I didn't see a minute of the Charlotte Bobcats' 22-point loss to Indiana Saturday as I was too busy flicking around between the NFL playoffs and college basketball and honestly forgot it was on.
But by happenstance, I did catch most of Paul Silas's televised postgame news conference. And I was stunned at how sad or angry or annoyed or a combination of the three he was.
Silas, as Rick Bonnell notes in this game story, doesn't think the Bobcats were tough enough Saturday. He pointed to the way Tyler Hansbrough and others banged the Bobcats around in the second half. He declined comment when asked to expand on Boris Diaw, who has been very inconsistent for the past week and had terrible numbers Saturday.
He looked nothing like the Silas we usually see -- cheerful, always looking for silver lining.
This was a different Silas, and it says to me the coach must think something is really wrong with the Bobcats and better get fixed quick.
Silas and I live fairly near each other, and when he was a retired NBA coach there for a few years he did some assistant coaching on a volunteer basis at a recreational Optimist basketball league. I coach in the exact same league now. It's a blast, win or lose -- kids sprinting up and down the court, skidding after loose balls, playing with total effort.
Now I know Silas gets paid very well for what he does now, and he does a very good job with what he has with the Bobcats. But for a day anyway, I think after watching his downbeat press conference Saturday, Silas would agree that I had a lot more fun coaching Saturday than he did -- and I bet he would have gladly traded places.
We're moving!
9 years ago
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8 comments:
Of COURSE there's something wrong with the Bobcats! They're paying for the mistakes Larry Brown convinced Jordan to make in trading long-term, affordable assets for mediocre, expensive, tapped-out veterans so we could earn the right for that stomping we got from Orlando in the playoffs. That was sure to secure the team fans and interest, right? Yeah, not if you saw 60% of the two-thirds full arena leave as soon as regulation ended in a tie against Atlanta. This team is years away, and the crazy part is, that's only true because Jordan chose to depart from the smart path Bernie Bickerstaff had this team was on to be competitive eventually, only to revisit it now. Ugh. What a trainwreck this franchise is.
I guess I would be down myself if I coached in a league that is Becoming more and more irrelevant. I am sure the coaches in Major League Soccer don't get down about their situation because they accept that not many people care. As to Silas, maye if he figures out that nobody cares if the Bobcats are terrible, it won't bother him as much.
Procton post is spot-on! Bickerstaff was headed in the right direction until derailed and cast aside by Jordan --- shameful. Hopefully lesson learned.
The lesson was learned, painfully, and now the cats are in re-building mode. The lineup change I think had something to do with it last night. That and Diaw taking the night off. We've seen glimpses of what these guys are capable of and that's encouraging. Silas knows that when this team gives 100% effort they are capable of competing with most teams in the league.
And Procton is dead wrong about the fans at TWC as usual. The crowds have been great and quite enthusiastic.
How can a well-paid (9 million?) part-time employee like Doris not show up????
Until we get a dominate big man on the team we will continue to lose year after year. I understand that Charlotte isn't a huge market for upper tier players such as Dwight Howard but we should go after someone worthwhile.
You are a sports reporter in Charlotte and you forgot that one of the two professional sports teams in town was on tv?
You are being paid way too much if Charlotte Observer pay puts in Silas 'hood. All you do is speculate and write/blog.
What's a blog. Just inane thoughts while driving down to the grocery store for ....?
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