By JEFF MEZYDLO
STATS Senior Writer
January 10, 2011
In the opinion of at least one Charlotte Bobcats player, bringing in Paul Silas and his up-tempo offensive system was exactly what was needed to inject some life into the once-disgruntled club.
The Bobcats look to continue their success under the interim coach while trying for a fourth straight home win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night.
Charlotte (13-21) averaged 91.8 points while going 9-19 under Larry Brown as players continued to resist his slowdown system.
"It's kind of like losing a team. Nobody wanted to play no more," opinionated leading scorer Stephen Jackson said. "Everybody wanted to play a different style than we were playing. We didn't agree with what was going on. Obviously, it wasn't working, so we needed a change."
With Silas, the Bobcats have averaged 99.2 points while winning four of six.
"You can't blame Coach Brown because we have to play the games," said Jackson, who is averaging 25.2 points under Silas after scoring 17.3 per game while Brown was coach. "But at the end of the day, when you make a change like that it has the domino effect of getting everybody up and loving the game. It's definitely worked so far."
Jackson had 21 points with 10 rebounds, D.J. Augustin scored 20 with nine assists and Gerald Henderson added 19 points with nine rebounds in Saturday's 104-89 win over Washington.
Augustin is averaging 19.8 points with Silas at the helm - nearly six more than his season average.
Henderson, a second-year guard who never cracked Brown's rotation and missed 14 games with a sore knee, is getting a chance while Gerald Wallace has missed eight of the last 10 games with an ankle injury.
"We're younger and we have to play a little faster," Jackson said. "The makeup of the team is different and I think now with Paul as coach the young guys have more confidence to go out there and play basketball."
With Wallace and starting center Nazr Mohammed (bruised knee) each expected to miss a fourth straight game, the Bobcats will try to avenge a 113-80 loss at Memphis in one of Brown's last games Dec. 15.
Jackson had 16 points as the Bobcats shot 41.2 percent and committed 20 turnovers.
Memphis (17-20) shot 52.4 percent in that contest to snap a four-game overall skid against the Bobcats. The Grizzlies have shot 42.3 percent and averaged 86.7 points while losing three in a row in Charlotte.
Zach Randolph, who had 19 points and nine rebounds against the Bobcats last month, is averaging 27.8 points and 14.0 boards over his last six games. The veteran forward had 27 and 16 in a 109-100 loss at Oklahoma City on Saturday.
"Zach Randolph is a monster down there," Thunder star Kevin Durant said. "He's an All-Star, so you know he's going to make tough shots."
While Randolph made 12 of 21 field-goal attempts, the rest of the Grizzlies shot 38.9 percent, including 1 of 15 from 3-point range.
"You can correct stuff like that," guard Mike Conley told the Grizzlies' official website. "We will watch some film and correct some of those things. We will be ready for our next game."
Memphis' Rudy Gay has averaged 25.5 points on 56.5 percent shooting in his last four games. He scored 23 against the Bobcats in December.
