New Site

Hey guys, I haven’t written on the blog in a while and I forgot that there were subscribers out there.  I’m writing for a new sports site here is the address.

http://bleacherreport.com/users/14178-Michael-Felder

Bobcats, How to build a franchise…

I’m a true Charlottean, not a guy that just moved here, not a guy who works here but wishes he lives somewhere else. I’m a true to life guy who loves Charlotte and wants the city to become a truly elite first rate city. This means I voted for the transit tax, for the arena deal and against the repeal of the transit tax. I’m for the expansion of the light rail, for the CIAA tournament staying in Charlotte and have mixed feelings about the uptown minor league park. Mixed feelings because while the minor league park would add to the center city’s appeal the addition of a minor league park only serves to hobble us in the ultimate goal of stealing the Twins, Devil Rays or Marlins from their respective cities. With that being said the cities economic appeal to professional sports is countered not only by the cities embracing of professional sports but the mismanagement of the past and current teams in town. Beginning with Hornets owner George Shinn’s shenanagans, moving through the Panthers’ inability to sustain success and on to the Bobcats futility; Charlotte has proved a tough market in which to create professional successes.

NBA basketball is a current issue and with the Bobcats out of the playoffs their future success should be paramount in my opine. The NBA is currently at the most elevated state of appeal since Jordan and the Bulls 6th title in 1998. There are teams to get excited about and players who are truly some of the best ever; we’re watching future Hall of Famers enter their prime such as LeBron, Kobe, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Derron Williams as well as soon to be Hall of Famers including Kevin Garnett, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash and Allen Iverson wrapping up their career hoping to win the ever elusive NBA title. We’re privy to the resurgence of the Celtics and the best playoff race in NBA history, but living in Charlotte one would never know that the NBA even existed. Charlotte fans could not only careless about the NBA there are a large contingency of fans out there that actively “hate” the NBA, meaning if you say something good about it they will go out of their way to bash the product and state how much they hate it. They were turned off by the Hornets fiasco, “The Brawl” both in Madison Square Garden and The Palace as well as the off court statements and antics of the players. Both the fights and the off court happenings created a thuggish air to the game and a large portion of fans simply stopped paying attention to the game. The state of the league didn’t help pull fans in as the pace of the game slowed, the quality of players declined [thanks by and large to the dilution of talent by high schoolers going pro in the 90's and early 2000's] and the disappearnce marketable stars of the game. While other NBA cities have experienced an uptick in attendance the Charlotte Bobcats have experienced decline as the newness of the team continues to wear off and their inability to put a winning product on the floor is exposed. With high ticket prices for lower level seats, an arena that a majority of the city didn’t want to build and a large constituency of fans that “hate” the NBA there is only one way for the Bobcats to be a successful NBA franchise: WIN!

Its just that simple and the problem that I have, as an NBA fan and a relatively intelligent one, is that the billionare Bob Johnson is running the product into the ground. He has a scarred market with incredible potential, a fantastic arena within less than a mile of all the finest things that Charlotte as a city has to offer and yet he can’t figure out a way to get the arena packed. I’ve got all the respect in the world for the man as a self made billionare who grew a media empire from nothing in a niche market. With that being said, surely he can translate those money making instincts to his stint as an NBA owner. The Bobcats are essential to the success of Charlotte as this may be our last chance at being a multi-pro sport city.

Building a fan base is essential here in Charlotte and local connections are critical to the sense of pride in the Bobcats facilities and the team itself. Accessibility on the part of players, management and front office personnel creates this connection and fosters goodwill within the community. Radio and television appearances, public state of the union addresses from management stating goals and the plan to acheive the goal is key as people need to feel involved and knowledgable about the process of building a champion. The foundation of the franchise should be deeply staked in stability, more importantly a philosophy centering around “Basketball Guys.” Not men who were great basketball players, we’ve all seen that go awry with Isiah, Bird and Jordan, but rather men who understand the nuances of the game. The Hubie Brown, Kiki Vandeweghe and Larry Brown’s of the world that have experience with young players, young franchises and building teams from the bottom up. Ownership can learn from men like Jerry Buss, Mark Cuban, Larry Miller and Peter Holt about how important stability and creating a strong foundation is to success. While LA has always been a major market draw Dallas was a franchise quagmired in despair in the nineties that crawled its way up to NBA’s upper echelon. Utah and San Antonio have built franchises through stability, acquiring strong players to build around [Karl Malone, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Carlos Boozer] and filling in with strong team philosophies. There is no sense in attempting to reinvent the wheel, stick to the path to success and follow the road laid before you.

The draft is the first key to building the team. Drafting strong talented players that will be sure hits is essential, not drafting quality college players who’ve already maximized their potential. Coaches and GM’s are the key to this portion as they must have an offensive and defensive philosophy and then draft players that fit into their mold, not the other way around. Whether your coach’s aim is to play off high ball screens, run the triangle offense or use the pick and roll is quite important to the draft strategy of the team. By fitting players to your system you ensure the success of a franchise. Signing quality free agents to fill the rolls of shooters, back ups or defensive specialists is the next step after fielding a team with a draft built nucleus. Risks in selecting players should be in the 8, 9 and 10 guys on the roster, not the 4, 5 and 6 players.

Since the Bobcats will have a mid-lottery pick between 6 and 12 they’ve got several options. They won’t be able to draft the superstars of the college basketball world such as Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose or Brook Lopez so they’ll have to delve into the second tier of exceptional players. Depending upon the coaching situation and the philosophy that will be employed the Bobcats have multiple fronts to attack the draft on. After close analysis their are several picks that stand out to me as viable options with Superstar possibilities and a definite option for a strong pro offense. I will say that my first two moves in the offseason would be to move Gerald Wallace and re-sign Emeka Okafor for market value, not a cent over. Wallace needs to be moved, the team has a higher rate of success and a smoother flow with him on the bench and his continuous injury problems make him a roster paria.

Jerryd Bayless

While the Bobcats currently employ Raymond Felton as their lead guard it may be time to let the Felton experiment go. He’s a mediocre starting point guard so make him the backup as he’s a top shelf quality back up point guard in the NBA. Adding Bayless gives two inches in height to the position while not sacrificing the speed or ball handling ability of Felton. Bayless is a scorer who can create his own shot off the dribble as well as distribute the ball. He’d work well in a pick and roll, high ball screen styled offense freeing Okafor for short range jump shots as well as two man games.

Donte Green

At 6′10″ Green is similar in height to Okafor but playing at the second wingspot opposite Richardson he would be an inside outside threat able to drive and kick for the three as well as finish at the rim. He needs to add 15-20 pounds but his leaping ability and wingspan make him a very real threat as an offensive rebounder and scorer. Possess the ability to run the pick and pop with Felton and creates match-up problems for teams due to his height and speed.

Darrell Arthur

He’s a 6′9″ 230 pound versatile big man with a plethora of low post moves. While he’s light in the pants he has the ability to be the offensive threat that Okafor never materialized into. He runs the floor extremely well and would fit great into an up and down offense. He’s got a very good mid-range game and has a long wingspan that makes him a very adept rebounder. While he disappears at times for stretches he is at times very assertive on the offensive end hitting turn around jumpers, hooks from either hand and his up and under move quality. Another great quality he possess is his shot blocking, he is great coming across the lane on weak side help and he and Okafor would make for a dynamic defensive tandem.

DeAndre Jordan

A true center in the post, Jordan is a guy who will florish under the right system. Though he’s a work in progress the talent and possibility has appeared in flashes throughout the season. If the Bobcats committed to Jordan he’d pay dividends similar to Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum. The kid can run the court and he’s a quality rebounder on both ends of the floor. His frame is such that he could capably carry 20-25 more pounds and that would make him a true force in the paint. His presence would open up the game for three point shooters and he could clean up the boards after Richardson, Felton and Wallace drives to the basket. The biggest key to making this project work would be acquiring a quality big man coach tot he staff who could work with Jordan to grow him as an offensive player not just a big body.

Roy Hibbert

Although Hibberts stock has fallen due to his ability to disappear during games he is still a quality threat on the inside. He’s developed a wide array of low post moves and has some of the best feet of any big man to come out of college in recent history. His size, quickness and ability are protypical and he is a relatively sure thing. You get what you see with Hibbert, a mature, quality player with limited athleticism but a hard worker with a burning desire to succeed. The four years in school working with Patrick Ewing and John Thompson III have helped him grow into a strong, physically imposing defender, good free throw shooter and an offensive threat anywhere on the low block. Hibbert is not a shot blocker, but he understands how to alter shots and limit good looks through body positioning and always blocks out for the strong rebound. If the Bobcats are looking for a quality guy both on and off the court Hibbert is a solid match.

Charlotte, our fans suck…

I’ve lived in Charlotte for over 15 years, I went to elementary, middle and high school here so basically I’m the next best thing to a person born in Charlotte.  I love this city, I love the people here and hell I don’t even really mind the transplants as long as they don’t try to tell me how they did things wherever the hell they’re from.  Charlotte is a great place to live, a great place to raise kids and have a family and a great place to work.  Charlotte is not a great sports town.  There are three reasons for this and the blame falls not only on the shoulders of the fans but on the teams in town and the region in general. 

The fans in the region are guilty on two fronts.  First there is a large portion of the fanbase that is completely ignorant.  These fans don’t understand the inner workings of a championship caliber program.  Generally speaking they tend to be fans that are new to the NFL who just started following professional football with the Panthers.  They are the fans that want more offense, think that defensive football is boring and truly buy into the idea that the more you score the more you win.  This segment of fans is one that I find highly annoying as their ignorance only manifests itself as a voice talking loudly but saying nothing.  While you don’t have to have played football to understand it, you do have to have an appreciation for the intricacies of the game to truly comprehend the formula for winning in the NFL.  A prime example of this is when owner Jerry Richardson was quoted as saying he:

“would like for the Carolina Panthers and our team, and our work, and the way we operate our team to emulate the Pittsburgh Steelers.” 

Fans called radio stations, sent emails and wrote the paper complaining that this was a stupid decision.  That they didn’t want the team to emulate the Steelers, the most stable, well-ran franchise in pro sports.  Instead fans wanted Richardson to emulate the Patriots.  Why can’t we be like the Patriots was the cry, a team, up until 2001 no one outside of New England could careless about.  This tier of fans doesn’t understand or appreciate the impact that front office stability and a unified philosophy has on the franchise.  In the last 30+ years the Steelers have gone through the same amount of head coaches as the Panthers have gone through in 12.  The new football fan doesn’t grasp the concept that defense is the way to build a team and a power running game based on a strong offensive line create more wins than any flash in the pan offensive scheme. 

The second type of fan that is detrimental to the Charlotte landscape is the transplant.  A large percentage of Charlotteans aren’t from Charlotte at all, they’re from Washington DC, New York, New Jersey and Ohio.  These fans already have their own teams and they aren’t changing.  This is one reason that Panther’s fans are uneducated concerning the game as they were fans that didn’t watch NFL until 1996.  The fans that did watch the NFL still watch and still root for their respective teams.  At Bank of America Stadium it isn’t uncommon for opposing teams’ fans to out number the Panther faithful, especially if the Redskins, Steelers or Cowboys come to town.  This is truly a hindrance as the Panthers don’t truly make inroads into the community as long as the cities residents continue to cling to their old teams.  I’m even guilty of this as my family is Steelers fans and I fully plan on raising my future children to love the black, gold and the Terrible Towel.  With that being said its tough but true that it will take quite sometime for fans and their children to assimilate to the Panthers truly being “THE TEAM” in Charlotte.

With that being said, the teams in Charlotte don’t help themselves out in the department of increasing fanhood.  While the Panthers have had three relatively successful seasons out of 12, they aren’t a perennial power in the NFC, let alone the NFL.  The Bobcats are even worse as they are set for their 4th season of sitting home in the summer for the playoffs. 

The NFL came into Charlotte in 1995 and was welcomed into the city with open arms, Richardson has for the most part treated fans right and they have been endeared to the people of Charlotte.  There are several aspects of the Panthers that have created a less than stellar situation for them in the city.  One is the stadium situation in which the game time atmosphere is one of the worst in the NFL.  By creating a “high class” atmosphere the Richardson’s have truly handcuffed the die hard fan.  There are no shirt off body painting football fanatics in Charlotte, even if there were the stadium authorities would ask them to put a shirt on.  Sign size is controlled, massive alcohol consumption isn’t a problem, over all coming to Charlotte to play is a treat for opposing teams.  There is no atmosphere in BOA, unless the other team brings their own, as is the case when the Panthers play teams with rowdy followers. 

On the field the Panthers have their own problems.  Multiple times they’ve fallen to fan pressure to select the “vogue” pick instead of fitting players into the John Fox system.  Deangelo Williams and Thomas Davis are just two first round examples in the last couple years that don’t fit into the power running and maintain a strong defensive philosophy.  However fans wanted “an explosive” running back and a “play-maker” on defense.  Hurney and Fox needed to stick to their system, a power running back to replace Stephen Davis, a strong outside linebacker to plug into the system.  Not projects that may or may not materialize.  Don’t try to make an extraordinary pick when an ordinary one will do.  While the idea that the Panthers casual fans don’t grasp the idea of patience and stability being the keys to success they do understand winning.  In the 2002-2003 season the Panthers played stout defense and ran the ball well and fans went to the game.  Scoring doesn’t get fans in seats, winning does. 

The Bobcats are another story entirely as they entered the city already despised by a large contingent of potential fans.  The arena deal forced through the city, the way George Shinn treated the city in moving the Hornets and the “thuggish” mentality of the NBA in the early 21st century all turned fans off.  The product was incredibly poor as the Bobcats didn’t have any marquee players to draw fans.  To add insult to injury the prices for Bobcats tickets and the season ticket policies are horribly managed.  As an upstart and an underdog within the community the Bobcats need to appeal to the masses, work overtime to build quality public relations within the area.  Low ticket prices, gameday give aways and strong consumer relations would be a major step towards righting the Bobcats ship.  The other step would be to put a successful product on the floor.  Instead of drafting players that will only serve to initially get players to the stadium [Sean May, Raymond Felton, Adam Morrison] the Bobcats need to draft players that will fit into their system.  Here in lies the problem, the Bobcats have no system, no identity as a team.  Watching them play is just watching a bunch of guys out there shooting around sometimes running plays sometimes just winging it.  They need stability and an identity to build success in a horrid eastern conference.  I’ve got that recipe in a future article, trust me it’ll work.

The last major player in Charlotte’s ultimate suckage as a sports town is the region itself.  In the south there aren’t a lot of pro sports. Sure Atlanta has the Hawks [they suck too, almost as bad as the Bobcats] and the Falcons [ew] and Charlotte has the Panthers and the Bobcats but overall the south is very new to professional sports.  Down here fans cling to their college sports; Sunday is nice but Saturday is king.  Fans here get rowdy on Saturday and spend Sunday rehashing and recovering while the NFL game is on the tube.  It is an even worse situation for basketball as the NBA isn’t even on the radar of a large portion of college basketball fans.  They don’t love good basketball and talented players they like the ambiance of the college game.  The rivalries, the coaching personalities and the history.  Its a significant difference, one that is tough to overcome as even though the Bobcats are 3 games out of the playoffs going into the final stretch and on a 4-game winning streak no one cares because Duke plays Carolina today.  Professional sports in the south have always and will always be second best to college.  Sure when teams win they can steal some spotlight but if the Bobcats were on a 15 game win streak and the Tar Heels are in the Elite 8 playing to go to San Antonio, no one is talking about or tuning in to the Cats game because the Heels take precedence.  It is tough to win the region over as college sports have always been the South’s escape and professional sports have been focused on the North, its a sports civil war and ESPN doesn’t help increase the professional foothold in the South with their Northern coverage bias. 

Recipe for a Final Four…

As most true fans of college basketball know it takes a little luck to get to the final four, however in today’s world of college basketball it also takes a monumental talent level to reach the final weekend.  It is a trend that began at the turn of the century and has only been steadily increasing as teams fall into two categories;  serious contenders and mid-majors.  While many people attempt to define mid-major by the conference that a team participates in, the more accurate criteria to utilize is the style and talent level of the players associated with the program.  Serious contenders have top echelon players with NBA level talent entering college, they possess superior gifted athletes who need college to harness their talents and develop their skills for immediate success at the next level.  Mid-majors are teams with an overall average talent level, perhaps one or two “star” players but in general a team that requires discipline, hard work and experience to succeed.  These teams most often are characterized by a particular “style” of basketball and a daunting reliance on the three point shot to be successful.  This reliance is due to a lack of talent on the low block and insufficient athleticism. 

Anyone can be a great shooter, all it takes is practice, dogged determination and a will to succeed.  There are great shooters both at contenders and at mid-majors, the difference is the players surrounding the shooters.  At mid-majors point guards are adequate ball handlers who work hard and fit into the coaches system.  Contenders have point guards that have superior handles and the ability to make any system work for them.  At the wing spots the two and three contenders have players that can not only shoot the ball but also make athletic cuts to the basket.  These are the players that provide the high flying Sportscenter highlights.  The mid-major is unable to pull from this pool of talent and thus has shooters in these spots, generally guys who are unable to create their own shot off the dribble and while dangerous if left open their need to spot up and run off screens makes them highly predictable for defenders.  The most notable position difference is at the forward position.  The power forward is all but lost at the mid-major as this is a spot to add another shooter, he’s not a great rebounder, or a serious low post defender.  On the flip side low post scoring at contenders is  how games are won and lost, the power forward is a serious rebounder who controls the glass and is able to get his points in the post or facing up the basket from 17 feet out.  The final position, center, is all but dead in college basketball, thanks to the mass exodus of 7-footers to the NBA in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.  With the new 1-year rule centers should slowly come into prominence again to dominate the game, however their impact is only felt a handful of places and due to their rarity their significance is negligible. 

With that in mind and the evolution of the college basketball game being taken into account there are truly only a handful of teams that can be labeled serious contenders for this years NCAA final four and championship.  Kansas, UConn, Texas, Georgetown, Stanford, UNC, Memphis and UCLA.  They are the only top tier teams with multiple NBA lottery pick level talent on their teams. 

Basketball world favorites such as Duke, Michigan State, Tennessee and Gonzaga do not possess the caliber of player required to win six in a row for the title.  5 to 10 years ago these teams would have been the likely front runners to win the championship as they play great team basketball, have very good college basketball players and are deadly from three.  However, with the dispersion of talent across the board having several really good college players doesn’t beat having a few NBA lottery pick talents.  While people can point to the Michigan team that lost in 92 and 93, the UNLV of 91 or the UNC teams of 98 and 95 as their reasoning for great teams beating great players they need to realize a very serious point; things have changed.  Those games and teams were ten, almost twenty years ago.  Things that happened that long ago are completely irrelevant in the world of athletics.  Sure K won titles in the 90’s with low talent teams that played well together.  At that same time Michigan was a basketball powerhouse, Nebraska was a football machine, Melrose Place and 90210 were hot shows and the majority of people didn’t have a cell phone and had never even heard of the Internet.  Hell zoobahs were in style. 

Talent wins championships, teams that have NBA level talent will go far into the tournament, they can adapt to the style of play whether its an up and down high scoring affair or a half-court slug-fest.  Basketball has gone the way of football, as teams with top level talent achieve more success than teams that play well together and have matured with each other.  With that being said, sure there will be upsets and some under-talented team may make a run, but when the dust settles a talented team will cut down the nets.

Validity is a must…

With the resignation of Bobby Knight and now the dismissal of Kelvin Sampson a coaches true worth has come into question several times.  Bobby Knight is a true pillar of coaching in American history as one cannot write the history of college basketball without Knight and his discipline and motion offense, much like you cannot omit Wooden and the dynasty or Smith and the four corners.  However, in terms of relevancy Sampson holds hire stock today as a coaching hire.  His teams win now, he recruits relevant talent, he produces W’s.  Yes he messed up and I have no intention of pardoning him for the massive screw up and complete disregard for the NCAA rules, but he is currently a more relevant hire than Knight. 

I’m sure at this point a lot of you all are thinking I’m a blasphemer, that Bob Knight is one of the best coaches ever and whatever else helps you sleep at night but please read on to gain an understanding for what truly makes a coach relevant.  Roy Williams, Billy Donovan, Jim Calhoun, Rick Barnes and Ben Howland are the most relevant coaches.  Guys such as Krzyzewski, Izzo and Gary Williams are all seeing their relevancy wane. 

The recipe for relevancy as far as coaching goes is through looking at the most recent five years of a career.  Don’t look back ten because that was a decade ago and the game has changed while looking back only two or three years doesn’t give enough time to account for dips in recruiting talent and players transitioning to the NBA.  Taking all that into account have a look at the college basketball landscape, a lot has changed in a very short period of time and while certain coaches dominated earlier time frames they have been unable to adapt to the current make up of the game.  Then there are those coaches that have been able to change their recruiting techniques as well as targets in order to land not only players that will knowingly satisfy only the one year before the NBA [Kevin Durant, Brandon Wright, Carmelo Anthony etc.] but also players who will stay two or three years to “build” a program capable of making a title run.  This is a delicate balancing act between getting players not capable of leaving early and acquiring talented players desiring a championship. 

The last five national champions have balanced this act quite favorably as Syracuse, UConn, North Carolina and Florida possessed players that had the skill and the talent to be NBA lottery picks but opted for school in order to win their championship.  In the case of Florida there players craved a championship bad enough to stay an extra year and win two before entering the NBA draft.  Toeing that line between leaving early for the draft and staying for the championship run is the essence of what big time college basketball has boiled down to.  In walking this tight rope coaches must recruit very carefully, over recruit and you’ve got talent sitting on the bench waiting to transfer out and leave you depleted, under recruit and you’re sitting there with a team full of guys that shouldn’t be playing on that level.  The relevancy of these coaches is solidified for another five years, with Boeheim’s waning fast as his team is poised to miss the tournament for the second consecutive year after the departure of Hakeem Warrick. 

On the flip side of the relevancy coin; Coach K, Tom Izzo and bringing up the very rear is Bobby Knight.  Knight hasn’t come close to winning anything in almost two decades and he failed miserably at taking Texas Tech from the cellar to mediocrity.  His lone accomplishment at Tech was a first round departure in the tournament.  Izzo and Coach K ruled the late 1990s and early 2000s however their teams, I fear, may be going the way of the dinosaur.  One shouldn’t find it surprising that neither of these coaches is significantly affected by the NBA draft as their players don’t possess the talent to leave early and need a four year college career to warrant their entry into the NBA.  While the control may be the most obvious issue; as both men control their programs with a Knight-esque iron fist, the fear of players leaving early [as K experienced with the William Avery, Corey Maggette and Elton Brand years] is possibly steering their recruiting towards the Drew Neitzel’s and Greg Paulus’ of the high school basketball world.  Sure they get Parade and McDonald’s all-Americans to campus but anyone taking a look at a Michael Beasley vs a Taylor King can tell which player is going to the Association and which will be loyal to K for 4 years. 

This isn’t necessarily an indictment of coaches that recruit players who will play four years, or who aren’t talent lightning rods more its a recipe for how to win big now in college basketball.  NBA caliber talent is necessary to make the leap from a Sweet 16 or an Elite 8 team to the Final Four and National Title contender.  Duke and Michigan State have great, competitive teams that belong in the top ten current programs in the nation, however, with their coaches philosophy they will not sniff a national title.  There is a reason mid-major programs don’t win titles and are happy with Sweet 16’s, they don’t have the NBA quality athletes that Kansas, UCLA or Florida has and now neither do big name schools like Duke and Michigan State. 

ItsFELDER