Now that Greg Oden has jumped into the draft with both feet, my grand plan for a Bobcat playoff run next year:
- Win the draft lotto. Yeah, 1.9 percent chance. Still.
- Hire current Jazz assistant and 15-year NBAer Tyrone Corbin as head coach. Corbin is in many ways the perfect candidate: Comes from the tough defense school, knows what it is like to be a player, is a fresh face, Carolina roots in Columbia’s A.C. Flora, has his degree in comp sci from DePaul, has Developmental league coaching experience. Ty is the guy.
- Re-up Gerald Wallace, Emeka Okafor, and Matt Carroll.
- Sign a starter-quality big guard free-agent not named Vince Carter. I love Vince, but we need longer term solutions than one massive superstar contract would allow.
- Draft Oden.
- Trade Adam Morrison to the Sonics for a future first rounder. The Sonics are officially playing out the string in Seattle, with new ownership set to move the franchise because Washington will not build a new $500 million arena for the team. Good for Washington. Meantime, the franchise needs a local draw like Morrison badly.
- Sean May has micro-surgery on his gimpy knee. Even if it costs him a season, still worth it in the long run. Could be the difference between a career and not one.
- Bobcat management continues down the path of asking, “What can we do better?” Ticket prices have almost reached true value, but customer satisfaction would be greatly improved with better, more fan friendly concessions. If I wanted to experience what it was like to buy boots in Soviet Russia, I’d stay home and slam my head in a car door.
- MJ becomes a local guy. Not a “show pony” — just every bit the management face of the Bobcats that Marty Hurney is for the Panthers. But with hops and a jumper.
There you have it — iron-clad blueprint for success. And most of it is doable.
Now, about those ping pong balls………..
