The Bobcats played hard in this game especially on defense holding the Knicks to 38.8% shooting from the floor. But offensively the Bobcats were also tossing up a lot of bricks in this game as they only shot 38% from the floor. Raymond Felton led the way for the Bobcats in this game with 22 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals in 49 minutes tonight. Gerald Wallace also was very busy in this game finishing with 18 points, 15 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in 53 minutes tonight. Boris Diaw had a true stat sheet stuffer game with 17 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots in 52 minutes. The Bobcats are now 1-1 on the season as they will get on a plane and head to Cleveland to play tomorrow night.

The Charlotte Bobcats really sucked tonight as it is very hard to sugarcoat just how poorly they played. The Bobcats did not score more than 18 points in any quarter tonight. The Bobcats shot the ball horrible from every single distance tonight hitting 31.1% from the floor, 0% from three point range (0 for 10) and 52% from the free throw line! That is pathetic! Gerald Wallace was the only Bobcats’ player in double figures last night with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 2 steals on 3 of 9 shooting from the floor. Raymond Felton was also shooting bricks (3 of 11 from the floor) as he finished up with 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in only 23 minutes. Rookie 2nd round pick Derrick Brown was the only player that was impressive for the Bobcats tonight as he finished with 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots in 21 minutes in his NBA debut. The Bobcats are now 0-1 and they are going to lose a lot of games this season if they don’t improve their effort.

The Bobcats are not a very good basketball team. They might be without starting shooting guard Raja Bell for a while and the trade of Emeka Okafor to the Hornets for Tyson Chandler was a huge downgrade. The Bobcats will be lucky to get 50 games out of the injury prone Chandler this season. The Bobcats don’t have a lot of depth and the talent on the active roster looks pretty darn weak. The only thing that scares me about taking the under is that Larry Brown is a genius. Still, I would take the under with the Bobcats as I don’t see them winning near 38 games this year.

Starting shooting guard Raja Bell has a partially torn ligament in his left wrist. If it requires surgery he will miss most of the 2009-2010 season. The Bobcats then would likely have to decide between shifting Raymond Felton to shooting guard and playing him alongside with 2nd year man D.J. Augustin at the point. Or if they don’t want to go that small they can leave Raymond Felton as the starting point guard and play first round pick Gerald Henderson at shooting guard. All three of those players are capable of playing well which will cushion the loss of Bell but they will still miss his defense.

Larry Brown is the NBA’s nomad as all he does is move to new cities every couple of years and turn his new team into a winner. Brown led the Bobcats to a 35-47 (42.7%) record in his first season there. With Emeka Okafor traded off to the Hornets for Tyson Chandler, Brown has his work really cut out for him this year. Brown has a career regular season record of 1,045-847 (55.2%) and he is also 189-100 (52.9%) in the post season. Brown lead the Detroit Pistons to a NBA Championship during the 2003-2004 season. Brown will have done a great job coaching this team if he can win as many games as he did last season but that won’t be easy.

The Bobcats expect defense and rebounding out of their centers and that’s likely all they are going to get out of them. 27-year old Tyson Chandler will be the starter for the Bobcats this season. He played in only 45 games for the Hornets last season and he averaged 32.1 minutes, 8.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. 27-year old DeSagana Diop has almost no offense game to speak of but he is a solid rebounder and defender. Diop played in 75 games for the Mavericks & Bobcats last season in which he averaged 13.8 minutes, 2.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. 32-year old Nazr Mohammed will be #3 on the depth chart for the Bobcats this season at center. He played in 39 games for the Bobcats last season and he averaged 8.7 minutes, 2.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Mohammed could get some playing time at power forward also this season. 21-year old Alexis Ajinca had a rough rookie season for the Bobcats last year. He played in 31 games for the Bobcats last season and he averaged 5.9 minutes, 2.3 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.1 assists per game. Ajinca will have a hard time getting playing time this season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CENTERS IN 2009-2010: C-

The Bobcats will be going with undersized Boris Diaw at power forward this season. The 27-year old Diaw has a solid all around game but he will get pushed around under the basket. He played in 81 games for the Suns & Bobcats last season in which he averaged 34.0 minutes, 13.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Diaw is a solid all-around player on offense and he is probably the best passer at his position in the NBA. Rookie 2nd round pick Derrick Brown out of Xavier appears to be #2 on the depth chart heading into this season. The Bobcats were elated to see him available in the 2nd round as they projected him to be a first rounder.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE POWER FORWARDS IN 2009-2010: C-

The Bobcats look solid at small forward for this season. 27-year old Gerald Wallace is the starter and he is solid at both ends of the basketball court for the Bobcats as he plays all-out all of the time. He played in 71 games for the Bobcats last season and he averaged 37.6 minutes, 16.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game. The only weakness in Wallace’s game is that he is a tad injury prone but that is due to his playing style and the Bobcats aren’t about to ask him to change how he plays the game. 28-year old Vladimir Radmanovic will back up Wallace this season. He played in 78 games for the Bobcats & Lakers last season in which he averaged 18.5 minutes, 6.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Radmanovic is a much softer player than Wallace and he only really plays hard at the offensive end of the court. 27-year old Stephen Graham will likely be the #3 small forward this season for the Bobcats. He played in 52 games for the Pacers last season and he averaged 13.2 minutes, 5.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SMALL FORWARDS IN 2009-2010: B+