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December 6, 2006
Boxscore | Play-By-Play | Video | 2006-07 Game Recaps
Heading into Wednesday’s game against San Antonio, the Bobcats knew the Spurs were going to come out focused and throw everything at the them after Charlotte's
95-92 overtime win on November 15 at the AT&T Center.
The Bobcats weathered San Antonio’s initial attack, but the Spurs would inevitably get the better of Charlotte 96-76 at Charlotte Bobcats Arena.
The final score wasn’t completely indicative of the game, as the Bobcats kept things close for the majority of the contest but just couldn’t seem to get over the hump and saw the Spurs pull away in the final stanza.
“I think what has to happen with a young basketball team is that we have to learn how to surmount tough times,” said General Manager and Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff. “We have to find other ways to contribute to our basketball team when things aren’t going well for us – we have to fight through it. That’s a very good basketball team – there is no reservation about it.”
Sean May continued his strong play off of the bench leading the Bobcats with 18 points on 8-15 shooting from the field as well as hoisting down seven boards. May’s former Tar Heels teammate Raymond Felton flirted with a triple-double scoring 13 points, dishing out nine assists and grabbing seven rebounds.
Gerald Wallace contributed 15 points and seven rebounds, while Emeka Okafor added 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Adam Morrison had what might have been his most difficult game of the season, finishing with four points on 1-10 shooting from the field while being hounded defensively all night by Bruce Bowen.
"They don't really have a flashy player, they just get it done. We need to learn from that and try to emulate some of the stuff that they
do."
-- Sean May
Despite trailing 48-42 at the end of the first half, Charlotte fought to not let the game slip away, but a 12-4 Spurs run to close the third quarter saw the Bobcats facing a 70-57 heading into the final frame.
Charlotte rallied to cut the lead to 75-66 with 9:21 remaining, before perennial All-Star Tim Duncan took over the game, scoring nine-straight points in an 11-0 San Antonio run that pushed the lead to 20 points and put the game out of reach.
While things did not go the Bobcats way late, the effort was still there for Charlotte – something their opponents acknowledged they respected.
“They’re a tough team, one thing I will say about them is they are a 48-minute team,” said Duncan after finishing with a game-high 25 points. “They have a lot of young guys and a lot of talent. On any given night, those guys are dangerous.”
Manu Ginobili followed Duncan with 13 points off of the bench, and Tony Parker added 10 more.
Charlotte was active on defensive end to start the game, with Okafor contesting every shot in the lane. Behind their strong defensive effort that held the Spurs to 30.4 percent shooting in the first frame, the Bobcats took a 23-22 lead heading into the second.
San Antonio opened things up for the first time with a 17-6 early in the second and built a 39-29 lead, but true to their nature, Charlotte fought back. The Bobcats pulled within six points with a 5-0 run to end the half behind a big three-pointer and first basket of the regular season from Walter Herrmann.
Felton and Wallace had 11 points each at the midway point, while Sean May added eight points off of the bench, helping to keep the game close.
Charlotte will look to bounce back against Houston at 7 p.m. on Friday at Charlotte Bobcats Arena.
NOTES: After scoring 18 points against the Spurs, Sean May is averaging 17.0 points on .590 (26-44) shooting to go with 7.4 rebounds over his last five games. Before that span, he was averaging 8.7 points on .453 shooting, along with 5.5 rebounds over 13 games... Emeka Okafor maintains his NBA lead with 3.12 blocks after swatting three more attempts. Jermaine O’Neal, who came into tonight second behind Okafor in the category, blocked two shots against Orlando on Wednesday and now is averaging 3.05 blocks... Gerald Wallace scored 15 points on 5-9 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds, making tonight his seventh double figure scoring game in his last nine outings. In his first nine games he reached double-figure scoring four times... With the victory, the Bobcats are now 5-13 and have failed to put together back-to-back wins this season. On the year, Charlotte averages 3.0 losses between wins... The Bobcats scored a season-low 76 points against the Spurs. Charlotte’s previous low was 83 points. They reached that low twice -- at Memphis on November 3 and at Orlando on November 19... Brevin Knight received two technical fouls and was ejected from the game at the 9:17 mark of the third period, with the Bobcats trailing 54-44. With Knight out of the game, the Bobcats were outscored 41-32... Walter Herrmann scored the first points off his NBA career tonight, with six points on 2-3 shooting from three-point range in 16:41... The Bobcats scored five fastbreak points, while the Spurs managed two.
INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM
Bobcats Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff
(On the game) That was real simple. San Antonio came in to prove a point. They are a very good basketball team, their execution, their recognition of mismatches and the isolations. I thought the end of that game was indicative of the way we played. We’re down and we’re basically doing one-on-one and isolation. That’s ugly basketball. That’s a very good basketball team (San Antonio). There’s no reservation about it. They’re solid. You can’t afford to have critical mistakes and give them the opportunity to jump out on you because they are going to take advantage of it. Every mismatch they had, they exploited.
(On Walter Herrmann) He made shots. He was aggressive but against team like that you almost have to play perfect. Like all of the kids who come over here it takes some time to learn the NBA game. (Andres) Nocioni, (Carlos) Delfino, (Fabricio) Oberto, it takes them all a little time to get acclimated to the game.
(On Adam Morrison’s struggles from the floor) Because he wouldn’t shoot and it was bothering him. These are the nights we talk about with young players, that you have to find a way to get over the mountain. As we told Adam (Morrison) there will be plenty of nights like this. When you have those nights and everybody has one, you have to find way to contribute to your team. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We were playing a terrific basketball team and collectively we can’t drop our heads and feel sorry for ourselves.
Bobcats Forward Gerald Wallace
(On the loss) They (the Spurs) did what championship teams do. They took advantage of mismatches and they were able to execute their offense better than we were.
(On the difference between the first and second half) We were getting a lot of easy stuff (in the first half). In the second half, they locked down on defense and things got a lot tougher for us going to the basket and shooting jumpshots."
Bobcats Forward Sean May
(On the factors leading to the loss) We were fighting, but they're a good ball club. I think they still had their mind on what we did to them in San Antonio, and they just played better than us tonight. I don't know of any one thing that they did that just killed us all night, they just did it collectively on the whole.
(On the Bobcats) We're still learning, trying to put this thing together. Emeka (Okafor) missed the whole year last year. I missed the whole year. We're still trying to get our legs back and trying to figure out how to sustain it over 82 (games). This is as many games as I've played in so long, so we're still figuring things out. A lot of it is due to being a young organization, but we've got a lot of veterans who help us out there. In time, we'll start to turn it around.
(On his progression) I'm starting to find my role and where I fit into this system. My teammates have done a great job of putting me in good situations. I'm starting to be more comfortable, but you never want to be complacent because we still have a long way to go.
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