The Ugly Followed the Bobcats Home as they Fall to the Wizards

(Courtesy David T Foster, III – Charlotte Observer)

Blech…just blech.  Remember when the league was raving about the Bobcats staggering defense, and the streak of games we had not allowed teams to score over 100 points?  Remember those days?  I remember those days.  I just keep wondering what happened (besides the MKG/Taylor injuries) to make us look so God awful.  Coming home from a 1-4 road trip and looking this bad at home was no way to return home. 

See, I’m one of those fans that gets all excited when the team looks great and is playing great.  When they start falling apart, we, so do I.  If there were a good explanation why we can’t play defense and can’t score consistently, I’d be able to handle it, but there is no good explanation other than the injuries to both of our SFs.  Has it been that big of a deal?  Let’s hope so.  MKG may be back as soon as next week and at that point, once the rust falls off of his game, we’ll re-evaluate what this team looks like.

In tonight’s game, there wasn’t much to report for the Bobcats in terms of positives that win games.  Our “Big 3” contributed 52 of our 83 points (Hendo – 27, Kemba  19, Big Al – 6).  We were out-rebounded, out-stolen, out assisted, out-blocked, and we turned the ball over more.  You do not win games when all of this happens.  Our result for the night was a 97 – 83 loss to a team with a record very similar to ours (15-17).  No double-doubles, no standouts other than Hendo’s hot streak in the 1st Quarter, and no defense whatsoever.  To have not played in 2 days, I would have expected much more energy than what we saw.  Perhaps the cold got to the guys as bad as it is getting to everyone else.  So, we just did not have anything going tonight, and we lost yet another game, dropping us to 15-21 on the season. 

Up next is Minnesota in the land of 1000 lakes on Friday, Chicago in the windy city on Saturday (yet another back-to-back), and back in Charlotte on Tuesday to play the New York Knicks.  After the stop at home, we’re back on the road again to visit Philly on the 15^th, Orlando on the 17^th, and we return home for game to of yet another back-to-back to face the Heat.  The schedule isn’t a pretty one, but hopefully the return of MKG will be a positive that can get us some more hustle, defense and some more Ws on the season.  If not, the folks that are pro-tank to get into the draft lottery may get their wish.

Just keep in mind, if we just miss the playoffs, we lose the pick to Chicago, if we make playoffs, we have a late 1st round pick…and if we just stink it up…well…lotto land again.  We all know what kind of luck we have in the draft lottery.