've got good players on the bench so let's use them freely and see who might really blossom out on the floor. Somebody in this forum has already said the same thing, I think it would be a good way to go. I really like Matt Carroll and I still like Adam Morrison’s potential. Our new acquisitions, Davidson and Dudley are intriguing, Dudley with his non-flashy all-around game and toughness, and Davidson with the raw athletic ability. I say, cut Primo a little slack. He was hurt and sick much of last season, give him an opportunity this season to turn it around. I forgot about Hollins, work him in the loop also, see what he can do. Hopefully we can get an additional point guard or two who will give us solid backup minutes.
I realize that not always going with our strongest core might cost us games especially early in the season. But over the course of the long season I think it will win us more games than cost us. It will also help us stay fresh, particularly important with an upbeat running style team. Imagine the Bobcats, every player playing full out every minute. It's also very good generally for the team when everybody gets involved.
In summation I say let's keep the group we've got, add some backup at the point and cheer them on to victory.
Let me give a little bit of backround first; I'm originally from Connecticut and followed the Knicks back in the 60's, 70's, 80's and some of the 90's. I lived not far from Madison Square Garden and attended perhaps two dozen games in person. I saw some of the old greats: Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and so on. I saw the Knicks develop into a great team with Walt Fraser, Willis Reed, Dave Debusschere, Dick Barnet and Bill Bradley. These were great times being a Knick fan. Later they had Earl Monroe who was a machine with his turn-around off balance shot over the defender. After winning plenty the team fell off and then re-emerged with a new cast of charactors, Bernard King, Patrick Ewing and others--it looked like more championships but it was not to be due to injuries, bad luck and fate. Later at some point I lost interest in the NBA and professsional sports in general for a number of reason including what I felt was a lousy attitude (uncaring, selfish, egotistical) of many of the athletes, the high cost of attending a game and the high cost of subscribing to sports TV. I also think that professional athletes salaries are skewed way too high. It's nuts to pay an athlete a 100 million dollar contract and then have to charge so much to see a game in person that a young family can't afford it.
I took notice of the Bobcats when Emeka was drafted by them the year after he took the CT Huskies on his back to victory in the NCAA championship. I followed the team what little I could without TV coverage (I was not aware of the Bobcat Channel on my local cable). Last year when they drafted the exciting Adam Morrison from Gonzaga and I learned of the Bobcat channel I watched nearly every televised game, got to know the team and became a true fan. It has been a tremendous amount of fun.
I have had a tremendous amount of pleasure watching this team perform over the past year. This is a really likable team for number reasons, for one thing they hustle and work hard. When you watch a Bobcat game you don't see showboating, you don't see prima donnas (unless it's on the other team), what you see are guys trying very hard to win and a good deal of raw talent. When you have a young group of guys as talented as this group is and you see their potential and witness their coming together, there is no better fan experience. Anyway, that's what I feel about that.
I am no basketball expert, not by any means, but what I see is this. Raymond Felton is a good point guard, Jason Richardson and Gerald Wallace are wonderful talents at the two guard and small forward positions. This trio ought to be able to run the pants off many teams. Emeka Okafor at center or power forward is a tremendous player who provides a solid presence in the middle and who also can run the floor. Judging from all the posts I've read on this forum I think most would agree with the above. What I am hoping for this season is that we get some solid playing time from Sean May and continuing good play from Walter Herrmann (a continuation of his good play from the end of last season) up the middle. With the above core I believe there is the talent to win a lot of games.
What I would also like to see, is a lot of substitution so that legs get rested over the long season and our bench gets the time to develop. We've got good players on the bench so let's use them freely and see who might really blossom out on the floor. Somebody in this forum has already said the same thing, I think it would be a good way to go. I really like Matt Carroll and I still like Adam Morrison’s potential. Our new acquisitions, Davidson and Dudley are intriguing, Dudley with his non-flashy all-around game and toughness, and Davidson with the raw athletic ability. I say, cut Primo a little slack. He was hurt and sick much of last season, give him an opportunity this season to turn it around. I forgot about Hollins, work him in the loop also, see what he can do. Hopefully we can get an additional point guard or two who will give us solid backup minutes.
I realize that not always going with our strongest core might cost us games especially early in the season. But over the course of the long season I think it will win us more games than cost us. It will also help us stay fresh, particularly important with an upbeat running style team. Imagine the Bobcats, every player playing full out every minute. It's also very good generally for the team when everybody gets involved.
In summation I say let's keep the group we've got, add some backup at the point and cheer them on to victory.