Mobile
Friday, November 15, 2013
NBA A brain divided, but the Bobcats-Hornets won my heart
Posted By Jeff Laughlin on Fri, Nov 15, 2013 at 1:14 PM
My childhood household cheered for Boston sports. My grandfather raised my father on Ted Williams stories and my dad raised my sister and I on Larry Bird legends.
When Charlotte and Boston traded blowouts last year, I felt fine about it. The games were essentially meaningless. I had an affinity for my local sports team and an intense love for the Celtics, so seeing them split games late in the season suited me just fine. Charlotte had fallen apart and the Celtics older players had taken nights off prepping for the playoffs.
Now, however, the games mean decidedly more. The teams are playing each other early in the season and, for now, the Celtics supposedly have little promise for the season. Not that people believe the Bobcats will win anything, but they certainly have more talent than this Boston team.
Yet, both teams hovered around .500 coming into Wednesday night and the Celtics just ran off a four game winning streak. And the Celtics hired Brad Stevens, my favorite coach in all of basketball. Dreams of an awful Boston team and a winning Bobcats' record eluded me. For whom can I cheer when my favorite teams battle?
Turns out, I love this Charlotte team for more than just getting paid to write about them. Each player contributed so much to this win. Here are some highlights:
- Though out of shape, Al Jefferson returned to earmark an enjoyable first half where the Bobcats-Hornets dominated the paint. We have not seen a Bobcats-Hornets team dominate the paint in a long time.
- Gerald Henderson took the toughest shots and snagged nine rebounds.
- Michael Kidd-Gilchrist fouled out, but he did so playing tough defense. We haven't seen that since Gerald Wallace, now a member of the Celtics.
- Kemba Walker could not hit a shot to save the team's life, but he worked to get to the basket relentlessly.
- Jeffrey Taylor, AKA DUNK BRO, dunked a bunch and generally looks like a good bench player with potential.
- Anthony Tolliver hit threes. In fact, that's all he seems to do now. He's hit six field goals all year, all of them threes.
The more players I mention, the more I realize how fun this team can truly be. Like all of their wins this season, Charlotte faded in the fourth offensively but used a tenacious defense to stay on top. It's been awhile since we saw anything like that. On a night when they needed something from everyone to knock off a team on a roll, they got exactly that. Everyone contributed, the team won.
My team won. I will cheer for Boston on any other night, but this Charlotte team works too hard and plays with too much determination to treat them like a lesser squad.
It's been awhile since Bobcats-Hornets fans got to say that.
Related Stories
-
Bobcats Week in Review: The Era of Despair Rears its Ugly Head
While I stand firmly behind the arrival of the Era of Mediocrity, there will be setbacks.
-
Bobcats Week(s) in Review: The Era of Despair Dies; Long Live the Era of Mediocrity!
I urge the casual fan (and myself) to enjoy watching the effort this team puts out as well as the effort the other teams must expend to compete with it.
-
Bobcats Week in Review: Pizza and the Personal Fouls
Charlotte mixed good fortune, great first halves and defensive brilliance to play the best basketball this town has seen in years. And we got our pizza.
-
Bobcats Week in Review: Rough first week still leaves promise
Being angry that last year's team still sucks would be counterproductive to watching this year's team.
Speaking of...
Latest in Benched
More by Jeff Laughlin
