Playoff Prediction: Heat over Bobcats in 5

Update 4.24.14 -- My initial thinking was the Bobcats would play hard and steal one (probably game 3) but wouldn't have enough depth to hang for long with the Heat.  I thought the Heat would be gearing up to playoff mode and see the Bobcats as the perfect tune-up for tougher challenges.  Big Al hurt his foot (plantar fasciitis) in the first half of the first game and though he gave good effort in game two (19 points, 14 boards in 40 mins), without a fully functioning Big Al the Bobcats don't really even have a chance to win the one game I thought they could.  The Bobcats are the perfect first round opponent for the Heat: they play hard, you gotta get your game on to win, but they don't have enough talent to challenge deep into the 4th quarter.  The Heat are up 2-0, I think they'll go ahead and wrap it up in Charlotte, get a coupla days off before round two.  I'm not really changing my tune, just amending to point out that without Jefferson, there's not even a glimmer of a chance of a hope of a dream of maybe winning a game.  Kemba's gotta put up like 30 shots a night--and get hot--and get to the foul line--and he's gotta do it all again tomorrow night.  Nah, that ain't happening.  I think the Heat takes this in 4.

Bobcats: Michael Jordan's strategy as GM (seems to me) is that old school mindset of grinding it out in the playoffs, learning how to win games by getting deeper into the post-season, going up against the best year after year.  Most people say a mediocre collection of young talent like the Bobcats would be better off tanking games and getting into the lottery.  But Jordan probably thinks if he's gotta wait for the #4 pick to save his career, then he'd rather play golf year round.  Jordan is developing his own skills as an evaluater of talent, as a team builder, and where he wants to succeed is in the playoffs not the lottery.  The Bobcats 1-12 have a lot of nice players.  And that's nice.  But in the NBA they ain't gonna win too many games or a playoff series.  You gotta have a bedrock star and the Bobcats don't have it. Kemba Walker is a nice filler-upper but not a great one, MKG is a solid young defender but not a great scorer (not a great accumulator of the stats that nerds like me want to see), Zeller has good but not great potential, I like what I see from McRoberts, Douglas-Roberts. Henderson (they could all win rings in Popovich's world) and it feels like the coach is squeezing what he can from this crew; I love Big Al Jefferson, a Renaissance season this year, but he's not their bedrock star of the future just a quality number hanger for the next coupla years.  If I'm the GM of this team I'm pleased to get blasted by Lebron in the first round because now I know I can bring in another free agent, mix up the locker room a little bit, coax another healthy year out of Big Al and the Bobcats might finish 3rd or 4th in a crappy Eastern Conference next year.*  They go into the playoffs next year with home court and some expectations, that's how you make Kemba a star, that's how Big Al finally gets his due, that's how MKG wins Def POY, that's when you start peeling off role players and bring in a guy like Rondo or Zeebo or Pau Gasol (hmmmm....Evan Turner?) to give the squad some gravitas. Playoffs, man, f*** the lottery.

*(Bobcats 3rd next year in the East?  Sure, why not: the Raptors probably won't be as good next year, the Nets will be a different team, the Knicks, Bucks, Celtics, Sixers will still suck, not sure what to expect out of the Pistons or the Bulls or even the Pacers; the Heat will be one of the two best teams guaranteed, the Wizards are coming, the Hawks might be better next year, Cavs and Magic are possible to take off next year.  If the Bobcats get one nice free agent pickup, one or two pieces shuffled in/out, they might look like a playoff-hardened squad ready to take the next step.  Very possible)