The Best Links In All The World, In All The NBA, In All The Universe... 19 October 2009
SLC Dunk — ... "[The series] was 2-2 and going back to Salt Lake,'' said Charlotte coach Larry Brown, then coach of the Clippers. "Before the game, Jerry told me, if he loses, he might not be the coach next year. "That was 18 years ago.'' We'll never know what might have happened had the Jazz lost. Utah won 98-89 to take the series. The Jazz went on to defeat Seattle 4-1 in the second round before losing to Portland 4-2 in the Western Conference finals. By then, Sloan's job was secure. (via ...

Game Thread: Bucks/Bobs
Brew Hoop — ...   Jennings starts.  Not surprisingly, Jennings' fine performance in his first start on Saturday was enough to keep the job for at least one more game.  Hey Brandon, for the sake of the franchise, just give us 16/7 with one turnover every night this year.  Thanks. Bobs' injuries.  Tyson Chandler should be back, Larry Brown says Bo Diaw is out of shape.  

Raja Bell Out for Up to Four Months; Bring On Gerald Henderson!
Rufus on Fire — ... First, it's established that Larry Brown has an unhealthy predilection for rookie suppression. Even if a young player isn't quite as good as a veteran player, there are ample reasons to play the youngster over the vet in certain contexts. For instance, on a team with zero championship aspirations and another young piece of the core in the back court, it might be prudent to get those guys playing together as often as possible so that they are symbiotic when the team does make a charge through the playoffs. Brown will play rookies big minutes, but only, ...

Last Night in the Preseason
Ridiculous Upside — ... spraining his wrist.  Now, I never root for guys to get hurt, because I'm not a monster.  But certainly the opportunity is now there for Jefferson to get more playing time as a lockdown backcourt defender, particularly on a Larry Brown-coached team, and I hope he's able to take advantage of it. ...

NBA Blogger Preview: Charlotte Bobcats
Rufus on Fire — ... The Bobcats traded away their first draft pick, and arguably their best player, Emeka Okafor, receiving Tyson Chandler in return. The front office described the trade as a basketball decision, but Chandler's recent injury history and lesser offensive skills cast doubt on that claim. More likely, the trade was prompted by owner Robert Johnson's attempts to sell the team combined with Larry Brown's notorious fickleness. ...

Charlotte Bobcats Previews
CelticsBlog — ... in return. The front office described the trade as a basketball decision, but Chandler's recent injury history and lesser offensive skills cast doubt on that claim. More likely, the trade was prompted by owner Robert Johnson's attempts to sell the team combined with Larry Brown's notorious fickleness. Okafor's contract runs through 2014, while Chandler's runs through 2011. A prospective owner might see Okafor as a valuable asset, probably well worth the investment in him, but others might see a long term contract as an unwelcome commitment, no matter how ...

NBA Eastern Conference Predictions
CelticsBlog — ... 5) Charlotte 34-48 – hard to mark down this team after Larry Brown got them to finally play to their abilities. But ...

Celtics Looking to Declaw Bobcats in the Home Opener
CelticsBlog — ... Pierce PF:   Kevin Garnett C:    Kendrick Perkins    Reserves Rasheed Wallace Marquis Daniels Eddie House Shelden Williams Lester Hudson JR Giddens Injuries Tony Allen (ankle) day to day Bill Walker (knee) out Brian Scalabrine (ankle) day to day Big Baby Davis  (thumb) out  Coach: Larry Brown Average Age: 26.2 Average Height: 6-7 Average Weight: 223 ...

Gameday Preview: Bobcats vs Knicks
Rufus on Fire — ... Key to Victory: Obviously, the Cats will have to score more than 59 points. That shouldn't be a problem. What will be a problem is sticking to a plan. I may want the Cats to play with more fundamental improvisation and flow than Larry Brown prefers, but I can still recognize that when some guys break from the plan and others don't, nobody's successful. ...

Boston Aims for 3-0 Against Pesky Chicago
CelticsBlog — ... on Wednesday, in which they held Larry Brown's team to a franchise-low 59 points. The Bulls find themselves in the second game of a back-to-back after impressively vanquishing the ...

Happy Halloween Hangover Day -- Bobcats Lose to Cavs 90-79
Rufus on Fire — ... -- Larry Brown did, indeed, go 12 deep giving playing time. However, as encouraging as Alexis Ajinca's and Derrick Brown's preseason might have been, they're not seeing action even in a game that screams for their participation. ...

Daily Links 11/4
CelticsBlog — ... Len Bias' Death Still Sending Shock Waves Through NBA For Unbeaten Celtics, Three Is the Magic Number Live Blog: Celtics at 76ers Celtics Plow Past Sixers En Route to Fifth Straight Win For Celtics, Rajon Rondo All the Rage Bleacher Report     Four Games In, Boston Celtics Look Like The Team To Beat Twin Cities    Revisiting the Kevin Garnett trade Larry Brown Sports    Kevin McHale Confirms Kevin Garnett Trade Was Financially ...

What to Do With Gerald Henderson
Rufus on Fire — ... Obviously, I'm going to say he should play more than Larry Brown will play him, but if you were running the team, right now, and would be unable to trade anyone away, how would you handle the rotation? We have five guards who probably deserve playing time based on talent alone, and then there's Stephen Graham. ...

Someday, We'll Find Out What the Bobcats Were Thinking
Rufus on Fire — ... I'm big on process versus results when judging a front office's efficacy, and I'm often harsh on Larry Brown, et al, because their moves simply don't compute for me; I can't determine what their process is the way anyone can determine the ...

RUMOR: Charlotte Bobcats (+ Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Nuggets) Interested in Stephen Jackson- Boris Diaw anyone?
Golden State Of Mind — ... where he shockingly put up 13.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg, and 6.2 apg with a swat mixed in for good effect. After that he never quite matched those averages with the Suns and was shipped out to Charlotte for Jason Richardson. Diaw did have a nice resurgence last year dropping nearly 15-6-5 under the always fidgety Larry Brown. At age 27 Diaw is right at his NBA prime, so it's probably not the last time we'll see this type of production from the French forward. And who knows? If Diaw managed to kick that croissant habit maybe he'll even better those numbers in the ...

Conseco Fieldhouse: Ten Years Later
Indy Cornrows — ... The Pacers made a run for a conference title or two in the early 1990's, led by Coach Larry Brown and players like Reggie Miller, Rik Smits, ...

Preview and Game Thread #6: Atlanta Hawks @ Charlotte Bobcats
Peachtree Hoops — ... have had playing in Charlotte, the Bobcats legitimately good defense, Larry Brown being in his second year, or this being the last game of a fairly long road trip, there are lots of reasons to not take this game lightly. Personally, I plan to go with the Hawks inability to play well in Charlotte since I have seen two of the worst losses of the last two seasons in person there. I just started drinking thinking about those games. ...

Gameday Preview at Chicago Bulls
Rufus on Fire — ... in Cleveland. The Cats are on the back half of a back to back. However, having spread the minutes out fairly evenly last night, Larry Brown has put his team in position to match the Bulls' energy. After tonight's game, they'll have two days off to recuperate before another back to back. We'll see what happens in the fourth quarter when the rested Bulls push the tempo. ...

Bulls Beat Bobcats 93-90; Cats Fall in Love With Threes
Rufus on Fire — ... Perhaps the most interesting thing about the game was the Bobcats' tendency to bomb away from three. The Cats shot 12-29 from long distance, which says something about their offensive process. Larry Brown has said he doesn't like threes because of what they indicate: when the team takes threes it means they're not attacking the rim and potentially getting to the line. It also implies the offense isn't active and working for the easiest baskets. ...

Sunday Fun Day: Pistons 88, 76ers 81
Motown String Music — ... points on 3-8 shooting in about 15 minutes.   Chris Wilcox did not play, coach's decision and neither did DaJuan Summers or Chucky Atkins.  I wish we could see some Summers. Jonas Jerebko's jaw dropping tip dunk:  Detroit returns to the hardwood on Wednesday against the Charlotte Bobcats as Larry Brown returns to the Palace again.  Tip off slated for 7:30 PM ...

Lack of ball movement continues to plague the Wizards
Bullets Forever — ... offense was one of the best in the league because the Wizards didn't commit too many turnovers and they employed a system that opened the floor for the top players to score off the dribble. Saunders, however, brought with him an offensive philosophy that preaches ball movement and quick passing in lieu of mad dashes to the rim.  In Saunders' first year in Detroit, for example, the Pistons averaged 24 assists per game, up from 21.8 per contest in Larry Brown's last season.   But while the Pistons picked up ...

Bobcats Lose to Magic 93-81
Rufus on Fire — ... only played a little more than 11 minutes, but that's not really his fault. Yes, he got in foul trouble, but Larry Brown refused to play him from about 9 minutes to go in the first quarter through the end of the first half... because he had two fouls. Two! If you have three fouls at the half, you're on pace to foul out at the end of the game. It's okay to have three fouls going into the second half. Really. It is. In the second quarter, Chandler should have played until he had three fouls, and then in the third quarter played until he got his fourth, and ...

Morning Shootaround: Bias on Bynum; Love for Ben Wallace, but Not on the All-Star Ballot; and Kuester Meets Old Mentor
Motown String Music — ... the Magic wore out the Bobcats last night, so they come out sluggish against the Pistons tonight.  Orlando jumped out to a big lead, but the Bobcats fought hard to come back, pulling within eight at one point.  In the end, the Magic left Charlotte with a 12-point win and hopefully, left the Bobcats deflated.   If you don't remember, John Kuester was an assistant under current Charlotte Bobcats coach, Larry Brown, in 2004 when the Pistons won the NBA championship.  John Kuester is ...

Game 8: Charlotte Bobcats @ Detroit Pistons [Game Thread]
Motown String Music — ... 's first game as a head coach against his former mentor, Larry Brown.  Kuester was an assistant under Brown in 2003-2004 with the Pistons.  ...

Pistons Smoke Bobcats 98-75
Rufus on Fire — ... : DNP-CD. Amazing. Dude was, ostensibly, our 7th man going into the season. Larry Brown must have been trying to send a message that the space cadet thing has to end. ...

Gameday Preview vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Rufus on Fire — ... opportunity to play his way out of his slump, D.J.'s been a horror show the past few times out. But I don't think we have any kind of answer for Aldridge other than Diaw stepping up his game. Crash might be able to contain him a bit, but that would require putting Diaw on even more perimeter-oriented players, and that's no good. Physically, Freedom Fries is probably best suited to dealing with Aldridge, but that's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay outside the box thinking at this point. Might Larry Brown follow up on his idea to play ...

The Evolution of Jared Dudley
Bright Side Of The Sun — ... , 107-103. Dudley played 42 minutes, dropping in 19 points and 8 rebounds. Just when it appeared that Dudley was ready to establish himself as an NBA regular, Vincent was fired and Larry Brown took over as coach of the Bobcats. Dudley didn't begin the season as a starter and was shuffled in and out of the lineup, as Brown attempted to figure out what combination of players would lead to victories. On December 10, 2008, Dudley was packaged with Jason Richardson and sent to the ...

Gameday Preview at Orlando Magic
Rufus on Fire — ... for a few minutes, since Larry Brown has absolutely zero confidence in DeSagana Diop and his Diaw's offensive skill set might give Howard problems on the other end. ...

Pacers Face Opportunity To Show Improvement For Real
Indy Cornrows — ... joins Larry Brown in Charlotte after finally getting traded from Golden State yesterday. To Jack's credit, he played for the ...

The Day After Stephen Jackson Arrived
Rufus on Fire — ... -- Larry Brown played an eight man rotation. I wish Gerald Henderson had played at least a few minutes, but it's hard to convince Brown it wasn't in his best interest to play with his new toy (Jackson) or play the hot hand (Murray). In any event, the subs made sense, for once. ...

Have the Bobcats Made Progress in the Larry Brown Era?
Rufus on Fire — ... In the end, I can't help but feel kind of good about this trade because even though I don't think it pushes the Cats into playoff contention, and it doesn't give them any further financial positives, it sure as hell makes them more exciting to watch. Did you see them run the break against Orlando? After a year and change of Larry Brown's walk-it-up spot-up-shooting offense, the slight uptick in fast-paced play was like watching doves released from their cage. ...

Gameday Open Thread at Philadelphia 76ers
Rufus on Fire — ... TV: Fox Sports Carolinas | Radio: 1660 AM SB Nation 76ers Blog: Liberty Ballers Game 2 of the Stephen Jackson Era comes to you live from Philadelphia! True story: Last season, I drove to Philly and DC to see two Bobcats road games in one weekend. Do you remember who started at point guard for the Cats against the Sixers? That's right: Sean Singletary. Larry Brown gave him a "hometown" start. It was the only game Raymond Felton did not start last year. Good thing ...

Isola: Signs Pointing to Iverson Acquisition
Posting and Toasting — ... It's worth remembering that Walsh used similar language days before Mike D'Antoni was hired as coach. Walsh has spent the past few days calling his inner circle of NBA friends about Iverson. One of those calls was to Larry Brown, the former ...

Prowling the NBA: Nov 20 - Who Authored This Rewrite?
Canis Hoopus — ... Short term though, the Cats get some much needed scoring ability. "We are struggling, we can't score," said Bobcats' head coach Larry Brown. And all the drama? Brown is unphased. "No matter what Stephen might say to me...I've heard it before." And certainly no one questions that, considering Brown has coached (among others) the always volatile ...

Game Thread 10: Bobcats/Bucks
Brew Hoop — ... Tonight we unfortunately get to see what happens when both guys are out.  Fortunately, there's that Brandon Jennings guy, who gets the spotlight all to himself against Ray Felton, D.J. Augustin, and the Larry Brown-led Bobs. To make things worse, Luc Mbah a Moute again looks set to watch from the bench.  ...

Gameday Preview vs Indiana Pacers
Rufus on Fire — ... Key to Victory: I'm not worried about Granger so much as I'm worried about Hibbert. With Larry Brown's total non-confidence in either DeSagana Diop or Alexis Ajinca, if ...

Bobcats Crush Pacers 104-88
Rufus on Fire — ... The Cats played their game and seemed to be a flowing team more than they have in recent games, when they mechanically tried to execute an offense according to prescribed choreography. Even with the strictest of offensive taskmasters like Larry Brown, offense requires flow and feel, which Charlotte has been lacking. Tonight, all that changed, in the half court offense and, especially, in transition offense. ...

Superlatives for This Season's Celtics
CelticsBlog — ... The best part of all of this? The first ever All-NBA Cabinet of course. Vice President: Larry Brown. Secretary of Defense: ...

THREE DAYS WITH GEORGE (Part 3)...
Denver Stiffs — ... When I was calling for Karl's ouster two seasons ago, it was because Larry Brown was available at the time and I envisioned Brown reuniting with ...

Briefing: The Dance Continues
Bullets Forever — ... Charlotte continued its run of outstanding defense. The Bobcats have allowed 100 points just once this season, and the 76 points scored by the Wizards equaled their lowest output of the season. "We defended against a team that can score about as well as we can," Charlotte coach Larry Brown said. ...

AI Meets With Sixers; Bobcats Looking for Big Man Help
Rufus on Fire — ... . I'm generally concerned about AI as a fan of the league, but more specifically concerned with his plans because he and Larry Brown seem to have a professional relationship without closure. Bringing in AI won't further any of our goals, so I hope all this AI commentary that Brown's doing really is just his way of encouraging Iverson to keep plugging away and is not his way of hinting to others in the ...

Gameday Preview Charlotte Bobcats vs. Boston Celtics
Rufus on Fire — ... for everything he brings to the floor, especially his defense -- see what he did covering Dirk in the '07 playoffs for further confirmation of his versatility -- but he's best as a complementary player, not relied upon as the pillar. We're not quite there with him. I'd argue we don't really have a pillar, because Larry Brown seems to believe that he can go against history and build a successful team with four or five solid to very good pillars instead of building around one or two exceptional pillars. But as soon as the team believes Jackson, or Gerald, or ...

Bobcats Fall to Celtics 108-90
Rufus on Fire — ... several times, but it bears special highlighting here. Larry Brown's decisions probably wouldn't have swung the game, but his handling of ...

Aggressive Play Key to Putting Down Cats
CelticsBlog — ... Based on his play throughout Charlotte's now deceased four-game winning streak, I figured Gerald Wallace would be a tough guard for Paul Pierce and would give Pierce all he could handle on the defensive end.  However, Pierce and co. wiped out any chance of that happening by attacking Wallace early.   As a result, Wallace picked up his second foul with 6:29 left in the opening frame. For reasons I'm still not entirely sure of, Charlotte coach Larry Brown decided to keep Wallace on the bench for the remainder of the first half, despite his team ...

Licking Wounds After A Galling Defeat
Rufus on Fire — ... them, roughly, a 32-37 win team. What evidence have we seen to tell us any different? BULLET POINTS BECAUSE THEY'RE QUICK LIKE BULLETS They went down by more than twenty with Gerald Wallace out of the game, yet played only -3 when Gerald was in. Thin-slicing, I know, but I'll find anything to confirm my faith in Gerald. Has Good Felton finally overtaken Bad Felton? (Give it twenty more games. Give or take.) Is anyone else tired of Larry Brown blaming lack of effort? Again, you're going to look bad ...