The Bobcats only shot 39.7% from the floor last night and they only scored 31 points in the second half and it doomed them in the end. Stephen Jackson led the way for the Bobcats last night with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Tyrus Thomas had another outstanding game off the bench with 16 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocked shots and a steal in 29 minutes on the court. Boris Diaw also had a decent game finishing with 15 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 27 minutes. The Bobcats are now 28-30 on the season which has them tied with the Heat for the #8 seed in the Eastern Conference.

The trade that brought shooting guard Stephen Jackson to the Bobcats earlier this season was a stroke of genius as they got a good player for pretty much nothing. Jackson has played in 48 games (all starts) for the Bobcats this season and he is averaging 40.7 minutes, 21.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.9 steals per game. The Bobcats were a good defensive team when Jackson came over in the trade but he has really helped boost the offense which will give them a good chance of making the playoffs this year.

The Bobcats are suddenly a veteran team making a run for the playoffs. That has caused Gerald Henderson and Derrick Brown to get a lot of bench time this year. SG/SF Gerald Henderson has played in 29 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats this season and he is averaging 7.7 minutes, 2.4 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.3 assists per game. He is only shooting 33.8% from the floor and that’s not good enough to get him off the bench. Brown has been better than Henderson so far this season. The forward has played in 41 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats this season and he is averaging 11.3 minutes, 4.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. Brown will also likely be buried on the bench with the addition of Tyrus Thomas last week.

Power forward Tyrus Thomas and center Theo Ratliff are both making good first impressions with the Bobcats. Thomas has played in 2 games off the bench for the Bobcats so far and he is averaging 28 minutes, 10.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 5.0 blocked shots per game. Larry Brown wants to start giving Thomas even more minutes but he hasn’t learned the whole offense yet which makes his numbers even more impressive so far. Theo Ratliff has played in 2 games off the bench for the Bobcats so far and he is averaging 15.0 minutes, 1.0 point, 2.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. The Bobcats wanted to improve the defense and rebounding in these two trades and they look to have been successful so far.

The Bobcats could decide to move Gerald Wallace to small forward and start Tyrus Thomas at power forward. That would improve the defense and rebounding of the team. If they decide to go that route then Boris Diaw will be the sixth man which was a role he filled so well with the Suns as he played all five positions on the court. Diaw has played in 52 games (all starts) for the Bobcats this season and he is averaging 35.4 minutes, 10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. The Bobcats might decide to bring Diaw off the bench because they traded Flip Murray to the Bulls. Murray was instant offense off the bench and Diaw is a better player than him. Or the Bobcats could just bring Tyrus Thomas off the bench and leave Diaw in the starting lineup. Time will tell what the Bobcats decide to do.