FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.The raging Bobcats of Charlotte were an unsung band of heroes from late 2006-07. While other bottom-feeders sat their stars (cleanly or no), the Cats rode Gerald Wallace's cape to the most fiery spell of the franchise's youth. In fact, the Charlotte franchise as a whole embodies the basketball spirit defined by Crash Wallace: Completely under the radar despite all the ingredients of nuclear excitement. Wallace is an insane dunker, a quick-handed pickpocket, as irrepressible a slasher as Norman Bates. Likewise, Charlotte's cupboard is filled with the sort of sundries which add up to a fun time.
Take Emeka Okafor. I could tell you he averaged 14/11/2.6 last year, but justice is deeper. You might remember his 20/9/10 game against the Knicks. (Eddy Curry does.) Or how about this four-game stretch in February: 15/21/6 against the Bulls, 16/15/5 against New Orleans, 12 and 19 across from Kevin Garnett and 16/16 versus the Sixers. That's 15 points and 18 rebounds a game for four games. If any player in the league is going to drop an epic 20/20/10 game on us this decade, it would be Emeka.
The intrigue doesn't end there. Walter Herrmann's sharp .564 effective field goal percentage on jumpers is only more awesome by the observation 93% of his jumpers were assisted. (And never mind he shot .677 with less than three seconds left on the shot clock.) Raymond Felton's top comparable at his age is Kenny Anderson! Sam Vincent's the only NBA head coach with a bronze medal from Nigeria! Silky Jason Richardson's in town! This team could either be the most slept on 40-win team ever, or the most exciting 30-win team ever. Well worth the price of League Pass. At the very least, it's a team whose box score must be checked every morning, just to find out what kind of craziness occurred.
Other Entities Likely to Entertain: The Jazz.
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