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Written by Zach Harper
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Monday, 16 November 2009 14:05 |
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All right, Stephen, you wanted out? Well, now you’re a Charlotte Bobcat. Feel better?
In what seems to be a bit of a confusing but ultimately light-shedding trade by the Warriors, they’ve sent former captain Stephen Jackson and Acie Law 4.0 to the Charlotte Bobcats for Vlad Radmanovic and Raja Bell. It’s a deal that solves problems for the Bobcats and solves a problem for the Warriors.
For the Bobcats, this signifies a huge upgrade in versatility and talent in the starting rotation. Not that Raja Bell and Radmanovic weren’t nice players but Stephen Jackson is a whole other beast altogether. Stephen Jackson immediately steps into the starting lineup, plants himself at the shooting guard position, and gives the Bobs a bona fide playmaker in their starting lineup. Now, they can go every which way but loose with their lineups. Before, the Bobcats were very systematic and their biggest risk was putting Gerald Wallace at power forward with nothing real solid filling him at small forward other than Vlad Radmanovic. Now, they can slot Wallace at the 4, Stephen Jackson at the 3 and Flip Murray at the 2. This gives them a much more potent attack for a team that struggles offensively.
Going small will help them speed up the offense (with Diaw at the 5 at times and an interchangeable revolving door of Felton and Augustin at the 1) but going big will help them get even better defensively. A motivated Stephen Jackson is a dangerous weapon against opposing teams (and not just at their local night clubs). Jack is one of the best defenders in the NBA when he wants to be. He’s a scary, imposing figure who can take you out of your game with a few veiled threats and some in your face, physical play. Now, you can stick him on the best perimeter scorer from the other team and let Jackson take this man out of the game. But the key will be making sure Jackson is motivated.
If anything, it’s Larry Brown’s job to keep Jackson motivated. Assuming the Bobcats don’t try to pawn off Stephen Jackson to the next contender, desperate for a wily veteran at the trading deadline, LB now must find a way to get the most out of Jackson. This isn’t the same problem as getting someone like Marbury to buy into a system or Antoine Walker to buy into a savings and loan account with a daily maximum ATM withdrawal; this is just convincing him that helping the Bobcats make the playoffs is the best way to stick it to the Warriors ownership and Don Nelson. And they are now in play for the eighth seed in the East, despite a slow start (3-6).
Speaking of Warriors’ owner Larry Cohan and coach Nellie, what a devious way of sticking it to Stephen Jackson this trade was. I highly doubt when Stephen Jackson asked for a trade this offseason, he had Charlotte, NC in his top three. He wanted a contender. Despite his reputation as a tumorous figure on a team, Jackson is actually one of the most dedicated and prideful players you could ever employ. He sticks up for his teammates no matter what and will bust his tail when he feels the team is fighting. But this Warriors team doesn’t have any fight in it from the 12th man on the bench, all the way up to the ownership. The fight we saw in this shock-the-world-Mavs-beating squad is long gone.
And perhaps, Jackson figured that out some time after he signed a contract extension and before the Warriors played their first game of the season. He wanted to channel his inner-Mike Singletary and have winners on his team. Instead, he was left with the disposable rations of Andris Biedrins, Monta Ellis, and whoever else is unwilling to fight for winning above everything else. He made the mistake of making this a very public affair of wanting to be traded to a winner and tried to force the hand two very devious, untrustworthy individuals to make things right by Jackson and trade him off to a team looking to win a title this year.
Instead, they decided to give him the middle finger and ship him to the perennial bottom of the cellar Bobcats with an “eff you and have a nice day.” It’s not something you can blame solely on the Warriors either. Jackson made his bed with his behavior on the court with it. The Warriors just decided that if he was going to lay in it, they were going to light it on fire first. He didn’t play hard at all times like people are used to. He didn’t fight. He walked it up the floor, played poor defense, and wasn’t aggressive. He was essentially faking his way through a relationship. Sure, he called them before they went to bed at night and paid for dinner when they went out, but he wasn’t surprising them with little “I love you” gifts here and there or opening the door for the Warriors anymore.
In the end, it’s now up to him to determine his value for the rest of the season. He can play his ass off and if it doesn’t turn into wins for the Bobcats, at least it will turn into a playoff/title contender looking to acquire him for a big push (Celtics, I’m looking at you). And if it does turn into wins for the Bobcats and they make the playoffs? His reputation goes through the roof and he’s happy once more because he’s back in the second season every April.
I just wouldn’t want to be Don Nelson and the Warriors when the Bobcats face the Warriors later this season (January 29, March 6). Anything could happen and it’s all deadly.
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