This topic contains 5 replies, has 6 voices, and was last updated by AvatarAvatar Hitster 11 years, 5 months ago.

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  • #43489
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    edseased
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    In 2006, Michael Jordan became part-owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. In 2010, he became majority-owner. Who would have thought MJ would hurt and cause the downfall of the latest expansion team?

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  • #716438
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    CodySLC
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    Its called rebuilding. The team that made the playoffs with Crash, Diaw, Jackson, etc would have never made it out of the first round. The Bobcat faithful will have to suffer for a couple years, but in the end it will be worth it. They have some nice young talent in Kemba Walker(who didnt shoot well but besides that played well), Bismack Biyombo who was 8th in the league in blocks as a rookie (1.8 bpg in only 23mpg), and the second pick MKG who is going to be a really good player. They are far from done building this team, but don’t throw Mike under the bus just yet.

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  • #716546
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    hooverball
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    Cody SLC is right they have some pieces in place. They will have a rough one this year, but the following year may be able to put together a team that will have a legitimate shot at the playoffs with huge upside for the future especially with adding another top draft pick.

    Not saying its likely, but if Josh Smith hits the FA market the Bobcats could amnesty either Diop of Thomas to create the extra space to make a run at him…Kidd-Gilchrist, Smith and Biyombo would make a scary athletic/defensive trio in the frontcourt…backcourt with 4 capable scorers to go with it (Sessions, Henderson, Gordon & Walker) and they would be in the thick of the playoff race in the East. The rotation would look something like this:

    Starters

    PG – Sessions

    SG – Henderson

    SF – Kidd-Gilchrist

    PF – Smith

    C – Biyombo

    Bench:

    Walker

    Gordon

    Muellens

    *****They would also have a high draft pick and a mid-level to fill the reserve forward role******

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  • #716551
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    omphalos
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     I’ve actually really come around to Henderson, he’s a lot more athletic and skilled than I gave him credit for, he’s just had a bad run with injury over the years, I can’t wait to see how Dunlap impacts the Bobcats this season.

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  • #716571
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    mcbailey
    Participant

    Let’s not give Jordan a pass, though. He drafted horribly for years, and fielded the worst team in league history last season. It’s a rebuilding project, sure, but they’ll only show progress this season because they have nowhere to go but up.

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  • #716585
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    Hitster
    Participant

    The Bobcats team under Larry Brown perhaps went as far as it could but as a business decision, I would not envisage MJ having said "lets rip it up now and suck for maybe 3 to 5 years and hope for better then". A play off team would generate more revenue than a bottom scrapper team unless they happened to draft that once every 10 year LeBron type player who could put bums back on seats from day one.

    MJ had an investment to protect and he has a huge amount of his wealth tied up in that team and he was such a winner as a player that I would think he’d hate to be associated with the worse team in NBA history. But once you go into rebuild it is hard to stop and if you try to speed it up you maybe give away good assets for a short term fix and then have to go back to plan one.

    None of us know how hands on MJ is with his Front Office and the Coaching Staff, I have not heard instances of him trying to coach for example but as an owner he’d have a right to sign off trades and certainly make or influence key appointments and his knowledge of the game would surely be used during drafts. The issue is that despite being the consensus greatest player of all time, doesn’t make you the greatest GM let alone coach ever.

    The one thing that has disappointed me about MJ’s time at Charlotte is that I’ve never heard of him actively trying to court major FA signings. Teams look to pull out the stops and I’m sure MJ would have access to all the top players with his contacts.

    Also I think that letting Larry Brown go was a huge mistake, we all know he doesn’t like to play rookies but surely MJ should have said to him, this is our future path coach, we’d like you to oversee it and help develop these guys. Coach Brown would drill the guys woth defence and the basics, the results may not have been pretty but I’d have bet he’d have got the guys working their asses off aqnd giving 100% every night. At worse I’d have hoped they would have kept Coach Brown on as some sort of advisor to tap into his experience.

    Also I wonder if MJ has ever contacted his old Coach the Zen Master himself Phil Jackson and asked him to assist with the rebuild in some sort of role. I would never envisage Phil being considered for the Head Coaching role but maybe offering MJ so sort of advise as and when required.

     

     

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