For Luke and Gary the Bobcats gave the Bucks Jeff Adrien and Ramon Sessions!

$20 at BringBackTheBuzz.com

We met with the VP of Marketing for the Bobcats (Seth Bennett) to discuss whether we could use “Bring Back The Buzz” on our merchandise. Apparently someone in the NBA doesn’t like the fact we use “Back The Buzz” in our name even though we came first. We are not trademarked because it was about the community and not the money same as the Bobcats. 

We don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to keep doing what we’ve been doing BUT Thank You for having our back from day one guys!

Hope we can still see you guys out at our Charity /SWARM event on April 16th, we are working with the Charlotte Rollin’ Bobcatsand Always Believe Inc.

As most of you know, I (Scotty) teach Middle School at OLA (Our Lady of the Assumption) in East Charlotte, the very same august institution that Evan and I attended when the Charlotte Hornets became an essential part of our lives.

Today, OLA students were lucky to have the wonderful Diana Rugg(who we have established a relationship with through BBTB) of WCNC-TV, (NBC Charlotte) speak to them about her glamorous and exciting life in TV news. She gave special tips to our 7th grade Broadcast Team on the art of the interview and just what skills are needed to make a good reporter. She also spoke extensively about the importance of contributing to our community – something all of us in the BBTB movement can certainly appreciate. We just want to take a moment to once again thank Diana for sharing her talents and enthusiasm with our grateful students.

Diana – we from the OLA Family look forward to seeing you around Charlotte representing the OLA Phoenix in your new athletic t-shirt!

Evan and I made a promise to ourselves that we would use some of the opportunities BBTB has provided us to better the Charlotte community, because thats what this entire thing was all about. We have chosen to become an official sponsor for the new Athletic Dept OLA has started this year. We will be taking the money we raised from the t-shirts we have sold and put it back into the very school that raised us and made us who we are today.

Al Jefferson working Mr. Gasol.

When the 2014 NBA All-Star rosters came out, fans of the Bobcats immediately noticed a glaring omission: no Al Jefferson on the roster. While it came as a shock to not see Al on the roster, was it our bias towards the Bobcats, or did the coaches make a mistake by not allowing Jefferson to travel to New Orleans? First, let’s make the case for Jefferson. The first thing to notice about Jefferson is the fact that before the season, he was primarily known as an offensive force from the left block. This year, he has still maintained his offensive presence, staying in line with most of the metrics he has posted throughout his career. What is notable about what Al is doing is the fact that he has posted some surprising numbers from the defensive end of the floor as well. He is 8^th in defensive rebounding %, a number that calculates the chances a player will grab a defensive rebound while on the floor. Jefferson is ahead of players such as Dwight Howard and Lamarcus Aldridge, and while this in no way fully embodies a player on that end of the floor, it is a good indicator that his effort and production are very high. The other statistic that jumps out is the fact that he is also in 13^th in overall defensive ratings, a metric that estimates how many points a player allows per 100 possessions. Some examples of players not included in the top 20 include Chris Bosh and Paul Millsap, two of the forwards picked over Jefferson in the East.

With all the defensive effort that Big Al is putting in, you would think that you would see a dip in his offensive production. To be fair, his numbers have dropped slightly from 2013 to 2014. His true field goal % was 49.5% last year and now it sits at 48.7. Also, he has a usage that is 14^th in the league as well. To be honest, we should start expecting a little more out of Jefferson on that end of the floor. The problem about this argument for Charlotte fans is that the guys who were picked above Jefferson (Millsap, Bosh, and Noah) all have better offensive ratings than Al. In short, we all love what he can do in the low block, but unfortunately he has not done enough on that end to warrant one of the players picked to be left off of the team. This is in no way saying that Al isn’t a good player or someone that we can build around. Instead, it shows that he is playing at an All-Star level, but maybe not enough to make the team this year when presented with the numbers that others are putting up.

Overall, Charlotte natives have a legitimate gripe when it comes to the situation involving Al Jefferson. There are very good arguments to be made in favor of including him on the roster, but ultimately I agree with the choices that the coaches made for this year’s team. I think that when you put into context what Jefferson has been doing for this team and the way they have been playing, Al and the rest of us need to be focused on making the playoffs and trying to make an impact as a team rather than All-Star rosters. Everyone knows my feelings about making the playoffs, but now that we have gone down that road to a certain level, it only makes sense to go after it, and Al Jefferson will play a major role, All-Star or not.

The  brand new ” I Brought Back the Buzz” T- Shirt designed by Big Dub will be available in 2 weeks!

Big Dub strikes again and makes New Jersey concepts to go along with the new logo! If this doesn’t get you ready nothing will!

HOME

AWAY

Buy: Al Jefferson buying into the defense.

Jefferson came into Charlotte during the offseason and one of the main knocks about his game was the fact that he was not a good defender. While no one is going to confuse Big Al with the Roy Hibberts or the Joakim Noahs of the world, it is very evident that Jefferson has really stepped up his play on that end of the floor. His defensive rating per 100 possessions is the highest he has had during his career, and he currently ranks in the top 20 in the league in the category. He is also posting career numbers in defensive rebounding and sits in 13^th in the league in defensive rebounding %. For a team that had such struggles on the glass as the Bobcats did, they needed a presence like Jefferson in the paint. It is refreshing to see a player really dedicate himself like Al has to start the year.

Sell: Ben Gordon. All of him.

How bad has this season been for Gordon? He is shooting a woeful 26.9% from 3-point territory, averaging 5.4 points, and has a PER of 6.9. All these stats are easily the worst in the career of the UConn product. When you combine that with a negative win share it makes it hard to find value in Ben. While some could look to him and his expiring contract (Charlotte is paying him $15 million this year. I wish that was a typo) as a possible trade chip, Gordon has pretty much thrown any notion of that out the window with his attitude and demeanor with this team. I don’t think I’m the only one counting down the minutes until the Bobcats are rid of him.

Buy: Steve Clifford

Clifford is clearly a great decision in the coaching department. Not only was he shrewd enough to surround himself with great assistants, but he also found a way to get across a message of toughness and defense that Mike Dunlap was never able to do. The Bobcats are having their best defensive season since the team that made it to the only playoffs trip in franchise history. The only thing that remains to be seen is whether he can take this young roster and develop the talent therein. I realize 40 games into a coaching stint are not going to produce those kind of results, but if he and the rest of his staff can allow the players to realize their immense potential this team is headed for some really great years.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 120,000 times in 2013. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 5 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.