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Asked to describe his level of comfort so far learning the Charlotte Bobcats' offense, center Tyson Chandler alternately described himself as a "rookie'' and a "robot.''
It's a common experience for new players to feel flooded with information when they start playing for coach Larry Brown. The difference here is timing: That anxiety usually hits a player midway through the preseason, before the real games start.
Chandler missed most of the preseason while recovering from ankle and toe surgery. So he's learning on the fly, when the games count, and the results so far haven't been good.
Chandler's never been a great scorer in the NBA, but the current numbers - 31 percent shooting from the field and 5.5 points per game - don't cut it entering tonight's home game against the Atlanta Hawks.
"Every day I get a little better at it,'' Chandler said. "A lot of this has to do with getting in better shape... (Offense) is about getting to spots and sometimes I've been a little slow to get there.''
Chandler was limited to 45 games last season by the injuries that required surgery. He wasn't cleared to practice until midway through training camp.
There's little, if any, similarity between the offenses the Bobcats and Chandler's former team, the New Orleans Hornets, run. For instance, Chandler was taught in New Orleans to set a pick, then roll away from the action, clearing the floor for point guard Chris Paul and forward David West.
He was an afterthought whose only function was to leap to the rim, either for a lob pass or an offensive rebound.
Here, as Chandler described it, he's asked to roll to the basket, then dive back toward the ball if nothing is there. "That's still not natural for me to chase the ball,'' Chandler said.
Also, the number of plays the Bobcats have installed - about 50, according to assistant coach Dave Hanners - means he's in constant catch-up mode.
"There were days in the preseason when coach was teaching five sets a day," Chandler recalled. "I remember telling the trainers, 'I'm gonna be way behind.'"
Fortunately, Chandler is bright and articulate, the sort of communicator and learner who should find his way. This is as much about philosophy as strategy; Brown says his hope is for Chandler to expand his self-definition, to stop thinking of himself as just a goalie and a dunker.
"Paul did such a great job of getting him the ball where he didn't have to do much" to score, Brown said.
"(I'd like him to) get out on the floor and shoot it and dribble-drive a little bit. Be a low-post threat and not as an afterthought. That's a lot of what I was asking from Emeka (Okafor) and I saw his game grow."
Brown knows that's possible because he saw Chandler play some as a teenager. Chandler was more of a perimeter player, so operating farther from the basket is not a foreign concept.
"He wants me to stop being that robot, and start exploring more opportunities," Chandler said. "Right now that's a second thought instead of an instinct. And I've got to turn it into an instinct."
