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WILMINGTON Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown thinks there's no such thing as driving the ball too often.
So how does he balance that with a team full of jump-shooters?
Brown said Friday the Bobcats might be the best jump-shooting team he's coached, entering his 25th NBA season. Between Jason Richardson, Matt Carroll, Adam Morrison and rookie D.J. Augustin, there's a wealth of guys who can make a 20-footer.
So for all the benefits of attacking the rim – drawing more fouls, raising the shooting percentage – Brown might just have to live with an offense that leans toward the perimeter.
“You're not going to get fouled shooting jump shots. But that's a fine line for me, because I don't know if I've ever coached a team that shot it any better,'' Brown said.
“On this team, I've got to find that balance, where I don't prohibit Adam or Matt or Jason from taking” 3-pointers.
Love impresses Timberwolves
Aside from being tall, Kevin Love doesn't necessarily look like a basketball player.
Love, a 6-foot-9 forward, has a frame that is a little on the lumpy side. When he gets moving down the court, he doesn't glide so much as he lumbers, elbows out to his sides and head bobbing.
Love might have just turned 20 years old, but he has been fighting the stereotype of the big, slow, white guy for his whole basketball career.
He averaged 17.5 points and 10.6 rebounds in his lone season at UCLA and was acquired by the Timberwolves in a seven-player, draft-night trade with Memphis that sent Southern California guard O.J. Mayo to the Grizzlies for Love and Mike Miller.
Love's father, Stan, played in the NBA for parts of four seasons in the 1970s after being the No.9 pick in the 1971 NBA draft.
Timberwolves coach Randy Wittman has started to see that pedigree, pointing to Kevin Love's basketball instincts that distinguish him from most 20-year-olds.
“What he brings on to the floor, it's hard to teach,” Wittman said. “Being at the right spot at the right time, those types of things. He has a knack for those things.”
Elsewhere
CHICAGO: Forward Joakim Noah is out with an eye injury.
The team says he will likely miss five days after being poked in the left eye during practice on Wednesday.
The team said the injury left Noah with blood in the front chamber of his eye.
MIAMI: The Heat is giving Shaun Livingston a second chance at an NBA career.
Livingston, a free agent point guard, signed Friday. He hasn't played since seriously injuring his left knee Feb.26, 2007 with the Los Angeles Clippers. He tore three knee ligaments and dislocated his kneecap.
