The Charlotte Bobcats are on a six-game losing streak, longest active in the NBA. They have the worst point-differential in the league, losing by an average margin of 13 points.

And the player coach Paul Silas needed as a centerpiece, power forward Boris Diaw, has scored three points in his past two games. What will it take to right Diaw, and by extension, the Bobcats?

"I really don't know," Silas said after Friday's 98-81 loss to the Detroit Pistons, a team emerging from its own six-game losing streak. "I think (Diaw) has been around for a long time and nobody has been able to do it."

It's clear Silas and Diaw aren't on the same page and that this team is drifting fast at 2-10, the league's second-worst record. Owner Michael Jordan entered the locker room postgame, telling the players this was unacceptable at home against a team just as limited in talent.

But talent isn't the Bobcats' only flaw. They allowed the Pistons to score 52 points in the lane, a clear indication of poor defense and nonexistent toughness. Silas has been harping on his team's lacking toughness - he said rookie Bismack Biyombo is the closest thing to a tough player right now.

So what would Silas, once among the NBA's most rugged rebounders, do if he were still playing?

"If I was playing on this team, I would work hard and demand that everybody else did it," Silas said. "But we don't have anyone like that."

On that, Silas and Diaw would agree. This is a young team without a strong voice in the locker room, particularly with small forward Corey Maggette out a month or more with a strained hamstring.

This was the sixth time in 12 games that Diaw (three points) has scored five or fewer points, and the Bobcats lost all six of those games. Diaw agrees this team lacks for toughness, but that isn't all they need.

"We aren't playing smart, either," said Diaw, who has scored more than four points once in his past five games. "We've got a really young team. It's good to have toughness, but we've also got to know where to put" the ball.

There wasn't much encouraging Friday, but center Byron Mullens finished with 18 points and seven rebounds and rookie Kemba Walker made six of eight shots and scored 16.

"Hopefully we can stay together - stay positive and hopefully get a win," Walker said. "We have stretches where we play hard, but we have to be more consistent."