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When the Phoenix Suns really had it going under then-coach Mike D'Antoni, that team had a slogan: "Seven seconds or less" (to put up a shot).
If the Charlotte Bobcats had a slogan right now, and it in any way reflected reality, it'd be: "25 seconds or more.''
Among the various measures of the Bobcats' offensive futility, here's a fresh one to ponder: They have managed to commit five shot-clock violations in the past two games.
I've covered NBA teams that went weeks between 24-second violations, and even then it took something flukish, such as having two shots blocked in the same possession, to exhaust the clock.
You can pencil in two shot-clock violations per game for this bunch, and until that changes they'll be nothing close to respectable. Today they face an elite shot-blocking team in the Indiana Pacers, so problems can only grow worse.
Bad as the offense has been all season, Friday's loss in Milwaukee crossed a new frontier: They never reached 60 shot attempts. Fifty-nine shots in an NBA game is absurd, even when you factor in that the Bucks kept fouling (43 Charlotte free-throw attempts) and the Bobcats were hopeless at gathering in their misses (a season-low two offensive rebounds).
Some thoughts on the hard freeze that is the Bobcats' offense:
1 "Larry Brown wants it this way": I keep hearing this speculation that Brown is such a defense-first control freak, he's causing this to happen. Scratch that.
Brown finds the lack of shot attempts perplexing. Don't equate his concern with bad shots (guarded 3s early in a possession) with an interest in channeling the Four Corners.
Brown preferred basketball when 100 shot attempts per team was the standard, not a rarity. He encourages his team to run more, even if the only benefit is stealing a few extra seconds in the half court. He doesn't like what he sees any more than you do.
2 Jackson is the quick-fix: For the most part, that's true: Stephen Jackson scored 22 and 26 points in his second and third games as a Bobcat. The instant he suited up he became the Bobcat best equipped to create his own shot. If he can maintain what he did in Milwaukee - 8-of-13 from the field and nine trips to the foul line - this trade will be a smashing success.
The only concern is ball distribution; Gerald Wallace and Boris Diaw combined for just 14 shots in Philadelphia, and that can't become the norm.
3 Flip the point-guard switch? Flip Murray hasn't been an NBA starter on a regular basis in five years. But after Murray went for 17 points, six assists and five rebounds versus the Bucks, Brown hinted at a possible rotation shift.
"I thought our offense was more efficient with Flip in," Brown said post-game.
It's been too long since the word "efficient" had any place in a description of Bobcats point guards.
