Charlotte
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
In his latest blog, Charlotte GM/head coach Bernie Bickerstaff praises what Steve Smith will bring to the Bobcats and reiterates his vision of the team: "We want to be a defensive-oriented team that is unselfish."
It sounds like the mantra of the Detroit Pistons. It also sounds like Bickerstaff does not have a single go-to guy that he is expecting to build the franchise around. What about Emeka Okafor? Perhaps he will be the focus offensively but Bickerstaff's goals are aimed at two-three years from now. He wants a team of players that play well together and who are tradable assets.
The goal is not to spend three years developing a group of players who will magically gel into a playoff contender. The goal is instead to take the cheap assets he has acquired this season, age them into desirable assets, then trade them for an impact player or two a couple of seasons down the road when he will also be a player in the free agent market.
The only holdovers from the current crop will likely be role players and Bickerstaff wants, and rightly so, for them to be team players who never take a defensive position off.
TEAM NOTES
Bernie Bickerstaff blogs:The signing of Steve Smith this week gives us someone who is respected by his peers for what he has accomplished.He has always been a high-character guy, he plays three positions and he can shoot the basketball. I believe Steve can help us on and off the court.
Rally/Concert for the Charlotte Bobcats and Johnson & Wales University: This rally has been rescheduled for September 23 at 9:30pm, and will be held on the main stage of the Culinary Arts Experience at the Gateway Village Promenade. The event is still free and open to the public.
Vote Emeka Okafor in 2004. Check out Charlotte's new webpage at okaforin04.com: Join the Okafor in '04 campaign today and watch this champion and patriot lead his franchise forward. He's a born leader A tireless worker. And he is the people's choice!
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Our own Tracy S. Graven ofHoopsworld.comwrites: Mike Brown, a veteran of 11 NBA seasons as a player and two seasons as an assistant coach in the NBA’s National Basketball Development League, has been named head coach of the Fayetteville Patriots. Brown replaces Jeff Capel, who recently took a position as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Bobcats.
Joe Davidson ofThe Sacramento Beegives the Bobcats a grade of 'C': As with any expansion team, the losses will mount.The NBA draft produced Emeka Okafor, and the expansion draft brought in Gerald Wallace and Melvin Ely. Classy veteran Steve Smith was brought in for leadership and his outside shot.
Don Hudson ofThe Charlotte Observerwrites: While Charlotte Bobcats owner Bob Johnson is not a regular customer of US Airways -- he flies private planes between his Washington, D.C. home and Charlotte -- he does have a vested interest in the airline's survival.He's on the board of directors.
Jason Cole ofThe Miami Heraldwrites: An odd coincidence came this week in Charlotte. Not long after the Panthers lost WR Steve Smith for at least half the season because of a broken leg, the Charlotte Bobcats, an NBA expansion team, signed veteran journeyman guard Steve Smith.