Captain Jack Says The Bobcats Shut Him Down

The biggest deal of the NBA offseason so far has been the draft day deal that sent Stephen Jackson  from Charlotte to Milwaukee. That nay be the biggest for a while since the NBA will be heading for a lockout.

The question I asked myself when this trade was made was, why does Jackson keep getting traded to these middling teams? Nothing against the Bucks, but they aren't going to win a title or contend for one anytime soon.  

Jackson doesn't seem fazed by getting traded to Milwaukee. He says he's surprised by the city and had some words, not hateful, for the Bobcats.

"The only perception that I've had from other teams is coming to a boring city," Jackson said. "That's what they always say. But since I've been here, the weather's been great. I didn't expect the weather to be so great. When I come, there's snow everywhere."

I have a friend who visited Milwaukee and he said it wasn't that bad, so Jackson may want to explore what they have to offer.

As far as the trade, I feel the Bobcats could've gotten more for Jackson. But he's not bitter or holding any grudges. He just feels that they could've made a playoff push last season, but they decided to shut him down and go in a different direction.

"I didn't want to be on a team where they're going younger and they want to win three years from now," Jackson said. "I'll be at the end of my career. So winning now is important to me, and this is a great place to win now."

"The last 10 games, I could have played," Jackson said. "But they shut me down. The team shut me down. So I kind of assumed they didn't want to make the playoffs."


I do like Jackson as a player, but he's not a difference maker. He seems supremely confident in his abilities, which is the confidence you need to play in the NBA. He feels that he can be the player that can make the Bucks a contender in the Eastern Conference.

"I know what I can bring to this team, and I know what it takes to get to the playoffs," Jackson said.

"For us to win, we have to be all on the same page," Jackson said. "And I'm pretty sure that coach is going to give me the room to police all that. If guys don't want to play, you need to let us know that, because you're not going to be a part of us. And I'm going to make that known."


The Bucks could be scary if they're healthy, I'll say that much. But the unknown dynamic is whether Jackson and coach Scott Skiles will be able to get along. 










 







   

Charles Oakley Sues Vegas Resort

Ex NBA tough guy and current Charlotte Bobcats assistant Charles Oakley, is suing a Las Vegas resort after suffering a beat down back in May 2010. Oakley described it as a "gang style beatdown" by security at the Aria hotel-casino at MGM Resorts International's CityCenter complex.

Obviously this was far from the Tyrone Hill incident.

Oakley was an invited guest for a May 28 event in Aria's VIP pool area. When he left and attempted to come back security refused Oakley re-entry.

After a "verbal altercation" with officers, Oakley attempted to return to his room when he was "assaulted" by them in a secluded area of the resort, the lawsuit alleges. The complaint says that the officers wrestled him to the ground and punched and handcuffed him.

Message to the security department of said resort: It's not that serious.

Oakley was taken to the hospital with injuries to his neck, back, and wrist and says that the injuries "may be permanent and disabling."

I wasn't there and didn't know what words were exchanged, but this could've been handled a whole lot better than what is being alleged. If what Oakley says is true, the Oak Man stands to receive a nice check for the damages.

 


  

MJ Goes On The Defensive

No one is handing out any gold medals to Michael Jordan for running an NBA franchise. There was his draft pics of Kwame Brown in Washington and Adam Morrison in Charlotte. His trades have also been questioned in the past, remember the Jerry Stackhouse for Richard Hamilton trade?  The track record isn't sterling.

With the trade deadline now done and over, Jordan mad a few deals and is being questioned about the trade that sent Gerald Wallace to the Portland Trailblazers for Dante Cunningham, Sean Marks, and Joel Pryzbilla. Jordan says he loves the trade and speaks on the financial flexibility it gives the Bobcats. I can see where he's coming from since the Bobcats did get a first round pick out of the deal, which now seems like gold. I just don't like the deal. I just think they could've gotten more out of the deal.

The Bobcats aren't getting a high or even a mid round pick so it'll be like getting an additional second rounder. Secondly, I don't like the players they got in return. Jordan is looking towards building for the future, but if I'm a hardcore Bobcats fan do I trust him to build a team. I wouldn't trust him. But I'm not the one making the deals.

Jordan likes the way the team looks for future manueverability. He says he doesn't want to be the eighth seed. At least he has ambition. He feels with the moves they made, the Bobcats can be a force in the East. I don't think that's gonna happen soon because you need a marquee player or two and I don't see Charlotte getting any of those soon. I also don't think players want to be in the owner's shadow and sitting on the sidelines in their ear game after game. I'll give Jordan credit for believing he can build a winner in Charlotte.   

Jordan Tabs Oakley For Assistant Job

After Larry Brown "resigned" from the head coaching job with the Charlotte Bobcats, it seemed that it might take a while for someone to take over that shipwreck. When Brown resigned the rest of the staff took off with him. The only person that really wanted the job was Paul Silas, and he got it. He had to round out his coaching staff and owner Michael Jordan helped him out by giving Charles Oakley a job as an assistant coach.

You remember Oakley, Jordan's chief enforcer/protector when they were both in Chicago. He also was instrumental in bringing him to Washington in his final comeback. He became a partying buddy of his as well. Now he'll be keeping the players in line from the bench. First golfing buddy and former Bulls teammate Rod Higgins gets a GM job and now this. What's next Charlie Sheen as the team advisor? This hiring has a whiff of nepotism to it if I ever saw one. Now I would never tell Oak face to face that he doesn't have the credentials for an assistant coaching job. But when you think about it, does he? Hey who knows, he probably could still whip some of those young bucks. I'd still take Oakley over crazy Captain Jack. And he was a good rebounder and defender, so he might can teach the bigs a few things on positioning and rebounding.

It could work, but I think it might not. This is just based on Jordan's executive track record. Don't let Oakley interact with the media too much. He's tough and old school and brings something the Bobcats have lacked. Toughness.