This just isn't a Larry Brown team. Not yet, anyway.
Brown likes teams that think drive over jump shot, think pass over shoot, think defense and rebounding first and score the ball second. Like it or not, Brown inherited a Bobcats roster full of jump shooters. Either he'll change the players' approach to the game or he'll lobby the front office to change the players.
That's not to say Brown dislikes his players. He's actually quite impressed with them as people; good guys who work so hard Brown cancelled the second segment of two-a-days three times during training camp. They want to be coached, want to absorb what he knows as the only coach to lead teams to the NCAA and NBA championships.
The problem is too many of these guys do the same thing. Jason Richardson, Matt Carroll, Adam Morrison, D.J. Augustin, Raymond Felton and Sean May all fancy themselves as jump shooters. Brown says he's never been so blessed with shooters. But too much of anything is a problem, particularly when that strength goes against what Brown thinks wins games.
Brown is adamant that driving to the rim creates advantages both obvious and subtle. It improves shooting percentage, it creates free throws, it fouls out the opponents' big men and minimizes the opponents' fast breaks (long rebounds equal breakout lay-ups at the other end).
The tipping point in all this might be Richardson. A two-time dunk-contest winner, Richardson obviously has the ups to get to the rim. However, he led the NBA in threes last season (243, fourth-most in NBA history), so he's spending plenty of time outside the arc.
Brown has told Richardson teams are sure to guard him jump shot first, so there's every opportunity to get to the rim and improve this team's odds of reaching the playoffs.
COACHING STAFF: Head coach -- Larry Brown, 24th season overall, first with Bobcats. (1,010-800). Assistants -- Herb Brown, Jeff Capel, Phil Ford, Dave Hanners, LaSalle Thompson.
LAST SEASON, REMEMBERED: 32-50 (4th in the Southeast Division), costing rookie coach Sam Vincent his job after a single season in Charlotte.
THIS SEASON, PREDICTED: 38-44 (4th in Southeast Division). Brown will make this team better defensively and shape up the ballhandling and foul shooting. But the inexperience will get them in a conference where Chicago, Milwaukee and Miami all improved. POSSIBLE CHANGES, PREDICTED: Brown is lobbying management for another veteran big man and a big combo guard (think Aaron McKie in Brown's 76ers run). It wouldn't be shocking if they traded one of the jump shooters to fill another need.
