Charlotte

Streak, Okafor, Streak!


Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services 

From November 21, 2004 until January 1, 2005, there was one consistency in this turbulent world of ours, and that was that rookie Emeka Okafor would notch himself another double-double. Nineteen times in a row he accomplished that feat, including every single game in December. Since New Year's day, however, he's done it only three times out of seven games. Give us another streak Emeka!

The games he's missed that mark haven't been one-rebound-shy kind of things either. The only non-double-double where he even had nine rebounds was in a two-point loss to the Cavs in which he only scored six points. Has the league figured out Emeka Okafor?

There was a time when temporary Bobcat, former Celtic and current injured Magic player Brandon Hunter was a rebounding machine in Boston before the league seemed to figure him out and shut him down. Has the same happened to Okafor?

Or has he simply gotten more tired as the season has gone on? Last year, he played only 36 games in the UConn season. The Bobcats have played a total of 34 games so far. Could it be this is his rookie wall?

If so, then look out wall! Because once Okafor breaks through, it's all over for the rest of the league. In their recent slump, the Bobcats have won only one game since their December 22 victory in Houston over the Rockets (it was Okafor's homecoming). And that victory was an impressive one over the slumping Minnesota Timberwolves. But they lost 11 of the past 12 games.

Time to get the second wind. Streak, Okafor, streak!

NEXT GAME
The Bobcats (8-26, fourth in the Southeast) host the Philadelphia 76ers (17-20, first in the Atlantic) TONIGHT. The game starts at 7:00pm Eastern and will be broadcast on C-SET and NBA League Pass.

TEAM NOTES
From the Bobcats Bulletin: Ranked 27th in the NBA in blocks (1.33 bpg), Gerald Wallacehas placed himself in the company of the NBA’s best shot blockers. A close look at the leaders reveals there are only three other small forwards among the top 30. The three other players ranked before Wallace are Andrei Kirilenko (Utah), Josh Smith (Atlanta) and Shawn Marion (Phoenix). With his five blocks against Milwaukee on Monday, Wallace has now posted two games where he has recorded five-plus blocks in a game. Earlier this season he had six blocks at Indiana on Nov. 26.

Charlotte Bobcats will host the first Bobcats Speakers Series event on Friday, January 21 with special guest speaker, Mark Cuban. The speaking engagement with Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, will take place at Embassy Suites beginning at 5:00 p.m. followed by the Bobcats game against the Mavericks at the Charlotte Coliseum at 7:00 p.m. The cost of the event is $89, and includes the speaking event with Cuban, food and beverage at Embassy Suites, a lower level ticket to the game and a pre-paid parking pass. For more information or to order call 704-BOBCATS.

INJURY UPDATE
Theron Smith(knee),Steve Smith(knee), andTamar Slay (foot) are all parked on the injured list.

NEWSLINES

Sam Amico ofInsideHoops.comwrites: Nash leads the league in assists, but do you know who’s second? The answer is Charlotte’s Brevin Knight, one of my favorite all-time players. Yes, I love Knight’s game, partially because he’s 5-foot-10 with a giant heart, and partially because no one else wanted him and now he’s a success with the expansion Bobcats.But mostly because no one else would claim him as one of their all-time favorite players.

Rick Bonnell ofThe Charlotte Observerwrites: Charlotte Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff is an old-school guy who doesn't praise indiscriminately. For instance, he thinks the term "superstar" is the most overused label in sports. So it wasn't hype Tuesday when Bickerstaff said 76ers guard Allen Iverson might be the greatest scorer inch for inch in NBA history.At 6-foot, Iverson leads the NBA in scoring at 28.5 points per game, and he is fifth in assists, averaging 7.3. Bickerstaff plans to send all sorts of double-teams Iverson's way tonight, and the game plan is to force the ball out of Iverson's hand. But ultimately it comes down to something more wishful. The key, Bickerstaff said, is hoping Iverson isn't making his jump shot. 

Phil Jasner ofThe Philadelphia Daily Newswrites: Dick Harter knows it's a story, but he wonders what the story really is.The 76ers are preparing for their first visit to Charlotte to face the expansion Bobcats tonight. The Sixers assistant knows Charlotte is the city in which he spent his only season as an NBA head coach, in another expansion situation. But that franchise has relocated to New Orleans. But it's a story, and Harter knows it. He is 74 now, long removed from any remaining aspirations of being a head coach. He is widely acknowledged as a defensive guru, the tough, demanding Marine who built a record of 295-196 at Rider, Penn, Oregon and Penn State.