We’ve been faced with some adversity recently with all the injuries we have experienced on our team. On paper, if you look at our roster and see the players we have on our injured reserve list, most people would bet against us. But our team has used that to motivate us to play fearlessly every game. We know we are playing with a short bench, but we do not care. As players, we are taking the attitude, “we have to go with what we got,” meaning if we have five guards on the floor at one time, we are going to compete no matter what the matchups look like. We all realize that we are going to have to play out of position, but if that is what coach calls on us to do, we are going to do it.

The Clippers gave us some trouble in the paint and took advantage of our small lineup. We hung around for most of the game but couldn’t get over that hump to make a late-game run. I dove for a loose ball in the second half and as I was reaching for the ball, I hit my chin on the floor and had to be taken out of the game because it’s a rule that no player can play while bleeding or with blood on their uniform. Our team doctors took me back to the locker room and gave me six stitches, and by the time I came back out to bench, the game was about over. I think I have gotten stitches on my face in just about every NBA team I have played on.

I think our team had a great Christmas since we had a day off to enjoy with our families. We all came back refreshed for our game against Atlanta. We started out on fire and continued to play well throughout the first half. In the second half, the Hawks made a run, but we hung in there and came up with some big plays late in the game. We have been playing very well as a team -- sharing the ball on offense and playing good help defense. After beating the Hawks, we jumped on the plane with our small team and headed back to Charlotte. It is different being on the plane without much of our team there and seeing all the open seats.

I had some family fly down for the game against Chicago -- my mom and grandparents. My grandfather (Coach Don Graham) who is the winningest high school boy’s basketball coach in the state of Pennsylvania gave me a few pointers before the game that helped me with my foul shots.

We were looking forward to this game against the Bulls because they had made some comments in the papers the last time we beat them in Chicago that we didn’t like. Our only two post players that we had dressed for the game, Melvin (Ely) and Primoz (Brezec), stepped up and had great games against the Bulls. All of our players played hard and competed throughout the entire game, and we made a nice run late in the third quarter. My grandfather’s advice paid off and I hit all five of my free throws. During the game, I drove to the hoop and did a spin move and took a one-handed fadeaway shot. My teammates were messing with me and asking me when was the last time I practiced that shot? I said, “Um, probably about once this year, but it went in and I’ll take it.” When Brevin sprained his ankle and we knew he wasn’t returning to the game. we wanted get this win for our captain. Every player contributed and helped the Bobcats pull out a win against Chicago.

Well, we have a big game against the Suns today and will need as much fan support as possible.
See you there!
Matt

Life's Always Better When You're Winning

I can honestly say I like writing much better after a couple wins, rather than a couple of losses. We’ve won three of our last four games. It started in New Jersey when we beat a good Nets team on the road. Brevin Knight played a fabulous game in his home state. He hit big shot after big shot and came up with some incredible steals in clutch situations. It felt great to get the monkey off our backs and increase the number in our win column.

Then we returned home for a couple days of practice before we took on one of the best teams in the NBA, the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons are as about as good as you can get in every position. I do not see many weaknesses in their lineup. Unfortunately the Pistons got the best of us and showed us why they won a World Championship.

We have had some bad luck with injuries recently, with Jake (Voskuhl) being out and Melvin (Ely) getting sick. Then, during the Kings game Kareem (Rush) hurt his finger and left the game along with the “Pick” (Emeka Okafor), who sprained his ankle. Our bench came up big that night as we rallied together and beat the Kings in overtime. I usually feel confident if we go into overtime at home because with our home crowd support, I believe we have an advantage late in the game when we need some energy.

Following our game against the Kings, we drove to the airport and flew to Chicago. Since we arrived in Chicago late that night, coach cancelled shootaround so we could get a little extra rest. While I was sitting in my hotel room, I was thinking about how we needed to get revenge on the Bulls after we blew a 20-point lead going into the fourth quarter during our season opener.

I did some Christmas shopping that afternoon because our hotel was right next to Michigan Ave, which has some great shopping. The only bad thing about shopping in Chicago in the winter is it was about seven below and freezing. I usually do not like to just sit in my room all afternoon on game days like most of my teammates because I am not a big nap guy.

Looking at our shorthanded and small lineup consisting of mostly guards and wings, I doubt many people expected us to beat the Bulls in Chicago. But the came out and played with what we had, and even though we were small, we hustled on defense and made things difficult for the Bulls. I think our small lineup confused the Bulls because they didn’t match up with us when, at times, we had no big guys in the game -- just guards and wings. G-Dub (Gerald Wallace) had one of the most impressive plays I have seen this season, when he had two huge blocks and took a charge virtually all in the same possession. Right after he took the charge, he walked to the bench and I could tell he was exhausted. Deservingly, he was done for the night since the game was about over.

On the plane home everybody was in a great mood. It is amazing how a couple wins can change the atmosphere of the entire team. Everyone was having a good time, laughing and making fun of each other.

I look forward to seeing all our Bobcats fans tonight as we take on the Clippers and try to make history with three straight wins.

Merry Christmas,
Matt

We Need A Win

After seven straight losses, everyone on the team is tired of losing, and we need to get a win. Last week was another tough week for us, even though we were home.

New Jersey came out firing, and we did not have an answer for Vince Carter. Vince started the game by banging a couple of jumpers in a row and just kept rolling.

We traveled to my home city, Philadelphia, on Thursday, and I had a chance to catch up and go out to dinner with my family and friends to Morton’s Steakhouse. I was hoping we would win another game in Philly, but unfortunately we came up a little short. Iverson had his usual 40+ points and, despite us making our late-game Bobcats comeback to bring the score to within four with a few minutes remaining, the Sixers hung on to win. We kept fighting to the end and knew that the Sixers had blown a couple of games in the last couple of minutes recently.

After the game, we flew back to Charlotte because we were playing the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night. We have a better record than the Raptors, so we were favored to win the game. The Raptors just outplayed us. That’s a disappointment because that is a game we should have won -- especially being at home. Chris Bosh hit some big shots late in the game that hurt us.

Our team is trying to find a way to start the game with more energy and come out of the gate with more fire. We seem to be playing catch up too much and Coach Bickerstaff is stressing the importance of being ready from the start. On Monday we had a very tough practice. Coach worked us extremely hard, and I thought it was a great practice. We needed it. We did a lot of extra conditioning and competed hard.

After practice, Kevin Burleson and I visited a Hemby Children's Hospital to spend some time with a bunch of kids. We spent a few minutes hanging out with every kid in their room, took a picture with them and gave them bag full of Bobcats goodies. It really brightened my day to see the kids smile when we came into their hospital rooms. Also, it was funny to see all the children’s reaction when they saw our mascot, Rufus, come in the room. Most of the kids love to see Rufus and laugh at all the funny things he does. Whenever I leave the hospital, I truly feel blessed and humbled. It sure makes me think twice about when I’m upset or angry because I missed a shot in a game, because life could be a lot worse.

Later that night, I went out with some teammates to dinner and the U2 concert. It was fun to sit in a different seat other than the team bench to see an event. And wow, what show U2 put on. I saw U2 in concert while I was in college at Notre Dame and they put on an awesome show, as well, but I think this one was even better.

Time To Regroup

After four losses on the West Coast, I think it was time for us to come home and regroup. We could have won two of the four games we played. The first two games against Sacramento and Seattle, we dug ourselves a hole early in the game and they came out shooting lights out from the start. Although, the last two games we played against Golden State and Los Angeles, we put ourselves in a situation to win the game but came up short.

The Lakers game was the most painful for us to accept because we felt like we played well enough and deserved to win that game, but with a guy named Kobe Bryant on the court, anything is possible. Kobe is such a clutch player that if the score is close, he is going to try and take over. We knew Kobe was going to have the ball and take the last shot on the last play, and we still couldn’t stop him. I guess that is why he is one of the best players in the NBA. During the Golden State game, despite playing hard from start to finish, we couldn’t pull it out in the end. I can not even explain how frustrating it is for our team when we play well enough to win so many games and always seem to come up a point or two short because of one or two late-game situations.

Let’s just say we are excited to be back playing at home in front of our home fans.

I had a chance to catch up with some friends on the West Coast during the little free time that we had. In San Francisco, I went out to dinner with my college teammate, Troy Murphy, who plays for the Golden State Warriors. I told Troy to take it easy on us, but unfortunately he didn’t listen to me and scored 18 points and had 12 boards - some friend he is. In L.A I caught up with some friends from high school. Our entire team had to buy a few extra tickets for the Lakers game because for some reason everybody has people they know in L.A.

We are looking forward to seeing everybody at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena this week to cheer us on to victory.

See you there,
Matt

November 29, 2005

2-1, I'll take that!

Thanksgiving was great. I had my whole family make the trip from Philly to Charlotte and celebrate Thanksgiving with us. This was my wife’s Thanksgiving debut in the kitchen and she did a wonderful job. Coach pushed back our flight departure time to 7:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, giving us a few extra hours to enjoy the day with our families. Kevin Burleson came over and spent Thanksgiving with my family. I can remember my rookie season when I was playing for the Portland Trail Blazers and didn’t have any family out there, so Coach Maurice Cheeks invited me and another rookie over his house to eat Thanksgiving dinner. With our crazy schedules, it is tough to even have family visit because we are only home for a day or two before going back on the road. Our profession does not really factor Holidays into our schedules, so it was very enjoyable to at least get to spend the afternoon with our families on Thanksgiving Day.

My family got to see two Bobcats games last week, and surprisingly have never seen the Bobcats lose a game in person. I told my family they might have to spend the year in Charlotte, or at least until the season is over at this point. My family has an impressive 5-0 record over the last two seasons for games attended.

We had two nice wins at home this past week - I’ll take that. We have really been playing well in our home arena. I have to give Gerald Wallace some love because he has been playing awesome. He does some things during the game where everyone on our team just stops, looks at each other and shakes our heads in amazement. I can’t think of too many players in the NBA that are more athletic than Gerald. I still can’t get over the block he had against Washington when he jumped up and just caught Etan Thomas’ shot. I was sitting on the bench trying to figure out whether Gerald gets credit for a block, steal, or rebound. I think he should get credited for all three stats because the play was that unbelievable. There are a few players that can single handedly change the tempo of a game, and GW is one of those players.

Unfortunately I caught the flu in Boston and it put me out of commission for the game. I had to watch the game from inside the locker room, which was not very fun. It was a rough couple of days, but I am feeling better now. I couldn’t eat for a while but I think I’m finally back to normal.

During our wins against New York and Washington, I really noticed how much our fans have been helping us win. We truly feel like we have a home court advantage when we are playing in our arena in front of our fans. I do have to thank and encourage everyone to continue to support us and keep helping us win at home.

We had a long flight out to Sacramento and all the players were getting a little restless on the flight. On a positive note, I came out victorious in a bet I had with Brevin Knight on the Notre Dame vs. Stanford football game. I was a little nervous because the game came down to the final minute, but the luck of the Irish came through in the end. After practice at ARCO Arena, a bunch of us grabbed lunch in the hotel and then went to the mall. Sacramento is not the most happening city, but they do have a movie theater so Sean (May), Alan (Anderson), Kevin (Burleson) and I went to see a movie.

Well, that’s it for me I am going to finish watching season one of “Lost” and get some sleep.

Have a great week!

November 22, 2005

Thankful Tough Week Is Over

It was a tough week for the Bobcats. Playing four games in five days is always a challenge, regardless of what team you are. It felt great to beat the Pacers at home, which was a big win for us. It was one of those nights where everything was clicking. Most games a few players are having a good game and a couple are not, but that night everyone was lighting it up.

Following a poorly played game against the Magic (on November 15), Coach Bickerstaff jumped on us pretty good and made his point clear that we needed to pick up our energy and start playing better team defense like we did earlier in the season. We responded to his request and played very good team defense, which forced many turnovers that we converted into points. I think our team is at its best when we are playing aggressive defense, forcing turnovers and using that effort to create easy opportunities on the offensive end.

After beating the Pacers convincingly on Wednesday night, we knew they were going to be ready to play when we traveled to Indiana on Friday. Unfortunately, we played well for most of the game until the end when the Pacers pulled away and won.

When I was in Indianapolis on Thursday night, I was out to dinner and bumped into and old friend of mine named Gerome Sapp. He went to Notre Dame, too, and now plays football for the Indianapolis Colts. It was a coincidence that Kevin Burleson was eating with me that night, because Gerome has had to cover Kevin's brother, Nate, when the Colts play against the Minnesota Vikings. After dinner Kevin, Mark Coffelt, Scott Leightman and I had to make a stop at Steak 'n Shake and grab a milkshake for dessert. When I was in college, my boys and I used to stop by Steak 'n Shake late night to get some food and milk shakes because it was the only place usually open late in Indiana.

We flew into Minnesota late that night, and the hotel we stay at in Minneapolis is one of my favorite hotels. We stay at the Le Meridien, and it is a really cool spot that has sort of a European style to it. Every room has its own 50-inch plasma TV on the wall. They even have a plasma TV in the bathroom, so I did not miss a second of college football games on TV that day.

The Timberwolves just flat out beat us on Saturday. KG was having his normal double-double night, and the rest of the team was playing well too. We have to learn from our mistakes in that game and move forward to our next one at home against New York.

Monday we had a night off, so most of my teammates went to Maggiano's Italian restaurant - not to eat, but to give back to the community. We served a Thanksgiving dinner to over 100 kids that came from all kinds of different situations. Everyone had a great time serving dinner, and I was in charge of the dishing out the stuffing. After we served all the kids, we sat down and spent some time with all the children. We ended the night with Raymond Felton and I reading a book called "Turkey Surprise" to everyone. Looking back at it, that was one of the highlights of my week.

Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving,
Matt

November 14, 2005

What'ssssss That You Ssssssay?

Thursday, was a normal practice day. I thought we had a good practice and played well. After practice I did a Read to Achieve photo shoot with Emeka Okafor, Sean May, and Brevin Knight at Discovery Place in Uptown Charlotte, and that’s when the “fun” began.

The photo shoot was scheduled to only take about 30 minutes. But it took about an extra hour because Sean and Brevin showed up late. When I arrived at the Discovery Place I wasn't sure what we had to do, but I knew we had to take a group picture for our "Read to Achieve" posters that we will distribute to the different schools when we go read to children.

When I found out that we were taking the photos in a rain forest, I didn't think anything of it until they asked me if I wanted to hold a live snake during the pictures. That was probably the last thing I wanted to hear, because if there is one thing in this world that I am afraid of, it is snakes. For my entire life I have been scared of those creepy crawlers and seriously do not even like to look at them.

When Emeka heard he could hold a snake, he got all excited and said yes. Then they asked me if I wanted to hold a huge 10-foot long and fat boa constrictor and I guess my facial expression kind of gave away my fear of snakes.

I was trying to tell Emeka not to hold it during the shoot, but he wouldn't listen and thought it was funny that I didn't want the snake in the picture. When Sean arrived, he volunteered to hold a snake too, but thankfully Brevin declined the offer.

After I realized the snakes were definitely going to be a part of our picture, I accepted it but tried to stay as far away as possible from them. When the photo shoot was over, Emeka and Sean thought it would be funny to chase me with the giant boas wrapped around their necks. I felt pretty soft running away in this man-made rain forest, but I couldn't help it or hide my fear.

After this traumatizing photo shoot, all I ask is that the kids who receive our posters really like the posters and appreciate them. I will admit my teammates got the best of me on Thursday, but trust me, I will get them back - don't worry about that.

Everyone has a weakness, and I will definitely find out what Emeka's and Sean's are. Until then, if anyone has any good ideas or pranks that I can use to get revenge on Emeka or Sean, I am open to ideas.

Have a great day,
Matt

November 8, 2005

One Crazy Week

Wow, it feels great to be playing regular season NBA games. The level of competition is much more intense. We had a roller coaster week. We opened up in Chicago and clearly outplayed the Bulls but ended up losing in overtime. We were winning by more than 20 points heading into the fourth quarter and ended up losing. We did not deserve to lose that game, but unfortunately that is how the NBA works.

We came back strong for our second game in Philadelphia. This game was probably more meaningful for me than most of my teammates. I am from Philadelphia and grew up watching the Sixers throughout my childhood, and I wanted nothing more than to beat Allen Iverson and the Sixers in Philly. Also, I played for Coach Mo Cheeks in Portland, so I was familiar with the entire coaching staff and most of the players.

I had close to 100 friends and family at the game cheering for the Bobcats. We ended up beating the Sixers convincingly (110-93), and it felt great to get that win in my hometown. I got a chance to spend time with my family the day before the game, which was a lot of fun. We went out to eat downtown and caught up on everything.

After the Philly game, we flew back to Charlotte to get ready for our home opener in our amazing new arena. I think everyone on the Bobcats was all pumped up to play for the first time in front of our home crowd. When we came out for warm-ups, I couldn’t believe how many people were at the game. It was a sellout crowd and they were rocking.

It was pretty cool seeing celebrities, like Nelly, Ashanti, Bob Johnson, and Will Ferrell sitting in the first row. But local celebrity, North Carolina Coach Roy Williams, got the biggest applause when they announced he and his wife were at the game. On a side note, I think Will Ferrell is one of the funniest actors out right now.

I made my first NBA start against the Boston Celtics, which was pretty cool. My parents decided Saturday morning that they wanted to see our home opener, so they went to the airport in Philly and hopped on a flight to Charlotte and made the game. What a game it was! We ended up beating the Celtics in overtime, and it was a perfect way to open our new arena. The fans were awesome, and I seriously think that the fans helped us pull out the win late in the game when we were tired.

I love everything about the new arena and our team is extremely excited to play all our home games there in front of such an energetic crowd.

Talk to you next week,
Matt

October 31, 2005

I'm Back!

After a few months away from doing my true passion, writing, I’m back on the keyboard. Okay, I’m not really serious. Writing is not my passion, but basketball is and since I like to talk a lot, I guess the Blog Squad is a good fit for me.

The preseason is just about finished and now it’s time to get the real thing started. I think our team had a positive preseason and improved each day. Besides having a consistent list of players shelved with injuries for several preseason games, we managed to get our work done considering our lack of a completely healthy roster. Since it is the preseason, having our players healthy and feeling 100 percent for the regular season takes priority over playing hurt in the preseason, which is what most players will probably do during the regular season when the games count in our win- loss record. Fortunately, the Bobcats have great trainers, Joe Sharpe and Mark Coffelt, who every player spends countless hours working with throughout the season trying to prevent and rehab injuries.

During the last day of training camp in Wilmington, I injured my right elbow. I could not straighten my right arm for a few days, which for me was not a good injury. I had to go a couple days without shooting, and that was like punishment for me. Joe treated me like a baseball pitcher and monitored the number of shots I could take each day. I like to shoot at least a couple hundred shots every day, so it was a struggle to listen to Joe’s orders, but I trusted him.

I think by our first regular season game we should have all of our team ready to play. It was good to play with big Sean May again in our last preseason game against Indiana. That was the first time I played with him since the summer league.

One of the toughest aspects of the preseason is that our team starts out with around 20 players and by the end of it, we have to cut the roster down to at the most 15 players. As a player, when you are working your butt off every day, competing and trying your best to earn a spot on the team, you can’t help but develop respect for your teammates. Even though every player knows some guys will be cut, it never sets in until you come in to work the next day and see a teammate’s locker cleaned out. That is it for him.

I especially feel for the players who have gotten released because I have been in that situation and know what it feels like. The only way to describe that feeling is for you to imagine having a life-long dream and know that you’ve been working for this dream for a majority of your life. The more you improve as a player, the more levels you reach - from high school to college. Each level you get to, your balloon grows a little more. Then, when you are so close that you tell yourself all the years of hard work are going to pay off and your dreams could become a reality in a few days, your balloon pops and you get waived.

It is really not that bad, but for a few days that is how you feel. I did not make the NBA on my first try, and that’s why I feel for the players who get released because I know what they are going through.

Based upon what I have seen this preseason, I think the Bobcats are going to surprise a lot of teams this year. I think we have a team full of players that compliment each other and are willing to lay it on the line every night we play.

Everyone is extremely excited about the new arena and rightfully so. It is amazing, and I think it is the best arena in the NBA. I hope that we get some great crowds for our games because I know the fans will enjoy themselves. It would be hard not to have fun in that kind of venue.

Talk to you soon,
Matt