RALEIGH, N.C. --- Basketball was played at PNC Arena on Tuesday night.
N.C. State’s red-lined floor was laid out and even legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was in the building. But it wasn’t the Blue Devils and Wolfpack renewing their century-old rivalry. It was an NBA game.
Actually, it was a preseason contest pitting the defending world champion Miami Heat and the Charlotte Bobcats. The game was part of an effort by the Bobcats’ organization to extend its footprint away from the Queen City.
Unlike the Carolina Panthers of the NFL, which has a solid following around the state, the Bobcats barely register on the radar anywhere outside of Charlotte. That’s why they were in N.C. State’s 20,000-seat home Tuesday. And it went pretty well.
“I think it’s very effective,” said first-year Bobcats coach Steve Dunlap, whose team fell 98-92. “We want to get back into North Carolina. The North Carolina fans are incredible. They’re smart, they always go to games and they back us. So to be able to bring this to Raleigh is a real positive.”
The Bobcats normally play homes games at Time Warner Arena in Charlotte, which is also the home for the NHL Carolina Hurricanes’ minor league affiliate. Tuesday’s contest took place in the home of the Hurricanes’ big club. The organizations reportedly have been discussing playing a few regular season games in the other’s respective home facilities.
The Hurricanes, which are currently saddled because of an NHL lockout, played an exhibition game in Charlotte last season.
For the Bobcats, having an opponent such as LeBron James and the Heat in town helped bring in a solid crowd. The announced attendance of 17,924 was a bit high, as perhaps a more realistic figure was around 13,000 in the building. But that’s not bad given the Bobcats posted the worst winning percentage in NBA history last season and word spread early that All-Star guard Dwyane Wade wasn’t going to play for the Heat.
That didn’t deter Johnny Williams of Raleigh. A lifelong NBA fan, Williams was just glad to have the pros in town.
“I’ve been to a couple of games (in Charlotte) but don’t make it down there much,” said Williams, 35. “But if the Bobcats played a few games a year here I would definitely go, maybe to all of the games.”
Williams pulls for the North Carolina Tar Heels in college, but prefers the NBA game. He wants more of these events in town.
“College is cool, but the NBA, the NBA players they are the best in the world,” said Williams, who said he’d be a Bobcats fan if they played some games in Raleigh. “I’d pay to see the best in the world.”
The ovation the Bobcats received when taking the floor paled in comparison to the eruption belted out when James and the Heat ran onto the court for pregame warmups. The decibel level rose when James touched the ball for the first time in the layup line. Many of his supporters were kids.
James gave a solid performance, scoring 10 points and handing out eight assists in 29 minutes. But he also played exceptionally hard on defense and showed a tremendous attitude, a couple of times acknowledging fans in the stands.
More important was the overall atmosphere, and the Bobcats’ organization did everything it could to simulate an actual NBA environment. It brought its mascot, cheerleaders, public address announcer, Cats Crew -- a group of young men employed to add energy to games during timeouts -- and the team’s D.J. Yes, the Bobcats have an actual D.J.
It wasn’t until 8:58 remained in the contest that the P.A. guy or D.J. acknowledged being in Raleigh, giving a loud shout-out to the fans in the stands, who in turn gave themselves an ovation.
“It’s great being back in the Raleigh-Durham area because I had a lot of great experiences here,” Bobcats center Brendan Haywood, a Greensboro, N.C., native and former North Carolina Tar Heel, said. “So the more times I can come back the better it is.”
Haywood, who is playing in his first season with the Charlotte franchise, believes people around the state will be receptive to the Bobcats trying to extend the their footprint.
“The fans in the state of North Carolina are great fans,” he said. “They love the game, they understand the game, and so if we can build our brand up and get to wear Bobcat mania spreading around the state would be really, really big. The fans here are great, they love basketball and know it, and that can only help us.”
