Charlotte Hornets Blog – Page 66 – NBA Blog

Julius Hodge returns to Australia

Julius Hodge dominates in return to Australia

The spectacular National Basketball League return of controversial American Julius Hodge has seen the newly-signed Melbourne Tigers guard win the NBL Player of the Week award for Round Eight.

Hodge, whose last stint in the NBL ended in an acrimonious split with former team Adelaide, was signed by the Tigers last week. Despite having little time to learn his new club’s offences, Hodge still managed to score 22 points and add nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals in his debut in Melbourne colours on Saturday night.

Hodge connected on 9-of-21 of his shots from the field and helped keep the Tigers in close contention with the visiting Townsville Crocodiles. Unfortunately his efforts still saw the Tigers fall short, with Melbourne losing to the Crocs, 98-91.

The flamboyant superstar said he was pleased with the award but focused on getting his team wins.

“I’m honoured to win the NBL Player of the Week,” he said upon hearing the news of his award. “Hopefully this Saturday night the team and I can improve and get back on track with a win against the Taipans at The Cage.”

Young New Zealand Breakers’ star Tom Abercrombie was unlucky to miss out on the award for Round Eight after a superlative performance of his own. Abercrombie helped the Breakers to an 83-74 victory over ladder leaders Perth at the North Shore Events Centre on Thursday night. Abercrombie scored 23 points and added three rebounds and one block, while shooting 56% from the field and 50% from the perimeter.

The Round Seven winner of the Player of the Week was also a candidate for the award once more in Round Eight. Adelaide’s Adam Ballinger scored 17 points and added seven rebounds in the Sixers’ 83-76 home win over second-ranked Wollongong on Saturday night. Ballinger’s teammate at Adelaide, Cortez Groves, was also in the hunt for the award after scoring 15 points and adding nine assists and three rebounds.

Wollongong’s Mat Campbell was another leading candidate, as was Gold Coast’s Ayinde Ubaka. Campbell, who is known as ‘The Saviour’ after he spearheaded the ‘Save The Haws’ campaign in the off-season which pulled the club back from the brink of extinction, had 22 points, seven rebounds and two assists in his team’s loss to Adelaide. Ubaka had 17 points, eight assists and three rebounds for the Blaze on Friday in Gold Coast’s 93-77 home win over Townsville.

Other leading contenders for Player of the Week in Round Eight included Stephen Weigh (Perth), Cortez Groves (Adelaide), Peter Crawford (Townsville), Daniel Johnson (Melbourne), Greg Vanderjagt (Gold Coast), Shawn Redhage (Perth), Anthony Petrie (Gold Coast), Russell Hinder (Townsville) and Julien ‘Skip’ Mills (Cairns).

Talk world hoops on the InsideHoops minor league and international basketball forum.

Warriors trade Stephen Jackson to Bobcats

Charlotte Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins announced today that the team has acquired guards Stephen Jackson and Acie Law from the Golden State Warriors in exchange for guard Raja Bell and forward Vladimir Radmanovic.

According to the AP/NBA.com, “Charlotte takes on Jackson’s contract, which has three years and $27.7 million left after this season. Golden State inherits Radmanovic’s deal, worth about $13.5 million over this season and next. Bell and Law are in the final year of their contracts.”

“We are excited to add a player of Stephen’s caliber to our franchise,” Higgins said. “He is coming off arguably the best season of his career and we believe he will help our team on both ends of the floor with his scoring and defensive abilities. He also brings experience going deep into the playoffs, including winning an NBA Championship with San Antonio. In addition, Acie Law is a talented, young player who provides us with added depth at point guard.”

The 6-8 Jackson is in his tenth NBA season, with career averages of 15.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.3 steals in 608 games played for New Jersey, San Antonio, Atlanta, Indiana and Golden State. He averaged career highs of 20.7 points, 6.5 assists and 5.1 rebounds last season. In 179 games played for the Warriors since joining the team during the 2006-07 season, Jackson has averaged 19.4 points, 5.0 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 37.9 minutes.

In nine games played so far this season, Jackson is averaging 16.6 points, 4.7 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.56 steals, ranking 30th in the NBA in assists and 24th in steals.

Law, who was the 11th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by Atlanta, is in his third NBA season, with career averages of 3.7 points, 1.8 assists and 1.0 rebound in 116 games played for Atlanta and Golden State. In five games played this season for Golden State after being acquired from Atlanta on June 25, Law is averaging 6.2 points, 1.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.4 rebounds in 13.2 minutes played.

Bell and Radmanovic were each acquired by the Bobcats in trades last season, with Bell joining the Bobcats on December 10, 2008, as part of a five-player trade with Phoenix and Radmanovic coming to Charlotte on February 7, 2009, from the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Shannon Brown and Adam Morrison.

A nine-year NBA veteran, Bell played in 50 total games for the Bobcats, averaging 12.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 35.2 minutes. In five games played this season, Bell is averaging 12.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists.

Radmanovic played in 40 total games for the Bobcats, averaging 7.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 20.2 minutes. In eight games played this season, the eight-year veteran is 4.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists.

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Bobcats exercise Alexis Ajinca option

Charlotte Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins announced today that the team has exercised its option on Alexis Ajinca for the 2010-11 season.

The 20th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Ajinca appeared in 31 games as a rookie last season with averages of 2.3 points and 1.0 rebounds in 5.9 minutes. He was assigned to the D-League Sioux Falls Skyforce from March 9 – April 12 and averaged 11.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 22.7 minutes. An early-entry candidate in the 2008 draft, Ajinca spent the previous two seasons playing professionally in his native France.

Flip Murray out for rest of preseason

The Charlotte Bobcats announced today that guard Ronald “Flip” Murray will miss the remainder of the team’s preseason games due to a left shin injury. Murray missed Monday’s preseason game at Atlanta with inflammation in that area. He was evaluated on Tuesday by team physician Dr. Glenn Perry, who concluded that Murray shows early signs of a stress reaction.

No timetable has been set for his return and the team will continue to monitor and limit his activity until the injury improves. During his senior season at Shaw University (2000), Murray suffered a stress fracture and had a steel rod placed in the tibia bone.

The Bobcats will travel to Los Angeles this weekend to take on the Lakers on Saturday, Oct. 17, and either the Clippers or Utah Jazz on Sunday, Oct. 18, at Staples Center.

NBA fines Larry Brown, Lionel Hollins for behavior towards replacement refs

Memphis Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins and Charlotte Bobcats head coach Larry Brown have each been fined for improper conduct towards game officials, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

Hollins has been fined $25,000 for publicly criticizing game officials following the Grizzlies loss to the Orlando Magic on October 12 at FedEx Forum.

Brown has been fined $35,000 for verbally abusing game officials and failing to leave the court in a timely manner following his ejection with 3:23 remaining in the third quarter of Charlotte’s game vs. Atlanta game on October 12 at Philips Arena. Brown has been fined an additional $25,000 for publicly criticizing the referees following the game.

The Charlotte Bobcats have also been fined $60,000 for Brown’s actions.

Oct 6: Cavs 92, Bobcats 87

The AP reports: NBA icons, All-Stars and A-plus-list celebrities LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal made their debut as Cleveland teammates on Tuesday night and had immediate chemistry in the Cavaliers’ 92-87 preseason-opening victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. James and O’Neal worked several pick-and-rolls, showing off a two-man game that with a little polish could be unstoppable… James, wearing a pink pair of his signature Nikes for breast cancer awareness month, scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 14 minutes. O’Neal, who said his goal is to “win a ring for the King” in Cleveland, scored six points and added three rebounds and a block in 15 minutes. Neither played in the second half.

Bobcats exercise option on D.J. Augustin

Charlotte Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins announced today that the team has exercised its option on D.J. Augustin for the 2010-11 season.

The ninth overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Augustin appeared in 72 games (12 starts) as a rookie last season with averages of 11.8 points, 3.5 assists and 1.8 rebounds in 26.5 minutes. He was named to the T-Mobile NBA All-Rookie Second Team after leading all NBA rookies in free-throw percentage (.890) and ranking second in three-point percentage (.439), fourth in assists, eighth in scoring and ninth in minutes played.

The Charlotte Bobcats, who became the NBA’s 30th franchise when they joined the league in 2004-05, begin preseason play tonight at 7:00pm when they visit the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Bobcats open the 2009-10 regular season on Oct. 28 at the Boston Celtics.

NBA tells bench players stay seated so fans can see

Good NBA seats are expensive. Fans shelling out big money to sit near the court should expect a good view of the action.

But what about when players get off the bench and remain standing for a while? On the one hand, it’s nice to see guys cheer their teammates. On the other, these giants prevent fans from seeing what they paid to see.

The Cavs are one team with players who remained standing a lot, and now the league office has reportedly taken action.

Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

The NBA has issued a memo to its teams directing players on the bench to remain seated during games. Game officials will be keeping a closer eye and will issue faster warnings and possible technical fouls if not followed. Players are permitted to cheer, but standing during regular-game action and blocking the fans’ views apparently isn’t going to be allowed.

That goes for Tuesday night’s first preseason game at The Q, where the Cavs will host the Charlotte Bobcats in the first of eight practice games before the season opener.

The Cavs weren’t exactly thrilled that their custom has been legislated.

“It is hard to take that out of the game,” LeBron James said. “Part of the game is emotions, your teammates are all you have. That was part of the reason we played great basketball, because we cheered each other.”

I support the league protecting the paying fan’s view.

Bobcats sign Flip Murray

Charlotte Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins announced today that the team has signed free agent combo guard Ronald “Flip” Murray. The seven-year NBA veteran averaged 12.2 points in 24.7 minutes last season for Atlanta. Per team policy, terms of the deal will not be released.

“This signing adds depth, experience and athleticism to our backcourt and increases the number of players on our roster who can compete at multiple positions,” Higgins said. “Flip has a proven track record in this league as a guy who can score and distribute the basketball and we are extremely excited about what he brings to this team.”

The 6-3 Murray was originally selected by Milwaukee with the 42nd overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. He holds career averages of 9.9 points, 2.3 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 412 games with Seattle, Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana, Atlanta and the Bucks. In addition to his scoring, he averaged 2.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.1 steals in 80 games (two starts) for the Hawks last season. During Atlanta’s 2009 NBA Playoffs run, he averaged 11.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 11 games.

No stranger to the Carolinas, Murray starred collegiately at Shaw University in Raleigh, where he was named NCAA Division II National Player of the Year, First Team All-America and CIAA Player of the Year after leading the Bears to 28-5 overall record and Division II Final Four appearance as a senior.

The Bobcats also added guard Antonio Anderson, who went undrafted in the 2009 NBA Draft. The 6-6 University of Memphis standout averaged 10.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.4 steals in 34.3 minutes last season.

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Charlotte Bobcats still for sale

The Charlotte Bobcats continue to be for sale, and it sounds like the current owner can’t wait to part ways with the team. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports:

Bob Johnson and Houston’s George Postolos continue negotiations on a deal that could shift control of the Charlotte Bobcats, multiple sources told the Observer Monday.

Whether a deal is imminent is anyone’s guess.

Johnson, who owns about 70 percent of the franchise, put the team up for sale months ago. Postolos, formerly president of the Houston Rockets, has assembled a group of investors. It’s unclear whether other bidders are still pursuing a purchase.

Sounds like a fantastic investment!

The Observer continues:

The team is heavily in debt – in excess of $100 million – and any buyer would have to take on that burden as part of the purchase… Johnson has told his minority partners to anticipate tens of millions in losses over the next two years.