QUARTER-BY-QUARTER ANALYSIS （First quarter）: The Bobcats celebrated the finish of their first NBA season with a tough assignment, going against the defending champion Detroit Pistons in the last game in the Charlotte Coliseum. The Pistons, streaking toward the playoffs with an 11-game winning streak as the night began, were playing without starters Richard Hamilton (on the injured list with a facial laceration) and Rasheed Wallace (sore left hamstring). But wing forward Tayshaun Prince took up the slack and hurt the Bobcats with his early offensive output. Prince, averaging 14.7 points, almost reached that number in the first period, hitting 5-of-5 shots, scoring 11 and assisting on three other Detroit baskets. That enabled the Pistons to stay locked in a tight game throughout a quarter that produced 14 lead changes and four ties. The Bobcats answered Prince’s output with scoring balance, with seven players sharing in the attack. Emeka Okafor had six to lead it and Melvin Ely, Brevin Knight and Keith Bogans had four apiece. The Pistons hit 57.1 percent of their shots, the Bobcats 52.4 percent. The score: Detroit 25, Charlotte 24. （Second quarter）: Jason Kapono came off the bench and joined Ely and Knight in spicing two sustained runs that put the Bobcats on top and kept them there for most of the quarter. Charlotte trailed by four, 35-31, after almost four minutes. But a 9-0 run in a span of 2:07 took the Bobcats to a 40-35 lead with 5:58 remaining. Detroit repeatedly closed to within two or forced ties but could never get over the hump. The Bobcats came up with another surge to close the period. With the score tied at 47 they scored 10 of the game’s next 12 points in the final 91 seconds, moving to a 57-49 halftime advantage. Kapono, Knight and Ely scored six apiece in the second as Charlotte hit 61.9 percent from the field. Ely and Knight had 10 and Kapono eight in the first half. Prince didn’t play in the second quarter but still wound up leading the Pistons with 11. （Third quarter）: The Charlotte surges kept coming in the third. After rolling along through the early stages with a five-point lead the Bobcats set sail again, this time with a 14-3 run. It began with Keith Bogans scoring on a drive with 4:38 to play. Kapono then scored four consecutive points and, when Bogans followed with a three-pointer at 3:15, Charlotte’s lead was up to 13 at 73-60. Moments later Malik Allen’s wing jumper pushed the lead to 16, 80-64. The Pistons countered by scoring the last six points of the period, leaving the Bobcats ahead 80-70 as the teams moved to the final quarter. Bogans scored seven in the third and had 15 overall to lead Charlotte. Prince had 13 for Detroit. （Fourth quarter）: The game turned into a low-scoring affair for a while. The Bobcats scored the first three points to go back ahead by 13. The Pistons didn’t scratch for the first 4:04 but then reeled off five straight points to cut Charlotte’s lead to eight, 83-75, on a dunk and free throw by Elden Campbell. The teams then began matching each other basket for basket with the Bobcats battling to keep the lead in the eight-to-10 point range. They were up by 10, 92-82, going into the final two minutes. The Bobcats did all their late scoring from the line, hitting nine of their final 13 free throws to wrap it up. Bogans had 17 to lead the way. The final: Charlotte 97, Detroit 86. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GM & HEAD COACH BERNIE BICKERSTAFF SAYS... (on the game) Larry (Brown) was obviously trying to give some of his young kids a chance to play, to get ready for the first round. But our guys played the same way they (usually) play – they played hard. You win 18 games and you have fun and that’s a fact. This basketball team, I enjoyed watching them play, I enjoyed being around them. And they are a special group of young men. (on the Bobcats’ zone defense and a second-half change) We had to get out of that zone. The zone really is a panacea for doing nothing sometimes. You could just see when we watched the film at halftime, we just had guys out there in positions not really doing anything. So we went back to our man-to-man defense just to try to energize things. (on Cleveland missing the playoffs, giving the Bobcats a second lottery pick as a result of a trade) You know what? The odds, now. I want to get greedy. Maybe we can even move up in that situation. It’s not etched in stone. It’s like a lottery. That’s how San Antonio got lucky, I think, with (Tim) Duncan back to back. They got a late pick and they moved up. This young franchise deserved a break. We’re there. Now I want to get greedy and see if we can move up. But we will get two good players. (on whether he would consider consolidating the two picks for a trade to move up in the draft) Well, if there’s someone out there who collectively our group feels, after we do our due diligence and do our work, that we feel that we could get a terrific player who we feel real good about, then that possibility is there. But what this does is it gives us options. And that’s what you’d like to have in a draft, you’d like to have options. (on finishing the season with a win) I think it was good but it was not a situation where it was a last-second shot. I mean, it still was a nine-to-10 point lead so it was a little different than what’s been happening to us. I think there were like seven games where it’s been three seconds or less when we lost the basketball game. So this one was a little different from that and it felt good to win. And I’m happy for those young men in that room. (on what he’ll take from this first Bobcats season) We had a chance to implement a system so now when guys come in, they’re coming into a situation where there’s a system, where there’s a culture that’s been defined, that Bobcats basketball is a commitment to effort. But what we understand is that we’ve got to get better. We’ve got to upgrade the talent level. But it’s a start and it’s a good start because you win with effort. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM EMEKA OKAFOR (on the game) We’re just happy we got the win tonight and we were able to end on a nice note. (on his season) It was fun. It was definitely an experience. I just really had a lot of fun with it. With the way things went this year, I definitely felt like I got better. Now that we’ve been through things we have an appreciation for it. (on the off-season) I’m going to take some time off, let the body heal, recuperate and start working hard for next season. (on his favorite moment) I guess it had to be the win against Miami. It was a great team effort, we all played well and came together and got them. (on his favorite matchup) I don’t have a favorite matchup. Every game was a challenge, so I don’t really have a favorite one yet. JASON KAPONO (on the season) It’s been fun. It’s gone by fast. It just shows you how fast time flies. This season just flew by fast. I remember when I first got drafted and flew out here in June. It’s been a good, fun year. It’s kind of sad but hopefully I’ ll be back here for year number two. (on the players being comfortable with each other) I think it normally takes half a season (to get comfortable) but this team jelled quick. We came out here a few weeks prior to training camp so we had a lot of time to bond and get to know each other. Obviously that helped us out. GERALD WALLACE (on the season) I feel great to have a season like we had this year. We think we played hard every game. We had some tough losses and to come out tonight and get a win feels good. (on getting two lottery draft picks) Two draft picks means a lot. It will really help us out. It will depend on what they’re looking for and what they’re going out to get and then we’ll go from there. KEITH BOGANS (on the season) This season has been a lot of fun. I came here on a positive note and now that the season is over, I’m still positive. I learned a lot. I played with a group of great guys and with great coaches. I’m just going to wait and see what happens next year. This was a great opportunity for me. I think I took advantage of it the best I could. I’ll just have to see what goes on this summer. --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 210.85.49.30