Bobcats face long road back to NBA relevance

The Bobcats were a woeful 7-59 (.106) and it's hard to imagine them being any worse.

Charlotte lost 20 games by 20 or more points under former head coach Paul Silas and finished the season with 23 straight losses, ironically the same number that once defined greatness and championships for Jordan the player.

The Bobcats were so non-competitive down the stretch last season that opposing teams regularly left their star players at home to rest when coming to Charlotte, knowing they wouldn't need their services to win. In fact, the Boston Celtics left their entire "Big Three" back in Beantown and still won.

Although Charlotte had by far the worst record in the league last year, they didn't land the No. 1 overall pick, losing out on the Anthony Davis sweepstakes to the New Orleans Hornets. But they're hoping small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the No. 2 pick, can develop into a franchise player.

The Bobcats have tried to wipe the slate clean.

They've added a new coach in Mike Dunlap, five new players to the roster and even changed their color scheme and shortened the name on the front of their news jerseys to read: Cats.

The team changed its motto, too — Tougher. Faster. Stronger.

Dunlap, a longshot hire who served as an assistant coach at St. John's last season, believes this team has the youth, energy and conditioning to give some NBA teams fits. What the Bobcats don't have in experience or talent he plans to make up for athleticism, conditioning and hustle.

Defensively, Dunlap said he wants to "pressure the heck out of the ball."

And on offense the goal is to push the ball up the court on fast breaks, and go to the rim and shoot 3-pointers in half court sets.

"I'm not a big on mid-range jump shots," Dunlap said.

Said point guard Kemba Walker: "It'll be fast-paced with high energy and high intensity."