Charlotte
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
Emeka Okafor has just gone on the injured reserve list a few days ago but his absence is already being felt and will continue to be felt during the minimum four games remaining before he can be activated by league rules, and probably longer to recuperate his hurt ankle. In that upcoming stretch, the Bobcats will face one of their toughest lineups of the season, going against some of the strongest frontlines in the country. And they'll be doing it without the rookie double-double machine.
On Friday, they face the Portland Trail Blazers. On Saturday, they face Seattle. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week they have back-to-back games against the Spurs at home and the Pacers on the road. Good luck defending Tim Duncan and Jermaine O'Neal without Emeka Okafor.
The Bobcats have a good chance against the Blazers and the Sonics because they can look to dominate with their own swingmen against those two fairly slow teams. But when there's a big guy in the lineup, they will be constantly thinking of their rookie sensation and hoping he recovers soon. Because if the league-minimum five games isn't enough, that means they'll be facing Shaq and the Heat on February 11 without Okafor as well.
NEXT GAME
The Bobcats (10-32, fourth in the Southeast) finish up their road trip with a back-to-back set this weekend, starting with Portland (18-26, fourth in the Northwest) on Friday, February 4th, 2005. The game starts at 10pm Eastern and will be broadcast on WJZY and NBA League Pass.
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INJURY UPDATE
Emeka Okafor(ankle), Bernard Robinson(knee),Tamar Slay (foot) are all on the injured list.
The Associated Press writes inThe Charlotte Observer: Jack Capella resigned as the New Orleans Hornets' executive vice president and chief operating officer, saying he wants to pursue business opportunities in consulting and development... He was the state's lead negotiator in the talks that helped bring the Hornets to New Orleans from Charlotte.
Sportal.com in Australia writes: Olympic and Sydney Kings coach Brian Goorjian has labelled Melbourne's Andrew Bogut a real chance of being the first pick for the NBA draft in June... With the draft system geared to favour cellar dwellers, struggling NBA clubs Charlotte Bobcats, Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Hornets could be likely destinations.
Sina.comof China writes: 27. Charlotte Bobcats (9-32) – At least the Bobcats are competitive. They're losing a lot of close games but are hopeful the experience will help in the future.