When last we saw them: Finished 32-50, which was fourth in the Southeast Division and 12th overall in the East. Amazingly, with those 32 wins, they finished only five games out of the playoffs. Go Eastern Conference!

Key Arrivals: Alexis Ajinca (type that out five times fast), D.J. Augustin, Shannon Brown

Key Departures: Derek Anderson, Earl Boykins, Othella Harrington (in other words, nobody they regret parting ways with)

The Good: Oooookay. Must. Stay. Positive. Well, they paid Larry Brown a crapload of money convinced Larry Brown to coach the team. And as we all know, Brown once directed a championship ball club and stuff. He also has a history of getting the most out of underachieving and talent-challenged teams. Adam Morrison and Sean May are back, and both of them should be (coughcoughcough) healthy. They signed Emeka Okafor to a six-year contract extension. Rookie D.J. Augustin should be pretty good. Gerald Wallace is already pretty good. Jason Richardson is always capable of scoring 20 points (usually on around 20 shots). Oh, and bobcats are totally vicious. Rrowrr!!

The Bad: Remember how I mentioned Larry Brown has a history of improving bad teams? Yeah, well, he also has a bad habit of bolting at the first sign of trouble (or even boredom). To wit, this is his ninth stop as a head coach. I guess what I'm saying is: Don't expect loyalty. Sean May has played in a whopping 58 games in three pro seasons and hasn't materialized on the court since March 14, 2007. So, you know, I'll trust in his health once he makes it through more than 35 games. (May already told the Charlotte Observer that: "Obviously, the knee (that he's had three surgeries on) is going to probably be in the back of my mind. I like to say I'm not thinking about it. But subconsciously, I probably am. It'll be a little while before I'll get over that. I'll have to take some hits." Good sign, huh?) Adam Morrison might be healthy, but does that even matter? Emeka Okafor is good, but is he really $72 million over six years good? (The stats say: Not so much.) Oh, and Okafor has managed to avoid injury in only one of his four NBA seasons. Not coincidentally, that happened last season...which was a contract year. Speaking of paid absences, Gerald Wallace has also had his share of those, although he blames last year's injuries on the fact that he had to put in so much time at power forward. Did I mention that Michael Jordan (a real front-office guru) and Nelly (the rapper) are two of the three principle owners?

Fun Facts: The EA NBA Live 09 simulated season predicts they'll finish with 39 wins and actually make the playoffs, losing in Round One to the Miami Heat. How "good" were they last year? Here are some numbers: Points Scored 97.1 (19th); Points Allowed 101.4 (20th); Field-Goal Percentage .452 (17th); Opponents' FG% .466 (22nd); Rebounding Diff. -3.11 (27th). Gerald Wallace suffered a Grade 3 concussion on February 23, 2008 after getting clocked by Sacramento's Mikki Moore. For the sake of clarification, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons defines a Grade 3 concussion as ones that "involve post-traumatic amnesia for more than 24 hours or unconsciousness for more than five minutes." Adam Morrison once portrayed Spiderman in a reenactment of the classic saga The Revenge of the Sinister Six. The parts of the Sinister Six were played by couch cushions.

Videotastic extra: Some dude named David Arnott wrote and recorded this song, and filmed the outstanding video, for a Bobcats fan contest. Remember: He doesn't care if you don't understand. He'll never give up being a Bobcats fan.

Seriously, that's what it is. The slogan, which doesn't appear to have anything to do with any actual Charlotte Bobcats slogan, is "It's The City." Whatever that means.

Every true fan should have a Crown Victoria painted in the team colors, with the team logo and a nonsensical slogan. If you don't have any of those things, well, shit, you just ain't much of a real fan, are ya?

It’s the City [Bobcats Baseline]

So, the Bobcats blogs must be all a-twitter today, right?

• Queen City Hoops: Last update: April 17.
• Bobcats Report: Last update: October 8, 2007.
• Bobcat Bonfire: Last update: April 16.
• Bobcats Locker: Last update: March 28.

Who says Michael Jordan hasn't revitalized the NBA in Charlotte?

• The Cat's Peow. Fact: Though the bobcat prefers rabbits and hares, it will hunt anything from insects and small rodents to deer and leprechauns in bowties. Jason Richardson scored 34 points and Gerald Wallace added 15 as the Bobcats stunned the Celtics 95-83 for just their fourth loss of the season. The defeat snapped a nine-game winning streak for Boston and spoiled its bid for the fastest start in team history to 30 wins. OK, your turn, Jaguars. Meow.

• Chutes And Ladders. Mo Williams scored a season-high 35 points in 48 minutes as the Bucks beat the Heat 98-92. D-Wade had 34 points for Miami, which lost its ninth straight. Meanwhile, in Portland, the Blazers made it 12 straight at home with a 109-91 win over the Warriors. The Rip City faithful got a scare in the second when Brandon Roy appeared to injure his right knee. He crumpled to the hardwood and had to be helped off. But he was just kidding. Ha! Roy returned and started the second half.

• Back To Life, Back To Reality. ♫ However do you want Ming? However do you need Ming? ♫ Yao scored 36 points as the new and improved T-Mac-less Rockets beat the Knicks 101-92, with Rafer Alston skipping in a cool 20 points. New York snapped their one-game losing streak. Coach Isiah was ejected in the opening minute of the final quarter when he came onto the floor to argue with referee Eric Lewis over the constitutionality of online cockfighting videos.

• Teamwork On Three. Steve Nash was too sick to keep playing, Grant Hill was in the hospital, and still the Suns managed to rally from 16 down to beat the Pacers 129-122 in overtime. Hill underwent an appendectomy and is expected to miss two to three weeks. So, whoever had 34 in our Hill's games played pool, congrats. Your case of Sprite is in the mail.

• Try The Veal. "You can see my knowledge of (Dwyane Wade's) game — we were able to limit him to his season high points of 32." Ladies and gentlemen, Stan Van Gundy. Hedo Turkoglu scored 27 points and Rashard Lewis added 19 as Orlando handed Magic coach Stan Van Gundy's former team, Miami, its Eastern Conference-leading 10th loss. Bitch.

• A Complete Shitfest. The Nuggets mustered a season-low point total (81), shot 35 percent (28 of 79) and committed 18 turnovers against Houston last night. And guess what? They lost. Badly. To make matters worse, Kenyon Martin strained his right knee late in the first half and did not return. He'll be tickled and probed for evaluation in Denver on Sunday. McGrady scored 35 as the Rockets snapped a six-game losing streak.

• Fantasy. In the immortal words of Ol' Dirty Bastard, "Yo! Atlanta, Georgia, are you in the house?" Josh Smith scored 10 of his 16 in the fourth to help the Hawks — CAW! — erase a 21-point deficit against the T-Wolves. Final score: Atlanta 94, Minny 87. Smith added eight rebounds, five assists, five blocks and three steals.

A reader — who said the "mosh pit" in which he was residing involved a considerable amount of passing it around — attending the Coachella Music Festival on Sunday took this photo of Adam Morrison during the Rage Against The Machine show. That really is a Che Guevara flag wrapped around his neck. We think we would enjoy being in a mosh pit with Adam Morrison, because there's no way he could possibly guard us.

"The kid who may present that, (versatility) is the kid in Texas. (He) may have that because he has all the right signs."

This was a nice comment from the greatest player in NBA history, sort of a coronation type of thing. But — and we totally forgot this, and we suspect he did too — Jordan is the "president" of the "Charlotte Bobcats" (really!) and was fined for discussing a player who hasn't declared for the draft yet. It's $15 grand, which we suspect Jordan can handle, but it is amusing that so few people consider Jordan an actual executive that it didn't even occur to us that he could be fined in the same way that Danny Ainge was fined. That's right! He's an executive! Oh yeah!

Now, if only the league will look into those Kevin Bacon tampering charges.

MJ Fined One Blackjack Hand [West Side Slant]

Let the record show that Adam Morrison made the first shot of the New Leather Era, as Charlotte and Minnesota ushered in the return of the leather NBA basketball to the sound of, well, whatever the fans do at Bobcats Arena. Talk about kicking a ball when it's down; the Associated Press is calling the old synthetic ball "The basketball version of New Coke." Well, it's off to the dumpster with them, to join all of those Jar Jar Binks action figures and the Regis Philbin Christmas CDs. Timberwolf Kevin Garnett, one of the sythetic ball's biggest detractors, celebrated in his own special way, going 12-of-18 from the field for 32 points with 14 rebounds as Minnesota prevailed 102-96.

• You're With Me, Boston. Celtics coach Doc Rivers complained that with the swtich to the new/old leather balls, his team would have to play back-to-back games with two different types of balls; a complaint one doesn't often hear. "Shut up," explained the NBA. So Boston went out and ended its six-game losing streak, beating Portland 89-81. — RC

So here's our question: Uh, isn't Michael Jordan supposedly running this team? He is, after all, the "managing member of basketball operations," second on the executive depth chart behind the owner. We know that reports have revealed that Jordan has little to do with the day-to-day running of the franchise — preferring, apparently, to chat with Tiger Woods' wife — but, jeez, if they're paying the guy, isn't this the time to step up and, you know, say something? Sending Allen Iverson to Charlotte is one thing; sending him off to Team Up With Michael Jordan is another all together. But it was Bernie Bickerstaff who answered all the questions yesterday; Jordan was nowhere to be found. We are curious what the heck Jordan is doing over there; has he even been to a game yet? Does he know Adam Morrison, or does he just refer to him as "that sissy who's bawling all the time?" What's going on down there?

No No-Trade Contract? No Problem For The Answer [ESPN]
Bobcats Executive Bios [NBA.com]

• Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte. We can't help it: When we think Charlotte Bobcats, we think struggling Arena Football League franchise, or possibly a single-A baseball team with an upcoming Mrs. Paul's Frozen Fishsticks Giveaway Night. But then we are reminded that they are indeed an NBA team. The Pistons were reminded of that also on Sunday, losing to Charlotte 97-88, breaking their eight-game win streak. Emeka Okafor had 18 points and eight rebounds, and Sean May scored 17 points for Charlotte.

• You've Been Branded. When Elton Brand is motivated, the Clippers are hard to beat. Bouncing back from a decisive loss to the Lakers on Saturday, Brand's 31 points led the Clippers over the Magic 116-91.

• No Jail Can Hold AI. This is what got Kramer in trouble. But Ricky Davis fought off courtside hecklers — Philly courtside hecklers, the gentlest kind — with 22 points to lead the Timberwolves to a 95-84 win over Philadelphia. Allen Iverson, fined last week for skipping a bowling event, led the Sixers with 26 points

• Hawks Forever. Meanwhile, the Hawks beat the Trail Blazers in Portland, 107-96, meaning that dogs and cats ate surely sleeping together somewhere. Atlanta's losing streak at the Rose Garden had dated to 2002.

• So Put Your Hands Together Folks For Adam Morrison! Meet the Bobcats. These days they feature weepy, Che Guevara loving, bangs-challenged former Gonzaga superstar Adam Morrison, who on Wednesday scored a career high 27 points in a 95-92 OT win over the Spurs. Take it, Adam: "The coaches were telling me I was putting too much pressure on myself. Everyone was expecting so much out of me, especially at the pick I went (third overall).'' Morrison was shooting 32 percent from the floor until Tuesday, but is 21-for-41 in his past two games. Charlotte is 2-6. "Morrison is a basketball junkie,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He's a scoring machine. He's a fantastic young talent.'' Zach Randolph led the Trail Blazers with 26 points and 11 rebounds, but shot just 12-of-20 (60 percent) from the line, after going into the game with an 89 percent FT average. Hmm, what could possibly be distracting him?

• Jason And The Argonauts. Remember when the knock on Jason Kidd was that he couldn't shoot? Richard Jefferson is out with a sprained ankle and Vince Carter has the flu, so Kidd took over for the Nets, scoring 25 points, to pace a 100-87 win over the Bucks. Carter had 15 points, and Michael Redd 25 points for Milwaukee.

• Rockabye Sweet Baby James. More of the sweet goodness from LeBron James, whose 32 points, seven assists and seven rebounds helped the Cavaliers to their fourth straight win; 100-87 over Portland. AP says that the Cavaliers have started the season 6-2 for the second straight year, and why would they lie?

• Andre The Giant. Your Andre Iguodala update for today: 12 points, eight rebounds and nine assists; 76ers beat SuperSonics 96-90, breaking a three-game losing streak. Allen Iverson was 6-of-22 from the field for 28 points, not that there's anything wrong with that.

• Thank You Very Much. We never thought we'd see the day when the King disrespected Memphis. Mike Bibby's 32 points and 10 assists led Sacramento to its fourth straight win, 115-111 over Memphis.

Baxter was arrested for firing shots outside the White House just eight days ago, and yesterday ... he was sentenced to two months in jail. Man: That was, like, a week. We can't even get our dry cleaning back in a week. (Perhaps we should use Roger Clemens' guy.)

Baxter gave no explanation for the action but did apologize for the "careless, selfish, stupid act that I committed." Meanwhile, Montepaschi Siena, the Italian team Baxter is supposed to play for, says they'll need him back pretty soon after he gets out of jail; their season starts in October. Though as long as he's able to pretend like he has been shot every time he's fouled, he should be in game shape for Italy, no problem.

Baxter Sentenced To Two Months [Yahoo News]
One Must Be Careful Of Those Midnight Inconvenient Truth Screenings [Deadspin]

Anyway, former Charlotte Bobcats forward Lonny Baxter was arrested early this morning for firing a number of shots in the general vicinity of the White House. Police say after pulling him over, theysaw "in plain view a number of spent shell cartridges."

Baxter, generously listed as "260 pounds," recently signed with Italian team Montepaschi Siena, which doesn't quite make this an international incident, considering he didn't sign with the Raptors.

Baxter Arrested For Firing Shots Near White House [Reuters]

(Our friends at Wonkette are all over this too.)

(By the way, that photo of Baxter and the President comes from High And Inside. Outstanding find, guys.)

Thomas, of course, is a national joke, a guy for whom sexual harassment allegations are a welcome distraction from the daily idiocy of his workday. And, if you remember, Jordan wasn't exactly Red Auerbach during his tenure with the Washington Wizards. He completely messed that team up, and jeez, did you see what he did with the player Michael Jordan? Who was that guy?

And now he's back, with the Charlotte Bobcats, as part-owner and head of basketball operations. We're not sure how we feel about this, because we've been so conditioned by Jordan's playing career that we are stunned that he's not as dominant at the rest of the world than he once was at basketball. For a joke, though, we think he should trade for Kwame Brown, just to watch him cry.

Michael's Back ... Uh, That's Nice [The Sports Hookup]

Meet the bobcat — one of the few indigenous predators to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County area of North Carolina. Have you seen a bobcat up close? It looks like a large, irritable kitty. Not the first thing we'd think of when picking a team name. Actually, the Bobcats, which came into existence last season after the Charlotte Hornets left town, should have been named the Charlotte Flight — the name which the fans voted for. At any rate, the team is not doing so well, last in the NBA's most athletically challenged division, the Southeast. But we like Emeka Okafor, and hey, their owner is named Bob. How about that? Let's check in on their blogs.

3. Bobcat Bonfire. Although we are confused by the title, this was a solid blog until they stopped posting in early November. As it is a member of the Most Valuable Network family, we hope someone will pick it up and resurrect it. Come on, who wants to volunteer?
2. Charlotte Bobcats Diary. Past three entry headlines: "Not a Good Effort," "Disappointment," "Keith Bogans Gone to Houston." The situation looks bleak, but this blog keeps on swinging.
1. Bobcats Planet. We like this one a lot. Latest hot rumor: Tubby Smith leaving Kentucky to replace Bernie Bickerstaff.