Charlotte
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
Emeka Okafor's case for rookie of the year has gone cyber as www.gotmek.comcan attest. The snazzy site makes a solid case for Okafor's candidacy but it will be up to the people who take to the polls in what officials hope will be a civil and calm procedure to be supervised by the UN who will ultimately decide the winner.
Does Okafor have a case? Certainly. Here are a couple of the stronger points: he is one of only nine players in the league to average a double-double, in such company as Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and Shaquille O'Neal. He had the longest streak of double-doubles by a rookie (19) in 35 years. In the last dozen years only four rookies have averaged double-digit rebounds, and three of them (Duncan, O'Neal, and Elton Brand) all won the rookie of the year award, and the other (Alonzo Mourning) was a runner-up.
But the biggest slight against Okafor doesn't show up anywhere on the page yet it is synonymous with Charlotte's name: the Bobcats just didn't go anywhere. Okafor's prime opponent in the ROY race is his fellow UConn alum Ben Gordon, whose Bulls not only got into the playoffs but achieved home court advantage in the first round.
The counterargument to that is that Okafor would have put up the same or better numbers on a more talented team. He was the primary offensive and defensive player on an expansion team, and as such, was the focus of every opponent. Were he to be surrounded by more talent, he would only do better.
Time will tell. Perhaps the two will be co-rookies of the year?
TEAM NOTES
Backstage With Bernie: Season In Review (Part 2) In the second of a two-part series, General Manager & Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff talks about evaluating the season, plans for the summer and the New Charlotte Arena.
Jacob Osborne ofDraft Citywrites: Within the last week word has come out that Marvin Williams is sitting a top the Bobcats draft board... The Charlotte Bobcats are reportedly looking to use one of their two draft picks on a North Carolina player, in order to boost attendance next year.
Lang Whitaker ofSports Illustratedwrites: Under a listing for Charlotte Bobcats tickets, the Charlotte Yellow Pages mistakenly ran a number for a phone sex hotline.
Christy Cabrera Chirinos ofThe Sun-Sentinelwrites: The Sagemont School's new basketball coaches have NBA ties. Coach Jorge de Cespedes is a minority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats and coach Adam Ross works as a liaison for the team.