Forget Saturday's Game, S-Jax, Acie Law Traded for Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic

I've been missing lately. However, this trade sort of excites me -- we're giving up a terrible player in Radmanovic and, what looks like Raja Bell's injured wrist for a good, but inconstant volume scorer and a young, promising point guard.

I know, Jackson turns the ball over more than most point guards (in fact, more than anyone else in the league). I also realize he's basically the Zach Randolph equivalence at shooting guard.

I think games might be more interesting, at least, with this sort of talent manning our swingman position -- and apparently, he's excited to play for us to the point of wanting to play tonight.

And to the negative nancies -- fuck you. Maybe we'll go after AI next so you can perpetually cry about how more and more awesome this team is getting to be.

Bobcats v. Magic: a Giant Failure

Vladimir Radmanovic's 4th quarter heroics not enough to save Bobcats from another humiliating defeat.

Were it not for Ray Felton's enormous outing -- 6-10 from the field, 18 points, 4 assists, a block and a steal -- this game would have been over at half time where the Bobcats were down by 16.

Ray, in his perverse delight, decided to make things interesting by extending a 3rd quarter run into a push for the lead. But Raymond's burden was too much for him to cast aside, this time -- with his teammates throwing themselves into the arms of temerity and caution instead of blindly following their fearless leader Ray.

Boxscore gems and other notes:

1. Gerald Wallace, in his all his past heroics, missed two break away dunks -- one with no one contesting. This, alone, is nothing to be ashamed of. Even the greatest of dunkers and mesosphere hammerers fall asleep at the wheel on occasion. Going up against a couple of 7-footers in the post isn't exactly conducive to dropping sledgehammers on fools.

2. Vladimir Radmanovic proves himself to the fans --

That he's shit.

After the impressive 3rd quarter comeback by the Bobcats, Radmanovic proves himself to be a team chemistry killer with a botched layup, a cheap foul on Marcin Gortat, and a bizarre technical foul -- earned by him throwing the ball in anger for his own apparent pathetic play.

3. Benihanas is the new P.F. Changs.

I'll be honest. I don't know what the hell a Benihanas is, but James Harden, Sean May, and some dude from the Suns' Front Office really like that shit.

On a final note, Jared Dudley's kicking ass and taking names -- playing Modern Warfare Welfare 2:

Just got done with modern welfare game... That game is crazy.

S-Jax on the Horizon?

The Bobcats are apparently one of the three prominent suitors vying for Stephen Jackson (the others being Cleveland and Denver). Furthermore, the Bobcats have been shopping Nazr for a long time now -- hoping to offload his contract on some unsuspecting team. Proposed deals could include Diaw, Radmanovic, and Mohammed. No word on any other players from Golden State who may be included in such an offer.

Marc Stein reports over on ESPN's TrueHoop:

[...] What we can confirm, though, is that Charlotte has to be mentioned more prominently on the list of interested suitors. We've briefly noted the Bobcats' interest in a couple of previous entries, but further checking reveals that the Bobs have seriously explored the prospect of trading for Jackson, apparently undaunted by the fact that they weren't mentioned when Jackson announced late in the summer that he wanted to be dealt to Cleveland, New York or one of the three Texas teams.

Not only are the Bobcats potentially rolling the dice on the man who led the league in turnovers per game last year, but they'd have to give away one of their few players with a positive assist-turnover ratio to get the deal off the table.

The Bobcats are already the worst team in the league this season in terms of turning the ball over (tied with the Pacers) and are wading ahead of the pack with a glorious 0.77 assist-turnover ratio. Adding a disgruntled S-Jax, who's made his intentions clear that he only wants to play for New York or a title contender, makes this situation unnecessarily burdensome.

But when his burdensome pack of sins falls from his shoulders, his trials have just begun. - Roger Lundin

Getting rid of our burdensome, cap-hell players Mohammed and Radmanovic won't ease our trials to come. The Bobcats still will have to win their games. The Bobcats have yet to uncover greater productivity from their players. We're still trapped in our own Slough of Despond.

Bobcats v. Nets: a Battle for Mediocrity

Spoiler: Bobcats win after closing out with a 24-0 run to take the lead and game.

It was looking pretty grim for a bit. Thought I'd see a new low (in points) tonight. Were the Charlotte Bobcats regressing to a pre-shot clock era? 1947 Providence Steamrollers sightings -- who went on to earn a 6-42 record. Maybe there was a Fort Wayne Pistons v. Minneapolis Lakers sighting, even.

But that was before the advent of the shot clock. Wasn't too long ago during the lock out years when a true crown prince of mediocrity rose to the occasion.

Miami Heat at Chicago Bulls: April 10, 1999

Thank God Tim Floyd isn't our coach. Then again, maybe we'd get a scoring talent like O.J. Mayo begging to join our team. Toni Kukoc would also be a welcome addition (I'd take him any day over Vladimir Radmanovic and his 0-7 outing). Hell, I'd take Kornel David. Shit, Kornel's only 38, bring him on. He can't be any worse than Stevie Graham.

Maybe, then, we wouldn't have to pine for behemoth, Dennis Rodman-like stat lines from Gerald Wallace night in and night out just to save our pathetic 1-out playoff position hopes.

Boxscore gems and other notes:

1. Vladimir Radmanovic with a stellar night.

First quarter.
Vladimir Radmanovic bad pass
Vladimir Radmanovic shooting foul
Vladimir Radmanovic misses 24-foot three point jumper
Vladimir Radmanovic misses two point shot (layup)
Vladimir Radmanovic misses 24-foot three point jumper
Vladimir Radmanovic misses 10-foot jumper
Second.
Vladimir Radmanovic misses 24-foot three point jumper
Vladimir Radmanovic misses two point shot (layup blocked by Bobby Simmons)
Vladimir Radmanovic bad pass
Vladimir Radmanovic personal foul
Third.
Vladimir Radmanovic loose ball foul
Vladimir Radmanovic misses 17-foot jumper

I think Larry Brown caught on to his ineptitude -- or maybe he realized his flaws as a player and begged someone, anyone, not to put him in.

2. Gerald Wallace responds to the sluggish start (10 points in the first quarter) by enlisting as a Fantasy Basketball warrior. It's too bad I drafted Troy Murphy over him -- 24 points, 20 rebounds, 4 steals and a block.

3. Larry Brown called a time out in the 4th quarter when Chris Douglas-Roberts tripped over and injured himself (leading to Wallace's fourth steal). Apparently Lawrence Frank is short-sighted enough to blow through all of his team's timeouts with 9 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter. This was the second injury during the game for the Nets as Yi Jianlian, similarly, blew his knee out earlier in the night.

4. Some dude on ESPN's conversation/comments section claims the game was fixed 'cause teams don't ever go on 24-0 runs. I'm tempted to agree with him, but, then again, this is the fucking Nets without Devin Harris -- leaving Brook Lopez as the only player on the team with an ounce of ability to create their own shot.