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This is basketball's version of a chicken-and-egg problem:
A point guard can't record an assist unless the shooter he passes to makes the shot. And a shooter is only as good as the shot a point guard creates with his pass.
When it comes to the Charlotte Bobcats' offense these days, the egg is cracked and the chicken broke its wing. The Bobcats enter today's game in Orlando on a four-game losing streak and the reason is undeniable: They're averaging all of 80 points in those games.
Saturday, after an 80-74 home loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, coach Larry Brown proclaimed, "Our point guards have got to get people some shots."
Brown still thinks that, but he elaborated Sunday at practice: Yes, point guards Raymond Felton and D.J. Augustin need dramatic improvement in creating scoring opportunities for others.
But that isn't the sole concern for a team that is last in the NBA in scoring (82.4 points per game) and field-goal percentage (39.4 percent) and 28th among 30 in assists (17.44 per game).
"We're not getting easy baskets for other people," Brown said. "They don't run pick-and-roll and we're not penetrating and kicking."
Brown was hoping for better continuity this fall, after a season of roster churn. That didn't happen due to a variety of circumstances:
Power forward Boris Diaw and new center Tyson Chandler missed most of the preseason with ankle injuries. Combo guard Flip Murray was signed just days before training camp.
And Brown regrets the team's cost-cutting decision not to field a summer-league team, believing that slowed the development of rookies Gerald Henderson and Derrick Brown.
The effect: At least one player in any five-man combination isn't up to speed.
"We have three or four guys doing what they're supposed to do and one or two who aren't, and that affects everybody," Brown said.
"It starts with our guards getting people in the right spot. And then we make bad decisions on the (fast) break - Gerald (Wallace) gets a charging foul on a 3-on-1 break. Or 111/2 seconds left in the quarter and D.J. is dribbling the ball and he loses it. Or we get into offense late and then we have less options to get people shots."
They're wasting some exceptional defense. The Bobcats are holding opponents to 88.6 points per game, third-lowest in the league, and have the second-best rebounding differential in the league (grabbing 54 percent of all rebounds in their games).
"That's the only reason we're in these games," Felton said. "We hit 25 percent of the shots we're missing and we win a lot more games."
Felton has to be the primary conduit to that improvement. He acknowledged some self-consciousness of late that slows his decision-making.
"I'm doing a lot of thinking right now: 'Should I go (to the rim)? Should I pass? Should I shoot?'" he said. "I need to be aggressive and just play my game. As I do that, I'll get easy shots for everybody else.
"I know that part is on me. We are a team, but some things I just have to put on my shoulders."
