Analyzing Bobcats Front Office (FO)

[Veteran_Picksetter]

I watched Higgins and Cho in the press conference last night. I watched Dunlap in the interview on espn's draft program.

They kept talking about how MKG fits positional need. They kept talking about how he fits the system they want to implement. They kept talking about his intangibles, the fact he's a winner, leader, etc. (I don't recall if those were the exact words. But that was the gist.)

Does anyone here think that the Bobcats got a little too caught up in making the second pick in the draft "fit" with the worst team in the nba??

Does anyone here think that the quality of our draft selection should have been more important than whatever "system" our current, unproven coach is trying to implement? Dunlap could be gone in a year for all we know. There's not yet much proof he can handle nba egos as a head coach.

MKG will be way better than DJ Augustin, but this reminds me of when LB ordered drafting DJA instead of Brook Lopez because LB is so caught up in coaching/riding PG's and we needed a second PG on the roster at the time, while not needing a center(Brook Lopez) so much.

See how that worked out.

Did we lose sight of the big picture here??

[BETCATS]

I was working last night but when I saw on my phone we took MKG I was a little confused. But the more I thought about it the more it made sense. We made a big investment in Tyrus. I said multiple times last season that this would be the make or break year for him. He gained weight back and has had more time to rehab, so I think choosing Thomas Robinson would start a conflict. We wouldn't have enough minutes for both T-Rob and Tyrus to develop properly. Even though I think T-Rob will be a superior player, it makes more sense to stick with what we have. Both of them seem like Dunlap type of guys. Tyrus hustles harder then most players do and all this talk of him falling off/the low impact he made last season probably will give him some good motivation. We obviously don't need Beal after the Ben Gordon trade. MKG was the best fit. We all know his strengths. Our defense is going to be outstanding with him and Hendo on the outside + Bismack and Tyrus holding down the paint. The big criticism of his game is the fact he didn't shoot a lot in college. But he has a good shooting form, I trust he'll improve enough to make us forget we were judging him for it in a few years.

We still need to resolve the point guard situation and get a veteran presence for our locker room. I want Jamison to come in. Hopefully he can teach MKG a thing or two. We have the whole summer for that.

I also want to add that I don't appreciate the way people with a contrary opinion are treated around here. "Oh. You are against Cho? Haha you aren't a real fan!" If the only people who have been "real fans" since this team was created made up the fan base, it'd be the 6 of us on here (I did not have an account but have supported this team since Bob Johnson and David Stern gave it to us). As our fan base grows, I'm guessing it'd be natural for the amount of different opinions to grow too. When someone with 1,000+ posts tells a person with 3 posts that their opinion is invalid because it is different, that person with 3 posts probably won't want to come back for more. That's why I dont come here as much anymore.
And I know you all really miss me

TLDR - Yay Cho, go Bobcats, and stop being such bullies to the n00bz!

[SWedd523]

Your opinion is invalid

[JohnnyTimmons]

I love this sentiment and post, we need more like it.
I know Thomas is hated around here, and trust me I have thrown something at a cat while watching him play. However, we do have multiple years and dollar dollar bills (yo) tied up into a long, multi-tooled, once highly regarded prospect in Tyrus Thomas. And like it or not, we owe it to him and ourselves to give him as many chances as we can. (If we can't unload him easily.)
So yes, great move and I like that we are going to try again to develop Thomas. I still think he can't be as bad as he looked last year, and should go to the summer league along with MKG and Biyombo and maybe even Kemba.


Also you said in your post that MKG "But he has a good shooting form..." -- It is my understanding that the concerns of most was that he specifically DID NOT have a good shooting form. Have I heard wrong? Because if his form is also good that makes the pick more of a steal considering I heard it was his only real weakness.

[JohnnyTimmons]

Yes and No. While I don't think we went into the draft SOLELY looking for the BPA, I don't think we "dropped the ball." And of course its ridiculously early to tell without even a summer league game to look at.

A Davis was obviously the BPA, seems to me that 2-5 or so were on the same level, and it broke down to different players at different levels after that. It was, in the best possible way, a crapshoot between Beal, Gilchrist, Barnes, and Robinson who was the BPA. Beal is a great shooter but undersized, MKG top defender with good size/athleticism but with questionable offense, Barns no defense, Robinson questions about ceiling. Now, who knows who will be best player?
I think Gilchrist has just as much chance to be the best out of those 4 as the rest of them, but that mean like the lottery (as we all know too well) he probably will be second best or even third. That being said I don't think it will be by much.

Did I get sidetracked? Maybe. Point to all this is that there is BPA and there is BPA with multiple players that are so close it becomes a judgement call of who is evaluating, and what you need on the team. People are scared of picking for need because there is always the scare of missing something great, but when that greatness isn't obvious like A Davis, and the choices are close, I think it is absolutely alright to pick based on a number of factors.

Type of player and position of need would be hight up in my factors at that point.

[SWedd523]

You could easily argue that MKG is a bad fit considering he's primarily a defensive player. Fit would've been Barnes or Robinson and we didn't go that route. Under that assumption, it makes it seem more like he was considered the BPA.

[ND22]

Tyrus Thomas has been in the league seven years. His development period is pretty much over. His motivation (as Ballwhore told us earlier this year) is to give VIP passes to fans who were heckling him so he could beat them up in the hallway. Dunlap could easily break this guy if his psyche is in a similar spot. Gaining 20 pounds means nothing to me, he needs to show it on the court, and frankly I believe he won't.

I agree that MKG was a good choice, but he doesn't have a good shooting form. DX Express's video profile on him highlights this. Shooting form can be corrected though, but that doesn't mean he will automatically turn into Ray Allen. He will provide everything else though, I am excited for that.

[BETCATS]

Also you said in your post that MKG "But he has a good shooting form..." -- It is my understanding that the concerns of most was that he specifically DID NOT have a good shooting form. Have I heard wrong? Because if his form is also good that makes the pick more of a steal considering I heard it was his only real weakness.

That's what everyone says. I am just stating my opinion from the videos I saw of his workouts. The shot was going in consistantly. The mechanics are off but I think that can be worked on.

[BETCATS]

Tyrus Thomas has been in the league seven years. His development period is pretty much over. His motivation (as Ballwhore told us earlier this year) is to give VIP passes to fans who were heckling him so he could beat them up in the hallway. Dunlap could easily break this guy if his psyche is in a similar spot. Gaining 20 pounds means nothing to me, he needs to show it on the court, and frankly I believe he won't.

I'm not sure that's true. A lot of guys are late bloomers. Last year was a toxic situation overall. Yes, he can be a bit of a headcase at times in his responses to things, but I think that season brought out the worst in everyone. I don't expect him to act that way with the right coaching and winning: two things that both lead to less of the types of conflicts that Tyrus gets caught up in. His game relies so much on his athleticism and his strength. Gaining 20 pounds does mean something. He lost a lot of weight last year for some reason while he was rehabbing and didnt gain much back until now. We are paying him. His return value is lower than it should be. At the very least we should keep him until we know for sure: the either amnesty him, trade him, or continue on with him depending on the results.

[Scrapper1]

I dont think so. It seemed like Charlotte wanted him from the beginning and even though the mock drafts changed possible selections every 2 days, the Bobcats stuck with their man. It's time to get a winning culture in Charlotte.. great work ethic and desire to want to win games AND be here. Another thing, LB didnt make this selection..Augustine and Hendo are honestly part of the problem and this entire team needs a facelift,everyone is soft. MKG has a Kobe work ethic... and hes only 18! Kobe didnt have a Kobe work ethic at 18.

Regardless of who was selected at #2, someone would have had an issue with it. Can you imagine how good this guy will be at 21? He's not even done growing yet, he works relentlessly on his flaws.. i saw a training vid on him a bit after the draft lottery, he did nothing but ball handle and shoot jumpers.. missing none. During the draft combine, he was late because of a time miscommunication.. he was at another gym training for hours when they called and still rushed to the combine and knocked it out the park. When a player is on a team as talent stocked as Kentucky, you cant really get a clear look at all they can do. But when they get to the NBA on a team with less to work with.. they really show you. You cant teach desire..