Charlotte Bobcats 2012-13 Season Preview
Great Theories Regarding Professional Basketball by Connor Huchton Every Bobcats preview you’ll read will begin and likely end with a rightfully bleak outlook; sprinkled with glimmers of hope but ultimately nebulous and depressing. And that’s fine. The 2012-2013 Bobcats will not be a good team, just as most Bobcats squads have not been good teams in the franchise’s short, troubled history. But a bleak past and an – at best – uncertain future are not enough to erase what makes this Bobcat team interesting and dynamic enough to receive the average fan’s momentary attention. Unlike last year’s team, which rode unceasing hopelessness and ineptitude towards the saving grace of a high-lottery pick, these Bobcats are in many areas competent and fun. Bismack Biyombo is one of the league’s foremost emerging shot blockers and help defenders. Kemba Walker’s potential as a scorer remains sizable if not vast. Michael KiddGilchrist can pass, defend, and rebound with the aplomb of a veteran, which gives him a positive distinction apart from nearly every other rookie in his class. Ramon Sessions is an acceptable distributor and scorer, Brendan Haywood still possesses enough defending prowess to occasionally anchor the team, Ben Gordon can provide scoring for a team that’s desperately needed it, and Gerald Henderson’s particular brand of underrated defense and mid-range shooting is an enjoyable change-of-pace to the Bobcats’ myriad collection of players. And so there are reasons to watch this Bobcats’ team and wait for another high-lottery pick or some other untold basketball hero to arrive in Charlotte. A bad team can grow while it waits, slowly improving until the time comes when a player arrives who can transform the franchise. That transformative player may already be in Charlotte, under the acronym MKG, or he may arrive at a later time. But with clever management, principled coaching, and an everadvancing supporting cast in tow, the Bobcats are changing now, and for the better.
I Had A Dream Last Night And It Looked Just Like A Dream by James Herbert Had the strangest dream. Kemba Walker was on TV accepting his Most Improved Player award. I know. It really shouldn’t go to second-year guys. But apparently he led all point guards in scoring thanks to Derrick Rose’s injury and Russell Westbrook’s decision to go all Wilt Chamberlain on everybody and lead the league in assists. Apparently Walker was so good that the Bobcats traded Ramon Sessions to the Knicks for Rasheed Wallace, who became fast friends with Bismack Biyombo. Anyway, what’s weirder than Walker winning is who he thanked at the podium: his hypnotist. Walker said that he didn’t want to say anything about his secret weapon until he knew the NBA world was focused on him, and it was finally time to give credit where it was due. He said that, with a hypnotist’s help, he never once saw a Charlotte Bobcats jersey in his sophomore season, despite playing all 82 games and averaging 36 minutes a night. All he saw were UConn jerseys. The hypnotist came recommended by Charlotte coach Mike Dunlap, who wanted Walker to go back to the fearless, attacking leader he was as a senior in college. Walker initially resisted any kind of hypnosis, citing an incident at student orientation as a freshman, but when teammate Ben Gordon was leading the NBA in scoring two weeks into November the point guard could no longer ignore his coach’s plea.