Are the Charlotte Bobcats Any Better off Than Last Year?
Strong starts have somehow become the norm for the Charlotte Bobcats, but so too have disastrous finishes.
Fans don't have to buy this team's 6-6 record. Not after watching the Bobcats turn a 7-5 start into a 21-61, coach-firing mess last season.
But there's reason to believe in these Bobcats. Even if that concept seems strange.
Getting Defensive
Defense absolutely wins championships, but its winning powers don't wait for the start of the second season.
That message has started to resonate in Charlotte. What's so different about this season?
"We're defending and rebounding," first-year coach Steve Clifford said, via Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
There are two truths in that statement, an obvious one and another hidden between the lines. First, these Bobcats are defending and rebounding. Second, they didn't bother to do either last season.
"I don’t know if we were ever as good on defense last year as we are now," swingman Gerald Henderson said, via Bonnell.
The stat sheet doesn't need to be as politically correct. The Bobcats weren't this good defensively last season. Not even close.
| 2012-13 | 108.9 | 30th | 47.8 | 29th |
| 2013-14 | 99.5 | 7th | 49.7 | 17th |
Only six teams have more efficient defenses than Clifford's 'Cats. The combined records of those six is a staggering 46-22.
This isn't a new phenomenon. Flash back to last season, and the top seven teams in defensive efficiency featured seven postseason participants and both NBA Finalists (San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat).
Fans might want to see more offensive explosions, but there's something to appreciate in the fact that Charlotte has managed six wins off just 92.3 points per night in those contests.
Shooters can have off nights, but defensive intensity and effort don't need to fluctuate.
The Bobcats have allowed only three of their first 12 opponents to reach triple digits. Keep defending like that, and Charlotte will have the chance to win regardless of how its offense players.
The Bobcats don't boast many household names. Removing Ben Gordon (one game played on the season) from the rotation scratched one of the most recognizable ones from the list.
Slowly but surely, the rest of the basketball world is starting to sense something brewing in Charlotte:
The roster is full of scrappers, hustlers who never take plays off. With athleticism on the wings (Kidd-Gilchrist, Henderson and Jeff Taylor) and three shot-blocking bigs by the basket (Al Jefferson, Bismack Biyombo and Jeff Adrien), the Bobcats have the bodies to wear this defensive identity all season.
Good teams can win games at either end of the floor, though. And that's a gift that the Bobcats could unwrap shortly.
Gifts That Haven't Started Giving
Charlotte's offense looks like a direct strike on the analytical movement. Points were never meant to be this hard to come by.
The Bobcats have the fourth-least efficient offense in the league (94.5 points per 100 possessions). Six of the team's top nine scorers are shooting below 40 percent and only one of them is clearing the 41 percent mark.
Believe it or not, that player is 2012 lottery grab Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Broken jump shot and all.
Having a hard time buying these optimistic vibes? Trust me, it gets easier.
Trusting this Charlotte offense has less to do with its production and more to do with its potential.
Jefferson, the largest free-agent coup in franchise history, has yet to make a dent on the Charlotte hoops scene. Plagued by a nagging ankle injury, Big Al's been a no-show for nine of the team's first 12 games.
Getting him healthy and out on the hardwood would work wonders for this offense. Few teams have the luxury of a legit post scorer in today's game, and none could use that back-to-the-basket punch more than the Bobcats.
Kemba Walker (35.8 percent) and Henderson (36.1) are tasked with creating something out of nothing right now. Charlotte doesn't have three-point shooters to keep perimeter defenders honest (33.5 percent from distance as a team) nor interior scorers to ward off help.
Walker's a dominant isolation scorer (1.03 points per possession, sixth best in the league via Synergy Sports, subscription required), but there's only so many times the Bobcats can go to that well a night.
Henderson does some of his best work off the ball (1.44 points per possession as a cutter), as his athleticism allows him to punish sleepy defenses.
Jefferson's presence will free up Walker to attack and Henderson to roam. Cody Zeller has too many polished skills for his shooting woes (38.7 field-goal percentage) to continue. Kidd-Gilchrist is already showing what's he capable of as an offensive glue-guy (51.5 field-goal percentage).
There are a couple leaps of faith needed but enough different flight paths that at least a few should take off.
Charlotte doesn't need to be a dominant offense. This team's functioning just fine with its defensive identity in place.
Cleaning up the point production, though, would go along way toward preserving this this group's respectability.
It's too early to say how high the Bobcats' ceiling extends. But their basement already appears to be out of the danger zone.
Last season's collapse is a gripping example of just how quickly things can go wrong, but the first few weeks of the 2013-14 campaign have already yielded one truth—these aren't last season's Bobcats.
*Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
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