Wait, shouldn’t the title read “Stephen Jackson brings sanity to the Bobcats”?

You have obviously not been paying attention to the Stephen Jackson story. Golden State was more than happy to get rid of a team chemistry problem. Why Larry Brown at his age would want to take on Stephen Jackson is beyond me, but you know the NBA, if you can put the ball in the hoop with any regularity then some team owner will pay you millions of dollars no matter how you act in public.

So it is time for a quick review. Why would Charlotte take a chance on Stephen Jackson after the owner publically stated he would not embarrass Charlotteans which are not to be confused with Alanteans or any other Teans?

Jackson brings two qualities the Bobcats need – proven scoring ability and the versatility to play multiple positions. But he also brings a history of bad behavior that seems to conflict with majority owner Bob Johnson’s promise at the franchise’s outset.
source

Why the Bobcats took Stephen Jackson

Now for the pop quiz. Why did they do it? We just went over this, because Stephen Jackson can put the ball in the hole and the Bobcats suffer from a disease called “can’t put the ball in the hole”. It is that simple.

Stephen Jackson wanted out of Golden State

You would think the Malice in the Palace and the gun shooting thing and various other sundry items would make Stephen Jackson untouchable, but such is not the case.

Now here is the reply you have all been waiting for, why do it, for real? You are the Bobcats! Look in the mirror and realize that the playoffs are a long ways off and there is no reason to rush into a contract with a player that is going to cause problems. Why do it? You had an expiring contract with Bell, the survivor to play in Golden State, and now you have a long term contract with problems.

Ahh, but they never learn. Gotta go, that is Allen Iverson on the phone and he is looking for another team.

Image: Zuma Press

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

Larry Brown looked stunned. He had just been ejected for debating a call by a replacement referee. How could he eject the grand old man of NBA basketball coaching? That was not all. The NBA decided to fine Larry two times for the one game. It must have been a 2 for 1 sale.

Larry Brown refuses to be a puppet for the NBA

So was Larry Brown abusive to the referee? Does a Bear … Well, you get it. Yeah, Larry was abusive. He is always abusive.

It is funny, but watching Larry up close in Detroit, he was often worse than Rasheed Wallace and often jumped in to the fray of things to keep Rasheed from getting the technical. He told Rasheed that his job was to play and mine is to defend you.

So what happened that caused the NBA to fine Larry twice for a total of 60,000 dollars?

This chain of events began at halftime of the Bobcats’ 17-point loss to the Atlanta Hawks, after Charlotte forward Gerald Wallace was charged with a questionable offensive foul.

Brown approached lead official Kevin Scott, who charged him with a technical foul. Things became sufficiently heated that Bobcats point guard Raymond Felton acted as a barrier between Scott and Brown as the two walked off the court.

Then, with about 31/2 minutes left in the third quarter, forward Vladimir Radmanovic was charged with a personal foul and a technical foul, setting Brown off again. He began shouting at Scott, a former college and development-league referee, and Scott responded with a second technical foul, an automatic ejection.

Looking stunned, Brown lingered on the court for several minutes. Finally Scott walked to the scorers table and called for Hawks security to remove Brown from the court. He left at that point.

Brown didn’t speak with reporters immediately after the game. Asked the next day if he deserved to be ejected, he said, “I’m sure I did.”
source

Now this isn’t a problem with Larry Brown. No, far from it. This is a problem with having replacement referees. The NBA has gone overboard to defend the replacement referees so nobody will supposedly notice they are on the court. That is not going to work with Larry Brown. Believe you me; he is as intense a coach as there is in the game. He demands his players play playoff style ball in every minute of every game. Do you think this is going to change Larry’s behavior?

Image: Zuma Press

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

Will Allen Iverson, better known as the Truth, be coming to a team near you soon? That is a question we all ask ourselves, isn’t it?

Hmm, maybe Allen is not news anymore. Geez, have one troubled season and they write you off. OK, maybe troubled season is not the way to put it or you could qualify his whole career as troubled. Or as my Boss likes to quote “Practice? Why are we talking about practice?”.

Maybe it would be more accurate to say that Iverson did not have a statistically amazing year like he usually does, but you have to like the fact that in this day and age of 6′ 7″ guards, that a little guy built like a little guy, can not only play in the NBA, but can star in the NBA.

Allen Iverson did not enjoy his best year with the Pistons

Now we have Allen saying on his Twitter account that he will be signing with an NBA team real soon. Many think that team could be the Charlotte Bobcats with Coach Larry Brown.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of people on his behalf, because last year was a difficult situation for him being put in where he was, replacing Chauncey Billups,” said Brown. “That would have been a difficult situation for anybody. But I know he’s comfortable with me, and we’ve had a lot of discussions. When he played for me was probably when he played his best. Would I like to coach him again? Absolutely.”
source

It is hard to believe that Charlotte really wants Allen Iverson or vice versa and what about Brown wanting to coach him again? Now that would be a real twist.

Image: Zuma Press

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

There was David Stern giving his annual pre finals state of the NBA address. This year it was quite interesting, as it was announced that the Charlotte Bobcats would most likely be up for sale. That in itself would be news, but you really have to realize how tough it is to make a buck in the NBA.

News has leaked in recent weeks that Bobcats majority owner Bob Johnson, who founded the team in 2004, was losing over $10 million annually from his original $300 million investment and wanted out before he was even more in the red.

Charlotte is currently valued at $284 million by Forbes. Once boasting one of the league’s more robust attendance averages at the old Charlotte Coliseum, it currently ranks 29th among the NBA’s 30 franchises in net worth.

source

Now stop right there and give it some thought. The Charlotte Bobcats have never been very good and do not have a marquee player to exhibit to the NBA marketing gurus. Tough to sell a team that is considered a joke.

The Magic must make money with Dwight Howard, right?

Now how about a magical team like the Orlando Magic. They must be making tons of bucks, right? This is where you might be surprised. This is where you realize just how bad the economy really is.

While the Magic are ranked 17th by Forbes with a valuation of $349 million, the franchise was expecting in May to lose $15 million to $20 million this season.

Martins said at the time that the amount the team lost this season would depend upon its playoff run. Reaching the Finals will definitely lessen the blow, but the Magic certainly have even more riding on the opening of their new arena in 2010.

The Magic have received some good news in regards to that opening, though. Sports Business Journal reported last month that a $100 million loan the Magic were seeking to help them finance their contribution to the arena was close to going through.

The approval of the loan will make the team the first mid-tier professional franchise to secure financing that big since the slowing down of the credit markets at the end of last year.

Stern has even promised them the All Star game to help them out. Now if the Magic are struggling, how can the Bobcats expect to turn a profit?

Photo source Newscom

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed