Predicted Record
28-54 (Tom), 38-44 (Gil)
Last Year’s Record
33-49
Gil’s Commentary
Michael Jordan took over as GM last year and drafted “the safe pick” in Adam Morrison. Of course, he was terrible. Jordan’s an awful talent-evaluator, as he showed in his tenure at Washington. I think the draft-day trade for Jason Richardson will support this reputation: JR will post selfishly good numbers, do nothing to help the Bobs win, and spend 10-15 games on the injured list.
On the plus side, Jordan re-signed Gerald Wallace, the team’s best player. The team’s pretty light up front, thanks to Sean May’s knee surgery, Adam Morrison’s ACL blowout, and Othella Harrington’s inability to play basketball. Fortunately, the Bobs will be able to slot Thor into one of those positions.
And in a possible sign of a rift between Jordan and Charles Oakley, the Bobcats brought in Jeff McGinnis, whom Oak once bitch-slapped during a pregame shootaround.
Mike’s also living up to his rep for cronyism by hiring pal Sam Vincent as head coach. Since Sam’s biggest success was coaching Nigeria’s women’s team to the FIBA-Africa title, I don’t have high expectations for his NBA debut. I’m willing to give them a 5-game improvement on last season, which may turn out to get them into the playoffs.
Rejoinder From Tom
Sean May’s interviews after being injured showed him to be the only man in America to still refer to lost ’90s superstar Penny Hardaway as Anfernee; I have no idea what that means, but it’s enough for me to downgrade them ten games.
Gratuitous Comics Connection
Charlotte is home to North America’s finest regional comic book convention, Heroes Con.
Gratuitous Pharma Connection
North Carolina has a pretty significant biotech industry. Unfortunately, it’s nowhere near Charlotte.
The Bottom Line
Jordan will end up as a casino-greeter within 10 years, once his divorce gets finalized. –GR