khandor’s sports blog

According to Tim Povtak, a senior writer at NBA Fanhouse …

Aging Theo Ratliff Has Sparked Bobcats’ Playoff Rise

, who was looking for someone he could trust.

Ratliff, who turns 37 next month, hardly was playing for the veteran Spurs

, but Brown quickly put him into his starting lineup. The Bobcats have won seven of his 11 starts, including the last six consecutive games.

He was especially instrumental in their 96-89 victory Sunday over the Orlando Magic

– a potential first-round playoff opponent — and particularly down the stretch when he thwarted a potential home-team comeback.

He had 10 points and nine rebounds in 32 minutes, but statistics never have been his forte. In the last six minutes: he blocked a shot by Vince Carter, who tried to drive on him. He changed two driving layups, by Jameer Nelson and Mickael Pietrus

, that became misses. He also grabbed an offensive rebound to keep another possession alive.

“Theo looks like when I had him back in Philly,” said Brown, who coached Ratliff from 1998-2001 with the Sixers. “Only thing, he never got any shots back then. Everyone just told him to rebound the ball.”

 

 

———————————–

However …

If you take a closer look at the individual Game Logs for 3 specific players on the Bobcats’ current roster [shown below]:

Theo Ratliff’s Game Log This Season For Charlotte, since Feb 19

Regular Season					FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
Date	Opp	Score	GS	Min	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	Pts
Mar 14	@ ORL	W 96-89	1	32:05	4	10	40.0	0	0	N/A	2	2	100.0	2	7	9	1	2	0	1	4	10
Mar 12	LAC	W 106-98	1	14:44	3	3	100.0	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	1	1	0	2	0	0	3	6
Mar 10	@ PHI	W 102-87	1	22:15	0	3	0.0	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	1	2	3	0	0	2	1	1	0
Mar 9	MIA	W 83-78	1	18:52	3	3	100.0	0	0	N/A	2	2	100.0	0	2	2	1	2	0	1	3	8
Mar 6	GSW	W 101-90	1	18:23	4	6	66.7	0	0	N/A	3	3	100.0	3	2	5	0	2	0	1	1	11
Mar 5	LAL	W 98-83	1	16:41	0	1	0.0	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	3	3	1	0	1	2	4	0
Mar 3	@ BOS	L 80-104	1	27:08	3	8	37.5	0	0	N/A	4	4	100.0	2	4	6	2	0	0	1	4	10
Mar 1	DAL	L 84-89	1	26:39	1	4	25.0	0	0	N/A	2	2	100.0	1	1	2	0	1	0	1	0	4
Date	Opp	Score	GS	Min	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	Pts
Feb 26	@ MEM	W 93-89	1	29:06	2	5	40.0	0	0	N/A	1	2	50.0	1	3	4	0	2	0	4	4	5
Feb 24	@ UTH	L 93-102	1	31:09	2	3	66.7	0	0	N/A	2	2	100.0	1	3	4	0	0	0	4	2	6
Feb 22	@ LAC	L 94-98	1	30:53	5	6	83.3	0	0	N/A	0	3	0.0	1	1	2	0	1	0	2	2	10
Feb 20	@ MIL	L 88-93	0	11:58	1	3	33.3	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	2
Feb 19	CLE	W 110-93	0	18:30	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	3	2	5	1	0	0	2	2	0

 

 

Tyrus Thomas’ Game Log This Season For Charlotte, since Feb 19

Regular Season					FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
Date	Opp	Score	GS	Min	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	Pts
Mar 14	@ ORL	W 96-89	0	20:40	3	9	33.3	0	0	N/A	3	4	75.0	2	7	9	0	2	2	0	3	9
Mar 12	LAC	W 106-98	0	18:27	3	8	37.5	0	0	N/A	0	1	0.0	0	4	4	3	0	2	0	1	6
Mar 10	@ PHI	W 102-87	0	23:49	4	6	66.7	0	0	N/A	2	4	50.0	0	5	5	3	3	2	1	2	10
Mar 9	MIA	W 83-78	0	26:30	2	7	28.6	0	0	N/A	2	4	50.0	2	2	4	0	1	1	1	1	6
Mar 6	GSW	W 101-90	0	18:20	2	8	25.0	0	0	N/A	1	2	50.0	2	3	5	3	1	0	0	5	5
Mar 5	LAL	W 98-83	0	31:17	7	12	58.3	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	2	7	9	0	1	0	2	4	14
Mar 3	@ BOS	L 80-104	0	26:37	5	12	41.7	0	0	N/A	5	6	83.3	3	7	10	0	2	1	2	5	15
Mar 1	DAL	L 84-89	0	29:26	7	16	43.8	0	1	0.0	2	2	100.0	3	9	12	1	2	1	2	4	16
Date	Opp	Score	GS	Min	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	Pts
Feb 26	@ MEM	W 93-89	0	21:51	6	7	85.7	0	0	N/A	1	4	25.0	2	3	5	3	3	0	3	2	13
Feb 24	@ UTH	L 93-102	0	30:55	6	8	75.0	0	0	N/A	8	9	88.9	0	3	3	2	1	3	1	5	20
Feb 22	@ LAC	L 94-98	0	25:12	5	9	55.6	0	1	0.0	0	0	N/A	1	3	4	0	2	2	3	4	10
Feb 20	@ MIL	L 88-93	0	30:54	5	10	50.0	0	0	N/A	2	2	100.0	3	8	11	2	4	1	4	5	12
Feb 19	CLE	W 110-93	0	25:12	3	9	33.3	0	0	N/A	3	4	75.0	1	11	12	2	2	0	6	4	9

 

 

Tyson Chandler’s Game Logs This Season for Charlotte, since Feb 19 

Regular Season					FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
Date	Opp	Score	GS	Min	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	Pts
Mar 14	@ ORL	W 96-89	0	15:55	3	4	75.0	0	0	N/A	1	2	50.0	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	5	7
Mar 12	LAC	W 106-98	0	31:56	5	7	71.4	0	0	N/A	3	4	75.0	6	3	9	0	4	0	0	2	13
Mar 10	@ PHI	W 102-87	0	15:03	3	3	100.0	0	0	N/A	6	9	66.7	2	3	5	0	0	0	0	0	12
Mar 9	MIA	W 83-78	0	16:42	2	2	100.0	0	0	N/A	1	2	50.0	2	2	4	0	2	1	1	1	5
Mar 6	GSW	W 101-90	0	07:18	1	2	50.0	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	2	2	4	0	0	0	1	0	2
Mar 5	LAL	W 98-83	0	15:16	2	2	100.0	0	0	N/A	2	2	100.0	0	4	4	0	1	0	1	1	6
Mar 3	@ BOS	L 80-104	0	0	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mar 1	DAL	L 84-89	0	0	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Date	Opp	Score	GS	Min	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	Pts
Feb 26	@ MEM	W 93-89	0	0	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Feb 24	@ UTH	L 93-102	0	0	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Feb 22	@ LAC	L 94-98	0	0	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Feb 20	@ MIL	L 88-93	0	0	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Feb 19	CLE	W 110-93	0	0	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

 

you should be able to see clearly that the team’s recently improved performance has actually coincided with the return to good health of Tyson Chandler [i.e. Charlotte's Back-up Center] and the gradual integration of Tyrus Thomas [i.e. Charlotte's Back-up Power Forward] into their primary rotation, as much as [or, perhaps, even more than] the role and production of Theo Ratliff, as their Starting Center.

When a team like Charlotte finally turns the corner and morphs into a legitimate playoff contender it is rarely the case that there is only 1 player responsible for this actual transformation.

The simple fact is …

Charlotte has been engaged in the process of a long term build-up over the course of the past 2 years, given the additions of:

Larry Brown, Head Coach

DJ Augustin, PG [acquired via the Draft]
Alexis Ajinca, C [acquired via the Draft]
Boris Diaw, PF-SF [acquired via trade]
DeSagana Diop, C [acquired via trade]
Gerald Henderson, OG [acquired via the Draft]
Derrick Brown, PF-SF [acquired via the Draft]
Tyson Chandler, C [acquired via trade]
Stephen Graham, SF-OG [acquired as an UFA]
Stephen Jackson, OG-SF [acquired via trade]
Tyrus Thomas, PF-SF [acquired via trade]
Theo Ratliff, C [acquired via trade]
Larry Hughes, G-F [acquired as an UFA]

and,

Michael Jordan, Principal Owner,

in conjunction with the decision to retain the services of:

Gerald Wallace, SF-PF
Raymon Felton, PG
Nazr Mohammed, C

… and, the single individual most responsible for their success today is their once much-maligned General Manager, Rod Higgins.

Related:

Kudos to the Bobcats for resurrecting their once morbid franchise 

5 Men On A Single String … Kudos to Larry Brown

 

During Wednesday’s television broadcast of the Orlando/Toronto game, Jack Armstrong, Toronto’s analyst, made the following observation about the perceived talent level for this year’s Raptors team:  

Play Audio

Now

Then, on Thursday evening , during the FAN590′s ”Hoops” broadcast, Eric Smith, Toronto’s radio analyst, tried to re-iterated this same point of view, when a caller suggested that the Charlotte Bobcats should actually be considered as “a better team with more NBA talent than the Raptors” … along with, at least, 4 other teams in the Estern Conference, i.e. Boston, Orlando, Cleveland and Atlanta.

After hearing Eric’s response to that caller, this is the exact comment [including errors] which was submitted by yours truly to his FAN590 blog, The Rap, on Friday, Dec 18 2009, at 2:17 PM:

————-

Hi, Eric.

I heard you on speak with a caller on last night’s show, just prior to 8:00 PM, concerning your belief that the Raptors [11-17/.393] are a better team than the Bobcats [10-14/.417]. According to what you said, your opinion was based on conversations you have had with various NBA insiders who you have encountered across the league and what their impression of Toronto and Charlotte has been to this point in the season.

Respectfully, it is my contention that you … and these NBA insiders who you happened to have communicated with regarding the relative strength of these two teams … happen to be incorrect in this assessment, and will eventually be proven wrong are the season plays itself out.

After starting the season poorly, without Stephen Jackson on their roster, the Bobcats have begun to climb up the standings in the Eastern Conference, and are now ahead of the Raptors. Although the Raptors [#4] have played a more difficult schedule than the Bobcats [#15], to this point, IMO, Charlotte has more “NBA talent” on its current roster, and should probably be expected to close out the current season by finishing ahead of Toronto in the final standings.

Calderon [+1] > Felton
DeRozan < Jackson [+1]
Turkoglu < Wallace [+2]
Bosh [+2] > Diaw
Bargnani < Chandler [+3]
———————-
Jack = Augustin
Belinelli < Henderson [+4]
Wright < Brown [+5]
Johnson = Mohammed
Nesterovic [+3] > Diop
———————-
Banks < Murray [+6]
Seems [+4] > Law
 Mensah-Bonsu = Graham
Evans [+5] ?
O’Bryant = Ajinca
———————-
Triano < Brown [+7]

PS. Hopefully, the fanbase should now be able to see that we’ve been saying for a while now, re: Jose Calderon’s relative lack of individual defensive prowess not being the major catalyst for the team’s many short-comings on that side of the ball, has been a highly accurate assessment.

————- 

As you can clearly see there are several typos and what appear to be “publication errors” contained in that specific comment, which was submitted rather hurriedly and is still awaiting moderation/publication at The Rap.

In an effort to clear up any mis-understanding which Eric Smith - or other visitors to his blog – might have … 

Here is a more “in-depth” analysis of the rosters for the Raptors and the Bobcats, with a few adjustments to the initial ratings that more accurately reflect the current state of affairs with these two teams, from the perspective of this coner:

RAPTORS VS BOBCATS ROSTER EVALUATION 2009-2010
No.	Player	Off	Def	Reb	Total	Adv	Tor	Cha
STARTERS
01	Calderon	4	2	3	9	√	+1
	Felton	3	3	2	8			0
02	DeRozan	3	2	3	8		-
	Jackson	4	4	4	12	√		+1
03	Turkoglu	4	2	3	9		-
	Wallace	3	3	5	11	√		+2
04	Bosh	4	3	5	12	√	+2
	Diaw	4	3	3	10			-
05	Bargnani	4	1	2	7		-
	Chandler	1	4	4	9	√		+3
KEY SUBS
06	Jack	3	3	3	9		0
	Augustin	4	3	2	9			0
07	Belinelli	3	2	1	6		-
	Henderson	2	3	2	7	√		+4
08	Wright	2	2	2	6		-
	Brown	2	3	3	8	√		+5
09	Johnson	2	3	4	9		0
	Mohammed	3	3	3	9			0
10	Nesterovic	3	3	3	9	√	+3
	Diop	1	4	3	8			0
RESERVES
11	Banks	2	3	2	7		-
	Murray	3	3	2	8	√		+6
12	Weems	3	2	2	7	√	+4
	Law	2	2	2	6			-
EXTRAS
13	O’Bryant	1	1	1	3		0
	Ajinca	1	1	1	3			0
14	M-Bonsu	1	3	4	8		0
	Graham	2	3	3	8			0
INJURED/OUT
15	Evans	[2]	[2]	[4]	[8]	[√]	[+5]
	N/A	-	-	-	-	-		-
HC	Triano	3	2	3	8		-
	Brown	4	4	4	12	√		+7
TOTALS
	Toronto	42	34	41	117	+4
	Charlotte	39	46	42	127	+7

————————————————————

 
————————————————————

Visitors here are invited to elaborate further on their own answer to this question in the comments section.

Courtesy of Matt Moore …

Offseason Lemon Face/Lion Face: Raptors/Bucks
re: Toronto
You have to wonder what Colangelo has targeted as the ceiling for this team. He can’t realistically think this team is going to win a championship. It needs to make the playoffs, that much is clear from salary alone. With Orlando, Cleveland, and Boston at the apex, does he believe they can get the 4 seed? Hope to make a push in the semis, and possibly get lucky with playing a banged up team that sparks them to the Finals (the Orlando plan)? Or is the goal just to contend, to be relevant, to be fun? Colangelo was part of something special in Phoenix by thinking outside the box and creating something new. Maybe this multi-positional rubix cube he’s created is his next masterpiece that changes things without ever bearing fruit.

re: Milwaukee
The main reason they get a Lemon Face is that they seem to be going in two directions. Jennings is the future, but Bogut is the franchise, but Redd is the leader, but we’re building for the future, but Luke Ridnour has a chokehold on our point guard spot but Roko Ukic could be great with some time but we want to win now but we want to win a championship but we’re also filling in holes like with Warrick.

FINAL SCORE: Raptors 101, PACERS 130
Complete Game Info

———-

Rarely in a NBA game will you see one team actually double the k-PER TOTAL of its Opponent; but, this is precisely what happened in last night’s Raptors at PACERS match-up.

Once again, the MAIN problem for Toronto was not the performance of their All-Star player, Chris Bosh … nor the play of Jose Calderon, although to a lesser extent last night, given the reduced MP he had overall in this game.

Pacers  130 Raptors  101
Player MIN kPER J-Jack 32 +29 T-Murphy 26 +27 D-Granger 28 +27 T.J-Ford 21 +26 J-McRoberts 22 +20 R-Hibbert 26 +15 J-Foster 14 +7 S-Graham 25 +4 M-Baston 7 +2 T-Diener 13 +0 B-Rush 25 -7 M-Dunleavy DNP – J-Tinsley DNP – M-Daniels DNP – R-Nesterovic DNP – TOTAL   150	Player MIN kPER C-Bosh 28 +23 P-O’Bryant 20 +14 J-Graham 23 +11 Q-Douby 22 +9 A-Parker 29 +9 R-Ukic 23 +4 P-M-Bonsu 22 +4 J-Calderon 25 +1 J-Kapono 19 +2 S-Marion 24 -1 J-Voskuhl 5 -1 M-Banks DNP – N-Jawai DNP – K-Humphries DNP – A-Bargnani DNP – TOTAL   75

The core problem with the Raptors this season is the overall lack of Quality Depth on their player roster.

Bryan Colangelo [Pres/GM] will need to address the situation properly, by upgrading at least two positions in the 2009 NBA Draft and then acquiring two new NBA-level players who fit well around Bosh & Calderon, via trade or free agency, if the Raptors hope to become a playoff team in the Eastern Conference next season. 

FINAL SCORE: RAPTORS 110, Pacers 87
Complete Game Info

—————————————

When you look at the following Substitution Chart you should be able to see several things from this game:

SUBSTITUTION CHART RAPTORS vs Pacers Sun Mar 15 2009
Time	Team	1	2	3	4	5	Start	End	Diff
Q1 12:00	Ind	Ford	Jack	Daniels	Murphy	Foster	0 0	16 16	0
	TOR	Calderon	Parker	Marion√	Bosh√	Bargnani
Q1 03:54	Ind	Diener	Jack	Rush	Granger	Nesterovic	16 16	19 16	-3
	TOR	Calderon	Kapono	Graham√	Bosh√	Bargnani
Q1 03:11	Ind						19 16	24 22	+1
	TOR	Calderon	Kapono	Graham√	M-Bonsu√	Bargnani
02:58 – Time-out [F]: Indiana
Q1 01:09	Ind	Diener	Rush	Granger	Murphy	Nesterovic	24 22	26 24	0
	TOR			√	√
Q2 12:00	Ind	Diener	Rush	Granger	Murphy	Nesterovic	26 24	30 30	+2
	TOR	Parker√	Kapono	Graham√	M-Bonsu√	Bosh√
Q2 09:36	Ind	Diener	Rush	Granger	Murphy	Foster	30 30	32 30	-2
	TOR	√		√	√	√
Q2 08:46	Ind	Ford	Jack	Granger	Murphy	Foster	32 30	35 32	-1
	TOR	Calderon	Kapono	Parker	Bosh√	Bargnani
Q2 07:18	Ind	Ford	Jack	Daniels	Granger	Foster	35 32	38 37	+2
	TOR				√
Q2 06:35	Ind						38 37	47 39	-7
	TOR	Calderon	Parker	Marion√	Bosh√	Bargnani
05:23 – Time-out [F]: Toronto
Q2 04:14	Ind	Ford	Jack	Daniels	Granger	Murphy	47 39	47 42	+3
	TOR	Calderon	Kapono	Marion√	Bosh√	Bargnani
03:22 – Time-out [F]: Indiana
Q2 03:22	Ind	Ford	Jack	Daniels	Granger	Foster	47 42	48 46	+3
	TOR	Calderon	Kapono	Graham√	Bosh√	Bargnani
Q2 02:34	Ind						48 46	48 46	0
	TOR	Calderon	Graham√	Marion√	Bosh√	Bargnani
Q2 02:26	Ind	Ford	Jack	Rush	Murphy	Foster	48 46	50 53	+5
	TOR		√	√	√
Q2 00:17	Ind				Daniels	Murphy	50 53	50 53	0
	TOR	Calderon	Kapono	Parker	Bosh√	Bargnani
Q3 12:00	Ind	Ford	Jack	Daniels	Murphy	Foster
	TOR	Calderon	Parker	Marion√	Bosh√	Bargnani
	Ind						55 61	61 66	-1
	TOR	Calderon	Kapono	Marion√	Bosh√	Bargnani
Q3 07:32	Ind	Ford	Jack	Granger	Murphy	Foster	61 66	66 73	+2
	TOR			√	√
05:52 – Time-out [F]: Indiana
Q3 05:29	Ind	Ford	Jack	Rush	Granger	Foster	66 73	66 79	+6
	TOR			√	√
03:19 – Time-out [F]: Toronto
Q3 03:19	Ind	Diener	Daniels	Rush	Granger	Murphy	66 79	68 84	+3
	TOR	Calderon	Kapono	Marion√	M-Bonsu√	Bosh√
Q3 02:03	Ind						68 84	68 86	+2
	TOR	Calderon	Kapono	Graham√	M-Bonsu√	Bosh√
Q3 01:34	Ind						68 86	69 90	+3
	TOR	Ukic	Kapono	Graham√	M-Bonsu√	Bosh√
Q4 12:00	Ind	Diener	Jack	Rush	Daniels	Murohy	69 90	71 94	+2
	TOR	Ukic	Parker	Graham√	M-Bonsu√	Bargnani
10:35 – Time-out [F]: Indiana
Q4 10:35	Ind	Diener	Jack	Rush	Daniels	Hibbert	71 94	76 96	-3
	TOR			√	√
Q4 08:54	Ind	Diener	Jack	Rush	Baston	Hibbert	76 96	76 102	+6
	TOR			√	√
Q4 06:43	Ind	Jack	Rush	Graham			76 102	76 104	+2
	TOR	Ukic	Parker	Graham√	M-Bonsu√	O’Bryant
05:54 – Time-out/Official
Q4 04:37	Ind	Diener	Rush	Graham	Baston	Hibbert	76 104	87 110	-5
	TOR