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There is no doubt that Michael Jordan has made his fair share of bad moves when he has been given control over an NBA franchise.  These poor decisions usually come in the form of terrible draft picks.  However, MJ has only been the majority owner of an NBA team for less than five months.  I really like what he is doing with the Charlotte Bobcats now that they are truly his team.  I admit that I am pro-Jordan as owner, but can you think about a poor decision he has made since he has assumed majority ownership of the team?  He has said the right things, and his moves make sense.  Time will tell whether the moves are correct, but they seem to be the right moves given the facts that are currently available.  I think the Tyrus Thomas move could turn out to be a home run.  The kid has a ton of potential and seems willing to be coached by Larry Brown.  If he can only keep his head straight, he could turn out to be a very solid PF for us.  I also love the camps that the Bobs are running for adult season-ticket holders and their children.  It’s a great PR move.  For those who couldn’t get into those events, Bobcats summer camp for kids kicks off at Time Warner Cable Arena next week.

Update:  Scott Fowler has an article in today’s (7/11/2010) Observer about how MJ is getting acquainted to the city.

T-Rex is staying in the QC.

The Bobs ended up not making any moves on draft night.  No trades, not even for a 2nd round pick.  In hindsight, I can’t say I’m upset.  Sure, it’s great to have a little excitement during the draft.  There is nothing like the hope and optimism created on draft night when your team picks up a young player, but the truth is that the Bobcats suck at drafting.  There is no use chronicling all our draft failures, and we have only been around for six years.  I have no problem with us sitting out of something we’re not very good at and focusing on something that we have done well in the past, which is to make trades and improve our roster in ways that don’t involve the draft.  There was no use in being hasty and trading a proven player for an unknown commodity.  As Queen City Hoops said, remember what the Alexis Ajinca trade got us a few years ago:  nothing.

The Bobs didn’t exactly start off free agency with a bang either.  Despite Scott Fowler’s illogical rant (why is this guy always obsessed with overpaying for overrated free agents?), they really didn’t have the cap room to do anything (since Michael Jordan does not want to pay luxury tax).  However, they made their first moves today.  They locked up Tyrus Thomas to a five-year deal and bulked up the far end of the bench by adding Dominic McGuire.  However, it looks like Raymond Felton is gone.  

I like what the Bobs are doing.  There was no way they could justify overpaying for Felton.  I like Felton, but the guy turned down the money when it was offered to him last season and sucked in the playoffs.  Don’t feel bad for Raymond, he got the Knicks, who were forced to overreact and make a splash after losing out on the LeBron sweepstakes, to overpay for him.  The Bobs have a hole to fill at PG, but all indications are that they are not done with their offseason moves.  They didn’t pay Thomas $8 million a year for him to be a backup.  It was pretty clear during the playoffs that Thomas should be starting over Boris Diaw, and that may happen.  Diaw is the one guy the Bobs could likely part with to clear some cap room and acquire help at PG (he is the only guy that we would be willing to give up and that others teams would actually be willing to take). 

I like it when my teams make moves that make sense.  Thomas played great since he arrived in Charlotte.  Larry Brown’s coaching has really improved his game, and it should only get better.  By the end of the season, he was outplaying Diaw.  So, we lock him up and he very well may open the season as the starting PF.  On the other hand, Jameer Nelson schooled Felton, and we let him walk.

I’m not going to get delusional about the Bobs.  A 6 seed in the East is the ceiling for them.  Yet, I don’t buy all the talk around town about how they have not done anything to improve this team.  Keep in mind that half of this team wasn’t even on the roster when last season started.  The Bobs record improved significantly after the Stephen Jackson trade.  The Bobs finished last season with a 44-38 record, but they played better than 44-win basketball after the Jack trade.  For once, we may have some continuity.  Give these guys an offseason and training camp together, and we should be able equal or slightly improve upon last season’s record.

If there is one thing we have learned about Larry Brown in his two seasons in Charlotte is that the guy isn’t very subtle.  He says what he is thinking, and everything he says has a purpose.  Unlike the other pro coach in town, John Fox, Brown does not try to hide much.  So far, whenever Brown has mentioned a possible trade involving the Bobs, they usually pull the trigger on a deal soon afterwards.  Well, Brown has hinted that the Bobs may trade into the draft.  Rick Bonnell has reported that the word around the league is that the Bobs are looking to make a move, and he has repeatedly mentioned the possibility of us making a trade.  Ownership is even willing to increase the payroll significantly to improve on the court.  Sounds like something is up.  All of a sudden, Bobcats fans have to tune in Thursday night even if they don’t care about the other 29 teams in the NBA.

The problem with all of these rumors are that they might be true, but the Bobs may still not make much of a splash.  They seem interested in a late first round or second round pick.  That won’t exactly blow anyone’s hair back.  They may not even trade for a pick.  Bonnell reports that the T.J. Ford trade is still a possibility and Jarrett Jack is also on the trading block.  It seems as if Brown may just try to get the kind of backup point guard he covets.  Nothing really major.  Yet, there is still a chance we do something big.  Larry Bird is willing to trade the 10 pick for a point guard.  Oh yeah, CP3 seems to be available too.  I know these are long shots, but for once, we have the risk-taking owner who isn’t afraid to open up his wallet to build a winner.  It’s pretty clear that Michael Jordan will do anything to win a championship.

This is a good start by our new owner, and something our old owner should read and learn from.  Looking forward to next season already.

This post is a little late, but still worth writing because it is awesome we are in the playoffs.  After watching this team for six years, it was no given that I would ever be able to write an article about the Bobs making the playoffs.  I for one am stoked too.  I know our chances aren’t that great, especially if we play Orlando, but it will certainly give the town something to look forward to at the end of April and hopefully into May.  It will delay and shorten the dead time in Charlotte sports – between the end of Bobcats and the start of Panthers training camp.  I remember when I was a kid and the Hornets were in the playoffs.  The weather was warm, school was almost out for the summer, and you had a huge Hornets national TV playoff game to look forward to every couple of nights.  That feeling is coming back to Charlotte, and this time I think that national TV will actually embrace us.  I can see a lot of camera shots being on MJ courtside.

Did anyone else notice the symbolism of Charlotte new team clinching its first ever playoff spot on the road in the town where its old team now plays?  How about the fact that its old team is not having a good season?  Or, that our new center outplayed the former cornerstone of our franchise?  While the Bobs are winning and have a cool new owner, George Shinn wants out in New Orleans.  Thanks, George.  Steal a franchise and awesome team name from a city only to turn around and sell the team a few years later.  Oh well, the good news is that Charlotte seems to finally be embracing its new team despite the crappy name.  Can’t wait for the playoffs.  They’re only about a week away.  It should be a fun ride, and hopefully a long one.  Go Bobs!

This post is a little late, but still worth writing because it is awesome we are in the playoffs.  After watching this team for six years, it was no given that I would ever be able to write an article about the Bobs making the playoffs.  I for one am stoked too.  I know our chances aren’t that great, especially if we play Orlando, but it will certainly give the town something to look forward to at the end of April and hopefully into May.  It will delay and shorten the dead time in Charlotte sports – between the end of Bobcats and the start of Panthers training camp.  I remember when I was a kid and the Hornets were in the playoffs.  The weather was warm, school was almost out for the summer, and you had a huge Hornets national TV playoff game to look forward to every couple of nights.  That feeling is coming back to Charlotte, and this time I think that national TV will actually embrace us.  I can see a lot of camera shots being on MJ courtside.

Did anyone else notice the symbolism of Charlotte new team clinching its first ever playoff spot on the road in the town where its old team now plays?  How about the fact that its old team is not having a good season?  Or, that our new center outplayed the former cornerstone of our franchise?  While the Bobs are winning and have a cool new owner, George Shinn wants out in New Orleans.  Thanks, George.  Steal a franchise and awesome team name from a city only to turn around and sell the team a few years later.  Oh well, the good news is that Charlotte seems to finally be embracing its new team despite the crappy name.  Can’t wait for the playoffs.  They’re only about a week away.  It should be a fun ride, and hopefully a long one.  Go Bobs!

This post is a little late, but still worth writing because it is awesome we are in the playoffs.  After watching this team for six years, it was no given that I would ever be able to write an article about the Bobs making the playoffs.  I for one am stoked too.  I know our chances aren’t that great, especially if we play Orlando, but it will certainly give the town something to look forward to at the end of April and hopefully into May.  It will delay and shorten the dead time in Charlotte sports – between the end of Bobcats and the start of Panthers training camp.  I remember when I was a kid and the Hornets were in the playoffs.  The weather was warm, school was almost out for the summer, and you had a huge Hornets national TV playoff game to look forward to every couple of nights.  That feeling is coming back to Charlotte, and this time I think that national TV will actually embrace us.  I can see a lot of camera shots being on MJ courtside.

Did anyone else notice the symbolism of Charlotte new team clinching its first ever playoff spot on the road in the town where its old team now plays?  How about the fact that its old team is not having a good season?  Or, that our new center outplayed the former cornerstone of our franchise?  While the Bobs are winning and have a cool new owner, George Shinn wants out in New Orleans.  Thanks, George.  Steal a franchise and awesome team name from a city only to turn around and sell the team a few years later.  Oh well, the good news is that Charlotte seems to finally be embracing its new team despite the crappy name.  Can’t wait for the playoffs.  They’re only about a week away.  It should be a fun ride, and hopefully a long one.  Go Bobs!

To all my concerned readers (all five of you), the QCSB is back online.  My laptop died, and it took some time for the new one to arrive.  This blog never died; it’s just that it’s not very fun to blog on a desktop.  So, let’s catch up with some tidbits on what’s been going on in the QC sporting scene:

Lutz Fired:  Bobby Lutz seemed like a good guy, but I think this was the right move for the 49ers.  Lutz simply had not been getting it done the last few years.  Naturally, Scott Fowler thought he should have been given another year.  So, Fowler now thinks that Delhomme, Fox, and Lutz all deserved another year.  Dude, these guys get paid a ton of money for what they do.  Getting fired in pro sports is different than getting fired in real life.  They won’t go hungry. 

It’s kind of sad, but the 49ers seem to have had a much bigger following in the 1990′s than in the most recent decade.  It should be the opposite; a team’s fan base should increase as a coach builds a program over the years.  It helped that Charlotte had many more intense rivalries when it played in C-USA, but I think there are other factors that led to the decline.  Have you noticed that the Niners simply have not had faces to their program in recent years?  Do they even recruit four-year players who come in as freshmen and grow as players during their time at the school?  It seems as if Lutz was just getting random transfers each year.  In contrast, the Niners of the past had definite student-athletes who were faces of the program in DeMarco Johnson, Joby Thomas, and even Rodney White.  Johnson and White were drafted (people forget that White was a lottery pick).  Those days have been missing the last few years.  I don’t think the Niners can go wrong with either Pat Kelsey or Mike Hopkins.

More MJ News:  The price tag is supposedly $275 million.  MJ is open to changing the team name, which is awesome.  He also seems to be buying a house in Charlotte.  You know what I think:  just win.  The Bobs are trying to do so, but they are still frustratingly inconsistent.  One good game; one bad game.  A win over a very good team followed by a loss to a terrible team.  Thankfully, the playoff spot is still theirs to lose.  Big game against Atlanta coming up next week.  Let’s pack the Cable Box for that one. 

Panthers:  Bunch of random stories, but it basically comes down to the draft.  All of the lead-up will be for that.  Unfortunately, we have no first-round pick.  I don’t care about the raised ticket prices, cutting the veterans, or rebuilding.  However, if you want to rebuild, you need draft picks.

Forbes values the franchise at only $175 million.  Considering Michael Jordan only bought a “controlling interest” of the team, he probably paid even less than that.  A pretty good deal for His Airness. 

This certainly isn’t good PR for the Bobs or for the NBA, but it’s probably pretty accurate.  The Bobs are hemorrhaging money.  NO ONE goes to their games.  I will be the first to say I don’t understand it – I personally love going to NBA games, especially in Charlotte where they are so damn cheap.  Bottom line, however, is that most games are very sparsely attended.  It’s sad because the Bobs have probably the best arena deal in the NBA, and they still can’t make it work.  Most of that is their own fault – Bob Johnson was an awful owner – but Charlotteans have not been very supportive of their team either.  Before, the argument was that the arena was in the middle of no where.  Now, it’s right in the heart of town.  GO TO GAMES!

Bill Simmons recently wrote an article on the ills of the NBA.  He quoted an unnamed rich person as saying that the Golden State Warriors were not valued at more than $325 million.  The Warriors play in a market at least twice the size of Charlotte, if not greater.  They have a passionate fan base that attends their games despite the fact that the team has a losing record and is completely out of the playoff hunt. 

Looking back on it, the most astonishing headline is the fact the Bob Johnson paid $300 million for Charlotte’s franchise seven years ago.  By the way, Bob Johnson turned out not to be nearly as savvy of a businessman that we initially thought he was.  You can’t take away the BET success, but it almost seems like he lucked out and struck it rich.  Since then, one bad decision after another with his Bobcats.  C-SET was a flop.  Then, he stubbornly held out for a huge naming deal for the arena, which everyone knew he wasn’t going to get (see the Bill Simmons article).  He ended up having to give the naming away for free just so the team would be broadcast on local TV.  He yelled at Charlotte’s business leaders and accused them of not supporting the team.  I hear that’s a great way to sell tickets.  His minority owners didn’t seem to care much for him – they never helped him out when he was bleeding cash.  Then, there was his stupid Jumper Classic which cost us home games at the end of last season, when we were in the playoff hunt. 

Thoughts on Jordan:  Before the Panthers had their version of Bloody Friday, all the talk around Charlotte and even in the national media was about MJ becoming the owner of the Bobs.  The Observer was conducting surveys and its writers offered advice to MJ, which included buying a house in Charlotte.  ESPN thought it was a big deal that MJ showed up to practice – as if he had never done that before these past few years.  Ball Don’t Lie even wrote about how MJ lost to Gerald Henderson in H-O-R-S-E.  Umm, must have been a slow news day.  Gerald who?  Despite the loss, I’m going to go out on a limb as say MJ > Gerald. 

The famous owner of the Oakland Raiders – who, by the way, no longer follows his own motto – said it best:  Just win, baby.  I really don’t think Charlotte is going to pack the arena just because MJ buys property in town.  If we’re sitting 12th in the East, no one (sadly) is going to say “I can’t wait to go to the game tonight because MJ showed his loyalty to us by buying that house.”  While attending practice and games is a good photo op, it won’t consistently sell tickets.  Consistently winning and making the playoffs is that only thing that will make the QC care about its NBA franchise.

Forbes values the franchise at only $175 million.  Considering Michael Jordan only bought a “controlling interest” of the team, he probably paid even less than that.  A pretty good deal for His Airness. 

This certainly isn’t good PR for the Bobs or for the NBA, but it’s probably pretty accurate.  The Bobs are hemorrhaging money.  NO ONE goes to their games.  I will be the first to say I don’t understand it – I personally love going to NBA games, especially in Charlotte where they are so damn cheap.  Bottom line, however, is that most games are very sparsely attended.  It’s sad because the Bobs have probably the best arena deal in the NBA, and they still can’t make it work.  Most of that is their own fault – Bob Johnson was an awful owner – but Charlotteans have not been very supportive of their team either.  Before, the argument was that the arena was in the middle of no where.  Now, it’s right in the heart of town.  GO TO GAMES!

Bill Simmons recently wrote an article on the ills of the NBA.  He quoted an unnamed rich person as saying that the Golden State Warriors were not valued at more than $325 million.  The Warriors play in a market at least twice the size of Charlotte, if not greater.  They have a passionate fan base that attends their games despite the fact that the team has a losing record and is completely out of the playoff hunt. 

Looking back on it, the most astonishing headline is the fact the Bob Johnson paid $300 million for Charlotte’s franchise seven years ago.  By the way, Bob Johnson turned out not to be nearly as savvy of a businessman that we initially thought he was.  You can’t take away the BET success, but it almost seems like he lucked out and struck it rich.  Since then, one bad decision after another with his Bobcats.  C-SET was a flop.  Then, he stubbornly held out for a huge naming deal for the arena, which everyone knew he wasn’t going to get (see the Bill Simmons article).  He ended up having to give the naming away for free just so the team would be broadcast on local TV.  He yelled at Charlotte’s business leaders and accused them of not supporting the team.  I hear that’s a great way to sell tickets.  His minority owners didn’t seem to care much for him – they never helped him out when he was bleeding cash.  Then, there was his stupid Jumper Classic which cost us home games at the end of last season, when we were in the playoff hunt. 

Thoughts on Jordan:  Before the Panthers had their version of Bloody Friday, all the talk around Charlotte and even in the national media was about MJ becoming the owner of the Bobs.  The Observer was conducting surveys and its writers offered advice to MJ, which included buying a house in Charlotte.  ESPN thought it was a big deal that MJ showed up to practice – as if he had never done that before these past few years.  Ball Don’t Lie even wrote about how MJ lost to Gerald Henderson in H-O-R-S-E.  Umm, must have been a slow news day.  Gerald who?  Despite the loss, I’m going to go out on a limb as say MJ > Gerald. 

The famous owner of the Oakland Raiders – who, by the way, no longer follows his own motto – said it best:  Just win, baby.  I really don’t think Charlotte is going to pack the arena just because MJ buys property in town.  If we’re sitting 12th in the East, no one (sadly) is going to say “I can’t wait to go to the game tonight because MJ showed his loyalty to us by buying that house.”  While attending practice and games is a good photo op, it won’t consistently sell tickets.  Consistently winning and making the playoffs is that only thing that will make the QC care about its NBA franchise.