50. Somehow the trials of the season hit home now that the loss total has hit 50 for the Charlotte Bobcats. Tonight, to make things even more challenging, they'll face a Miami team looking to bounce back after an overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls, which hurt their chances of overtaking the Bulls for the East's best record.
At 50 losses, the Bobcats are far from the maddening frenzy of this NBA playoff chase. However, there is a goal and it's tougher than it seems. The Bobcats need one more win to escape having the worst record in NBA history by percentage. The 1973 Philadelphia 76ers have that distinction and one Bobcats win preserves that record for Philadelphia for the time being. With nine games remaining, where's that win going to come from? The Bobcats just passed the easiest stretch of their schedule with games against Washington, Cleveland and Detroit. They were throttled by the Wizards and the Pistons sandwiched around a strong effort at Cleveland.
I am often asked how it is to do a broadcast for a team that has the worst record in the league. Dell, Stephanie and I try to look past the obvious when we watch this team play. We look at progress this young team is trying to make. When this season got underway, we all looked at the roster the Bobcats had and no one could imagine this team winning more than 15-20 games. The personnel hadn't changed much from the group that lost two-thirds of the their games at the end of the 2010-2011 season. Kwame Brown left and so did Dante Cunningham, Stephen Jackson, and Sean Livingston all left, leaving behind holes that were filled by Kemba Walker, Bismack Biyombo, Byron Mullens and Derrick Brown.
Look at the top eight active scorers and only two players had any experience starting in the NBA, DJ Augustin and Gerald Henderson. What's more, two other players had never played a minute in the NBA, Walker and Biyombo.
Better days are ahead, with the draft approaching as well as some player movement through free agency or trades thanks to some salary cap flexibility. The growing process has hurt, but hopefully the worst is over. Did I mention the Bobcats play the Heat tonight? In Miami? Catch it tonight at 7:00 with Bobcats Live on Sportsouth.
