Who’s the Man?
Gerald Wallace, Dime #39The ‘Cats need an Alpha Dog. While today’s re-signing of Emeka Okafor keeps the Charlotte Bobcats (presumably) on track to becoming a playoff team, it also further clouds the picture in regards to one question: Whose team is this?
It’s been established that every NBA squad, no matter how much talent is on the roster, needs one guy who can be looked upon to step up and be “The Man,” to represent as the face of the franchise on and off the court. For the Celtics, that man ended up being Paul Pierce. For the Pistons, Chauncey Billups. And it doesn’t always have to be a guy who scores 20 points a night. Steve Nash is the unquestioned leader of the Suns. Jason Kidd was The Man in New Jersey prior to last year’s trade, despite Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson making more noise on the scoreboard. Ben Wallace was The Man in Detroit during the height of their run.
For the Bobcats and new coach Larry Brown, they’re still looking for that identity. Jason Richardson was the team’s top scorer last season (7th in the NBA in field goals attempted, 1st in threes made and attempted) and its highest-paid player, but Okafor’s new deal puts him just a couple SUV’s behind J-Rich on the pay scale. Gerald Wallace is arguably the team’s lynchpin on defense and its best all-around talent. Even Ray Felton could be The Man if he keeps doing his best Chris Paul impersonation. All of the aforementioned four have talent, but none of them have been an All-Star and none have clear-cut been The Man before on a winning team, not even in college. (Okafor shared the UConn spotlight with Ben Gordon, J-Rich led along with Zach Randolph at Michigan State, Felton was part of a trio at UNC with Rashad McCants and Sean May, and Wallace didn’t even start at Alabama.)
Charlotte isn’t the only team looking for that definite leader, either.
The Nuggets still haven’t figured out if their top guy is Allen Iverson or Carmelo Anthony. The post-Baron Warriors have yet to see if their Alpha is Stephen Jackson or Monta Ellis (Corey Maggette will jack up enough shots to put in a solid bid, too). After Randy Foye came back from his knee injury late last season, he and Al Jefferson seemed to have some issues deciding who was The Man in Minnesota. Watch for how the Rudy Gay/O.J. Mayo dynamic plays out in Memphis. And is it gonna be Elton Brand or Andre Iguodala in Philly? Deron Williams or Carlos Boozer in Utah? Then, of course, there’s the Knicks.
Looking at the Bobcats and the rest of those teams, who should be — or already is, in your opinion — The Man?
July 29th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
daquest?on says:
allen iverson should be the man in denver, but the problem is that when he came to denver he said the nuggets were carmelo’s team, but carmelo cant be the man there with all his immaturity and his off court issues so its a delicate situation in denver
July 29th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
daquest?on says:
gerald wallace is the man in charlotte, and its a shame the bobcats are giving up on ray because he that deron, paul talent. i dont want to know who is the man at golden state because of sjack is crazy , monta is too young and magette does not look like captain material. Al jefferson is the man in minnesota. Gay is the man in memphis because oj mayo is just a rookie. for the sixers to win and mature, brand needs to be the man and its obvious the man in utah is deron. Its sad to see AK47 because a few years ago he was THE MAN in utah and now hes like the 4th best player there
July 29th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
daquest?on says:
ray has that deron, paul talent*
July 29th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
doc says:
Bobcats dont got one yet.Larry Brown will decide who the man is.Melo should be the man in Denver.S-Jack is the man in GS.Al Jeff in Sota.Mayo in Memphis.Elton in Philly and D-Will in Utah.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
AB_40 says:
andre miller is the leader of the team in philly.
And with utah deron williams is the alpha dog when it’s close and seconds are ticking down cuz you don’t play clear out for a 4 with questinable handling the rest of the game booz is the no.1 option in the offense. Andrei needs a trade badly a fresh start. maybe the cavs? LeBron would love him on the 4 trust me.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
hahns says:
the mans gotta be jrich. hes a veteran whos been to the playoffs and is the one who should get the ball in crunch time.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Michorizo says:
The man has to be Larry Brown. And if any Bobcats have a problem with that, Larry will “STEPHON THEIR ASS”.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Bruce says:
Not this fool, foul his ass and place him on the line…….The Man can’t make his free throws
July 29th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
MoxWestCoastRep says:
Big Al is the man in minny.
Monta in GS
And I’d say D-will in Utah.
Don’t know or care about the rest
July 29th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
V says:
daquest?on you took the words right out my mouth
July 29th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Luigi says:
i think Foye is straight up the man. bkuz the man shud be able to take the last shot n have swagger. S-jax is the man in GS n Deron is the man in Utah.
BUT FOR MEMPHIS? wow. itl probly be rudy gay but in the middle of the yr. Mayo shud have enough swag to take the last shot haha
my wiz Main man is Zero. NOT CARON but i like caron ALOTTTT haha
July 29th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
kobeef says:
BREAKING NEWS
Deng signs 6 year $70million dollar deal to stay with Bulls. No word on Ben Gordon……
July 29th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
kobeef says:
one more time with feeling…BREAKING NEWS
Ron Artest traded to the Rockets for BJax and Donte Greene
July 29th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
dagwaller says:
Jeez. Beat me to it. Double jeez though. Rockets are going to be WAY interesting this year.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Amar says:
Deron Williams is the face of the franchise.
http://allthatjazzbasketball.blogspot.com/2008/07/face-of-franchie.html
heck, he got CJ Miles’ deal matched just because CJ is like his younger brother. you see any other duke guys on the jazz? nope . .
July 29th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
tbeezy says:
Artest was just traded to the Rockets. Who’s the man there?
July 29th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
weezy f says:
whats the dime equivalent in baseball or football..do they even have one?
July 29th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
What is this!? says:
I’m still confused on the Okafur signing, but anyhow…does Charlotte even have an alpha dogg player to be “the man”? That still remains to be seen…
As far as the Nuggets are concerned, they only have 1 ‘alpha dog’ player and its Iverson. I still am awaiting the joyful news of him getting traded to a real contender though…therefor sweet Melo can have that team all to himself again. Good luck with that Melo!! But they are both the face of that team so…
I’m thinking the Warriors “man” would be Stephen Jackson.
The Sixers don’t really have an alpha dog player anymore (thats something they DID lose in the Iverson deal). Elton Brand is a solid guy but has never really been that “guy” its not in his personality and neither is it in Iggy’s.
I think Both D-Will and Boozer are the face of that Jazz team.. Boozer is the one that represents them during the All-Star games and he has the ability to take over as well. I think they work real well together.
And Wow @ the Ron Artest trade..thats bananas!!!! Good move for the Rockets.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Jim says:
Artest has been traded to the Rockets and this is Dime’s lead story? Man y’all are slippin’…
July 29th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
weezy f says:
i dont think artest got traded… it woulda been all over the sacto news stations but theres nothing
July 29th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
TruthIsTold says:
Dime, wake up ! Artest just got traded to the Rockets
July 29th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
AY says:
what happens to battier?
July 29th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
heavy d says:
Who is Boozer going to throw a bone to? Battier is in Houston. Dunleavy is in Indiana. Jay Williams got hurt. Chris Duhon is in New York. Nate James is now an assistant at Duke. It really only leaves Chris Carrawell as a possibility from guys who played with Boozer. I mean he could ask for them to bring in Shavlik Randolph or DeMarcus Nelson, but the connection those many years apart would be much less.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
weezy f says:
i stand corrected
July 29th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
shin0 says:
perhaps Jordan is the man of the Bobcats?
July 30th, 2008 at 2:15 am
A-Slam says:
Al Thornton is the future of the clippers
July 30th, 2008 at 10:33 am
B-Easy says:
Knicks should start trading for a legit leader(If not trade,waive Marbury)..No one deserves to be called “The Man” in charlotte..No offense.Brand will be the man for Philly since He’s a legit All-Star and a Veteran.Deron’s obviously the leader of his Team.Beasley and Wade is gonna be a sick duo!
July 31st, 2008 at 1:17 pm
MSkittle says:
I can’t believe Dime is asking this question! You’re better than that!
Anybody who has ever played the game knows that it doesn’t matter whose team it is. That question is more for the media. Everyone has a role out there on the court.
Pierce is the man over KG in Boston? Why cant there be more than 1 man?