Your League Leading Charlotte Bobcats

11/07/2007

No joke - the Charlotte Bobcats are leading the NBA...in something. And its not good. It starts with a "t" and ends with "urnovers".
Last night, they handed the game to the 76ers with 26 turnovers. Nearly everyone contributed as only Primoz, Walter, and Jermareo had less than 2. I had been thinking about looking at the value of Felton, but there is no point right now - the numbers are going to be ridiculously skewed after an evening like this.
For the season, the Bobcats are giving the ball up 21 times a game. Not good. And they are only forcing 15 a game. The rates are 22% of possessions end in turnover, while it is 14.5% for the opposition. Last year, those numbers were 15.5% and 16.5%. There is reason for optimism, as Jason Richardson has a decent career rate (he has learned to recognize his ballhandling limitations) at 9.4, but is far above that in the early going. In the game against Philly, he added another 5, giving him 14 on the year, against only 4 assists.
The good news? Friday's date with Indiana should lessen the burden. Despite their record, they are pretty much a .500 team when it comes to efficiency: 0.993 ppp on offense, 0.995 ppp on defense. They are doing a good job of protecting the ball so far, turning it over only 14.4% of the time, and doing the opposite to their opponents, forcing turnovers on 18.7% of possessions. They seem unlikely to attack the Bobcats other weakness, rebounding, as they are only grabbing 25.6% of available offensive rebounds and 68% of defensive ones. The Bobcats, for comparison are at 37% and 66% (the offensive number is quite high, and should normalize soon).
If Felton is back, I like the Bobcats odds to bounce back with a win at home. If he is not? The team could be in for a 3rd straight blowout, as missing their point guard while breaking in a new coach and new star player might be too much to bear.
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