Orlando Report Card

07/14/2007

First off, congratulations are in order: Jared Dudley and Jermareo Davidson made 2nd team 2007 Pepsi Pro All-Summer League while Ryan Hollins made Honorable Mention. In my opinion, it seems a bit excessive to have a first and second team, and a nine person honorable mention for a 6 team league. 19 players out of about 60 who played significant minutes? It seems like when you're a little kid and everyone gets a trophy no matter whether they came in first or last. See the full list of players who were recognized here.

With that out of the way, let's assess the play of all the Bobcats involved this week. A movie quote will sum up my thoughts, and I'll put some original thought into any other notes made.

Alan Anderson- "Good bye, Mr Anderson." - The Matrix - Double-A did nothing this week to change his future. In his limited minutes, he shot the ball poorly and turned it over a lot, and contributed little else. Between the addition of Dudley and Richardson, and the resigning of Wallace and Carroll, I just don't see him earning significant minutes in Charlotte this year.

Bobby Brown-"It's ok. I wouldn't remember me either." - American Beauty - The second of three alliterative names did nothing spectacular this week, either. He shot the ball poorly, and while he was among the league leaders in assists, that only means no one else was passing the ball well either, as he only averaged 4 per game. Maybe he's better than he showed, but I don't see anyone remembering him off his performance this week.

Elton Brown-I'm not going to give him a quote, as he only played 10 minutes this week. His numbers for the week blown up to 40 minutes per game would look pretty good, but I think if the team had a serious interest in him, he might have spent more time on the court.

Jermareo Davidson-"How many times do I have to tell you to stop shooting at the thermonuclear weapon?" - Broken Arrow - Jermareo Davidson likes to shoot, but he doesn't seem to be too good at it. He shot 41.5% for the week on his way to averaging 10.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. Someone needs to tell him to stop shooting and start rebounding more, it would be the best way to earn time on a team that struggles to rebound.

Justin Doellman- I doubt he even needed to wash his clothes this week, after playing less than 3 minutes total. I hope he has a passport already, because otherwise I hear there's a bit of a backup on getting one right now.

Jared Dudley-"You did good kid, ya did real good." - Rocky 3 - Dudley was the best all-around player on the court for the Bobcats this week, averaging 12.6 points, 7 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game. He shot the ball at nearly a 60% clip and even made 3 out of 6 three point attempts. The only negative was his mediocre free throw shooting, at 64%. I think he is going to be a solid sub for the Bobcats from the get-go this year, doing the little things to help the team win.

Raymond Felton-Raymond doesn't get a quote, because he only played in one game (my site, so I get to make up the rules). I will say that he played very well in that one game, shooting the ball efficiently and handing out 7 assists in only 28 minutes of action. 5 shot attempts are not enough to convince me that he has improved significantly is accuracy though, after he has shot below 40% in both of his pro seasons.

Ryan Hollins-"I thought the Rocky Mountains would be a little rockier than this." - Dumb and Dumber - Looking at Ryan Hollins, you would think he'd be a solid basketball player, but you watch him play and think "Is that it?" Ryan did some things well this week: He blocked some shots, got to the foul line consistently (25 FTA's to 30 FGA's), and made his free throws (76%). But he still struggled rebounding the ball and with turnovers. I wonder if he'll ever be more than an end of bench big man.

Jackie Manuel- "Get out of my way son, you're using my oxygen." - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - I know Jackie Manuel is a solid defensive player, but he's going to have to become a Bruce Bowen-level pain in the butt to get a chance in the NBA because he is just a poor offensive player. He took only 7 shots (making 3) in over 50 minutes of action - to be on the floor in the pro's, the other team needs to be concerned that you might actually shoot it. He had nearly as many turnovers (5) as points (6).

Adam Morrison-"That's what I'm talking about!" - Zoolander - The most important number for Morrison: 17. He had 17 free throw attempts in his two games this week, or one for every field goal attempt. I like that, I like it a lot. He was working on getting better looks, closer to rim, and drawing contact as a result. Too often last year, he would put up a contested jump shot, but if he carries this aggressiveness into the season, I think he'll be a much more effective player. He is not going to contribute much outside of scoring, that's a given, so that means he has to be very good at what he does, and his new offensive approach should make that easier.

Gabe Muoneke- "You're too old...Get off my porch" - Fight Club (edited) - Gabe played well this week, in particular his 31 points outburst in the third game. But he's 29, and he's yet to play a game in the NBA. The odds of that changing would not seem to be in his favor.

Rick Rickert- "Looked like a stiff breeze would blow him over. That was my first impression of the man." - The Shawshank Redemption - Rickert is never going to be a bruising low post player, well not unless he goes on the Mike Sweetney diet plan. So, to make up for it, he needs to pass well and score effectively. He did neither this week, and it seems as though another season in the D-league is in store for the last of our alliterative athletes.

Ayinde Ubaka- "Florida. The keys are lovely this time of year." - 12 Monkeys - Ayinde played in 4 of the games for a total of 23 minutes and 48 seconds. He managed to make one shot in that time. Oh, and he's a shooting guard. Maybe he can catch a ride to the post office with Doellman, and they can get a group rate on their passports?

Jawad Williams- "It's the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man." - Ghostbusters -The worst rebounder per minute of anyone who played for the Bobcats this week. While Jawad managed to put up some points, he had to take a lot of shots to do it, requiring 21 attempts to finish with 24 points on the week. He actually managed to shoot better from 3 point range than overall, 43% to 38%. Unless Michael Jordan really does want to make the Bobcats an All-UNC organization, this will be the last time we see Jawad in a Bobcats jersey for a while.

For those interested in seeing the numbers for everyone:
The Bobcats courtesy of NBA.com

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