01-06-2007, 07:54 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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-PREMIUM MEMBER-
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: North Carolina
Age: 18
Posts: 3,167
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Bobcats find an unexpected go-to guy
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He wasn't drafted. Four NBA teams tried him out, let him play for a short while and fired him. The Charlotte Bobcats basically found him by mistake.
Yet Matt Carroll is thriving. In the Bobcats' past three games, the genial backup shooting guard has averaged 22.7 points. And don't ever have a free-throw shooting contest with him. Carroll has made his past 37 and leads the NBA at 96.2 percent. He also ranks among the best stories of this Bobcats season.
"It's amazing, but lately Matt has actually been the guy we look for down the stretch," coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. "He'll pull the trigger -- no hesitation."
Carroll wasn't sure how much playing time he would get this season. When Charlotte drafted rookie Adam Morrison this summer, he started hearing doubters from all directions.
Said Carroll: "Other people were saying to me, `They got somebody just like you.' It's a stereotype. They look at Adam and see a white guy that can shoot. They look at me and see a white guy that can shoot."
To Carroll, though, the two are different types of scorers.
"I do a lot more spot-up shooting," he said. "Adam is taking those little baby steps and doing his moves off the dribble."
At 26, Carroll is old enough that he played his freshman season at Notre Dame under Matt Doherty. He's young enough that he was a freshman at one high school in Pennsylvania when Kobe Bryant was a senior at another (Carroll would eventually challenge many of Bryant's high school records).
His solid career at Notre Dame was only enough to get him an NBA tryout. First, the New York Knicks cut him. Then came stints in Portland, San Antonio and Golden State. He went to the NBA's developmental league, playing for the Roanoke Dazzle.
That's where Bickerstaff found Carroll -- by mistake. A couple of years ago, Bickerstaff needed a point guard (doesn't he always?). He drove to a D-League game to scout Cory Alexander.
"There was Matt, lighting it up," Bickerstaff said.
The Bobcats would eventually sign Alexander and Carroll in early 2005. Carroll has lasted longer here.
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Bobcats find an unexpected go-to guy
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