Bobcats get additional 1st rd pick

You probably couldn't get into it because they didn't live up to your lofty playoff expectations.

 

I admit I was a Jordan fanboy but I really got into the NBA when Magic, Bird, Dr. J, Worthy, the Twin Towers, Malone (Moses and young Karl), Sikma, Cummings, Williams, Cheeks, Aguirre, Drexler, Davis, Moncrief, McHale, Olajuwon, Gervin, Parish, English, Kareem, and of course Jordan were playing. I could keep going on with the names, there were many quality players and the game was much more enjoyable.

Part of what turned me off was the erosion of quality basketball players with solid fundamental skill sets that could play a team game. Earlier this decade we sent teams with average, run of the mill NBA players and they got their hineys spanked. They didn't play much of a team game and that pretty much put the nail in the coffin for me. However, I haven't watched many games in the past 3-4 years outside of the finals so I guess it is time for me to reassess my position.

I really want to like the NBA and the Bobcats as well, yet they seem to make some pretty big blunders in their basketball decisions. As talented as Jordan was as a player, his skill as a basketball personnel/decision maker is diametrically opposite. It is kind of sad, I thought that Shinn and his crew was bad but right now Jordan and Co. are making them look like geniuses.

I will take your advice and check out several games this coming season with an open mind. Who knows, I might actually start enjoying the NBA again.

 

I was in your position about a year and a half ago. I gave it a chance again and this is the most interested i've been since about 97.

I hate to admit it but a Laker-Celtic finals contributed to that.

 

Yep, there was a time where I listened to every Hornets game on 1110 that wasn't on TV (quite a few.)

I'll never love the NBA or Bobcats like I loved the Hornets, but that's ok. They are much better than nothing, and it's nice to have a rooting interest again.

 

In the mid to late 90's the talent level coming into the NBA was really bad, we just didn't know it then. Combined with everyone trying to become 'the next Jordan' and the NY Knicks handchecking rules the play in the NBA went into the shitter. No one noticed because Jordan was still dominating at a high level, but once he left the glaring deficet in the NBA was obvious. I can't blame anyone for turning them off. Especially anyone in Charlotte who was burned twice by the Hornet mess (first you lose the NBA team, THEN you raise taxes to build a stadium to HOPE for a new team? talk about clusterfuck.)

As far as Jordan being a good exec, if you thought that move would help the Bobcats you really were a fanboy lol. Anyone who watched his tenior in Washington knew he would be a disaster here, and I for one was glad we kept Bob Bass in charge when he tried to muscle his way into Charlotte. Of course, if Jordan had been able to keep the Hornets here it would have been worth it, but Bob Bass shits all over Jordan as a personel man.

The situation could be worse, though. I thought Jordan made a good move bringing in Jason Richardson last year, and getting rid of his first coach so quickly showed a surprising side I didn't anticipate. Now Charlotte has the best coach they've ever had (in either franchise) so let's see what Larry can do. The Bobcats are worth watching just to see Gerald Wallace play, if you like old-school basketball there's your guy. Hopefully he can stay healthy but when you watch him play you'll see why he gets banged up.

 

Yeah, maybe Jordan has learned from some of his previous mistakes. Hiring Brown was a very good move, the only thing is; how long does he stay. However, picking the French guy was almost as bad as Kwame Brown when he was with the Wizards. You never know he may end up being a player it would be hard to be worse than Brown.

 

That was part of it I guess. I still think they had enough talent to make the playoffs in the East. If not for inept coaching I think they would have done it.

 

The one thing I'll always wonder though:

If Jordan had bought into the Hornets, it would have been a year earlier than he bought into the Wiz. Therefore he would have got that itch to play a year earlier (he would have had more in the tank.) Even an old Jordan turned a PUTRID Wizards team into a 40-44 win team.

What would he have done (a year younger) for a 50ish win Hornet team?

 

That was another reason that kind of turned me off on the NBA. The Hornets leaving was a huge disappointment, I was a big fan as well.