|Josh McRoberts, PF Shot Chart 37 MIN | 2-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 11 REB | 4 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 5 PTS | +9
Since his arrival in Charlotte last season, I’ve been one of the biggest supporters of Josh McRoberts because of how he can impact the team on both sides of the ball. Tonight’s game was not one of his better nights as he struggled to make an impact on the offensive end. Defensively is an uglier story as Jason Thompson made McRoberts look like a DII player as he controlled the paint and perimeter.
|Al Jefferson, C Shot Chart 39 MIN | 11-21 FG | 5-7 FT | 9 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 27 PTS | +3
On his 29th birthday, Al Jefferson had a fantastic offensive performance as he was matched up against the infamous but yet extremely talented DeMarcus Cousins. As the majority of Charlotte’s possessions were directed towards Jefferson simply because of how effective he was in the low post. Even when the Kings started to double team in the early portions of the 4th quarter, Jefferson was able to spread the court through a slew of mid-range jumpers. While his foe had a pretty solid night (26 points and 11 rebounds), Cousins was pretty inefficient which was mainly because of how Jefferson was able to utilized his big frame on the very athletic youngster.
|Kemba Walker, PG Shot Chart 36 MIN | 12-19 FG | 2-3 FT | 4 REB | 6 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 30 PTS | +21
After being on a bitter cold stretch since Christmas, Kemba Walker had a phenomenal offensive performance against Sacramento. While his overall numbers are extremely impressive, the way that Walker was able to control the offense during the coldest of stretches were one of the biggest keys to the team’s victory. One of the main reasons why I don’t have Kemba in the A category was because of how he was unable to contain Isaiah Thomas who was able to move past Walker for the majority of the night.
|Chris Douglas-Roberts, SG Shot Chart 35 MIN | 4-9 FG | 1-2 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | +4
In his first NBA start since the 2010-11 season, Douglas-Roberts definitely had an up-and-down performance. The majority of his offensive production came in the 1st quarter as he was able to penetrate his way to the rim and nail a few perimeter jumpers. While he kind of slowed down as the game went on, Douglas-Roberts still looked solid on the defensive end against a variety of different opponents.
|Gerald Henderson, SG Shot Chart 35 MIN | 7-13 FG | 1-2 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 16 PTS | +5
The mid-range messiah continued to showcase that ability as he was an efficient scoring threat for the entire night.
|Anthony Tolliver, PF Shot Chart 16 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 6 PTS | -3
With Steve Clifford pushing Jeff Adrien to the inactive list, Anthony Tolliver has taken the reigns as my favorite frontcourt player that comes off Charlotte’s bench. Being an effective perimeter scorer definitely helps but his high energy approach to the defensive end is crucial since he’s fulfilled that role as the team’s main front-court defensive stopper.
|Cody Zeller, C Shot Chart 11 MIN | 2-2 FG | 2-3 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | +1
While his defense is still a work in progress, Zeller appears to be starting to understand the basic ebbs and flows of an NBA offense. From working his way around the basket, being able to draw fouls and setting nice screens for the likes of Henderson and Walker, Zeller is starting to understand the overall pace of the NBA.
|Bismack Biyombo, C Shot Chart 9 MIN | 0-1 FG | 1-2 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 1 PTS | +7
The worst thing that an NBA bench player could possibly be is non-existent. That non-existent nature becomes worse when that player’s only impact on the game is by being in foul trouble and you pretty much have Biyombo’s “performance” against Sacramento
|Ramon Sessions, PG Shot Chart 22 MIN | 5-9 FG | 2-4 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 12 PTS | +3
This was your basic and ordinary Ramon Sessions performance. Is that a horrible thing? Absolutely not because he’s still a pretty dependable scoring threat on a night-by-night basis.
While Charlotte was able to come out of this game with a victory, I still have a small issue with how Clifford controlled the game during the majority of the 2nd half. When the Bobcats were in a rut, Clifford didn’t do much about it in terms of overall adjustments.
One Thing We Saw
- While they limped their way towards victory, it’s still good to see Charlotte being able to end their tough road stretch with a victory before heading back home on Tuesday to face Washington.