Charlotte
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
In the upcoming and inaugural regular season, the Charlotte Bobcats will not stray from home for too long. Their longest road trip is never more than four games, though they do have three such voyages.
The first ever four-game Bobcats road trip starts December 6 against the LA Clippers, with whom the Bobcats have dealt quite often this offseason, including the defining deal that got them Emeka Okafor. After the Clippers, the Bobcats visit the Kings, the Suns, and the Warriors. All within a six-day period. They then come home to rest and roost for three games.
The second four-game road trip is not until January 30, when the Bobcats start their tour with LA's other team, the Lakers. They then move on to take on some Northwest competition, visiting the Jazz, the Blazers, and the Sonics in a whirlwind five-day tour.
Their final four-game road trip is in oft-meaningless April, but it is a short-distance road trip. On April 6, the Bobcats visit Allen Iverson and the Sixers. Then it is on to the Bucks, the Grizzlies, and their division rivals the Hawks. After that, it is just a short five games until the end of the regular season and possibly either another trip to the lottery or the Bobcats' first-ever playoff appearance.
TEAM NOTES
The Bobcats have released their 2004-2005 season schedule.
Vincent Bonsignore ofThe LA Daily Newswrites: And not after so many NBA superstars -- O'Neal, Jermaine O'Neal, Mike Bibby, Tracy McGrady and Ben Wallace among them -- declined invitations to play in the Athens Games for various reasons, leaving the job of upholding the red, white and blue's basketball dominance to the inexperienced hands of up-and-comers LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Emeka Okafor.
Michael Wilbon ofThe Washington Postwrites: Also troubling is a growing sentiment in the United States that this team somehow deserves to lose, like the group is a bunch of malcontents and knuckleheads who've come aboard. Actually, it's mostly a bunch of excited young kids who've happily agreed to play after more than a dozen NBA stars said no. There's nothing whatsoever surly or obviously arrogant about James or Carmelo Anthony or Wade, or Richard Jefferson, Emeka Okafor, Stoudemire or Shawn Marion.Who has ever said a bad word about Duncan? Whatever you like or don't like about Iverson, it's admirable that he came right out at the beginning of the selection process and virtually begged to play.
Desmond Conner ofThe Hartford Courantwrites: When young Carmelo Anthony boldly predicted a gold medal for the U.S. men's basketball team, a slightly older and probably wiser Emeka Okafor cringed and wouldn't jump on that bandwagon."We're pretty confident," Okafor said. "But we have to respect our opponents. They can play. We're going to have to be prepared."... Okafor sprained his right ankle before the game against Puerto Rico, although he played. The injury came one day after he signed and returned by fax his contract to play for the Charlotte Bobcats. The NBA's No.2 overall pick signed a three-year deal worth about $10 million. "And he hasn't spent a dime of it," said his father, Pius, who along with his wife, Celestina, and their daughter, Nneka, will leave Houston for Greece on Wednesday. "You know Emeka, he'll be very careful."
David Dorsey ofThe News-Press writes:The Florida Flame. The logo, which mimics that of the Miami Heat’s flaming basketball, features primary colors of blue and green, which match those of the East Coast Hockey League’s Florida Everblades, by design. The Flame will open their 23-game National Basketball Development League home season Sunday, Nov. 21, at Germain Arena, which is also the home of the Everblades... The Flame’s colors also match the green used by the Minnesota Timber-wolves and the blue used on the NBA logo. The ball on the logo is “warm red,” an orange color used by the NBA expansion Charlotte Bobcats.It will be used as an accent color on the uniforms, which have yet to be designed by Reebok.