Bobcats vs. Thunder: Pregame Primer

vs.

Charlotte Bobcats (7-5, 2-2 road) vs. OKC Thunder (10-4, 6-2 home)

TV: FS OK (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 754)
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 7:00 CT

Offensive Rating: Thunder – 110.4 (3rd), Bobcats– 101.3 (25th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 104.5 (18th), Bobcats – 103.8 (16th)
Pace: Thunder – 92.6 (12th), Bobcats – 93.5 (6thth)

View from the enemy: Queen City Hoops

I’m kind of excited for this one. A spunky young team coming to OKC. A Bobcats group that has won as many games in 12 tries as it did all of last season. They don’t have marquee names, but they play hard, play together and figure out ways to keep it close in the fourth. It’s becoming pretty obvious that if you overlook the Cats, they’ll burn you.

Clearly with Rich Cho running things, the Bobcats are looking to replicate the Thunder’s way of building a young roster that grows together. They’re stockpiling talent and trying to develop it from within. And they play hard under coach Mike Dunlap. In a lot of ways, they remind me of the Thunder from five years ago.

Charlotte coming in: The Bobcats beat the Wizards in double-overtime on Saturday.

Three Big Things:

1. Turning. The Thunder are prone to give it away in bunches and if they get careless, the Bobcats could make up the offensive difference by simply have more possessions and more shot attempts. They don’t have the firepower to beat OKC in a shootout. But they can hang tight if the Thunder help them.

2. The Byron Mullens lightshow. How many 3s will Mullens shoot tonight? Five? Eight? Fifty?

3. Kevin Martin. He really needs to get involved tonight. Two games under 10 points isn’t good, but three games is worse. Science.

Tip at 7:00 CT. Go Old Thunder.