Bobcats Scouting Analysis

[rallydurham]

I apologize if this has been already posted I searched the first three pages and didn't see it. I've been out of town for a week and can't possibly read every new post on the board.

The analysis is a little painful to read as a Bobcats fan but its pretty spot on unfortunately... bad drafts have doomed this team so far

"An opposing team's scout sizes up the Bobcats

This team has too many unknowns. They have an unknown coach in Sam Vincent -- and I mean really unknown. He coached one year as an NBA assistant last season with Dallas. I can't imagine they're going to be good enough to make the playoffs because none of the teams that made the playoffs in the East last year have suffered significant drops in talent, while Boston is a lottery team that got significantly better ...

This is going to be either a really good or really bad experiment with Sam. I'm not opposed to taking a chance on new people rather than recycling your head coach from the same group of candidates. But when you take a chance on somebody who is a complete unknown, it had better work out. The Jump Man [minority owner Michael Jordan] himself has not had great success being a leader of a team other than when he was on the floor ...

So why hire Vincent? I don't know if it was because of finances, or if Michael thought Vincent was somebody he could manipulate -- which would be very interesting if true, if Michael was effectively overseeing the team from up in the skybox. I know nothing about Sam. But there has to be some substance to the guy, because for a former NBA player to go overseas (to Africa and Europe) to coach men and women for a decade, that's something you don't do unless you really want to accomplish something ...

There are so many weaknesses on this team, starting with Raymond Felton, who I think should be a backup in the league. I don't think he's good enough -- a little too offensive-minded, a little slow. I know he was regarded as a fast player when he came out of North Carolina, but when I watch him I don't see him making enough plays, and he looks on the slow side. He's more of a power player than a speed player, somebody who is stronger than he is fast. He uses his body, he gets inside, but then he doesn't get to the rim as much as he pulls up. He loves to pull up for jumpers. Look, I understand it's hard to argue with a guy who averaged 14 points and seven assists, but my gut feeling is that if he's your starting point guard, then you have a below-average team. But if he's your backup, then you've got a high-level team ...

I would think they're going to miss Brevin Knight as their backup point. He was more of a vocal leader on that team, and also he was a little more dangerous. When you see Felton shooting 40.7 percent from inside the three-point line and 33 percent outside it, that kind of inconsistency tends to invite the defense to collapse and make you earn your points. Brevin was more dangerous in transition and in the pick-and-roll, where he could get to the rim every single time. Taking a veteran off a young team with very little leadership will hurt on a day-to-day basis, though it's also fair to say that Brevin's absence could force those other guys to grow over the long term by forcing more responsibility on them ...

Jeff McInnis is going to be their backup. He's a Charlotte native, which always seems to be important to this franchise. He doesn't have the greatest reputation. But they must be OK with him after spending [four] months with him last season [after acquiring him from New Jersey]. He competes, he plays hard and he challenges people. If you want to be a tough team, you've got to have people like that, though again you have to be worried about a guy who's been on a lot of different teams like he has ...

It will be interesting to see what kind of style they play for Vincent. They were in a lot of games the last few years. There wasn't a lot of flash on that roster and they had to grind it out playing the Bernie Bickerstaff way, which was to never let them off the hook. He coached them the same when they were up 20 or down 20. Bernie's defensive style was that you'd better defend your own man. Because they knew they had Emeka Okafor back there protecting the rim, it allowed some of them to get a little careless defensively on the perimeter. It's funny how few defenders actually take advantage of having a good shot blocker behind them ...

I don't know if they're talented enough to play a faster style. Did Bernie hold them back or did he get the most out of them? I think the latter is true. I'm sure Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson will want to play fast, but Emeka Okafor, Primoz Brezec and Matt Carroll aren't transition players. If you look at their roster as a whole, it has no single identity ...

Look at the problems they're having marketing that team in Charlotte. I don't think you can market a city like that to hip-hop, because the tickets are being bought by corporations and families. But they also screwed up their own TV network, and then they couldn't get the right cable package to televise their games. So they didn't exactly get off to a good start reintroducing themselves to the fans there after taking over from the Hornets ...

Now it looks like they're trying to win over the fans by finally spending the money to bring in Jason Richardson as a legitimate NBA scorer. But can he carry a franchise in that way? He's never been an All-Star. But there's no doubting that he's an upgrade for a team that has never had a consistent scorer and shooter. Richardson has changed his game a great deal in six years. He used to be nothing more than a slasher and a transition two-footed-jumping dunker. He's become a three-point shooter and a very quick-shooting perimeter player who can score off the dribble and off catch-and-shoot. He's not afraid of taking the big shots, which was another thing they needed desperately. A lot of times it was like a hot potato around that place at the ends of games because they basically had four or five guys who were all average or above-average players, which meant no one knew who should be trying to win the game. At least now Richardson will be that designated guy, though he's going to find that it's harder to get open looks now that he has fewer weapons around him in Charlotte than he had in Oakland ...

The biggest disappointment on the team has to be Adam Morrison [who is expected to miss the season with a torn knee ligament]. The game looked too fast for him as a rookie last year. The thing I hear -- and this really surprises me -- is that he doesn't work enough on his game, that he puts in the effort during practices, but when practice is over, he's gone and he does not put the extra work into his game. He was really, really struggling to get shots last year. I think he needs to be the kick-out guy, where you reverse the ball to him and give him a chance to set his feet before shooting. He cannot put the ball on the floor: He's a charge or turnover waiting to happen. He may eventually have to find his niche as a pick-and-pop player, or he may even have to bulk up and move to power forward someday, which I know sounds crazy. But it's hard for me to envision him learning to put the ball on the floor because everybody else in the league looks so much quicker and stronger. He has a long way to go ...

Another guy I bet they were worrying about -- even before he was lost for the year with microfracture knee surgery -- was Sean May. I wonder how much he really loves the game. Maybe the worst thing to happen to him was staying in North Carolina, because there he'll always be the Tar Heel. It might have been beneficial for him to get out of there and have to prove himself all over with a new team that didn't care so much what he did back in college. He always has weight issues ...

But Wallace is a bright spot for them, a fringe player who has become a day-in, day-out contributor and probably the best player on their team. Look at the variety of options he creates: He can score in transition, shoot the three, post up in the block, slice to the basket off the dribble. It's shocking to see how complete his game has become. He competes, and he's more prideful than I would have imagined him being as a raw athlete coming early out of college. He blocks shots, he gets to the free throw line. While he isn't a pure three-point shooter, it's another phase of his game that you have to deal with. Plus, he produces steals as a very good defender with good length and size. Sometimes he doesn't make good decisions, and he will cheat, which can lead to some breakdowns. But athletically he is disruptive ...

Okafor is going to be a solid NBA player -- and I mean solid, nothing special. He has some limitations, and yet he gets the most out of his game every night as a defensive presence, a shot blocker and a rebounder. He's an adequate low-post scorer, and I don't see him getting a great deal better offensively. I see him playing at this level the next 10 years. And that's no knock: What's wrong with a guy hitting a double-double every single night? He's getting everything out of himself that he can. But he just doesn't have the scoring mentality, and the proof is that his team doesn't go to him a lot down there because they know what he can and can't do ...

Walter Herrmann came on at the end of the year because I think they realized he's a guy who has to play minutes and work himself into the game. You can't just put him into the game and get instant offense from him. But overall I see him as a marginal NBA player who doesn't have enough variety to his game ...

Carroll was another resurrection, coming up from the D-League. He's a very good catch-and-shoot guy. You can shut him down with lot of attention, but if you forget about him, he can hurt you ...

The bottom line is that I don't see them going anywhere unless Sam Vincent has one of those magical first-year coaching things where he comes up with an unorthodox approach that catches everybody by surprise. Otherwise they're still going to be a team of young players that doesn't have a lot of upside. "

[spectre]

There are so many weaknesses on this team, starting with Raymond Felton, who I think should be a backup in the league. I don't think he's good enough -- a little too offensive-minded, a little slow. I know he was regarded as a fast player when he came out of North Carolina, but when I watch him I don't see him making enough plays, and he looks on the slow side. He's more of a power player than a speed player, somebody who is stronger than he is fast. He uses his body, he gets inside, but then he doesn't get to the rim as much as he pulls up. He loves to pull up for jumpers. Look, I understand it's hard to argue with a guy who averaged 14 points and seven assists, but my gut feeling is that if he's your starting point guard, then you have a below-average team. But if he's your backup, then you've got a high-level team ...

My God...

Felton is slow and always pulls up for midrange shots.  Is this guy talking about another team  He NEVER pulls up for midrange shots on the drive...he always goes into the paint and attempts (usually ill advised) the layup against superior numbers.

And to call him slow...well, that's just pathetic.

Jeff McInnis is going to be their backup. He's a Charlotte native, which always seems to be important to this franchise. He doesn't have the greatest reputation. But they must be OK with him after spending [four] months with him last season [after acquiring him from New Jersey]. He competes, he plays hard and he challenges people. If you want to be a tough team, you've got to have people like that, though again you have to be worried about a guy who's been on a lot of different teams like he has ...

Wow, what a steal we got in Touche'!!!

I think this guy whoever he is has confused our team with another.  He has some points, but nothing that Bonnell hasn't beaten flat to death.