Charlotte Bobcats: Playoffs Recap

Al Jefferson’s injury will leave Charlotte wondering what could have been.

Result: 4-0 Loss to the Miami Heat – But what did we learn about this up and coming franchise?

After a remarkable bounce back season where the Bobcats managed to more than double their win total for the second straight year, Charlotte’s post season run went down with an almighty whimper. With the Hornets name returning this next year, this was the final chance for “The Bobcats” to gain their first playoff win and finish the embarrassing Bobcats era on a good note. However, the Miami Heat ended up being the worst possible matchup for the Bobcats, having won 16 straight games against Charlotte coming into the playoffs. After watching the 4-0 white wash words such as “pesky,” “hard fought,” and “resilient” were all used to describe Charlotte’s performance, but none of these traits stopped the Heat extending their winning streak to twenty games.

So what did we learn from Charlotte’s post season run?

1)      The Bobcats are completely reliant on Jefferson

After Big Al was injured in the 1^st quarter of the first game the Cats were always up against it. Clifford and the team had been focussing on their post offense since training camp, without Al they were forced to go more five man basketball, screening for the likes of Kemba, Neal & Henderson. This style of basketball can win games against mediocre teams, but when you’re playing the two time champions you need more scoring options.

Jefferson did battle through the playoffs, understanding how important he was for the Bobcats to have any hope of winning. Miami’s achilles heal is their lack of rim protection (outside of Chris Anderson) and their poor post defense, Jefferson had already proved when he dropped 38 points & 19 rebounds on the Heat during the same night Lebron got his 61. Jefferson, even on one and a half legs, still gave the Heat all they could handle, but without the ability to pivot off both feet and with significantly less lift on the interior or on jump shots, Jefferson’s efficiency and effectiveness was reduced.

2)      Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is no match for Lebron

This may seem obvious to you, but MKG is one of the best wing defenders in the league, and Clifford has gone as far to call him an, “elite one on one and help defender.” Over the season, he had great success against Paul George, holding him to 9 points, five rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game on just 22 percent shooting in three games. He also had success against Durant & Carmleo (despite the 62), but for some reason he seemed lot against Lebron, and struggled to force him out of his comfort zone.

The disparity between the two teams this year is somewhat perculiar, when you see the Bobcats best defender, MKG, is up against Lebron and their best scorer, Big Al, is against Bosh/Birdman. One of the things holding MKG back in this series specifically was foul trouble, he was pulled numerous times during the 1^st quarter for picking up two early fouls, this was also a regular occurrence in the regular season. MKG needs to understand what he can and can’t do when checking an elite offensive guy, he must learn that they will get the benefit of the whistle the majority of the time.

3)      The Bobcats need more offensive weapons

Erik Spolstra successfully fronted Al in the post and made it incredibly hard for him to get hold of the ball in his sweet spots. Charlotte’s offense always stuttered during the regular season when they couldn’t get Jefferson the ball, and it was the same in the playoffs. For Charlotte to stand any chance in making a deeper playoff run they need more offensive weapons, as of right now they are relatively easy to scheme against. When you look at the Spurs, Rockets, Clippers, Heat, they all have four or five guys who can carry their offence at any point of time, the Bobcats don’t.

Kemba Walker could turn into a good “B-Class star,” but the next most dangerous scorer after him was Gary Neal who was traded away for a couple of expiring contracts. The difference between Neal’s role in San Antonio last year and in Charlotte this year is a good example of the Bobcats’ limited offensive weapons. Last year, Neal was a guy who made the Heat pay after they doubled Parker/Duncan/Ginobli while in this series he was the one getting doubled.

Simply put, the Bobcats need more shooting, both Clifford, president of Basketball Operations Rod Higgins and General Manager Rich Cho all pointed to this at their end of season press conference. Clifford also said, “Your shooting is your spacing,” right now on Charlotte’s roster they have three players who shoot above the NBA average three point percentage of 36 percent; Anthony Tolliver (41 percent), Josh McRoberts (36 percent) and CDR (38 percent). Compare that to San Antonio who have seven guys in Parker, Ginobli, Leonard, Belleneli, Mills, Green & Diaw and you see that is an area the Bobcats desperately must improve.