With the end of the last Bobcats game and the beginning of the playoffs every Bobcat fan was waiting with bated breath to see what the next move was. We were all anxious and demanding some form of change after a hugely disappointing but not hugely surprising season. We wanted change, we demanded change, and we got it!

We got our first response from the Bobcats May 21st when over a hundred people filed into Time Warner Cable Arena for the draft lottery party and right before the lottery was to start Michael Jordan held one of his very rare public press conferences. The arena fell silent as we waited for Jordan to speak. He then tells the crowd through the jumbotron as applause and cheers erupted that “this afternoon, we have just submitted our application to the Board of Governors for a name change to the “Charlotte Hornets” starting the 2014-15 season”.

VIDEO OF ANNOUNCEMENT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qecv8zkfsxE

Bobcat Staff immediately runs around the arena handing out pamphlets that ironically say “Back The Buzz ” as the light boards around the ceiling flash in purple to the same familiar phrase. a mob forms in the lobby as people crash to the front of the line desperately hoping they get one of the new “Back The Buzz” shirts. It was one hell of a party out there 🙂

FYI: on THE DAY of the announcement the Bobcats sold over a MILLION dollars worth of season tickets which is more than they did ALL last off season.

Soon after that the rumors of coaches started to flood in. Who were we going to get? Any Bobcat fan can tell you that along with the first round picks our coaching picks have not really panned out properly. We have had 6 head coaches since the 2007 season. The Bobcats made another great announcement, our new head would be Steve Clifford!

Steve has been an assistant coach around the league and has vast amounts of experience having just recently been an assistant coach for the LA Lakers and having been assistant coach under Stan Van Gundy in not just Orlando but in Houston and New York as well. His staff is not too shabby either. If you don’t know who Patrick Ewing is…..well I don’t feel like typing all day so just “Google” him. As for the rest, here is a review of each coaches resume that has been widely circulating the web.

(RtoL: Patrick Ewing, Bob Beyer, Stephen Silas, Bob Weiss and Mark Price)

Beyer

, who spent the 2012-13 season as an assistant with the Warriors, brings 27 years of coaching experience at the NBA and college levels. Along with the Warriors and Magic, he also spent two years with the Raptors, serving as an assistant coach in 2003-04 and an advance scout in 2004-05. Beyer spent three years as head coach at Siena College from 1994-97. His college career also includes assistant coaching stints at Albany (1985-89), Siena (1989-93), Wisconsin (1993-94), Northwestern (1997-2000), Texas Tech (2001-03) and Dayton (2005-07).

Silas

remains with the Bobcats, having spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach for the team. His 12 years of coaching experience also includes three seasons with the Hornets (2000-03), two seasons with the Cavaliers (2003-05) and four and a half seasons with the Warriors (2006-10). Silas also served as an advance and college scout for the Hornets in 1999-2000 and an advance scout for the Wizards in 2005-06. When he was hired as an assistant coach with the Hornets in 2000, he was the youngest assistant in the NBA at the age of 27.

Weiss

has spent 29 of his 32 years as a coach in the NBA, including seven seasons as a head coach for the Spurs (1986-88), Hawks (1990-93), Clippers (1993-94) and SuperSonics (2005-06). His tenure as an assistant coach includes stops with the Clippers (1977-80), Mavericks (1980-86), Magic (1989-90), SuperSonics (1994-2005) and Hawks (2012-13). Weiss was also the first former NBA head coach to be a head coach in China, leading the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons from 2008-10 and the Shandong Lions in 2010-11. The 22nd overall pick in the 1965 NBA Draft, Weiss played in the NBA for 12 seasons, averaging 7.6 points and 3.7 assists in 783 career games and winning the 1967 NBA Championship with the 76ers.

One of the greatest shooters in NBA history, Price has previously served as a player development coach for the Magic in 2011-12, a shooting coach with the Warriors in 2010-11 and a shooting consultant for the Grizzlies (2007-08) and Hawks (2008-10). The four-time NBA All-Star ranks second in league history in career free-throw percentage (.904) and 29th in career three-point percentage (.402). He was named First Team All-NBA in 1992-93 and earned Third Team All-NBA honors three more times during his 12-year career. Price, who was the 25th overall pick in the 1986 NBA Draft, averaged 15.2 points and 6.7 assists in 722 career games played.

Now onto the controversial Draft Pick!

with the NBA lottery (Which we have also had the best of luck with) the Bobcats received the 4th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. Immediately rumors surfaced from us trading it for Chris Bosh to Dwight Howard but we will skip over all that an go to what actually happened. Well we ended up picking Cody Zeller from Indiana. Not going to lie and act like my initial reaction was a huge smile but this pick has definitely grown on me.

The thing I have the biggest problem with was the fan’s reaction in the arena to it. Completely uncalled for but…not much can be done for it now. We just have to stifle this culture of fair weather fans. I may have wanted a name change but somebody in my family was at almost every home game and event. We put our money where our mouth is and bought Season Tickets for the next 2 seasons. I think this guy will surprise all of you!

VIDEO REACTION IN ARENA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1sqoxXAr7Y

THEN…Rumors of Bobcats extending qualifying offer to Henderson but not Mullens and Ben Gordon opts-in to return. So a quick synopsis is Geral Henderson will be back in Charlotte (99% sure), Byron Mullens is basically out and we are stuck with Ben Gordon one more year barring a trade (which more than likely will not happen). The Bobcats said Josh McRoberst is in the their future plans and nobody is going to pay him more than the $4-5mil/year so he is staying. Also pray to god on high we Amnesty Tyrus Thomas. Amen.

THEN…The sticky situation of the Free Agency Market. I do not pretend to know anything about the Free Agency and probably never will understand it. I didn’t predict Cody Zeller so how am I going to predict what the Bobcats will do in Free Agency. Won’t happen! What can be said is the Utah Jazz’s Al Jefferson is being talked about a lot for us and he has a scheduled meeting with the Bobcats this Wednesday.

SO…Do what you want with this information all I can say is that the Bobcats are making moves and I for one think they are heading in a great direction. This coaching staff is arguably the best we have ever had, this pick is a very athletic big man, which we sorely needed, and we are finally threatening to use our money! SO have hope Bobcat fans because soon we will be the CHARLOTTE HORNETS again and we might have a TEAM on our hands!

WHAT’S NEXT BOBCATS?