What: NBA Basketball – Bobcats Home Game

When: 02/22/2012 at 7pm eastern

Where: Live at Time Warner Cable Arena

Local TV: Fox Sports South

The Matchup:

The Charlotte Bobcats forward is [...]]]> Everyone remembers last season, right? LeBron James joining Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miama? Carmelo Anthony being traded to the New York Knicks? The #FreeKevinLove movement? The Dallas Mavericks winning the NBA championship? Ok, well what about the “Free Tyrus Thomas” sentiment? Ringing any bells? Does this help?

The Charlotte Bobcats forward is averaging just 21.3 minutes a night, yet putting up career-best numbers in points per game, field goal percentage and free throw percentage. His blocks and rebounds are just barely off his career-highs. And yet, Larry Brown continues to give Thomas erratic playing time, despite the fact that the pillowy Boris Diaw and Nazr Mohammed are the Bobcats starting frontcourt.

via It’s about time to free Tyrus Thomas too – CBSSports.com.

Royce Young put that together for CBSSports.com following my post on the item – Larry Brown and Tyrus Thomas – Come On! A little over two weeks later, Larry Brown was let go and Paul Silas was brought on as the Bobcats’ coach. And Tyrus Thomas saw a bit of a minutes jump – going from just over 20 minutes per game under Larry to almost 25 a night under Paul Silas – prior to Tyrus’ injury. When Tyrus came back later in the season, his minutes dropped again, as he was still recovering and he finished the season playing about 22 minutes a game with Paul Silas as the coach, just above the 20 under Larry.

With Tyrus’ injury issues to start this season, his performance has continued to lag from his impressive (and post/rant-inducing) early season play of a year ago. His numbers are down across the board, with the most shocking one probably his field goal percentage: While never an efficient scorer, Tyrus is posting a career low 35% FG% at this point of the season, 7% points below his previous career low. It’s also coming while he is being even less aggressive as well, with his attempts per 40 minutes down about 4 shots from last year. It’s been frustrating to watch, as Tyrus has struggled this year, both in play and attitude, as he has seemed disinterested at times when he has been on the court.

But, with that said, the Bobcats and Tyrus are in a different position than they were last year. Early last season, the Bobcats were still attempting to make a run at one of the bottom playoff spots and leaned on Boris Diaw as a veteran presence, who still played solid defense. But this year, with the Bobcats threatening to be one of the worst teams in history, what’s the motivation to play a veteran in the last year of his contract over a young player with 3 more years on his deal, for whom the team still owes a draft pick to the Chicago Bulls?

It is not as though Boris Diaw is lighting up the scoreboard (or doing a spectacular job of slowing the opponent from doing so). When using the Swap Tool to switch out Boris and Tyrus, the Bobcats are actually projected to improve, as Tyrus has done a better job on defense than Boris this year (and while both have been bad offensively, Tyrus is actually using fewer possessions, so he’s at least mitigating his negative offensive impact).

If the Bobcats are continuing to give Boris minutes in an effort to increase his trade value, he’s not doing them any favors, as he has three games this season with more turnovers than points and just put up 0 points against the Pacers in over 17 minutes.

Here are the per game minutes breakdowns for the various Bobcats bigs:

The impetus for this post was some comments I had seen around the Bobcats needing to use the amnesty clause on Tyrus Thomas – and I just wanted to remind everyone of the prowess he displayed early last year that garnered national attention (and also, the Bobcats, at this point, have to wait until the off-season to use the amnesty clause, so consider what makes the most sense for the rest of this season).

Bryan: Biyombo. He’s going to get more minutes than Thomas tonight and he tries to swat everything [...]]]> 1.  The Bobcats field two of the league’s better shot blockers, in Bismack Biyombo and Tyrus Thomas.  Against Toronto, Bismack sent back 7, and earlier this year, T-Time rejected 9 against the Wizards.  Who gets more tonight?

Bryan: Biyombo. He’s going to get more minutes than Thomas tonight and he tries to swat everything the opposing team throws at the rim. Bismack’s gotten a little bit better at not jumping at every shot-fake, but his aggressive defensive mentality will lead to at least a few blocks tonight.

Jenn: Biyombo.  The rookie is seeing more playing time and is showing his worth to the franchise.  Thomas, on the other hand, has not been a consistent defensive force this season.

Spencer Percy: Biyombo. I don’t know if Tyrus will see the floor enough to be able to compete with Bismack anytime soon considering the way he has played and the fact that Silas has summoned him to a limited role off the bench.

2.  The Bobcats have no one player who is expected to lead the team in scoring night after night.  For the season, Gerald Henderson and Kemba Walker have led the team in scoring 6 times a piece, the most on the team.  With Gerald still out, and D.J. Augustin and Byron Mullens with 5 and 4 nights respectively, who leads the team in points tonight?

Bryan: I’ll go with Corey Maggette… Painfully and with a ton of doubt in my mind… The Pacers are big inside, so Kemba might not be able to scoop and score as much as he’s used to (same goes for Augustin). Also, Mullens isn’t going to look too smooth against Roy Hibbert, so that leaves Reggie Williams and Maggette. If Maggette takes the ball to the rim and put himself on the free-throw line consistently, he could have a 25 point type of night.

Jenn: He’s not on the list, but I think Reggie Williams will lead the team tonight.  After scoring 22 points against the Raptors, trust that Williams will come out with confidence tonight.

Spencer Percy: Maggette should be the favorite to lead this team in scoring just about every night for one reason- he gets to the foul line more than anyone else. Since returning to the starting lineup last Saturday night against the Clippers, Maggette has already earned trips to the foul line 29 times and is averaging 7.25 FTA in those four games. When you get more free/unguarded shots than anyone else, you should lead the team in scoring.

3.  After a strong start to the season, Indiana has faltered, losing 6 of their last 8.  <sarcasm>The Bobcats come in to tonight’s game hot (for them) winning one in a row.</sarcasm>  Who comes out the victor tonight?

Bryan: Regardless of what the talking heads on Sportscenter have to say, the biggest reason for the Bobcats’ losing streak was 3/5 of their starting lineup getting injured. Now the ‘Cats are almost at full strength and playing better than they have in a long time. Still, the Pacers are way better than Charlotte, so I can’t pick Paul Silas’s squad in this one.

Jenn: Pacers.  The Pacers have an overall stronger team- expect Granger and West to put up a strong offensive front.

Spencer Percy: Neither of these teams shoot the ball great from the field- both rank bottom five in the league in Effective FG%. Indiana and Charlotte also both use about the same amount of possessions per game (CHA-93.9 & IND-94.3), so the winner of this game will likely be the team who takes better care of the basketball. The Bobcats have done a much better job in the rebounding category as of late. All that being said, the Pacers have been playing uninspired basketball of late, but what better opportunity to turn it around as the worst team in basketball comes into your building. Pacers.

Recap | Box Score 91 Toronto Raptors Corey Maggette, SF 26 MIN | 5-12 FG | 6-8 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 16 PTS | +8A very-Maggette line – 16 points on 12 attempts and 8 more at the free throw line. Filled his role. Boris [...]]]>

Charlotte Bobcats

98

Final Recap | Box Score

91

Toronto Raptors

	Corey Maggette, SF 26 MIN | 5-12 FG | 6-8 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 16 PTS | +8A very-Maggette line – 16 points on 12 attempts and 8 more at the free throw line. Filled his role.
	Boris Diaw, PF 29 MIN | 3-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 6 PTS | +5Too careless with the ball, finishing with 4 turnovers. Had a couple during a stretch in the 3rd where the Bobcats turned it over 4 times in 5 possessions, threatening to let Toronto build a lead.
	Bismack Biyombo, C 32 MIN | 3-4 FG | 2-4 FT | 13 REB | 0 AST | 8 PTS | -4A triple double with blocks seems like it could very well be in his future – it’s amazing to watch Bismack cover ground both recovering to his man on a pick and roll and in help defense.
	Reggie Williams, SF 31 MIN | 9-13 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 22 PTS | -6That’s what you want out of your shooting guard – points and efficiently. 22 on 13 attempts for Reggie. Well played, sir.
	D.J. Augustin, PG 32 MIN | 3-7 FG | 4-4 FT | 3 REB | 10 AST | 11 PTS | +5D.J. moved back into the starting lineup and ran the offense well, finishing with a double-double and just 3 turnovers.
	D.J. White, PF 18 MIN | 5-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 10 PTS | +2A great spark off the bench, Big D.J. provided rebounding toughness and a couple of key baskets, including the layup to seal the win.
	Kemba Walker, PG 30 MIN | 5-15 FG | 3-3 FT | 3 REB | 8 AST | 14 PTS | +14While Kemba finished 5-15, he was at 5 of 11 at one point. Overall, a nice game, with the 14 points, 8 assists, and a huge steal off Leandro Barbosa late (earned the bump from a B to a B+ with that play).
	Byron Mullens, C 14 MIN | 1-3 FG | 2-2 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 4 PTS | +7Better rebounding – generally – for 7-feet of smooth. Still slacks a bit and doesn’t do a great job of getting a body on a man prior to looking for the board, and that bites the Bobcats at times, since Byron is not a high-riser and the opponents can get over him for a board if he is not slowing them down.

Brett Hainline: Tyrus Thomas. At least DeMar is still earning some minutes and putting up something in them (even if he is shooting under 40% from the floor). Tyrus hasn’t been able to move Boris to the bench and is somehow shooting worse than [...]]]> 1. Bigger disappointment this season: DeMar DeRozan or Tyrus Thomas?

Brett Hainline: Tyrus Thomas. At least DeMar is still earning some minutes and putting up something in them (even if he is shooting under 40% from the floor). Tyrus hasn’t been able to move Boris to the bench and is somehow shooting worse than DeMar even.

Mathew Lewis: DeMar DeRozan. Both have certainly been disappointments so far this season, but I’ll give the nod to DeRozan, as Toronto was expecting more out of him relative to Charlotte and Thomas. Much of Tyrus Thomas’ lack of production can be attributed to effort – which is disappointing in it of itself – while DeRozan appears to have simply regressed.

Spencer Percy: Tyrus Thomas. DeRozan still logs minutes for Toronto and still averages 15.2 PPG this season. Tyrus has been bad in just about every aspect of the game this season and I believe he’s at least entered the conversation as an amnesty candidate in the Bobcats front office.

2. Both teams rank in the bottom 4 in the league in scoring (Bobcats 30th, Raptors 27th). Which team will have the edge offensively tonight?

Brett Hainline: Toronto. During their losing streak, the Bobcats have managed better than a point per possession exactly once. While Toronto has been pretty streaky themselves, streaky is still better than awful.

Mathew Lewis: Bobcats. Sans injured Andrea Bargnani a bad Raptors offense has gotten even worse. Therefore, a rare check in the Bobcats’ column.

Spencer Percy: Toronto. Speaking of DeRozan and his struggles- if there’s a night to break out of his slump it’s tonight against the league’s worst defense. Toronto’s PG Jose Calderon, who was almost a Bobcat two years ago before Jordan backed out of the deal at the last second, has been putting up big numbers lately (19.4 PPG, 11 APG last 5 games) and I definitely think he’ll have his way against Augustin and Kemba.

3. Better odds: Bobcats break their losing streak tonight or Jeremy Lin records a triple double against the Hornets.

Brett Hainline: I’ll take the Bobcats – but just barely. Jeremy Lin has topped out at 6 rebounds so far this season, so getting to 10 is a big jump. So is the Bobcats finally ending a 16 game losing streak – but the Bobcats are a bit healthier again, and Mike D’Antoni showed a willingness to rest Jeremy in the Knicks blowout win over the Kings – the Hornets could be in for a similar fate.

Mathew Lewis: Both (OMG #LINSANITY!!!) – just kidding. Bobcats winning. I actually like their chances tonight, as I was encouraged by the effort Wednesday at Minnesota. Sometimes it simply takes heading north of the boarder to get your medicine.

Spencer Percy: Bobcats breaking the losing streak. New Orleans isn’t a good defensive team by any stretch of the imagination, but they tend to hold teams to respectable numbers from time-to-time because of their pace- I don’t see Lin going triple-double against them. I just don’t believe that a Bargnani-less Raptors team is that much better than a Bobcats one that is closing in on full strength.

GAME NOTES:

• Mathew will be working the game as part of ESPN.com’s Daily Dime coverage – follow him (and the rest of the THN crew) on Twitter under the handles: @DimeAlert, @DimeSmash, and @DimeUpdate
• Toronto could still be missing Linas Klieza, Andrea Bargnani, and Jerryd Bayless
• The Bobcats are still without Gerald Henderson

1- YOU’RE THE COACH: As [...]]]> Tonight the Bobcats will get back D.J. Augustin from his toe injury and absence since Jan. 22nd, but will it be enough to break this team’s 15-game losing streak? Charlotte begins their 3-game road trip tonight in Minnesota and our Queen City Hoops panel previews it for you, 3-on-3 style.

1- YOU’RE THE COACH: As a starter, Kemba Walker was averaging 35.6 MPG, 14.9 PPG, 4.3 APG and shooting 35% from the field. With D.J. Augustin returning as the starting PG tonight, this will likely send Kemba back to a role off the Bobcats bench with Reggie Williams starting at SG. What kind of minutes do you give Kemba tonight and do you play him only at PG or experiment with him and Augustin on the floor at the same time as Silas already has earlier in the season?

Brett Hainline: If I’m the coach, Kemba is still getting 30 minutes…and so is DJ.  Which means I’m playing them together a good chunk of the game.  Here’s why – this team is low on talent and scoring – they’re among the best players on the team and can both score (though Kemba does need to improve his shot selection), so I take my chances, since this team has shown it is no defensive juggernaut.

Mathew Lewis: 30+. Kemba is the most explosive, and possibly most effective Bobcat on the roster (according to www.hoopdata.com, he ranks second in Adjusted PER at 16.8, which accounts for the fact that he can create his own shot). He needs to be on the floor. I’m sure Coach Silas will experiment with a few different combinations tonight, some which will undoubtedly feature both Kemba and D.J. in the backcourt together.

Bryan Wendland: If I’m a Herm Edwards type who “plays to win the game,” then I have to figure out a way to get Kemba and Augustin on the floor at the same time. Offensively they’re the Bobcats most explosive players. If I’m looking out for the long term development of Kemba as a point guard then I’m going to play him primarily as Augustin’s backup. Either way, the rookie has to play 25+ minutes.

2- FACT or FICTION: As a starter, (5 games) per 48 minutes, Bismack Biyombo has averaged some impressive rebounding numbers- 13.6 RPG (per 48 min). Biyombo will see 25+ minutes of action tonight, grab 10+ rebounds and hold Kevin Love to under 15 rebounds because of his physicality under the basket.

Brett Hainline: FICTION.  I see Kevin Love getting Bismack into foul trouble – he’s not the athlete Bismack is, so he has learned how to create space and get defenders in the air to score.  His strength and experience send Bismack to the bench too early and often for fans.

Mathew Lewis: FICTION. I think he will relish the challenge, but Kevin Love is simply too skilled in comparison to Biyobo at this point in their respective careers. I see Bismack logging the minutes, but coming up short in his attempt to limit Love’s effectiveness.

Bryan Wendland: FICTION. Kevin Love is too much of a rebounding mad man to be held down by anyone Charlotte can throw at him. I think Biyombo gets those minutes, though, and turns in a solid 10 rebound performance.

3- PICK IT- BOBCATS or TIMBERWOLVES: The return of D.J. Augustin, which accounts for 13.6 points and 6.6 assists per game, will push the Bobcats over the top and finally end a franchise worst 15-game losing streak.

Brett Hainline: BOBCATS.  With Corey Maggette, Reggie Williams, and D.J. Augustin all back, the team is closer to full strength than at any point since the first week of the season.  They were competitive back in those long ago times and return to that glimmer of promise tonight.

Mathew Lewis: TIMBERWOLVES. If the Bobcats were at home I would be more apt to give them the nod, but I see the T-Wolves taking care of business tonight at the Target Center. The addition of D.J. Augustin to the lineup will certainly give them a puncher’s chance, however, and I look forward to seeing what kind of impact he has on the team’s energy and competitiveness.

Bryan Wendland: TIMBERWOLVES. If Corey Maggette can give the Bobcats another 20 plus point performance, DJ Augustin’s return could very well push the ‘Cats back into the win column. Ricky Rubio is a tough guy to guard for anyone, though, so don’t be surprised if the Spanish rookie takes advantage of Augustin’s rustiness and has a monster game on offense.

GAME NOTES:

• Charlotte has won 5 straight games against Minnesota coming into tonight. The Timberwolves last victory over the Bobcats came March 14, 2009.
• Minnesota comes into tonight’s game losers of 4 straight.
• Luke Ridnour (personal reasons) is questionable tonight for Minnesota.
• The Bobcats are +10.5 dogs according to Vegas tonight.