NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.

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

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Jason Richardson is flying through the air

Jason Richardson was traded to the Phoenix Suns from the Charlotte Bobcats.

The multiplayer deal will require the Suns to part with forward Boris Diaw and defensive ace Raja Bell, two mainstays from the team that averaged 58 wins over the last four seasons under former Suns coach Mike D’Antoni.

Suns-Bobcats Trade Comparison

The Suns upgraded offensively with the acquisition of guard Jason Richardson (right). Here’s how the numbers break down:

Player PPG RPG APG
To Suns
Jason Richardson 18.7 4.1 2.6
Jared Dudley 5.4 3.0 1.0
To Bobcats
Boris Diaw 8.3 3.8 2.1
Raja Bell 9.6 2.9 1.3
Sean Singletary 2.6 1.2 0.9

The Suns will also receive a future second-round pick from the Bobcats and forward Jared Dudley while sending Sean Singletary to the Bobcats.

source

On the surface the Suns get a high scoring guard to complement Stave Nash and Charlotte gets a defender in Raja Bell. It seems like a good deal for both teams and it may be true. One thing is for sure; both teams needed a boost from somewhere.

Charlotte is 7 - 14
Phoenix is better at 13 - 9, but only 5 - 5 in the last 10 games. Phoenix is used to a much higher standard of play.

Photo source Newscom

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Michael Curry will try to right the Piston ship

The NBA is proud to bring a brand new coach to your area. They did it for 8 teams.

Think about that. 8 new coaches.

Ever heard of a brand new coach immediately winning it all? It has probably happened, but not to my knowledge.

Usually you just fired the last coach because the team stunk so bad he could not make them win.

So this year we bring you the 8 trying to make the magic happen.

Michael Curry, Pistons

Curry, 40, was an assistant to last year’s coach, Flip Saunders, who was fired. From 2000 to 2004, Curry was president of the National Basketball Players Association. He’s also a former NBA vice president for basketball operations and played for six teams in an 11-year career.
source

Michael is lucky. He inherits a veteran team with a real honest to god chance to win it all. The team knows him. The GM, Joe Dumars, knows him. Heck, the hotdog vendor in section 133 knows him. Michael Curry was a defensive minded team oriented over achiever as a player. He even used to plan out bike trips and movies for when the players were on the road.

But can he coach? Well, he can as an assistant, but can he as the head coach?

Vinny Del Negro, Bulls

Del Negro, who has no coaching experience at any level, follows interim coach Jim Boylan, who replaced Scott Skiles. Del Negro, 42, formerly was assistant general manager for the Phoenix Suns and played for five teams in a 12-year NBA career.

Scotty Skiles and Jim Boylan is a tough act to follow. Vinny has his hands full with that crew in Chicago. Skiles whipped and beat them to play defense and play as a team. Boylan found out they are lacking depth, size, speed, etc. Good Luck!

Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat

Club President Pat Riley named Spoelstra, a seven-year assistant, to succeed him. Spoelstra, 37, is the youngest coach in the league.

This guy just has the job on loan until Pat Riley sees a good enough team to take over. Sure doesn’t hurt to have Dwyane Wade and the Matrix auditioning for jobs.

Larry Brown, Charlotte Bobcats

Have witnessed Larry up front with my Pistons and he is an amazing coach and complicated man. He is always chasing after something that is missing in his life. Some think he is looking for his father that left him at young age, not literally, but figuratively.

Larry will put them in half court sets and make them play playoff style basketball. If teams listen, they win, but most young players do not want to play that way. Example: Chauncey Billups was close to a triple double one night and Larry pulled him and said “You don’t have a clue as to how to play point guard for me, do you?” Think about it.

Rick Carlisle, Dallas Mavericks

This one will be fun to watch. The Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki were often shooting before crossing half court and now will be playing half court. Rick was the Piston coach before Larry and he alienated so many people that he had to be fired with a winning record. Chauncey Billups used to say they knew exactly what plays would be run in the last two minutes as Carlisle called all the plays. Rick also does not like to double on defense. Can Dirk defend?

Mike D’Antoni, New York Knicks

Mike has his hands full until the Knicks can clean house and find some D’antoni style players. He needs speed and outside shooting to go along with a pass first dribbling point guard, a la Steve Nash. Mike is a great coach and the players love his style. The ball gets shared and the pace is quick.

Can he play enough defense to win a title though?

Must be Michigan week in the NBA or something

Michael Curry, Detroit Pistons
Larry Brown, former Detroit Pistons coach
Rick Carlisle, former Detroit Pistons coach
Vinny Del Negro replaces Jim Boylan former assistant at Michigan State University
Before Jim Boylan was Scott Skiles former player at Michigan State University
Mike D’Antoni was brought in to replace Isiah Thomas former Detroit Piston
The D’Antoni wanted to trade Zach Randolph former player at Michigan State University
Terry Porter, former Detroit Pistons assistant coach
Scott Skiles, former player at Michigan State University
Scott will work for GM John Hammond and he worked under Joe Dumars of the Detroit Pistons.

Terry Porter, Phoenix Suns

A hustling guard as a player and an average coach at Milwaukee, Terry will have some talent to work with, but will drastically change the style for the Suns. Terry is a real believer in defense.

Scott Skiles, Milwaukee Bucks

Scott will have some hungry players in Michael Redd and Richard Jefferson. Maybe not enough talent to win, but that has never been an issue with Scott. He just wants you to bring the desire.

Photo source Newscom

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Jason Maxiell danced to victory against the Bobcats

The Pistons are hot again and looking like a championship team.

Taking 24 three-point attempts was probably not the way the Pistons figured they’d beat the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday night.

But they started falling early, when Tayshaun Prince made four of five in the first quarter, and they never really stopped, as the team finished 12-for-24 from long range in a 113-87 victory at the Palace. source

The Pistons set the tone early with defense.

The Pistons (37-13) held the Bobcats to 13 points in the first quarter, when they went up by as much as 20, and for the second game in a row, they didn’t look back.

The Pistons just keep on rolling.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will the Pistons win the East?

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Dwight Howard has tremendous upside

Normally the All Star game is not a big ticket with your intrepid author.

A game with little or no defense has a hard time holding my interest.

In fact, today’s basketball with all the rule changes towards offense has really bothered me in recent years.

But this year may be an exception. The league is just so filled with exceptional talent.

One starter in particular could become a dominant force in the NBA sooner than we think. That man would be Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic.

Hmm, may just have to tune in after all. Here are your vote getters.

The leaders of both the Eastern and Western Conference players for the second returns of the 2008 NBA All-Star voting program are attached:

2008 NBA ALL-STAR BALLOTING EASTERN CONFERENCE

Forwards: Kevin Garnett (Bos) 1,186,690; LeBron James (Clev) 1,005,733; Chris Bosh (Tor) 313,983; Paul Pierce (Bos) 268,926; Yi Jianlian (Mil) 192,828; Caron Butler (Was) 150,042; Hedo Turkoglu (Orl) 121,991; Tayshaun Prince (Det) 120,783; Rashard Lewis (Orl) 116,168; Antawn Jamison (Was) 106,370.

Guards: Dwyane Wade (Mia) 777,764; Jason Kidd (NJ) 559,333; Vince Carter (NJ) 468,051; Ray Allen (Bos) 464,810; Gilbert Arenas (Was) 422,463; Chauncey Billups (Det) 238,125; Michael Redd (Mil) 183,309; Richard Hamilton (Det) 121,663; Joe Johnson (Atl) 109,443; Andre Iguodala (Phi) 109,345.

Centers: Dwight Howard (Orl) 970,778; Shaquille O’Neal (Mia) 466,292; Rasheed Wallace (Det) 124,348; Ben Wallace (Chi) 114,245; Andrew Bogut (Mil) 100,622; Jermaine O’Neal (Ind) 89,900; Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Clev) 55,217; Emeka Okafor (Cha) 51,490; Zaza Pachulia (Atl) 43,036; Eddy Curry (NY) 37,252.

2008 NBA ALL-STAR BALLOTING WESTERN CONFERENCE

Forwards: Carmelo Anthony (Den) 767,722; Tim Duncan (SA) 722,059; Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 686,853; Carlos Boozer (Utah) 281,299; Josh Howard (Dal) 251,756; Shawn Marion (Pho) 240,752; Shane Battier (Hou) 227,112; Luis Scola (Hou) 222,896; Kevin Durant (Sea) 191,542; Grant Hill (Pho) 152,898.

Guards: Kobe Bryant (LAL) 941,716; Tracy McGrady (Hou) 663,141; Steve Nash (Pho) 526,493; Allen Iverson (Den) 514,291; Manu Ginobili (SA) 220,620; Jason Terry (Dal) 200,693; Baron Davis (GS) 194,048; Chris Paul (NO) 189,646; Tony Parker (SA) 183,173; Jerry Stackhouse (Dal) 178,152.

Centers: Yao Ming (Hou) 813,305;Amaré Stoudemire (Pho) 463,916; Erick Dampier (Dal) 171,386; Marcus Camby (Den) 161,807; Pau Gasol (Mem) 118,759; Mehmet Okur (Utah) 85,715; LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 69,691; Tyson Chandler (NO) 69,083; Andris Biedrins (GS) 67,862; Chris Kaman (LAC) 66,315.  source

NBA Basketball Fan Question Did your favorite player make the cut?

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J-Rich sets one down

The nearly invincible Boston Celtics lost at home to the Charlotte Bobcats by the score of 95 - 83.

Jason Richardson dominated this game with 34 points and 9 rebounds. Gerald Wallace chipped in with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

…the Charlotte Bobcats stunned the Boston Celtics 95-83 for just their fourth loss of the season on Wednesday night.

The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak for Boston (29-4) and spoiled its bid for the fastest start in team history to 30 wins. The 1959-60 Celtics started 30-4 before going on to win the NBA title.

The Bobcats, who entered with an Eastern Conference-worst 1-11 road mark, also got 16 points and eight assists from Raymond Felton. source

Richardson is an incredible athlete and has had the misfortune to play on bad teams.

When J-Rich played at Michigan State University, he was a slam dunking machine with a not so good outside shot.

NBA Basketball Jason Richardson factoid - Richardson won the NBA Slam Dunk Contests in 2002 and 2003, joining Michael Jordan as the only players to have won in consecutive years. source

But Richardson’s game was raw and he worked on it constantly. Eventually he developed an outside game to rival his inside game. Now he is known for his 3 pointers.

Boston Celtics

Before you go crazy and attach all kinds of meaning to this game, maybe Read more

NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.

The return of James, your basketball author. Now the good and the bad. The good is that my most excellent boss and coworkers filled in quite nicely and that is most appreciated.

The bad is that James is diagnosed with Cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. Fear not, they say the cancer is one that is curable, so let us move forward with our dreams of basketball!

Poor Cleveland.

First LeBron gets hurt and now season long hold out Anderson Varejao may skip off to the Bobcats.

The Cavaliers have the rights to match the contract and hold on to Varejao, but do they want to?

The deal is for the Bobcats’ midlevel salary cap exception, worth just over $17 million. Varejao could opt out of the deal after the second season and become an unrestricted free agent.

The 6-foot-10 Varejao has been in a prolonged contract dispute with the Cavaliers, which has kept him sidelined this season. He said last week that he would prefer to play for another team. source

Varejao has said he would rather play for another team. Negotiating tactic? Maybe.

Watching Varejao against my Pistons, you could see the energy and toughness he brought to the court. While being no superstar and never will be, those kinds of players are essential to have on your team.

Someone has to do the dirty work.

The Cav’s are a mystery right now. Making Read more

NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.

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Ben Gordon shooting the lights out!

The NBA draft class of 2004 has their contracts coming up for renewal.

In the NBA, this is the first of the great Promises, like a strong spring breeze after a long cold winter; it brings with it many new riches.

This time period, 3 years after your initial contract, is the reason that so many undernourished, undereducated, immature lanky, talented basketball players leave College early to go to the Pros.

You see, it is not the NBA come calling, it is the after 3 years free agent or renegotiate that they hear so loudly.

The class of 2004, including Ben Gordon, may face Read more