By: Steve Martin
FOXSportsCarolinas.com
January 28, 2011
Frankly, when I thought about this 6-game road trip, I figured that 2 wins would be good enough to expect. Now that the Bobcats have taken the first two games, why not be greedy.
Tonight's game with Golden State will be tougher than the last two games. The Warriors do a great job of governing the tempo of a game because of the play of their backcourt, staffed by Monte Eliis and my partner's son-Steph Curry. Both have it turned up a notch with the Warriros playing better overall. After opening the season 9-18, they've responded by winning 10 of their next 18. The Warriors are two games into a season long 8-game home stand. They are targeting this game as one they must have with Utah, Chicago and Denver coming in behind the Bobcats.
The Bobcats have won four of their last five games. The common ingredients of this positive stretch include defense and turnovers. While the Bobcats have given up the same amount of points as they have scored (95.6), they have held their last five opponents to 43% from the field. In the turnover department, the Bobcats have averaged 10.6 per game as opposed to their season average near 16 a game.
While Tyson Chandler is having a solid season (contract year) with Dallas, Kwame Brown is turning some heads in the league with his play as a starter for Paul Silas. Over the last 7 games, KMwame has averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds a game with 4 double-doubles.
Stephen Jackson tells me that the Bobcats have better focus in closing out quarters and games lately. That has really come into play on the defensive side. In the last 3 minutes of each quarter against Phoenix, the Bobcats outscored the Suns 29-23. That's pretty good against a team that went off for 16 three pointers.
Keep your head on a swivel tonight, it's going to be that type of game. Finish your day with us on Sportsouth at 10pm on Bobcats Live
