Larry Brown out as Bobcat coach, Paul Silas in. And another confirmation that good basketball demands chemistry.
Raymond Felton had the moral authority as the Bobcats’ dirty work guy to keep Stephen Jackson’s ego in check. Without Felton as a buffer and enforcer, Brown was powerless to get his “right way” brand of ball executed on the floor. Gerald Wallace, while a freakish athlete who plays extremely hard, simply plays up or down to the whims of his stronger willed teammates.
Although he denies it, Brown showed the seeds of Felton’s departure with his infatuation with D.J. Augustin, who showed flashes of being the flashy, dynamic PG that Brown prefers to lunch-pail guys like Felton. Or rather prefers sometimes, Brown being notoriously fickle and wanting all available options on his bench. In case.
But Michael Jordan was not about to write a blank check to Brown or anyone else. So Felton is now a Knick (18 ppg, 9 ast, 2 stl) after the Bobcats essentially dumped salary in a nearly Richardsonian manner. Sometimes you do get what you pay for, Mike.
Bonus Observation: If local Charlotte media thought that getting access to MJ was hard before, wait to til long-time Jordan enforcer Charles Oakley is on the scene. Oak will ostensibly be Silas’ “lead assistant,” but make no mistake — Oak will speak for MJ to the team. Call him the Mouth of MJ. The amount of whining from local reporters about the lack of access to GM Rod Higgins and MJ after Brown’s departure was bush league. Maybe if local outlets dared to report on which players live at strip club buffets during the season, they’d get more respect from the team.
