Feelings towards the Bobcats

[ND22]

I meant in reference to last year and many over there still think the Raptors have a shot at the playoffs (an idea i do not share, and kinda wish they would take a leaf out of the Bobcats book in reguard to starting over). In terms of performance, ive watched the last game the Bobcats played and id rather watch that than a load of 'vets' take stupid shots and keep the rookies on the bench.

As for being able to watch it, im in the UK and we finally got live NBA matches last month (a whole 1 a week, with the occasional double) on a sunday. Problem is its Miami @ team A, Lakers @ Team B, with the occasional Clippers and Knicks, but i download the games the next day and watch them in pretty darn good quality on the TV via the PC.

I kinda like the Bobcats name though. New and fresh team with a fresh name. i look back with the old rose tinted glasses on at the Hornets, but now i just think of New Orleans, so thats a bit meh to me.

Understandable. And TV games in the UK are similar to how they are in the US. We may get 4-5 national games a week, but like in the UK it is typically the big market teams.

I'm curious, how popular is the NBA getting in the UK? Is it similar to how the Premier League is growing in the US? For instance I got into EPL 2 years ago after previously never watching soccer (football) outside of the World Cup, and now I am completely hooked. Is it attracting a lot of new fans that were previously unfamiliar with the game?

[QC Thundercats]

Seeing as im new to the site, to the Bobcats and the ability to pay attention to the NBA, i was wondering what you guys actually though about the team, the franchise and everything else Bobcats related.

Be nice to hear it from you guys than reading it in the media, might give me a better insight

Hey Pizzy, welcome to our crazy planet of cats. To best relay my thoughts on the team, here's my dissertation on being a fan:

http://bobcatsplanet.com/wp/being-a-...te-bobcats-fan

Semi lengthy, but if you have a boring job or class, it will get you right through the day. I tried to capture the essence of why we all torture ourselves on a nightly basis to pull for the team. Hope this helps you understand better!

[Pizzy]

Well, i dont know many people who will watch it, but the Knicks game in london last month sold out in less than 3 minutes. Also, Sky Sports say the viewing figures are about 3 or 4 times higher than they thought they would be, which with Sky, generally means they will put more of it on. (Believe me, when Sky want access to a sport, they get it no matter the cost). So im guessing its pretty high.

As for the EPL, well if you watch that you may know the team i support Stoke City. The EPL is a corrupt mess, money buys titles in football, and the EPL is the worst. Totally wipes out competition. Stoke are a joke. They are so boring and frustrating to watch i have stopped watching them. I had a season ticket for 12 years, but gave it up because i cant take anymore of them. You may think thats a bit silly, but i prefered watching them when they were almost in the bottom tier of football (basically division 3 out of 4 decided by promotion and relegation of teams for those unaware).

And cool tcats, will give that a read when the kiddies go bed

[David Stern]

The Bobcats? I'm actually a big fan!

[Felton for Prez]

The Bobcats? I'm actually a big fan!

But not big enough for us to win the lottery?

[ohara831]

Welcome to the Board Pizzy! Glad to have you here. Things are looking up now that Cho is in charge. We have some young talent, and will add another this coming draft. Slowly but surely, we will get there.

[BrotherDave]

Well, i dont know many people who will watch it, but the Knicks game in london last month sold out in less than 3 minutes. Also, Sky Sports say the viewing figures are about 3 or 4 times higher than they thought they would be, which with Sky, generally means they will put more of it on. (Believe me, when Sky want access to a sport, they get it no matter the cost). So im guessing its pretty high.

As for the EPL, well if you watch that you may know the team i support Stoke City. The EPL is a corrupt mess, money buys titles in football, and the EPL is the worst. Totally wipes out competition. Stoke are a joke. They are so boring and frustrating to watch i have stopped watching them. I had a season ticket for 12 years, but gave it up because i cant take anymore of them. You may think thats a bit silly, but i prefered watching them when they were almost in the bottom tier of football (basically division 3 out of 4 decided by promotion and relegation of teams for those unaware).

And cool tcats, will give that a read when the kiddies go bed

The NBA isn't much better but with the new CBA it should be. Still, the teams willing to pay the luxury tax are going to have an advantage all the same. I love EPL, I've been watching Liverpool since the Rafa Benitez glory days. I absolutely hate it when they play Stoke b/c Stoke out-rugby's us, lol. Stoke is the EPL equivalent of a treadmill team, which is what MJ quickly abandoned with the Bobcats after the Larry Brown "Chase the 8th seed" era was painfully obviously never going to get us a championship.

MJ has been a really good owner actually. Better tv deal, more sponsors, better relationship with fans and STH's. A lot of fans in the Carolinas are terribly casual and ignorant. They're used to UNC and Duke being dominant and don't understand why the Bobcats aren't. They don't understand the rebuilding process and are too impatient. But we're doing pretty good in my opinion, here's how I see things:

We're only in year two of the rebuild. The Good: Kemba and Biz were really good draft picks and the FO did a good job of tanking and blowing up the team to be able to draft those guys. The lockout shortened season was a great time to draft a project like Biz and be horrible so good timing on their part. The Bad: Despite being horrible, we were dealt some bad luck in the lottery by getting the 2nd pick and missing out on franchise player Anthony Davis. The Ugly: We ended up drafting MKG when we probably should have drafted Andre Drummond. Would have franchise players set for PG and C, the hardest positions to fill but hindsight is 20/20. MKG looks like he could be a real player and Jeffery Taylor was a great 2nd rd pick.

Currently we have Kemba looking like something special, Biz is positively ahead of his learning curve and can be something next year or the year after. MKG is a project as well but is a competent jumpshot away from being seriously good. We're well on pace to get a top 4 pick again like we're supposed to, thanks to tankmaster Coach Dunlap. Should add a very good piece in that draft, then be reasonably in the running for a top 4 pick again in 2014 which is a much deeper draft. We should be able to cash in big time in 2014 with our pick, the Portland pick and the Detroit pick, using any combination of them to land a legitimately great player. We also have lots of cap room to sign FAs and get assets through trades. After 2014 is when the training wheels come off and the Bobcats/Hornets finally start climbing towards respectability and onward.

[SJackson1]

big fan and always will be !

[ND22]

Well, i dont know many people who will watch it, but the Knicks game in london last month sold out in less than 3 minutes. Also, Sky Sports say the viewing figures are about 3 or 4 times higher than they thought they would be, which with Sky, generally means they will put more of it on. (Believe me, when Sky want access to a sport, they get it no matter the cost). So im guessing its pretty high.

As for the EPL, well if you watch that you may know the team i support Stoke City. The EPL is a corrupt mess, money buys titles in football, and the EPL is the worst. Totally wipes out competition. Stoke are a joke. They are so boring and frustrating to watch i have stopped watching them. I had a season ticket for 12 years, but gave it up because i cant take anymore of them. You may think thats a bit silly, but i prefered watching them when they were almost in the bottom tier of football (basically division 3 out of 4 decided by promotion and relegation of teams for those unaware).

And cool tcats, will give that a read when the kiddies go bed

Stoke fan huh? Would love to hear your thoughts on Geoff Cameron and Brek Shea (though Shea only has 1 game under his belt). I'm an Arsenal fan, which in terms of style are the anti-Stoke. I think the 8-seed comparison that Brother Dave made is very accurate.

But I digress. Its good to hear the game is growing in popularity overseas. Personally I would love to see the rest of the world continue to close the talent gap on the United States. The US will likely always be the powerhouse, but I think the NBA would benefit from more international players succeeding in the league.

[Pizzy]

Cameron (to me and a few others) has been excellent this season. Not world beating, but extremely consistent and very few mistakes which is what our team is all about. Shea, well the problem with him is our manager. I watched his debut, and you could tell he needed to get fitter, sharper and used to the english game, but our manager is not a fan of things like that, in his opinion you need to spend 2-3years as a youngster being pissed about before he just sells you anyway. Ive heard really good things about Brek, i just hope our manager doesnt ruin his career like so many other youngsters.

As for British Basketball, we very well may have made a step up or two in the near future, but our vile goverment have decided to cut ALL funding to our teams and players. However, apparantly according to the news, the NBA are going to start funding some schools to get youngsters playing for the very reason you mentioned