NBA: Playoffs are Bobcats' key to this city

You could tell it was going to be a good night for the home team. When the Charlotte Bobcats greet fans before the game, the players are outnumbered.
Fan Appreciation Night always is a nice touch. The fans who walk into NBA Charlotte Bobcats Arena for the team's last game of the season Wednesday are handed a T-shirt, and the fans who show up early are handed that T-shirt from a player.
The players also offer an autograph or a handshake, a what's up or a nod. A very good steel drum band offers very good steel drum music and coach and general manager Bernie Bickerstaff offers a warm thank you.
Bickerstaff picks up a microphone at courtside before tip-off and tells fans, "We want to prove worthy of you."
But it's not about being worthy. It's about convincing a city to care. And after two seasons in town, one in the new building, the Bobcats have yet to do that.
This doesn't mean Charlotte is a bad sports town or the Bobcats are a bad organization. The organization has begun to figure out Charlotte and the team is better than those of us who follow the NBA expected.