Quote Originally Posted by TheBeagle
Damn fun game to be at tonight!! Went from moaning and groaning, to mosoleum-like silence after getting down by even more after the half. I was seriously contemplating my exit strategy after the 3rd.....BUT something happened; something I've never seen from a Bobcats team before (yes, we've played scrappy "Bernie Ball" before, but now we have confidence and TALENT.) They started to chip away at the lead slowly but surely, then as we got below the 'teens, we fans started to actually have some hope that we could win this game. GW attacking like mad, Matty drilling 3s, GW hounding the offensive boards, JRich hitting 3s, forcing turnovers, blocking shots, just pestering the everloving crud out of the Magic, and before you knew it we were in the lead, the crowd was rockin', we made our FTs.....WE CLOSED OUT A GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unbelievable!!!

Kudos to everybody on the 2nd level, where I sat tonight (and am really starting to love the guys up there!). They started an impromptu "DE-FENSE" chant without any cue from the loud-mouthed PA guy, it took hold and the majority of the arena was chanting it, and lo and behold if we didn't force a shot clock violation. It's like the players heard the gathering storm leading them on, and just stuck it to the Magic! I was giving 5 to people whom I had never seen before!

All that, and I got my GW authentic jersey, to boot!

Taking into account all these things, this was the best Bobcats game I've ever attended. (As if y'all couldn't tell!)
Now that's what I'm talking about!

Beagle, I was about to come on here and post my experience at the Arena last night, but you said it all to a T. I was in 218. High-5s abounded with people I didn't know. Loved the D-Fence chant that people got going (noticed the lady cats picked it up too!)

The first half was a struggle to watch, though. Waaayyy too much McInnis. Everytime I saw someone approach the scorer's table, I thought "okay, finally! Sam's gonna take Jeff out now." But he didn't. I was so frustrated that I waited for a moment of crowd silence (didn't have to wait long at this point) and yelled "Why is McInnis still playing?" as loud as I could. Jeff subsequently went down the court and shot a runner that hit the front/side of the rim and we did not get the rebound. Shortly thereafter, he was pulled. I'm telling myself I had a hand in reminding Sammy that Jeff was still on the floor! Makes me feel important.

Come the 3rd, though, something changed. On top of the lack of McInnis, we just looked smoother out there. It was beautiful. Went from one of the worst games I'd seen to one of the best.

Definitely made the drive down to Charlotte and back here to Raleighwood last night well worth it. "Winter Storm" be damned. I still managed to get back to my house by 12:15am!

For those that didn't get to witness the team's sudden "eruption" last night, then I feel for you, because it was sweet. Oh, and some extra thanks to Matty C for hitting some long 2s that put us back in the hunt. He is critical as our "unsung hero" in most games.

Let's see what we can do in NOLA.