Back in early January, after a 30-point loss to the Hawks, Bobcats guard Gerald Henderson sat in the visitors' locker room, icing his knees with a glum expression. After dropping in 16 points — another solid performance — he was asked about his improved play. He didn't much care to discuss his play, though.
"I wish we could win some more games, man," he said, vexed, rubbing his brow. At the time, it was Charlotte's fifth loss in a row. He was at his wit's end.
"I wish I could do more to help us win."
Five losses in a row is nothing next to the nadir the Bobcats are experiencing now. Saturday they lost 111-86 to the NBA darlings ("Lob City") Clippers. It was Charlotte's 14th loss in a row, a franchise record.
It was a massacre. The Clippers did whatever they wanted all night. At times it seemed like a Blake Griffin Only dunk contest. And Charlotte, as has become its habit, struggled mightily.
The night before, Chicago came to town without its star Derrick Rose, and outclassed Charlotte. The Bobcats looked like a JV squad. Their performance inspired more empathy than scorn. More like, "Poor Bobcats." As opposed to, "Freakin' Bobcats!"
Charlotte is dealing with a serious ailment — a serious talent disparity.
"I don't think it's a secret that we don't have any perennial All Stars on this team," said Henderson. "So it needs to be a complete group effort and, if not, we don't have a chance to win."
The Clippers trotted out Chris Paul and Griffin — two All Star starters — not to mention former All Stars Mo Williams, Caron Butler and Kenyon Martin. If DeAndre Jordan — the Clippers' fifth- or sixth-best player — were a Bobcat, he'd be their most coveted asset. This presents problems. So often, Charlotte labors to score a bucket. They shot 29 percent in the first quarter against the Clippers, 35 percent for the game. They shot 33 percent for the game against the Bulls. They've been held under 82 points eight times during this losing streak — that's worse than anemic, it's something sicker.
And speaking of sickness — or better yet, health — Charlotte really is hurting. The 13 minutes Corey Maggette played against the Bulls Friday were his first minutes since a January 4 win in New York. The Bobcats have only won one game since. In the meantime they've largely had to continue on without D.J. Augustin and Gerald Henderson, whom you could easily argue are the squad's two best players.
If you look at the way the Bobcats are losing, the blowouts started piling up when Augustin went down in late January — that's when the double-digit losses became the norm. Ugly stuff, like Portland's 112-68 win. It's to the point that someone in the crowd asked "How are the 'Cats still in it?" at one point during Charlotte's loss to the Clippers. The thing is, Charlotte was down 22 when the fan asked that. It's like reverse-spoiling.
"There's no excuse for the way that we're playing," said Bobcats coach Paul Silas. "But, if everything was in synch and we were playing like this, if we had Gerald and D.J. and Corey and we were playing like this…I just couldn't take it."
Silas actually coached the 17-win San Diego Clippers, back in the 1981-1982 season, so he's trudged through a wretched season before. That squad lost 19 in a row. Still, no professional athlete or coach can get used to this much losing.
As one might expect, there's a weariness that's beginning to creep over the team. Charlotte's opponents have no empathy. Griffin and DeAndre Jordan were trying to shatter the backboard on every dunk and didn't care what beleaguered Bobcat was in front of them.
Henderson points to pride, personal responsibility.
"We need to become tougher," he said. "Everyone just needs to decide that this is important to them. Losing 30 to anybody in this league is embarrassing. Once we decide that winning means something to us, that's when things will change."
Silas is a bit more forgiving.
"When we get the full squad back, I look for a different team," he said. "It's hard to take the top two scorers out of your lineup and expect to play well. We just have to wait it out."
What about silver linings? Are there any of those? When asked if he's finding any teachable moments in the losses, Silas said grimly and frankly, "Well, it's difficult to teach when you're losing as much as we are."
He did, however, say that the younger players can squeeze out some positives.
"I try to make them understand that they're blessed to be in the position they are individually," said Silas. "Because, if everybody was here, they wouldn't be getting the minutes, the time on the floor. There's something positive in everything. I'm not going to let them get down. We're going to get this thing turned around."
Help is on the way. Maggette logged 25 minutes in his second game back and Silas expects Augustin back in the lineup sometime during the team's upcoming road trip. The Bobcats might not start ripping off 10-game win streaks, but a healthy team would, at least, make these games more competitive.
As Silas said, if Charlotte is still piling up ugly losses when the starters return, "then, it's a real problem."
