Charlotte Bobcats @ Houston Rockets 2-22-09

[davcbow]

Well here we go again on the start of a 5 game road trip. I feel this road trip will either make us or break us and will show us how good the Bobcats really are. We will have to play much better than we did at home against Orlando friday night.

21Alexis Ajinca C
14D.J. Augustin G
19Raja Bell G
32Boris Diaw F-C
7DeSagana Diop C
20Raymond Felton G
5Juwan Howard F
1Cartier Martin F
42Sean May F
6Nazr Mohammed C
50Emeka Okafor C-F
10Vladimir Radmanovic F
44Sean Singletary G
3Gerald Wallace F

Houston Rockets:
96Ron Artest F
17Brent Barry G
31Shane Battier F
0Aaron Brooks G
43Brian Cook F
15Joey Dorsey F
44Chuck Hayes F
2Luther Head G
14Carl Landry F
7Kyle Lowry G
1Tracy McGrady G
55Dikembe Mutombo C
4Luis Scola F-C
3Von Wafer G
11Yao Ming C

[WarioVsMooChicken]

I think Ajinca needs to go aganist Yao and move Okafor to the 4.

[Robertpel9]

I am looking forward to see how they play toda. I was at the game friday and it was very frustrating to watch, we just played terribly.

I think it is going to take the coaching staff some time to figure out how to best use our now deep team that lacks a true star. I love th team we have and it is WAY different than the team of 2-3 months ago. We have done 2 things in three months

1) gottena decent starting 5 to put on the court

then

2) created depth and have a bench that should amtch up well with most of the teams int he league

Now what we still lack is a real start player. I love Wallace jus tlike the rest of us but he is a 7/10 player at best. Raja is too streaky, same with Felton, Okafor is really a PF playing C and Diaw is very good at a lot of things but not a star. DJ is a money shooter but LB is not giving him minutes and Vlad is a strong 6th man.

Real playoff contenders have to have a player that truly can put the team on his back when needed and make it happen and we just dont have that. It will be an interesting season next year, i think this year is all about developing the squad we have and i enjoy watching the games for that. I have given up on the playoffs, we just are not ready yet.

Havng said that i hope we run the table on this trips. I think a good performance will be going at least 3-2

[WarioVsMooChicken]

You can win a championship without a star. I don't see why everyone thinks otherwise

[Ghost Kat]

I have no idea with the Cats. Some games they come ready to play...then there gmes like that last Orlando when they looked flat from the start. I want to see LB use his bench more... we have a nice boost finally

[Muttley]

With the way Coach Brown probably laid into the team after Friday's loss, I think the way we play this game will be very telling.

If the team plays well, then I think that means lots of good things on this road trip.

If the team responds poorly to having their asses chewed-out, then I can only see bad things for this road trip.

Either way, it's not totally about winning and losing, but playing the right way.

...I've feel like I've heard that somewhere before.

[Robertpel9]

You can win a championship without a star. I don't see why everyone thinks otherwise

I agree you can IF you are extremely well coached, te coachuses the rotation properly and you have a solid group of starters that are above average.

Look I love the cats as much as anyone here. Our lineup is so much better than it was 3 months ago it is amazing. Having said that we do not have above average at the key positions. Felton is average, Bell is a great defender and a streaky shooter but is aging and at the 2 spot average, Diaw I think is our all around best player due to his finesse and flexibility, Wallace brings his A game night in and night out and i feel is above average but not real star material and Okafor would be an amazing 4 (If he could get better hands which hopefully come with time) but putting him up against the best of the league at the C positon exposes his size issues. Vald is a great shooter and i love watching him play but he is not starting material. DJ may be well above average someday but the isue with minutes with felton still here will be a problem, i also worry about durability. Juwan howard is a nice pop off the bench but he is not spring chicken and the rest of the lineup is below par.

I think we will make the playoff next year rather easily. I do not think we will go deep into them without one more move. I like Bell a lot of we need a 2 that if not a star is at least above average to go with this group. I'm also not sure how we will fare with Okafor at Center if we want a championship. Hes a great talent but needs size.

Ther proof is in the pudding though not in our opinions, lets see how this road trip goes

GO CATS

PS - Make no mistake it is ALL about winning and losing, this is professional athletics at an elite level. Winners make plays, losers make excuses

[ziggy]

You're right Muttley, I think that we will undoubtedly see a stronger effort from the Bobcats today after LB chewed some lackadaisical ass following Friday night's game.

Here is the enemy's Game Thread --> ClutchFans

On a side note, Clutchfans is one of the largest independent forums that you'll find anywhere. The owner has been running the site for about 13 years and it has become ridiculously gianourmous.

[Muttley]

PS - Make no mistake it is ALL about winning and losing, this is professional athletics at an elite level. Winners make plays, losers make excuses

Okay, I'll agree with the last line, but to clarify my statement, it's all about winning and losing in the bigger picture and not just this one game this afternoon. For example, winners get chewed-out by LB and go 4-1 on this road trip. Even though there's one loss in there, 4-out-of-5 is a team of winners.

Losers get chewed-out by LB, pout, and then go 1-4.

[Muttley]

You're right Muttley, I think that we will undoubtedly see a stronger effort from the Bobcats today after LB chewed some lackadaisical ass following Friday night's game.

Here is the enemy's Game Thread --> ClutchFans

On a side note, Clutchfans is one of the largest independent forums that you'll find anywhere. The owner has been running the site for about 13 years and it has become ridiculously gianourmous.

Wow, that site is insanely huge. Their game thread is already on page 5 and going strong. Also, I noticed that their fans weren't entirely disrespectful to the Bobcats. I in no way expected that.