New Bobcats Coach Paul Silas aiming high
The Charlotte Bobcats made Silas sweat in his socks as they just managed to squeak out a 105-100 win against the Detroit Pistons in his first outing on the bench for more than five years.
Silas who has marshalled the Los Angeles Clippers, Charlotte Hornets and Cavaliers in a career spanning over 10 years had been living in the Charlotte area, guiding his neighbour coach’s 13 and 14-year-old kids when owner Michael Jordan called last week.
Calling it a dream come true and coming across a rousing reception in his first game in-charge, things appear to have started well for the new interim coach. However, taking over the reins of a struggling 9-19 team that lost its drive under the legendary
Larry Brown and has lost six of its last seven games, including three encounters by margins of 30 points or more this month alone, will not be an easy job. But Silas has been in this situation before.
It was the same city having a team with a different name in 1999, which Silas took over nearly in the same situation and things worked out pretty well then.
"I've been through this. I know what it's about," Silas said, casting an eye on the similarities between now and then. "I know how to do it."
Owner and majority share holder of the Bobcats, Michael Jordan recently ended the 67-year-old Silas' five-year retirement when he convinced him to take over the charge from a coach, whose frustrations had boiled over the listless display of his team.
"It was not a good atmosphere when I came," Silas said.
However, out of the NBA colours for nearly five years, Silas had a lot of catching up to do. After being fired by Cleveland in 2005, Silas had been living in his dream home on Lake Norman north of Charlotte and his first job was to find some assisting staff.
He didn’t have to go far, as he snatched his son from the Golden State staff to make a head start. On field, the first change he made was to bid adieu to the stagnant offensive strategy of his predecessor as he introduced a more up-tempo ‘run and have fun’
style.
The results were immediate and came in the form of high scoring victory over the Pistons.
The players also seem to be more comfortable. After ace guard Stephen Jackson expressed his confidence rather vehemently earlier in the week, forward Gerard Wallace joined the chorus on Monday night.
"I think it's more relaxed, more laid back," said forward Gerald Wallace who sat out his fifth straight game with an ankle injury. "Guys are more comfortable. Guys are smiling more. I don't think it's the down mode anymore. I think guys were kind of down.
It just felt like things couldn't get better."
Silas may have enjoyed the first taste of victory in his debut with the Bobcats. But, deep inside he knows that it is the attitude and the intensity level of the players, rather than removing minor tactical kinks here and there that will be paramount ultimately.
And the 67-year old coach knows there is no easy fix to getting the Bobcats back into the reckoning for the Eastern Conference play-off race.
"Anytime you have a losing record the way we had then and now, you have to build up the players' confidence level, energy level and give them some freedom," Silas said. "Now they're free to say things. I asked them questions about the game. What did they
think? To me, that's the whole key because you get them thinking."
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