Bobcats Insider: Worst record, top pick?
The Bobcats are careening toward the worst record in the NBA, but that doesn’t guarantee the top pick in the 2012 draft. Under rules of the draft lottery, the worst team is guaranteed no worse than the fourth pick.
In seven previous NBA drafts, the Bobcats’ highest picks have been second (Emeka Okafor, via trade with the Clippers in 2005) and third (Adam Morrison). Okafor was a solid center who was eventually traded to the Hornets. Morrison was a complete bust who is no longer in the NBA.
The Bobcats haven’t been great drafters. They had another bust in Sean May and some limited success with players such as Raymond Felton, D.J. Augustin and Gerald Henderson.
Somewhat of a concern, should the Bobcats have a high pick in 2012, is that draft figures to be power forward-heavy. That’s the one position where the Bobcats already have a glut of players, with Tyrus Thomas drawing a huge salary and the Bobcats using a 2011 lottery pick on Bismack Biyombo.
That wouldn’t keep the Bobcats from selecting a player such as Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis, a shot-blockerrebounder of such quality he’d probably go first overall regardless of who has the first pick. But some of the other power forwards projected to be available in June would be harder for the Bobcats to justify if they’re drafting second through seventh.
The Bobcats owe the Bulls a future first-round pick in compensation for the Thomas trade, but that won’t apply to the 2012 draft if the Bobcats miss the playoffs, already a virtual certainty.
The Bobcats were crushed by the Blazers, 112-68. They play the Suns next on Friday.
NOTES
Reflecting their limited talent and injuries, the Bobcats have already started 10 different lineups over their first 22 games. It’s tough to say what will happen when starters D.J. Augustin and Corey Maggette return from injury. Will Kemba Walker then play off the bench? Will Tyrus Thomas or Boris Diaw become a reserve?
The Bobcats will likely avoid the worst winning percentage in NBA history, but that’s likely a function of the compacted schedule. It would be hard for them to be worse than the Sixers’ 9-73 1973 season, although they might be worse than that team.
PLAYER NOTES
G Kemba Walker was minus-36 in the loss to the Blazers. He missed 10 of his 10 shots. That triple-double sure looks like a fluke right now. D.J. Augustin looks better with every game.
G Gerald Henderson had five turnovers vs. the Blazers in a night when turnovers essentially defined the difference between the Blazers and the Bobcats.
F Tyrus Thomas continues to be one of the least cost-effective players in the NBA, making roughly 7 million a season. He was 2-of-5 vs. the Blazers with five rebounds.
F Boris Diaw’s 1-of-6 performance against the Blazers confirms that he’s oblivious of this being a contract year.
MEDICAL WATCH
G D.J. Augustin (inflamed right big toe) might now miss all of the four-game road trip.
F Corey Maggette (left hamstring strain)is 2-4 weeks away from a return.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“This is so different than when I came through because of guaranteed contracts. They know they’re going to get paid.” — Bobcats coach Paul Silas on how NBA economics erode modern players’ motivation.
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NBA Daily Worst: Dirk Nowitzki Fails, Raptors Bomb, Love-Granger Fight and More
Welcome back to the Daily Worst, where every day we take a look at the worst of the day. Leave the best for other folks. As always, no players or teams were hated in the production of this article. They are here because they earned it, or didn’t earn it.
Worst Fight
The “fight” between Love and Granger was actually one I’d have liked to have seen. I mean, what are they going to do, slap at each other? We’re not talking about the toughest two players in the league here. I guess you can say this is more of a “love spat” at the 1:37 mark.
Granger likes to act tough, but if the ease with which he was knocked down at the 2:02 mark, which gives us our Worst Flop, is any indication, it’s not likely that he would have stood up to Kevin Love in a fight.
Worst Tantrum
Rick Carlisle needs to work on his tantrums. I don’t mean he needs to get them under control, I mean he is way too under control. I mean, is this not the most civil tantrum you’ve ever seen in your life? If it’s possible to throw a polite tantrum, he did. I guess he did get kicked out of the game, though.
Worst Job of Getting a Shot Off
You know that expression, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Well, the Bobcats took that to heart, and they failed, failed again against the one-man block party known as Marcus Camby. This is either one of the best jobs of one-man defense you’ll ever see, or one of the worst at finding a decent shot you’ll ever see.
Worst Assist
A general word of advice for the Bucks: When you are passing the ball to set someone up for an easy basket, make sure you pass it to the guy wearing your uniform. Giving it to the best player in the world with unfettered access down the lane is generally going to end badly. I wonder if he got an assist on the play.
I also want to point out that with the leg kick in the celebration, LeBron James gets the award for Worst Rockette Tryout on that play.
Worst Offense
When is an offense offensive? When it’s not very offensive. Wrap your head around that one. If you want to know what I mean, look at what the Raptors’ “offense” did against the Boston Celtics. I mean, they should be aspiring to reach the Bobcats’ 68 points! The Raptors scored 29 points in the second half and didn’t top 20 in any quarter of the game.
Daily Awards
Today’s “Baker’s Award,” which goes to the player who makes the most turnovers, goes to LeBron James, who turned it over seven times in the Heat’s loss to the Timberwolves. He more than made up for it in scoring 40 points, though.
In what is an extreme rarity, Dirk Nowitzki wins today’s Upchucker Award, given to the guy who throws up and misses so many shots that it makes us want to puke. Nowitzki was a measly 3-of-15 from the field in one of the worst shooting performances of his career.
Finally, the Quote of the Day comes form Gerald Wallace, who shares his thoughts on his former team, the Charlotte Bobcats.
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10 Worst Turnover Machines in the NBA
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers: They are usually the deciding factor in the outcome of almost every game, regardless of sport. It’s quite simple: If you give the rock away too many times, your chances of coming out victorious slowly begin to spiral down the drain. Hold on to the rock, however, and your chances of strutting jovially off the court greatly increase.
You made be surprised at home many superstar players made the list. I certainly was. But I suppose it stands to reason that players who handle the rock more often ultimately have more opportunities to fumble it away. So it goes.
Also, while it’s possible that the turnover is a overrated statistic in some instances, in other instances it can be quite telling. You be the judge of when it is (or isn’t) valuable.
Anyway, here is goes: the 10 worst turnover machines in the NBA.
Note: This list features the 10 NBA players with the highest turnovers per 48 minutes average (or TOP48). All players featured average at least 30 minutes per game.
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NBA Daily Worst: Magic Bomb, Boozer’s Kid Likes Heat, Bobcats Streaking and More
Welcome back to the Daily Worst, where every day we ignore the best of the best and pay attention to the worst. Why should the “best” get all the publicity? As always, no players or teams were hated in the production of this article.
Worst Fans
Today, let’s start off with looking at the worst fans. What’s wrong with three kids chanting “Let’s go Heat” at the Miami Heat game? Nothing, unless their dad is Carlos Boozer, starting power forward for the Chicago Bulls.
Worst Buzzer-Beating Shot Ever
Corey Brewer got bailed out by the tip in from Rudy Fernandez here, but it didn’t escape our eyes that the reason there was an amazing tip-in was that there was a horrible, horrible shot that set it up.
Worst Triple-Double
Andre Iguodala already had one of the three weakest triple-doubles since 1985 with his triple-ten game against the Detroit Pistons on March 23, 2005. Saturday night he got the fourth, and the first one in five years. What’s more unimpressive is that one of the rebounds and two of the points came on this play, giving him arguably the weakest triple-double ever.
But hey, it is still a triple-double. Granted, it’s not like Ricky Davis’ weak attempt or something. It came early in the game. I just mean he got it by the skin of his teeth.
Worst Ending
The Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat are widely considered the two best teams in the East. The end of this game was a double-choke nightmare as both James and Rose went oh-fers from the line and then Chalmers split a pair before Rose missed a shot that would have tied the game.
On top of all that, you had some premature whistles from the ref. It was a great game for 47 minutes.
Worst Team
The Bobcats are the worst team in the NBA. We could do an old Johnny Carson routine with this one.
The Bobcats are so bad…! (Audience: How bad are they?) The Bobcats are so bad they lost to the Wizards twice in one week! (Laugh track.) It’s funny because it’s true.
If that doesn’t convince you, watch them shoot free throws.
Worst Collapse
The Magic are going to have to be sent to remedial training at Hogwarts the way they’re playing. They got beat down by the New Orleans Hornets for crying out loud. Actually, that’s what Dwight Howard seemed to do after the game, cry out loud, blaming his teammates.
Worst Disappointment
There were those who were ready to put the New York Knicks into the Eastern Conference Finals after they signed Tyson Chandler. It looks like they have a better chance of winning the lottery at this point, dropping their ninth game in 10 tries. The NBA Tonight crew breaks down the Knicks breakdown here.
Daily Awards
Now it’s time to hand out our daily awards. First up, the Bakers Award which goes to the player that made the most turnovers. In case of a tie, it goes to the player with the least assists.
In this case, it’s Kevin Durant, who apart from his seven turnovers against the Warriors on Friday night, had a pretty stellar game, scoring 37 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
The other award we give is the Upchuckers Award, which goes to the player who throws up, and misses, so many shots that it makes you want to vomit.
This weekend the award goes to DeMar DeRozan who has more capital letter in his name than shots made against Denver Nuggets on Saturday night. It wasn’t for lack of trying though as DeRozan went 3-for-15 from the field.
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Atlanta Hawks’ Top 10 Worst Draft Picks of All Time
After losing starting center Al Horford, the Atlanta Hawks have been struggling to win games over sub .500 teams. They’ve been getting demolished by teams with winning records and are still paying Joe Johnson’s contract.
We figured it was an appropriate time, then, to examine some of the team’s greatest blunders though the years in the NBA draft (of which there are many).
You’ve got to find some humor through the pain, right?
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NBA Trade Rumors: Dealing Paul Pierce Worst Move the Boston Celtics Can Make
Could Paul Pierce be suiting up in another uniform soon enough?
The Big Three for the Boston Celtics have made up the centerpiece of the trade rumors in the NBA following their poor start to the 2011-2012 season.
According to ESPN.com’s Chris Forsberg, the Celtics have denied the trade talks since Danny Ainge made a public statement saying he would be willing to make a trade if the right move went his way.
Paul Pierce is not only a player these Celtics have to keep on the roster for his legacy, but also for his ability to give the team the boost they need to contend for an NBA championship.
Since the trade rumors have lingered, the Celtics have responded with four wins in the team’s last five games. A three-game win streak for the Pierce and company have the Celtics just one game under .500 at 8-9.
The Celtics have gone back to the recipe for success in the past for this veteran ball club—winning with top-notch defense.
In the win over the Orlando Magic in Boston, the Celtics held Dwight Howard-led Magic to a franchise-low 56 points, 24 percent shooting from the field and just five second-half field goals.
Talk about impressive.
It is also important to take into account that along with defense, has come a spark of offense from “The Truth.”
Without Pierce this season, the Celtics are 0-3. With Pierce on the court, the team is a solid 8-6 with five of the six losses coming on a five-game losing streak.
The Celtics leading scorer has been able to provide the necessary spark on offense to get this team going, as he is averaging 16.8 points per game. Yet in his last three outings, Pierce has been as impressive as he has been all season.
In the three top-producing games for Pierce—all of which the Celtics came out on top—Pierce has led the team with 34, 19 and 24-point games. The Truth is averaging 25.7 points, nine assists and 6.3 rebounds in those three wins.
Pierce has posted double-doubles with assists in two of the three wins and was two rebounds shy of a triple-double in the win over the Washington Wizards on the road. When Pierce goes for at least 20 points in a game, these Celtics are 5-2 on the season.
As the team has continued to respond on the defensive end and rely on the offense of Paul Pierce in the second half of ball games, the Celtics suddenly appear to be a team that can make a run in the East.
There is no question a team like the Chicago Bulls or the Miami Heat have the upper-hand. It goes without saying. Yet with the experience this team boasts while playing winning basketball with both Rondo and Allen in and out of the lineup, the Celtics are undoubtedly a team to reckon with so long as they are in the playoffs.
What fuels this team is the play of Paul Pierce, as made evident upon his return to the lineup this season.
If one thing is for certain in Beantown, in spite of the hype surrounding the Big Three breakup growing louder, Pierce has done everything to prove his name to a mere whisper.
With sustained success defensively, continued strong play from the younger talent on the bench and Pierce sparking the offense, the Celtics evidently stand a chance. Giving away “The Truth” is easily the worst move this team can make.
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Wisconsin Beats Indiana 57-50 in One of the Worst Officiated Games Yet
I now know why Wisconsin has such a good record at home. The Badgers got just about every call in tonight’s 57-50 victory over No. 17 Indiana.
I usually don’t blame the refs on losses, but tonight they were the worst I’ve ever seen. They were the only reason why Indiana lost this game.
Save your breath, Wisconsin fans. Don’t try to back them up because you literally have no valid points you can even bring. No one—and I mean no one—can say that these refs tonight didn’t have a 100-percent effect on who won this contest.
There’s really not much to say about the game, other than Indiana was clearly the better team and controlled most of this game.
But the refs had other thoughts about who won tonight.
How does Wisconsin only commit 10 total fouls in a Big 10 game?
Almost all of the Badgers’ eight blocks were fouls due to an Indiana player getting hammered on the arm. The refs swallowed the whistle, but they called the Hoosiers on touch fouls on the other end. That sways game big-time when points are left off the scoreboard due to missed calls but are added on the other end.
It was evident when one of the worst players outside of Tom Pritchard to ever put on a Big 10 uniform, Mike Bruesewitz, hacked Will Sheehey on a dunk late in the second half that resulted in a no call. Then, when Indiana was down three with less than 20 seconds to go and the shot clock was running out, Bruesewitz threw down Cody Zeller on a rebound off of a missed Badgers shot. Bruesewitz gained possession with no call at all.
That would have put the Hoosiers on the line to bring the game down to one.
The Hoosiers also could have had a chance at bringing the deficit down to one point when Ryan Evans went over the back twice on the possession prior to Bruesewitz’s attempt to audition for the Badgers football team. But once again, nothing was called.
Inexcusable on behalf of the refs. They cost Indiana this game.
The Hoosiers have now lost their fourth game in the last five contests.
I can’t blame anything on how Indiana played tonight. Against Minnesota and Nebraska, they stunk up the gym. Tonight, they played their hearts and guts out. They deserved this win.
The Hoosiers shot 45 percent from the field, including 37 percent from behind the arc. Indiana held Wisconsin to 39 percent from the field and 23 percent from three-point land. Rebounds and steals were even.
The difference tonight was the 18-10 stat in the fouls category won by Indiana.
Verdell Jones III and Christian Watford led the Hoosiers tonight with 12 points apiece; Jones III scored all 12 of his in the first half.
Jordan Hulls added nine of his own, and freshman Cody Zeller had seven points, with all seven coming in the second half.
The Hoosiers did a great job on the defensive end with shutting down Jordan Taylor. Taylor only had 10 points and two assists on 5-for-14 shooting, including 0-for-5 from behind the arc.
Ben Brust was the only Badger to hit a three; he was 3-for-6 behind the arc and led all Wisconsin scorers with 13 points.
Indiana will only hope that they take on the Iowa Hawkeyes—and not the refs—at 6:00pm on Sunday in Assembly Hall for their next game.
The one plus that I can take from tonight’s game is if you just read the score, you would think Indiana is struggling, but if they play that effort from here on out, they’re going to be a dangerous tournament team.
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Indiana Nears All-Time Worst Loss in 70-69 Defeat to Nebraska
You just have to shake your head after that disappointment of a game. What a joke.
The Hoosiers’ 70-69 loss to one of the worst programs in major college basketball is an embarrassment to a once-potentially-great season.
This is the last couple of seasons all over again. You suffer a couple of bad defeats, and suddenly you can’t fix the mistakes and break the losing trend.
When you start 15-1 and beat Kentucky and Ohio State, you don’t lose to Minnesota and Nebraska in the span of a week. No disrespect to the Gophers or Huskers, but if you want to consider yourself one of the big boys, you should never lose to them.
The Hoosiers were still in the hunt for the Big Ten championship, but now at four losses, they’re on thin ice at best.
This was the ultimate letdown by this Hoosiers team—a team that led by seven to 10 points for almost the entire game, yet allowed Nebraska to come back. There are no excuses for that.
I hope this stings deep for the Hoosiers ball club. When you see those fans rush the court in a game the home team didn’t deserve to win—and when you read the stat lines—it should hurt, because Indiana was clearly the better team.
Indiana shot 51 percent from the field including 44 percent from threes. Compare that to Nebraska’s 37 percent from the field, and a dismal 10 for 30 behind the arc. How do you lose?
When you look at rebounds, Indiana won that battle 33-29. On assists, Indiana won that battle as well, 17-15.
How on earth do you lose to a bad program going nowhere on those stats?
I’ll give you the answer. It’s all about heart.
When you’re up by 13 points in the second half, you push the throttle down harder and beat the team that didn’t even deserve to be on the same court as you. You get a little swagger and blow them out.
Instead, Indiana let Bo Spencer and Toney McCray get going, nailing threes to get the Huskers back in the game in the last five minutes.
Where’s the heart? Where’s the defense? Push through screens get a hand up, and don’t let them make those shots.
Nebraska was shooting 28 percent of their threes in conference play, for crying out loud.
Once Nebraska made the comeback, they were down by one with under a minute to go. Jordan Hulls was fouled with 36 seconds left near midcourt and nailed both of his free throws.
Nebraska then came down and hit a shot to make it a one-point game.
Jordan Hulls was fouled before the inbounds pass, and missed a rare free throw after going 4 for 4 in the last game, and Nebraska rebounded. At that point, the superior team is supposed to suck it up and not take a loss for an answer.
Instead, they let a soft Jorge Brian Diaz shoot and get fouled near the basket. Diaz made both free throws, and Indiana was now trailing by one.
Jordan Hulls missed a heave that fell out of bounds near the Indiana bench, and Indiana lost its third consecutive game.
I hope Coach Crean doesn’t let these guys touch a basketball in an organized practice the next couple of days.
These guys deserve punishment and discipline. They need to learn that you can’t lose to these teams anymore, starting now. They need to work on help side defense, shell drills, ball drills, and conditioning.
Indiana has another shot at a lousy team on Sunday, when they take on Penn State. That game will make or break the season. If you drop three of four to the worst three teams in the Big Ten, consider this season a waste.
A win will help end all of this heartbreak, and get that swag back to push through the conference and make a tournament run.
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Dwyane Wade Injury: Worst Fear Coming to Fruition for Miami Heat
In a compact, shortened season, the worst fear of the Miami Heat is coming to fruition: injuries taking a toll on their stars.
On Wednesday, Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports tweeted:
Dwyane Wade has been battling with his ankle injury for a while now. He’s missed four of the Heat’s 13 games and the last two games he played in he struggled, going a combined 12-of-31 from the floor and 5-of-8 from the free-throw line.
The Heat, on the other hand, have lost three of their last four games. Wade played in all three of their losses, but he wasn’t 100 percent and that clearly showed in his performance.
This is every team’s greatest thorn right now. Players were complaining before the season even started that they didn’t have enough time to get into playing shape and there were bound to be injuries. The aging Boston Celtics, including Kevin Garnett, were the most vocal about this.
This is nothing particular to the Heat. This is happening throughout the league. While the Heat are largely considered the favorites to win the championship this season, whoever wins the title may simply come down to who’s the healthiest.
That’s why you may see some teams forgo gunning for the No. 1 seed and instead make sure their stars are healthy for the playoffs. It does you no good to grab the No. 1 seed if your stars are hobbling by the time the postseason arrives.
For a player like Wade, this is certainly concerning. No doubt, he’s one of the biggest warriors in the NBA, but the fact of the matter is he still plays with reckless abandon and that makes him more susceptible to injury.
The Heat are talented enough to win the title this season and playing together for another year will do them well. But none of that will matter if they enter the playoffs and proceed to limp around the court.
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Worst College Basketball National Champions of All Time
Long before office pools became the obsession of nine-to-fivers, the NCAA Tournament played second fiddle to the NIT, which was founded one year earlier. The long arms of the New York media and the presence of NBA scouts made the NIT most alluring.
By the mid 1950’s, however, the larger 24-team NCAA Tournament had supplanted the NIT, and nine amendments later, the 68-team field is a ratings juggernaut that annually offers up some of sports’ most compelling storylines.
Whether it’s George Mason and VCU making it to the Final Four, or mid-major Butler taking Duke to the final possession, America loves the underdog.
But as much as we crave the excitement of watching “Cinderella” teams perform their best David versus Goliath routine, the one-and-done format has produced the occasional sub-standard champion.
At the risk of inciting disapproving fans, I proffer The Eight Worst National Championship Teams of All Time.
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