Hooped Up

Charlotte Bobcats’ win streak is halted against Pacers
Gerald Wallace saw this one coming, even before he stepped into the Charlotte Bobcats’ locker room following the upset of the Orlando Magic Sunday, Wallace turned to a reporter and said, “It’s Indiana I worry about.”

He had cause to worry. There’s a pattern to these things — beat a great team, lose to a lousy one – and they were true to their history this season in a 99-94 loss to the Indiana Pacers that wasn’t as close as the final score suggests.

They did themselves in by flubbing the little things, committing 19 turnovers and missing 11 free throws. They were down 15, cut the deficit to three in the final 20 seconds, and then the last of those turnovers – a bad pass by Boris Diaw – robbed them of what could have been a tying possession.

So a franchise-best six-game winning streak is history…
Charlotte Observer
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Another van glorious season of NBA basketball is about to begin and Hooped Up does a quick and dirty preview of all 30 clubs.

Head coach Larry Brown is known for making a non contender a playoff bound team, and that’s exactly what he’ll try to do again in his second year in Charlotte. The Bobcats made a big move this summer trading Emeka Okafor for the more athletic Tyson Chandler, but will that be enough for the Bobcats to finally make it into the playoffs for the first time? Probably not. Read More »

If the Knicks decide to trade David “General” Lee, to Charlotte it’ll be a huge mistake! But with similar colors to the Knicks at least I can still call him General Lee. But still…big mistake.

“Charlotte was pushing to get the deal finalized quickly because after 60 days – and right before the February trading deadline – they would have the option of combining Diaw and Bell in a trade, with the Knicks believed to be their final destination. The contracts of Diaw and Bell match those of Eddy Curry and Lee, a restricted free agent this coming summer.”

Daily News

Steve Nash considers Raja Bell his best friend and wasn’t happy with the trading of his buddy and Boris Diaw a few days ago to the Bobcats. When asked about the trade Nash said that their departures left him ”emotionally drained.” This can’t be a good sign for the Suns, and this might be the last straw for Nash when free agency rolls around in 2010.

“All I can say is that he’s my best buddy and my best friend,” Nash said after the short-handed Suns lost to the Lakers. “The guys loved him, and Boris, too. It’s hard you know. I have a hard time committing to this as a business. I take this personally.” 

Nash already was having a tough time dealing with the changes brought on by the departure of coach Mike D’Antoni and the arrival of Terry Porter and his more deliberate style of play.

“I take my career home with me and I care about my teammates,” Nash said. “When you lose two of your best friends on the team, it’s hard. We’re not only recreating chemistry, we’re changing our style. But we’ve got lots of time to build.”

Nash is a free agent in 2010, lives in NYC in the off season, loves Mike D’Antoni, and the Suns are only getting older, slower and defense-ier these days. So don’t be surprised is Nash ends up in New York along with LeBron James as a free agent in 2010. Just remember I called it.

Press Release

Who saw this one coming? Not even Miss Cleo saw this happening and she’s the all knowing! Given the new direction Steve Kerr has been building towards emphasizing defence, this move is a bit of a surprise. Yesterday, Raja Bell along with forward Boris Diaw and guard Sean Singletary were dealt to the Charlotte Bobcats for Jason Richardson and forward Jared Dudley. This trade automatically works for the Suns offensively with Richardson giving them an added scoring punch, in the form of a legit shooting guard. However, Richardson is still allergic to defence and Bell will be missed against the likes of Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

Straight up, this trade doesn’t work for the Bobcats because Diaw will be joining an already crowded front court and lets just face it. Nothing ever works out for them anyway. Their I said it!

At least not in Phoenix for Boris Diaw who the Toronto Raptors want in their line up.

Toronto is looking to make a deal for Phoenix’s Boris Diaw and has talked to the Suns. But Phoenix has no interest in Raptors point guard T.J. Ford or anyone else on Toronto’s roster. While Toronto tries to get a third team involved, the Suns appear open to moving Diaw. President Steve Kerr and others have been privately questioning Diaw’s commitment to basketball.

NY Daily News