Confound Logic Through Simplicity

“He’s exactly what we needed,” said Chandler. “Defenses used to not respect us. Coach would tell us to cut and move, but teams weren’t paying attention to us [on the perimeter] because they didn’t think we could beat them.”

Jackson’s presence has relieved the burden on some of the Bobcats’ primary offensive weapons. His playmaking skills 3.7 assists with Charlotte have taken some of the pressure off of Raymond Felton and Jackson’s ability to defend has benefitted Gerald Wallace, who now has someone to share the top defensive assignments with. In Jackson’s second week with the team, Wallace was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

via Stephen Jackson fits in with Bobcats, Larry Brown, more NBA news – Chris Mannix – SI.com.

It should be noted that the Cats have lost 4 of their last 6. It should also be noted that three of those losses came to Boston, San Antonio, and Dallas, and the fourth was a Nets team that was going to beat SOMEBODY. And their wins were against Philly, who’s mediocre, and Denver, who’s great. So it’s a mixed bag but I have a hard time not thinking this team is playing better. Plus, through the end of the month they play New York twice, Detroit at home, Indiana, Milwaukee, and Toronto, all very winnable games. They have two tough-to-probably-losses games against Utah and OKC, but I could see the Cats getting over .500 for the first time this season by the start of 2010.

Which no one gets. Just like the Boris Diaw trade, everyone was ready to blast the Stephen Jackson acquisition. Another bad move by a bad franchise. And then it started to turn around. In November, they actually had a positive point differential. Maybe it’ll all fall apart, but based on last year, it certainly looks like the Cats are likely to be more complex than a simple write-off does justice, to, doesn’t it? This is with D.J. Augustin going through a slump of unimaginable proportions, little to no contributions from Gerald Henderson, and Brown still trying to figure out how to effectively manage the rotation with Flip Murray.

The Bobcats are not a good team. They’re not. Their roster isn’t super-talented, their bench isn’t deep, their offense is inconsistent, and their cap space is tapped. But this team is still the most underrated squad by most folks with an NBA opinion.