The issue is our front office lack of talent/brains

[ohara831]

I wanted to look at how our front ofice has done over the 4 drafts, look at hits and misses, and then evaluate. I think the problem we have is systemic: our front office people are poor evaluators of talent.

2004: A weak draft. We picked 2nd and took Okafor after Orlando took "the man child". I cannot fault that pick, I do not think we missed out on anyone else.

2005. We took Ray with 5th and May with 13th. Since we just missed out on Williams and Paul, I think I'm OK with Ray at 5th - I'm warming up to him. But, May was a disaster. You do not pick Pro players just because you think they will draw some people due to where they played!! You pick the guy who can be best, and help you win. Winning draws people to the game. I was screaming for Danny Granger, who slipped to us at 13th but we passed. He fell to 17th. A solid 18 pt 6 reb / game guy. We would have had no issue w/ the 4 spot.

2006: We take Morrison 3rd. How many of us were saying "forget the marketability matter, go for the best Player". I was a Rudy Gay man, but also liked Brandon Roy. I know many of you were the same. Ammo's numbers, we all know. Gay:18 pts 5 reb Roy: 18.5 pts and 3.5 reb / game. Enough said.

2007: We have 8th and 22nd. We trade Wright at 8th for J-Rich and draft Dudley at 22. I like Dudley at 22. But I have a feeling we missed out on Sean Williams. People were worried about his attitude, but he is only a Rookie, plays 20 min/ game and is already at 8.5 pts and 4.5 reb / game. He is going to be a solid Pro. I am unsure of what Wright will become, but I sure think Williams is going to be good.

Bottom line: We are barely shooting 50% on our picks, and these were all pretty good areas in which to pick. The problem is our front office evaluators or talent. They want to stay with college players they think people will want to see just b/c of where they went to school. WRONG STUPIDS!! People want the best players! Outr people make poor decisions, and that is what has cost us in the drafts and has us in this predicament.

The cure: I really beleive that we the fans are quite smart. We watch the college game, we know who is good, who is a bust-risk, and we discuss it on the Board. Management tends to overthink matters, and they blow it. they should have someone monitor BobcatsPlanet, look at what we are all saying, how we feel, etc... Take our pulse and see what our eyes are seeing. Listen to us for one, and we will not lead you astray MJ! Oh, and in this draft, don't even think about Tyler Hansbrough - stay away! Cannot run the floor at the Pro level. He has heart, but cannot run the floor at this level.

[walkerl]

Hindsight is 20/20, It's easy to complain about picks 2 or 3 years later. But it is impossible to know which players will pan out and which will be bust. And please don't give me that "drafting local boys crap" . Of the first 20 players picked 6 in the 2005 draft were from NC schools, thats about 1 our of every 4!!
The 2006 draft is too early to judge, with Ammo missing the entire year.
And the Bobcats, could not draft Sean Williams, the "holier than thou" people of Charlotte would have killed the team for adding another thug to the "Blackcats" . I would have loved to have sean, but I understand why they didn't.

Also It amazes me that some people act like every other GM always gets it right, There have been thousands of bad picks in the NBA...Herald Miner, JR Rider, Sam Bowie,etc, etc. Usually, unless your are picking 1st or 2nd. the draft is a crap shoot.

You are complaining like this is a 40 year franchise. If you gamble and win 50% of the time, you are doing pretty good!!

[ohara831]

When you watch the Drafts, and I assume you do as do I, listen to what is being said by the analysts. They usually have fairly good insight and speak with several GM's from several teams. We have had some very high picks, and we are not making such good decisions. Everyone on this Board gave Stephen A. Smith pure HELL for his comments at the last draft. So far, he is being proven to be fairly accurate on the J-Rich issue, never mind the Wright part cause it's too early to tell. But, we are getting far less from J-Rich than we all thought.

And yes, there is a great deal of criticism due the franchise for thinking they should take a UNC product over someone far better, thinking that it would draw the people to the games. That was clearly what they did, and it was STUPID. I don't care where the heck the person played colege ball or HS ball or what Country he was born in,his religion or his sexual preferences. All I care about is CAN HE PLAY HOOPS. They have blown some high picks, and they cannot afford to keep doing so or they will continue to struggle at the Box Office.

As far as getting a Star player, yes they need one. We were 6-4 and in 2nd in the Division and still drawing around 11,000 to the game. The only Sellout was Boston, and people may have cheered for the Cats but they came to SEE Boston. They want to see a Star, and that is why Charlotte needs to try and acquire another Lottery pick. With 2, given how we are doing and how Atlanta is likely to fair this season, we have a very good chance of getting one if not 2 big time players who will draw the crowds.

[123together]

it is very easy to repick the draft after they have already happened. while i was hoping for r. gay in the 2006 draft, morrison is not a bad choice. kevin durant's FG% and lack of rebounds are close to what morrison did last year. no one would pass up KD. sean williams wasn't available this year when we were picking, but he has been good. the may pick was bad, and i also wanted granger or gerald green, however, granger has been productive for 1/8th of a season so far and green is trying to put his game together still. we defintely didn't miss out on anyone that big

[dnbman]

If May is healthy, he's a fantastic pick. He's easily produced more per game than anyone else picked after him or five slots ahead of him. Granger's great, but he also had a health issue (knee?) that made a lot of teams wonder about him. That's why he took a 10 pick slide from what most mocks were predicting. When May's been healthy, he's been pretty good. The problem has been keeping him healthy. It's tough to predict something like that.

As for Morrison, he was the ultimate high risk/high reward pick. He was discussed anywhere in the top 6 in the months leading up to the draft. Yeah, there were serious question marks about him, but there were also questions about everyone else in that draft. We needed scoring. He was the best scorer, clearly, in college. At times he looked like he found his game at the pro level, but most of the time he didn't. That still doesn't mean he can't get it together.

I think our front office has messed up a few times, most notably by not getting Kurt Thomas and Phoenix's picks. But overall, I like what they're doing. We've had two season ending injuries to basically a starter and our 6th man.

I'll put it like this: they may not be the greatest front office in the NBA, but I like they're thinking far better than most NBA teams. We've got solid citizens, good talent, and a lot of different pieces. We just have to figure out how to make them work together effectively (and stay healthy!).

[bizzlecatz]

Dnb, I agree we missed out on Thomas, Hunter, Blanche (sp), and Stan Van Gundy.

Why can't we use the talent we have? Dudley is a smart player,High BB IQ. Why not plug him in at PF, and Mek at center. Hell if J-Rich keeps being J-Brick switch him with Hammer and let J-Rich be the 6th man.

For the love of God!

Can we just have a set rotation, Just maybe our players will understand their role, because it doesn't appear as if they do.

It seems as if their are just playing the game as best they can to win.

They look really sloppy most of the time, but I still believe they will make the playoffs this season on their talent alone. The east is just that bad.

[ReesieNCPantherCatfan1]

I agree with Joe Bananas here. We haven't been in the league long enough to accurately grade all our drafts. If may had been healthy he would have been considered a great pick at 13. Don't forget our one national tv game last year with orlando, he was a beast. Also I am not ready to give up on Ammo yet, and he was a number 3 pick in what was considered a weak draft, if HS players were allowed that year he probably would've went around 8-12. Even if he isn't a star when he comes back he is still a solid scorer off the bench, and he looked pretty good preseason, rededicated to defense. I think it is too soon to really evaluate our moves.
Also I feel like I am beating the Hansbrough drum, Ohara, but I think he will be the exception to the rule (the rule being that big american white guys don't do well in the pros of late) I know there are exceptions to this rule, but for every McHale or Bird (my alltime fav player) there are many more Scott Pollards/Mark Madsens/Nick Collisons who star in college and don't do much in the pros. I think thats why you want to stay away from him. Tyler is certainly no slow unathletic guy like eric montross was for unc, and if he and May had a race goal to goal my moneys on T. He didn't earn the nickname Psycho T for being lazy. I guess time will tell how good he will be, and I will eat crow if I am wrong, but I think its a good pick for us IF we were drafting in 15-20 range, not before.
P.S. I am not trying to open up a racial debate, I am just theroizing why many think Hansbrough will be a bust, and defending my stance on why I think he would be a good mid round pick for us.

[spectre]

So far, he is being proven to be fairly accurate on the J-Rich issue, never mind the Wright part cause it's too early to tell. But, we are getting far less from J-Rich than we all thought.

Steven A. Smith is still an idiot. JRich was by far our best player against Boston...he might have lost the game on that last play but he was also the guy who got us there in the first place. He's inconsistent as hell right now, but guess what? Our coach is inconsistent. Our PG is inconsistent. Jason Richardson was NEVER billed to be Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Joe Johnson or Kobe Bryant. He's a scorer and an average defender.

And yes, there is a great deal of criticism due the franchise for thinking they should take a UNC product over someone far better, thinking that it would draw the people to the games. That was clearly what they did, and it was STUPID.

I know people think that, but whoever was paying attention to that draft would know better. Bernie said himself that he wanted a small and a big with those two picks, and that was whoever dropped out of the PGs and whoever was left between Charlie Villaneuva and Sean May.

Bernie was going for position and not BPA. Bynum should have been his top choice IMO but both he and CV were gone by our 2nd pick...so May was the choice. College had NOTHING to do with it.

Besides, Felton would have accomplished as by himself.

I think our front office has messed up a few times, most notably by not getting Kurt Thomas and Phoenix's picks. But overall, I like what they're doing. We've had two season ending injuries to basically a starter and our 6th man.

Kurt Thomas would have been GREAT for us. Thing is we didn't have the capspace to get both Thomas & JRich.

The injuries hurt us, mostly because I think management rationalized that May would come back and play the season. A rumor came out that Jordan had a "talk" with May and got a promise that he'd rededicate himself to the game...so I took that as giving him another chance. Obviously that didn't work, so here we are weak as crap at the 4.

Did anyone notice DA getting some time at the end at PG? It wouldn't surprise to see something go down in regards to both a backup PG and another 4 in the near future.

[dnbman]

Spectre,

If we didn't have enough for Thomas's contract, it must have been only a couple of million different, which could have been handled by, say for instance, the expiring contract of Harrington, saving the Suns 8 million.

If it couldn't have happened, then it couldn't have happened. But, if I'm Charlotte, I'm doing everything I can to get those picks and the short term services of Thomas. He would have been the perfect guy to show Mek how to best operate against bigger NBA bigs.

[ohara831]

Spectre,

If we didn't have enough for Thomas's contract, it must have been only a couple of million different, which could have been handled by, say for instance, the expiring contract of Harrington, saving the Suns 8 million.

If it couldn't have happened, then it couldn't have happened. But, if I'm Charlotte, I'm doing everything I can to get those picks and the short term services of Thomas. He would have been the perfect guy to show Mek how to best operate against bigger NBA bigs.

__________________________________________________ _____

True my friend, very very true. If we can get the Phoenix pick of Atlanta's, that would be huge. And I think Kurt Thomas would be a great mentor to Jermareo Davidson as well.


Reesie:
With regard to Hansbrough, I just "feel" this is another Eric Montross. I trust my gut instincts on these matters, and I just get bad vibes. I watch him in college games, and you can see he is slow up the court. Imagine how that will translate to the NBA level. He will not get much PT in Charlotte if we are a running team. It will be a wasted pick. We would neet a Center or PF who can be athletic and run the court with he best of them. He is not that man.