Southeast Division

Charlotte Bobcats Power Rankings - 2012-13

Power Ranking
WEEKRECORDRANKCOMMENT
Week 2419-6130Charlotte's 7-5 start -- even with the likes of Danny Granger, Dirk Nowitzki, John Wall and Kevin Love missing from some of those W's -- will go down as one of the surprises of the season. Home dates with the Knicks and Cavs are all they have left to surprise us again and finish with 20 wins.
Week 2318-5929You know we've always loved flying through Charlotte airport because of the cream of crab soup at Phillips Seafood, but the committee (of one) was staggered by the dining options on our first trip to downtown Charlotte in forever over the weekend. If the Bobcats were just half as good ...
Week 2217-5629With his new flowing mane, Josh McRoberts looks like a new-age Mike Gminski ... with hops. Yet it's only fair to note that the Bobs are 4-4 with McRoberts on the floor since he became a 30-minutes-a-game guy in a March 12 home rout of Boston. In the 51 games before that? Try 6-45.
Week 2116-5430Hate to be so doomsday after a week in which the Bobcats actually won a couple, but Sean Deveney of the Sporting News pointed out recently that Philly -- thanks to Dr. J's arrival -- was in the Finals within five years of its 9-73 season. Can't even begin to fathom a similar story in Charlotte.
Week 2014-5230They've notched home wins over Boston this month and last, but the first was highly affected by the schedule, and Paul Pierce sat out the second. Throw out those anomalies and the Bobcats, drifting farther and farther from that 7-5 start, are 3-34 against .500-or-better teams.
Week 1913-5530At 6-44 in its past 50 games, Charlotte just joined two truly hideous Dallas squads from 1992-93 (11-71) and 1993-94 (13-69) on the short list of teams to know how it feels to lose 44 times in a span of 50 games in back-to-back seasons. That 7-5 start gets harder to explain/believe by the day.
Week 1813-4630Michael Jordan's Bobcats fell behind by as many as 43 points in Sunday night's hammering by Sacramento. It's the fifth time over the past two seasons Charlotte has been down by 40 or more, while none of the other 29 teams has faced that sort of deficit more than twice -- this season or last.
Week 1713-4329With the Bobcats bumped up to No. 29, no one can dare say that we didn't get No. 23 anything on the occasion of his 50th birthday. Side note: Byron Mullens recently posted three 20-and-10 outings in a span of five games ... after only two 20-and-10s in the first 120 games of his NBA career.
Week 1612-4030The Bobcats, after that 7-5 start, have gone back to being the Bobcats. For all of Kemba Walker's Year 2 strides, Charlotte depends far too much on guards to generate offense alongside bigs who, uh, can't. And this team simply cannot defend anyone. (Spencer Percy, Queen City Hoops)
Week 1511-3930Amid all the losing comes (ugh) more losing. Remember how Charlotte began the season as one of just two teams in history with a winning all-time record against the Lakers? Boston is alone on that list now after the Bobs blew Friday's 20-point lead at home to dip to 8-9 against L.A.
Week 1411-35292013 has been as unkind to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist as anyone in the league. Plucked from Kentucky's national-championship-winning college team in 2012, Charlotte's rook averaged just 7.1 points on 39.2 percent shooting in January ... then suffered a concussion in his first February game.
Week 1311-3229Somewhat amusing to see the Bobcats issue a terse statement acknowledging that they're looking into reclaiming "Hornets" as their nickname in consultation with the NBA but don't want to discuss the matter. You'd think they'd want us asking and talking about anything but the basketball.
Week 1210-3030Michael Jordan's Bobcats have lost 14 straight home games. The Bobcats play five home games between Martin Luther King Day and MJ's 50th birthday on Feb. 17. The longest home losing streak during the past 25 seasons happens to be Dallas' 19-gamer from November 1993 through January 1994.
Week 119-2729Make it two straight Mondays that the Bobcats have managed to avoid the rankings basement. They've actually (amazingly?) wound up in the cellar only once out of the 11 regular-season Mondays we've published rankings. They've got two winnable games this week, too.
Week 109-2426Call it the first NBA curveball of 2013 that no one you know had in their New Year's predictions: Charlotte, everybody, just completed a two-win week. With a couple of road wins, too, that unexpectedly lifted the Bobcats out of the rankings basement after only a one-week stay.
Week 97-2330Michael Jordan's Bobcats have tried 41 times in 2012, over the course of two separate seasons, to notch win No. 8 of the season. And they're 0-for-41. They'd be advised to beat Cleveland on Friday or win Sunday at Detroit unless they want to make a run at the league record: 26 L's in a row.
Week 87-2028During that 7-5 start, I flirted with declaring that the Bobcats have proved they're no longer the NBA's undisputed doormat. After 15 straight L's -- and with the 18.5 wins that Bovada.lv established as Charlotte's over/under coming into the season looking a long way away -- I'm glad I held off.
Week 77-1629One of our parting gifts for Professor Hollinger: Patting him on the back for pointing out from the start that the defensively challenged Bobcats, even when they were riding high at 7-5, were much more Wiz-like than their record suggested. Have to say my old friend nailed that one.
Week 67-1224We've officially reached the stage where bouquets for the Bobcats have to go on hold. They lost their final 23 games last season after getting to seven wins. They're up to seven straight L's, in the face of a stiffening schedule, after win No. 7 this term, starting with that 45-point laugher in OKC.
Week 57-821Don't bother telling me how weak their schedule has been or how lucky they were to win those close games against teams missing the likes of Granger, Nowitzki, Wall and Love. I know I had 'em too high. So what? How ever Charlotte got to 7-5 so soon after 7-59, let 'em enjoy the moment.
Week 47-518Michael Jordan just celebrated his happiest Thanksgiving in years. Personalized thank-you cards from His Airness are owed to Kemba Walker and Ramon Sessions, GM Rich Cho for the cred he's given MJ's front office and, of course, Coach of the First Trimester front-runner Mike Dunlap.
Week 34-421The Bobs are 3-0 when Kemba Walker scores at least 20 points and really did just win three in a row. The bonus: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is off to a promising start, too. So it's no joke to say that even Mike Woodson must concede the lead in the East's Coach of the Month race to Mike Dunlap.
Week 22-324As Kemba Walker goes, so goes Charlotte? OK, OK: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has had his moments, too. But Walker scored 30 points in the Bobcats' home upset of Indy on opening night ... and then totaled 26 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 8 steals in Saturday's surprise W over the Mavs.
Week 11-125Did I have the Bobcats upsetting playoff-hardened Indy in their opener to immediately halt further flirtation with the NBA record of 26 straight L's and inch out of the No. 30 slot so soon? Of course not. Not after seeing the Bobcats in person twice in a span of 10 days during the preseason.
Preseason0-030Going to show some (rare) maturity and not take it out on the Bobcats that my beloved Phillips Seafood was inexplicably out of cream of crab soup when the committee connected through the Charlotte airport last week. Winning will be hard enough as is.
Training Camp7-5930How many games will the seven-win Cats win this season? Do they dare dream of rising to the lofty rankings heights of No. 29 or (gasp) No. 28? Will His Airness ever grant an extended interview to explain his game plan? Answers forthcoming in this space every Monday during the regular season.

Charlotte Bobcats