Special Comment: Why the Bobcats deserved to get blamed for the firing of Mike Dunlap.

And now at the request of Jake Cook, a "Special Comment" on how I feel about the firing of Mike Dunlap and how it has become a mess for the Charlotte Bobcats.  After watching last Wednesday night's win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the regular-season finale, the Charlotte Bobcats avoided being "The worst team in the NBA", and what did they do to deserve it, firing a man who was only 1 year into his first experience as an NBA head coach, and as a fan of this team, it was uncalled for, distasteful, and down right ridiculous.

It was so ridiculous, a lot of the fans were showing their disbelief on the message boards saying that "This team is a joke, we're still not supporting them anymore", and "I'll never root for this team until this team becomes the "Hornets" once again!"  Those are the words coming from a fanbase that's been dubbed "The worst fan base in the NBA" in a city like Charlotte, a city that's primarily dominated by the NFL's Carolina Panthers and the American Hockey League's Charlotte Checkers, but this city is still one of the worst NBA cities in the league since the downfall of yes, the Charlotte Hornets back in 2002.  This is one of the worst publicity moves I have seen as a fan, and I am mad, upset, and angry at what they did last week! IT WAS SO DOWN RIGHT PATHETIC, PATHETIC WITH A CAPITAL "P"!  YOU SIR, MR. DUNLAP HAD NO BUSINESS WHATSOEVER OF BEING A FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACH WITH NO NBA COACHING EXPERIENCE, JUST LIKE SAM VINCENT, HE HAD NO DARN BUSINESS OF RUNNING A TEAM INTO THE GROUND JUST LIKE YOU DID, MR. DUNLAP! YOU HAD EXPECTATIONS OF TURNING THINGS AROUND THIS PAST SEASON, BUT WHAT I SAW WAS A TEAM GIVING UP ON EACH OTHER, AND ITS FANS NOT SHOWING ANY LOVE FOR YOU IN YOUR FIRST YEAR AS AN NBA COACH!  IT WAS YOUR FAULT THAT THE FANS DIDN'T WARM UP TO YOU THIS PAST SEASON, AND THE WAY I SEE IT IS THAT YOU DESERVED TO GET THE BLAME AROUND HERE AFTER A DISAPPOINTING 21-61 MARK IN YOUR FIRST YEAR AS AN NBA COACH!

Another person that we should blame for this mess is of course, Michael Jordan, YOU HAD NO BUSINESS OF FIRING DUNLAP IN THE FIRST PLACE! WHAT YOU DID EARLIER THIS WEEK  WAS UNCALLED FOR AND I AM TRULY DISAPPOINTED IN WHAT YOU DID TO FIRE DUNLAP SINCE I KNEW THAT DUNLAP WAS GOING TO FAIL IN HIS FIRST FULL SEASON AS A COACH IN THE NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION COACHING 82 REGULAR SEASON GAMES THAT SHOULD'VE BEEN CAPITALIZED INTO WINS! W-I-N-S,  BUT NOOOOOO! THEY DIDN'T THINK AS A TEAM, THEY DIDN'T PLAY HARD AS A TEAM, HECK, ALL THEY WANTED TO DO IS LOSE AS A TEAM!

LOOK AT WHAT YOUR FAN BASE IS DOING THESE DAYS, THEY'VE BEEN PRAYING AND HOPING THAT THIS CITY GETS THE "HORNETS" NAME BACK AS PART OF A GROWING CRUSADE CALLED "BRING BACK THE BUZZ", WHILE OTHERS HAVE DECIDED TO SHOW THEIR LOYALTY TO THIS CITY'S HOCKEY TEAM, THE CHECKERS SINCE THEY CARE ABOUT WINNING IN THIS TOWN, A TOWN THAT HAS BEEN NOTHING MORE THAN A MINOR-LEAGUE SPORTS TOWN THESE DAYS, OVERSHADOWING BY THE NFL'S CAROLINA PANTHERS, AND NASCAR, BUT WE BOBCATS FANS KNOW THAT WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT!  WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT BY FINDING A COACH THAT CAN LAY DOWN THE LAW NIGHT IN AND NIGHT OUT NEXT SEASON SO WE CAN GET A DIFFERENT RESULT AND FINDING A COACH THAT CAN GET OUR PLAYERS A CHANCE TO PLAY HARD FOR THE CITY THEY PLAY FOR ON THE FRONT ON THE JERSEY!

IN CLOSING, THIS FIRING HAS BEEN A TOUGH ONE TO SWALLOW, BUT I BELIEVE, I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT THIS TEAM KNOWN AS THE CHARLOTTE BOBCATS CAN LOOK THEMSELVES IN THE MIRROR COME DRAFT TIME, ONCE THEY GET A NEW COACH IN PLACE, AND THEY BETTER PLAY HARD IN THE 2013-14 SEASON....OR ELSE!  GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK!

Bobcats Extra: Bobcats @ Hawks

Charlotte Bobcats(7-6; 2-1 in Southeast Division Play) vs. Atlanta Hawks(8-4; 3-1 in Southeast Division Play)

Philips Arena, Atlanta

Gametime: 7:30 p.m.

Television: SportSouth(see channel listings below)

Radio: WFNZ 610 AM

Last meeting: Atlanta 101, Charlotte 91(November 23rd at Charlotte)

Scouting the Bobcats

Back on Monday night in Oklahoma City, the Charlotte Bobcats got a major wake-up call as the Oklahoma City Thunder did what they liked to do best, running up the score early and often, as they handed the Bobcats one of the worst lopsided losses in their 9-year history as the Thunder defeated Charlotte 114-69.  Charlotte hopes to bounce back from that blowout loss tonight as they look to get revenge on their rivals down Interstate 85 South, the Atlanta Hawks, who defeated the Bobcats 5 days ago 101-91 at Time Warner Cable Arena as Charlotte wraps up its brief 3-game road trip before heading back home on Friday to welcome in the Philadelphia 76ers for a start of a 4 game homestand.

Scouting the Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks are on a 5-game winning streak entering tonight's game against the Charlotte Bobcats at Philips Arena.  The last time the Hawks were in action was back on Saturday night, when they defeated Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers 104-93 behind Jeff Teague and Zaza Pachulia's 19 point outing to co-lead the Hawks in their win over the Clippers.  Atlanta has been a team on the rise in the Eastern Conference over the last few seasons behind the emergence of Al Horford, Josh Smith, and Kyle Korver, and they look to make it 6 straight wins tonight, as they battle the Bobcats to resume the "Interstate Series" at "The Highlight Factory" in Atlanta.

Next 4 games for the Bobcats(Home games in Light Blue, Road games in Navy Blue)

Friday: Philadelphia 76ers @ Charlotte(7:00 p.m., SportSouth)

Monday: Portland Trailblazers @ Charlotte(7:00 p.m., SportSouth)

Next Wednesday: New York Knicks @ Charlotte(7:00 p.m., SportSouth)

Next Friday: Charlotte @ Milwaukee Bucks(8:30 p.m., SportSouth)


Channel listings for Bobcats telecasts on SportSouth

Charlotte area: Time Warner Cable channel 60/1510 in High-Definition

Rock Hill/York County area: Comporium Communications channel 291/1291 in High-Definition

Mooresville/Lake Norman area: MI-Connection channel 67

Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point area: Time Warner Cable channel Time Warner Cable channel 510/1510 in High-Definition

Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area: Time Warner Cable channel 522/1522 in High-Definition

Satellite: Dish Network(channel 451 in Charlotte, 450 in RDU, Greensboro and Columbia, SC); DirecTV(channel 650 and 650-1 in North and South Carolina markets).

NOTES: All SportSouth telecasts begin with "Bobcats Live" 30 minutes before tip-off; All Bobcats games can be heard locally on flagship station WFNZ-AM(610 The Fan) and throughout the Carolinas on the Bobcats Radio Network.
 

Bobcats Extra: Raptors @ Bobcats

Toronto Raptors(3-8) vs. Charlotte Bobcats(5-4)

Time Warner Cable Arena

Gametime: 7:00 p.m.

Television: SportSouth

Radio: WFNZ 610 AM

Scouting the Raptors

The Toronto Raptors find themselves in the basement of the NBA's Atlantic Division with a 3-8 mark as the enter tonight's game in Charlotte against the surging Bobcats.  Toronto is coming off a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers last night, despite DeMar DeRozan leading all scorers with 24 points as Kyle Lowry returned to the Raptors lineup.

Tonight, Toronto looks to get back on the winning track as they pay a visit to Charlotte for a Thanksgiving eve showdown before the Raptors head to Detroit on Friday to face the Pistons as they continue their road trip away from the Air Canada Centre.

Scouting the Bobcats

The Charlotte Bobcats meanwhile are coming off another thrilling finish, which resulted in a 102-98 win over the Milwaukee Bucks back on Monday night at Time Warner Cable Arena with Ramon Sessions leading all scorers with 23 in the victorious effort for Mike Dunlap's squad, who are 5-4 on the year so far.  Charlotte continues its homestand tonight with a visit by the Toronto Raptors before they wrap it up on Friday against the always tough Atlanta Hawks.

Next 4 games for the Bobcats(Home games in Light Blue, Road games in Navy Blue)

Friday: Atlanta Hawks @ Charlotte*(7:00 p.m., SportSouth)

Saturday: Charlotte @ Washington Wizards*(7:00 p.m., SportSouth)

Monday: Charlotte @ Oklahoma City Thunder(8:00 p.m., SportSouth)

Next Wednesday: Charlotte @ Atlanta Hawks*(7:30 p.m., SportSouth)

*-Southeast Division game

NOTES: All SportSouth telecasts begin with "Bobcats Live" 30 minutes before tip-off; All Bobcats games can be heard locally on flagship station WFNZ-AM(610 The Fan) and throughout the Carolinas on the Bobcats Radio Network. 

Bobcats Extra Recap: Bobcats 102, Bucks 98

98

102


After last Saturday's tight matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies, in which they lost to, the Charlotte Bobcats battled back once again as they used another late 4th quarter rally to come away with a resilient 102-98 win over the Milwaukee Bucks at Time Warner Cable Arena.  Charlotte is now at 5-4 on the season and are in second place in the Southeast Division behind the Miami Heat.

The win was something that Bobcats head coach Mike Dunlap would like to call "Smash-mouth basketball".  "I know we've had a lot of close games and won most of them, that's a good sign for a young team." said Dunlap on how his team has been playing extremely well in those tight games.  "We're fighters, regardless of the situation." said Bobcats second year point guard Kemba Walker, who finished the night with 19 points. "Every time someone drives in on us, we collapse on him." Walker quoted. It was all due part to the play of Ramon Sessions off the bench for Charlotte, who led the way with 23 points for the victorious Bobcats.  Byron Mullens finished night with 19 points along with Walker, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had a productive night for Charlotte with 15 points. Rounding out the group of double-figure scorers for Charlotte was Jeff Taylor with 10 points, a new career high for the Bobcats second round pick in last June's NBA Draft.  The Bobcats shot 43.9% from the field, despite Milwaukee having a higher field goal percentage on the night(47.3%).

And for the Milwaukee Bucks in the loss, their leading scorer was Monta Ellis, who was unstoppable with 31 points on 14-28 shooting from the field.  He was joined by Mike Dunleavy, who had 16 points and Brandon Jennings rounded out the trio of double-figure scorers for Milwaukee with 10 points.

The Bobcats will be back in action tomorrow night as they welcome in the Toronto Raptors to Time Warner Cable Arena for a 7:00 start.

Bobcats Extra Recap: Bobcats 89, Timberwolves 87

89

87

When Charlotte took Kemba Walker with the 8th pick in last year's NBA Draft, he was known for delivering huge buckets when he was at UCONN, and back on Wednesday night in Minneapolis, he delivered the clutch go-ahead basket with less than 0.7 remaining to give the Charlotte Bobcats a 89-87 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves for its third win in a row and improving to 4-3 on the season.

"I told Tyrus I just wanted to get a clean shot, I said, just let me work, I'll get a good shot." said Walker, who finished the game with 22 points to lead Charlotte in the win.  "Kemba has done that his whole career." said Bobcats head coach Mike Dunlap on Walker's game-winner to help the Bobcats escape out of the Target Center with a "W" under their belt, "He put it on his shoulders and said, 'My game.'"  Dunlap took the blame for Reggie Williams' time-out call, which resulted in a technical foul for Charlotte since they didn't have enough remaining. "My fault - 100 percent on me, my job as a head coach is to make sure everyone knows."

Walker was also joined by Ramon Sessions, who had 18 points on just 8-20 shooting from the field. Byron Mullens got a double-double in the win for the Bobcats, scoring 12 points to go along with 15 rebounds and Tyrus Thomas rounded out the group of double-figure scorers for the Bobcats with 10 off the bench.  Charlotte shot 45.2% from the field for the game, and they had 12 blocks as a team, with 4 coming from Mullens, the leading blocker for the Cats in the win.

Minnesota was led in the loss by Andrei Kirilenko, who was 9-12 from the field to finish with a game-high 26 points.  Tomorrow night, the Bobcats look to make it 4 in a row as they welcome in Zach Randolph and the Memphis Grizzlies to Time Warner Cable Arena for a 7:30 start.

Bobcats Extra Recap: Bobcats 92, Wizards 76

76

92


The Charlotte Bobcats once again found its winning ways last night, as they came out the gates firing and played extremely well on their way to a 92-76 win over the Washington Wizards at Time Warner Cable Arena.  Charlotte is now at 3-3 on the year, while Washington is now at 0-6 with last night's loss.

"This defense is on the same page." said Kemba Walker, who finished the night with 17 points in the win for Charlotte. "We're all taking sides and playing hard." Walker quoted. The biggest surprise in last night's game was Charlotte's bench game, as Ramon Sessions came off the bench and he came out of nowhere to finish up with 21 points to lead the way for Charlotte. "Anytime in this league when you can get any type of win streak is good. I think it's a big plus, you know it's one of those games where you sit in a locker room and you say 'Hey, we should go out there and get this one' and that's what good teams do." Sessions said.

Joining Sessions and Walker on the double-figure scorer list for Charlotte was Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who was 6-11 from the field to finish with 15 points and Tyrus Thomas came off the bench and added in 10 points.

Washington in the loss was led in scoring on their part by Trevor Ariza, who was the lone double-digit scorer for the Wizards with 19 points.  Tonight, the Bobcats travel to Minneapolis to face the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center for an 8:00 start.

Bobcats Extra: Wizards @ Bobcats

Washington Wizards(0-5, 0-0 in Southeast Division play) vs. Charlotte Bobcats(2-3, 0-0 in Southeast Division play)

Time Warner Cable Arena

Gametime: 7:00 p.m.

Television: SportSouth

Radio: 610 The Fan

Scouting the Wizards

The Washington Wizards are entering tonight's game with an 0-5 mark, and they're without John Wall, but Bradley Beal has been making his mark in Wall's absence for the Wizards in the first 5 games of his young rookie campaign, with a 13.0 points per game average.  The Bobcats have to find a way to contain him tonight, as they begin Southeast Division play against a Wizards team that's still looking for their first win of the season.

Scouting the Bobcats

The Charlotte Bobcats finally got it first win over the Dallas Mavericks back on Saturday night at Time Warner Cable Arena with a 101-97 win in Overtime, finally snapping a 16-game losing skid to the last remaining team that Charlotte hasn't defeated in its 9 seasons in the NBA.  Earlier today, the Bobcats traded Matt Carroll to the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for Hakim Warrick, who could make his Bobcats debut tomorrow night in Minnesota against the Timberwolves, but Charlotte is hoping to keep their confidence level up tonight as they welcome the Washington Wizards to Time Warner Cable Arena.

Next 4 games for the Bobcats(Home games in Carolina Blue, road games in Navy Blue)

Wednesday: Charlotte @ Minnesota Timberwolves(8:00 p.m., SportSouth)

Saturday: Memphis Grizzlies @ Charlotte(7:30 p.m., SportSouth)

Monday: Milwaukee Bucks @ Charlotte(7:00 p.m., SportSouth)

Next Wednesday: Toronto Raptors @ Charlotte(7:00 p.m., SportSouth) 

NOTES: All SportSouth telecasts begin with "Bobcats Live" 30 minutes before tip-off; All Bobcats games can be heard locally on flagship station WFNZ-AM(610 The Fan) and throughout the Carolinas on the Bobcats Radio Network.