2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats Overview
The Charlotte Bobcats decided to start on their rebuilding phase after dealing away one of their star players in Gerald Wallace by the trade deadline for draft selections. Head Coach Larry Brown was replaced by Paul Silas in December and they ended with a regular season mark of 34-48, just three wins short of the eighth seed held by the Indiana Pacers.
Charlotte also chose to not resign Stephen Jackson, Kwame Brown and Shaun Livingston. Jackson was the Bobcat’s leading threat on offense with 18.5 points/game but was more of a distraction as he played selfishly for Charlotte last year.
The Bobcats seemed to have a successful night at the draft when they traded for the 7th pick which turned out to be Bismack Biyombo. He has the makings of a Ben Wallace type and all he needs to do is to get adjusted to the NBA game. They also drafted Kemba Walker, who has a winner’s mentality after leading the Connecticut Huskies to a National Championship last year.
Biyombo probably will not get much floor time as he needs to be adjusted to the NBA style, but PG Kemba Walker should see a lot of court time from the start. Walker may begin the year coming off the pine, but don’t be shocked if he winds up taking the starting point guard spot from D.J. Augustin. While Augustin put up 16 points and 6 assists, he was a big disaster on defense.
Gerald Henderson will start the year as the starting shooting guard as their free agent pick-up Reggie Williams will be out 6-8 weeks with a meniscus tear. Charlotte traded for Corey Maggette in the hopes that he can provide offense to a team lacking a true scorer. Although he averaged just 12 points for the Bucks last year, he just started 18 games and will look to have the starting SF spot for the Bobcats this year. He put up almost 20 a game the previous three seasons in Golden State.
Boris Diaw and Tyrus Thomas will have the starting spot at the center and power forward slot respectively. They have also added some nice depth by getting big man Bryon Mullens through trade. They also have D.J. White as the backup PF.
Pick: 5th in the East’s Southeast Division – Our best NBA handicapper thinks the Bobcats are clearly going in the right direction, they still have a long way to go to contend night in and night out with the rest of their conference. While this squad will be above average on the defensive end, they will struggle to reguarly score enough to win games. The main goal for Charlotte this season will be to develop their young guys and get them the right pieces in place to make a serious run next year. They might still be able to make the postseason this season in the East, but for that to happen, Kemba Walker will have to be a superstar immediately.
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