2007 NBA Team Preview: Charlotte Bobcats

After an inaugural season of a mere 18 wins, the Bobcats have increased their win total to 26 and 33 wins in the last two years. The checklist that Michael Jordan brought to the team continues to be carried out, first off with getting coach Sam Vincent. Vincent is a first-time head man in the NBA, but coached the Fort Worth Flyers to the best record in the NBDL, as well as an appearance in the NBL title game.

Player-wise, the biggest move was getting Jason Richardson in a draft night deal. Richardson scored 20 points per night in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons before getting derailed with an injury last season. If he can provide 23 per night for Charlotte, like he did two years ago in Oakland, he'll take a lot of pressure off the young bucks also in the lineup.

Emeka Okafor is a dominant defender and rebounder, but has missed 80 games in three seasons (7th in total blocked shots and total rebounds last year while missing 15 games). If he can stay healthy, it could be a big factor in improving that win total again.

The next step for the Bobcats is the .500 mark, which means fighting for the playoffs. They'd have a better chance if someone on the playing roster had some meaningful postseason experience, but Richardson had little to do with the Warriors dispatching the Mavericks last year, veteran Gerald Wallace played a grand total of 52 minutes in the postseason in his first three seasons with Sacramento, but other than that, they're decent, but not over the top good on any level. Richardson will help a lot, and I see that MJ may be thinking a team centered around a SG may not be a bad idea (haha).

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2007 NBA Team Preview: Charlotte Bobcats

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