Charlotte Bobcats: Young Team Making Young Mistakes
And we’re off! The NBA season is finally under way. Every team is at 0-0 and has high expectations for this season. The Bobcats are looking to continue improving. Let’s see how they did in week 1:
Wednesday: Houston Rockets 96, Charlotte Bobcats 83
MVP: Al Jefferson– 13 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks
LVP: Jeffery Taylor-5 points in 28 minutes
Key Stat: 40–the combined rebound total between Dwight Howard and Omer Asik
Zeller Watch: 2 points, 4 rebounds on 1 for 6 shooting
Summary: The Bobcats played hard against the new looked Houston Rockets, but in reality they were severely overmatched. As expected, Howard and Asik’s size caused matchup problems, as they recorded 26 and 14 rebounds, respectively. The bright side? The Cats played smart basketball. They recorded only seven turnovers while dishing out 14 assists. They also caused a lot of havoc on the defensive end, forcing 18 turnovers. I don’t like using the term “moral victory” but I do think it fits the case here. The Cats looked like a respectable NBA team for the first time in a long time.
Dwight Howard was just too much to handle (NBA.com photo)
Friday: Charlotte Bobcats 90, Cleveland Cavaliers 84
MVP: Ramon Sessions– 23 points and 7 assists
LVP: Josh McRoberts– 0 points in 29 minutes
Key Stat: 21–the number of assists the Bobcats had.
Zeller Watch: 9 points, 5 rebounds on 4 for 9 shooting
Summary: This was a marquee matchup between young point guards Kemba Walker and Kyrie Irving. The former UConn star not only won the point guard matchup, but he also was able to help the Bobcats win their first game of the season. The Bobcats were able to limit the All-Star point guard to 17 points on 17 shots. Rookie Cody Zeller rebounded from a poor debut and was able to out play No. 1 draft pick Anthony Bennett. The Cats displayed better ball movement in this game, as evident by their 21 assists. This was a big win against a comparable team.
Saturday: New Orleans Pelicans 105, Charlotte Bobcats 84
MVP: Ramon Sessions- 22 points and 6 assists
LVP: Bismack Biyombo– 0 points and 6 rebounds in 26 minutes
Key Stat: 15–the Bobcats had 15 missed free throws
Zeller Watch: 4 points in 10 minutes
Summary: This game was a tease to Bobcats nation. After having the worst record in the NBA two years ago, Charlotte was hoping to land the No. 1 pick in the 2012 NBA draft and thus select Anthony Davis. Well, fast forward 18 months and the Bobcats ended up with the No. 2 pick and a game against the former Kentucky Wildcat. Boy, did Davis let it be known to what Charlotte missed out on. He recorded his best NBA game to date; scoring 25 points, grabbing eight rebounds, dishing out four assists, blocking six shots and stealing six balls. The Bobcats on the other hand struggled, as it was their second game of a back-to-back.
The Bobcats missed 15 free throws on Saturday night. Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com
Next Week: The Bobcats play the Knicks on Tuesday and Friday with a game against the Toronto Raptors in the middle.
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