Bobcats on the clock

I think it would be a disappointment if the Bobcats didn't make the playoffs this year. They have the talent to win 40-45 games if they can all stay healthy.

 

First, you are way underestimating the talant on the Bobcats. This past season, they barely missed the playoffs despite being depleted by injury to key players once again. So while they clearly needed to upgrade, they were already a borderline playoff team.

Second, you are underestimating Richardson's talent and what he will bring to the Bobcats. Richardson is a very good SG. While not a stopper on defense, he is decent and will hold his own. He is also a high character guy who, according to most GS fans, works extremely hard on his weaknesses and has improved in pretty much every phase of his game each year (with the exception of this year when a wrist injury kept him out of the lineup for a couple of months, and effected him once he came back).

But the biggest thing is his scoring ability. He is the kind of player that not only wants to take the clutch shots, but makes them. And that's something this team has never had, and it's cost us double digit wins in every year. For the first time in franchise history, we have someone capable of being a go-to guy when the game is on the line.

Bottom line, this guy fits our most glaring need. And if he is sub all-star, it's not by much. There is a reason Golden State gave him that contract and why Mullin was very reluctant to let go of him (Nelly pushed for it since they have a glut of wings and needed some size inside). While Steven A. Smith wailed about the pick, the fact of the matter is that his salary is not far from market value for a player of his caliber. It might be a little high, but not by much. After all, it's not as if he is getting paid Kobe money (which is what SAS tried to make it sound like).

Oh, one other point, if we would have kept Wright, it would have divided our fan base even more than it already is (which is never a good thing for a team struggling to fill seats). There is already a lot of resentment by non-Carolina fans that the Bobcats are becoming the baby=Tarheels. So from a PR standpoint, it would have been a nightmare.

 

Ok, now can you come up with eight of those? I didn't think so. I also don't agree that any team's bench is better than the Bobcats starting 5. In fact, I find that the kind of ignorant comment that either a hater or instigator would make. Well, I guess it could also be something someone that knows very little about the team might say. Unfortunately, with your history, I can't tell which category you fit into here.

Nobody is claiming this is a team ready to compete for the championship this year, but the pieces are in place to make some noise. And with a key addition or two, the Bobcats could be a team legitimately discussed as a contender.

 

I think style will dictate a lot. I don't think this team is built to slug it out eastern conference style. Gouge my eyes out. Push.

The negative may be that you'll be a playoff team, but forever a hair behind the Heat and Cavs without a superstar.

 

The Cavs need to improve a lot before their supposed dominance of the East will ever take shape, and Miami is already on its last legs. Besides, Detroit didn't need a superstar to dominate the conference. In any case, Chicago is the true beast of the East for the next few years.

 

how's this.....not one of the bobcat's starting 5 starts for the Heat or Detroit.....one maybe two players start for the rest of the playoff contenders in the east.

bobcat's have a long way to go and Richardson is not that much of a difference maker.....Garnet or Kobe...yes.....Richardson....NO.....fact is Baron Davis would have been a better pickup.

 

Not really a Bobcat fan, but.....

Bobcats have a better PG. I'd rather have Wallace than Kapono. Okafor is better than Haslem.

The Heat have the East's best all around player in Wade and an aging Shaq, and I think that matters, but they don't have a whole lot else right now.

 

I don't see them making the playoffs this coming season. Possibly the following year.

 

The Heat got swept out of the first round. They are old and injury riddled.

They've got Wade and pretty much no one else beyond next season.

 

I don't disagree that the Bobcats have work to do before they can be considered championship contenders. But you made the claim that they are a long way from making the playoffs, and that is simply not true. Nothing is ever guaranteed, but, barring injury, they are now clearly one of the top eight teams in the East (assuming they re-sign Wallace). In fact, I would say the Richardson trade puts them about in the middle of the pack of playoff teams.

And for the Bobcats, Richardson IS a difference maker. No, he is not Kobe or Wade (how many teams have one of those, anyway), but he does fit a dire need...one that has cost the team several games each year. Regardless, he is a very good SG, one of the top handful in the league.

You may not be overly familiar with him because of where he played, but don't underestimate his skill because of a lack of familiarity. Go to Warriors message boards and see what the people who saw him play every game have to say. The vast majority will heap huge amounts of praise on him, and tell you we got a good one. This was a very good aquisition for the Bobcats, one that clearly puts them right in the middle of the playoff hunt.