Bobcats Front Office Blues

The Bobcats have had a lot of front office turnover in its brief history. Bob & MJ aren't saying anyting nor any of the other minority owners of the team. I wonder if Bob really anticpated losing tons of money and having to continue to fight the uphill battle in getting folks interested in the NBA again (outside of the diehard fans). A big step in fixing the problem would be to fix that awful cable TV deal. I haven't been to one sports bar yet where the Bobcats were on; Signing a multiyear cable only deal with Time Warner Cable Has been the biggest misstep by this team IMHO!!!!!!!

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Bobcats resilient, while front office stays dysfunctional

SCOTT FOWLER


The Charlotte Bobcats remind me of that basketball the NBA foisted upon its players at the beginning of this season.

In this analogy, the Bobcats are the ball, and the NBA players are the public.

That new ball went over like "New Coke" with the players -- it was such an embarrassment that the league had to replace it midseason.

The Bobcats? They're suddenly hot, picking up their third straight victory Saturday night, 89-83, at home against Philadelphia.

But thousands of people in our area view the Bobcats with resentment or indifference. These folks wouldn't go to uptown Charlotte to watch a Bobcats game if someone handed them free tickets and pointed to a limousine to take them there.

And this attitude is far deeper-rooted than the Bobcats management team ever accounted for.

Off the court, the Bobcats seem to fire or lose somebody relatively important every few weeks with no clear explanation given.

The team president, the marketing chief, the top attorney, the public relations director, the TV color guy -- they have all left the organization within the past year, often under odd circumstances. This team is only in its third season, yet it has already undergone a major front-office purge.

It's like an underrated Stephen King novel called "Thinner," about a guy who gets cursed and keeps losing weight -- too much weight -- no matter what he tries.

Every time you see the Bobcats, there is less of them. The belt-tightening has reached almost absurd proportions.

Why all the payroll-slashing? Apparently, because the Bobcats aren't selling enough. They can't make people care enough. The team isn't good enough.

Also, the owners don't show up nearly enough. And when they do, majority owner Bob Johnson and icon-in-residence Michael Jordan rarely grant interviews.

Johnson and Jordan's lack of availability means that even the most avid Bobcats fans -- there are some, actually -- have no idea about the direction the team will take. Coach/general manager Bernie Bickerstaff is an extremely decent man, but might not be here next season, at least not as coach. Yet he is left to answer for everything.

So, although the Bobcats are 12-23 and headed straight for the NBA draft lottery, the on-court product actually seems less dysfunctional right now than the off-court one.

Charlotte still lacks a consistent 20-point scorer. The players take turns, which doesn't work in the league long-term.

Charlotte also has a frustrating tendency of playing very well against top-tier teams and poorly against mediocre ones.

However, Emeka Okafor nearly got a triple-double this week. Raymond Felton will be the point guard here for years. Adam Morrison can slash. Sean May will never be a spectacular player, but he's solid.

They are a likable cast. But they work for an unloved team, one that keeps trying to create magic out of pink slips.

 

I don't know anyone interested in the Bobcats to be honest. I can't remember the last time I watched more a few minutes of one of their games. For that matter, other than watching the Suns play on occasion I can't stand the thought of watching an NBA game.

Bob Johnson was a bad pick for the NBA to be the owner btw.

 

see ya'

 

If they can pull in a star during FA this year (Vince Carter) and start winning, people will start showing up.

People WILL show up - see the sold out Lakers game.

 

Vince Carter would be a good pick, they seem to only be getting Tar Heels lately. Jeff McInnis? are you serious? I didn't even know he still played basketball.

 

I think that all the turmoil behind the scenes is a necessary thing. It seems to me that when they made all their original hires, their biggest qualification for consideration was "how bad can you do this job?"

Hopefully, they're righting the ship and can get people in who actually know what they're doing.

 

I would hate to see Vince Carter come to this team.