The Playoffs - Cats a Concern for Top Teams?

[spectre]

Five Overlooked Road Bumps in Cleveland's Title Run - 4. The Charlotte Bobcats

Really? The Charlotte Bobcats?

Yes, the Charlotte Bobcats. Currently, the Bobcats sit in the East's sixth spot amid the logjam of mediocre squads vying for one of the conference's last four available playoffs slots.

With a 37-34 record, Charlotte doesn't seem like anything other than a middle-of-the-road team simply looking to get a taste of the playoffs for the first time in club history.

For the Cavaliers, the Bobcats are an incredibly dangerous team.
Charlotte boasts a quartet (Raymond Felton, Stephen Jackson, Gerald Wallace, D.J. Augustin) of very skilled, very fast players that routinely gives Cleveland problems.

~more at the link~

I'm loving the defense as referenced in the article from Cranston, but in regards to making any noise in the playoffs I think we still lack a few things...mainly on the offensive side.

Slam brought one up in the Minny game thread...spurts. We don't play consistently throughout the game, and we've more often than not started out really slow...depending on a push later like the other night.

We've also been crap hitting shots outside of the paint. In Washington I think we only had 4 makes outside of 20 feet (yeah, you read that right).

Bobcats Vs Wizards Shot Chart

Teams are going to recognize this and work to bottle up the paint...forcing us to try and beat them from outside. Too bad we couldn't have drafted someone like Wayne Ellington as his skillset is something we're sorely lacking.

Free throws. Jesus Christ we've done really bad lately shooting FTs, and esp. in the later stages of the game. Of all these issues this is the one which has the best chance of being fixed, but I have my doubts. If anything I think it's fatigue...and the way we're going I doubt any of our main guys get any significant rest until the playoffs.

I'm excited for our first ever playoff series, but with those concerns above I think we could possibly be a year away from really making some noise unless things go perfectly.

And let's face it...we're the Bobcats. Nothing ever goes "perfectly".

[jdsingar]

I definitely agree with what you're saying. All teams have to do is play a zone against us, and our offensive abilities diminish considerably. I don't think we stand a chance against Orlando (Dwight Howard in the middle=SCARY) or Boston (Great team D nullifies our excellent D.) That said, I think we can pull an upset off. I know there are a few games I have watched (Recent Cavs game in Charlotte comes to mind) where most everything went right for the Bobcats. But those games are few and far between.

[Slam]

Too bad we couldn't have drafted someone like Wayne Ellington as his skillset is something we're sorely lacking.

Dude, I kid you not, I started looking at his stats and wondering if we could some how land him after we played them.

I agree. I think he would be a good add.

Love the Hulk, but I would trade him for Ellington in a heart beat.

Could really use that outside shooting - especially from someone who is no slouch on the defensive end.

[Toocool]

+1 for the great read Spec. Kind of makes me wonder what they would do should we pull off the series win verse the Cavs (assuming refs aren't total douches and call a foul on every love tap on Princess James).

If we had Ellington, it would be awesome. Someone who can shoot well and consistently would be a big bonus.

[G-Force for MVP]

the refs wont let lebron lose in the first round

[SWedd523]

Yall should'a listened to me when I said draft Wayne as he was severely undervalued!!!!






(yeah I pulled a Bonnell)



But really though, having a consistent outside threat should be one of the next dimensions we should look to add in the offseason.

[spectre]

I'd seen a little of Ellington and knew he could hit an outside shot...but I had no idea he'd look as good as he has.

Maybe if we'd have traded back with Chicago he might have been a target?

James Johnson, Ellington, UPS. That'd have been a stellar draft. Granted JJ probably would be getting as much burn as Hendo right now, but I bet Ellington would be seeing the court.

Oh well. Past is past. File that one with all the rest of the "shoulda, woulda, coulda" moves.

On a positive note...we have a much fuller roster going into next season than we did last year. Maybe we can make a few small moves and fill those remaining holes. This year has been great, but I think next will be even better.

[SWedd523]

On a positive note...we have a much fuller roster going into next season than we did last year. Maybe we can make a few small moves and fill those remaining holes. This year has been great, but I think next will be even better.

Nothing like being a real NBA team huh? I love only having a few "holes" to fill where we're weak and not massive craters like an offensive threat, athletic big man, competent PG. This is an amazing feeling

[Slam]

I'd seen a little of Ellington and knew he could hit an outside shot...but I had no idea he'd look as good as he has.

Same here. I saw some good things against the Spartans (he made some really nice drives off the dribble and used his length with some seriously pretty finger rolls) but his shot is really, really nice.

SWedd was all over him pre-draft though. He talked him up a lot.

Maybe we could target one of your other love children SWedd and try and get our hands on Meeks?

On a positive note...we have a much fuller roster going into next season than we did last year. Maybe we can make a few small moves and fill those remaining holes. This year has been great, but I think next will be even better.

Couldn't agree more. I no longer puke in my mouth any time our starters come out. We actually have a bench!!

Like MJ said, they haven't even been together a year yet. Let's give them one more year to see what we got!

[SWedd523]

Definitely. There really aren't many other concerns we need to address with the teams personnel. Our biggest obstacles are, of course, resigning Felts and/or Tyrus. I think a little tinkering here and there can really bring out the best in our guys. A legit outside threat and that Flip spark off the bench are really the only things I see us needing to shore up in the offseason.