The Bobcats Against the Best - 2007-08 Version
06/23/2008In an effort to pass the time before the draft, I will revisit a post idea - The Bobcats Against the NBA's Best (Part 1) and Part 2. With another season complete, and 3 new (well, a fair amount of overlap, but freshly annointed) All-NBA teams, now is a good time to see what improvements the Bobcats have made against the elite.
| Possessions | Bobcats Points | Offensive Efficiency | Opponents Points | Defensive Efficiency | Net Efficiency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1851 | 1846 | 99.7 | 2050 | 110.8 | -11.1 |
To paraphrase Jim Murray, they turned the Bobcats into 33 feet of lumps. There is no way around it - the Bobcats cannot handle the Truth...or Black Mamba...or Big Baby Jesus...or any of these guys. And the worst part? They were better against them in 2006-07, with a net efficiency of about -8 points per 100 possessions. Next question: Did they get worse against bigs, wings, points or all?
| Possessions | Bobcats Points | Offensive Efficiency | Opponents Points | Defensive Efficiency | Net Efficiency | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bigs | 1072 | 1072 | 100.0 | 1173 | 109.4 | -9.4 |
| Wings | 885 | 880 | 99.3 | 932 | 105.5 | -6.2 |
| Points | 390 | 385 | 98.2 | 470 | 120.8 | -22.6 |
To be fair, the "Points" category is composed of Chris Paul, Steve Nash, and Deron Williams - all 3 of which play for elite teams, while there are middling teams included in the "Wings" category. With that said, I still did not expect to see the breakdown come out like this. I am particularly impressed by the solid showing against the premier wings of the league. Which leads to a breakdown by player:
| Player | Poss (off/def) | Bobcats Points | Offensive Efficiency | Opponents Points | Defensive Efficiency | Net Efficiency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kobe Bryant | 153/157 | 177 | 115.7 | 168 | 107.0 | +8.7 |
| Kevin Garnett | 197/195 | 204 | 103.6 | 210 | 107.7 | -4.1 |
| Dwight Howard | 317/314 | 316 | 99.7 | 342 | 108.9 | -9.2 |
| LeBron James | 238/238 | 240 | 100.8 | 263 | 110.5 | -9.7 |
| Chris Paul | 122/118 | 113 | 92.6 | 156 | 132.2 | -39.6 |
| Tim Duncan | 118/119 | 96 | 81.4 | 114 | 95.8 | -14.4 |
| Steve Nash | 110/112 | 99 | 90.0 | 112 | 122.3 | -32.3 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 132/133 | 136 | 103.0 | 158 | 118.8 | -15.8 |
| Amare Stoudemire | 62/64 | 70 | 112.9 | 76 | 118.8 | -5.9 |
| Deron Williams | 160/159 | 173 | 108.1 | 177 | 111.3 | -3.2 |
| Carlos Boozer | 172/171 | 183 | 106.4 | 202 | 118.1 | -11.7 |
| Manu Ginobili | 118/113 | 84 | 71.2 | 120 | 106.2 | -35.0 |
| Tracy McGrady | 155/154 | 139 | 89.7 | 155 | 100.6 | -10.9 |
| Yao Ming | 74/76 | 67 | 90.5 | 71 | 93.4 | -2.9 |
| Paul Pierce | 222/221 | 240 | 108.1 | 226 | 102.3 | +5.8 |
You know, when I said middling team earlier, I was mainly commenting on Cleveland...but it appears I focused on the wrong squad(s). If it were not for Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant, these numbers would have been far worse than they already were. When Kobe or Paul was on the court, the Bobcats were +7 points per 100 possessions. Even better? When Gerald was on the court at the same time as one of them, the numbers go all the way up to +25.8 points per 100 possessions for the Bobcats, while holding the opponent to 92.5 points per 100 possessions. Gerald Wallace = The New Kobe Stopper?
Wrapping up, the Bobcats were horrible against the great players this year (with a couple of exceptions). Big or small - it does not matter - the Bobcats cannot handle great players yet. The thing to be learned from all of it is that there is not one main hole in the lineup - the talent level of the club as a whole needs to improve and then the gap with the elite will begin to lessen. Until then, take solace in Gerald's periodic greatness (unless he gets traded).
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