A little more to wrap (your mind around)

Stray thoughts on the Bobcats and the NBA, as you pile wrapping paper into the dumpster and curse the words, "Some assembly required:"

• The best two things I can say about the Bobcats during their first three seasons: They found an impact player in the expansion draft (Gerald Wallace) and they never finished a season alone at the bottom of the Southeast Division.

Wallace is here for the long haul, and the Miami Heat is doing its best to keep the Bobcats out of the division cellar. Entering Tuesday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Heat was 8-19, three games behind Charlotte.

I thought about the division standings because by the end of this week the Bobcats will have played 10 of the 16 games against division rivals Orlando, Washington, Atlanta and Miami. So far, they’re 2-6 within the Southeast with games Wednesday against the Wizards and Saturday against the Magic. Their only division victories this season are against the Heat.

• Heat President Pat Riley should replace himself as coach with Scott Skiles, just fired by the Chicago Bulls.

Miami’s problems might be more about age (Shaquille O’Neal) and injury (Dwyane Wade), but Skiles could shake up that franchise in a very productive way.

He’s a terrific coach in a meticulous and demanding manner. But much like Larry Brown, Skiles’ personality limits how long he can spend with any one roster before the players tune him out.

Bobcats coach Sam Vincent, who played with Skiles at Michigan State and with the Magic, makes the point that Skiles couldn’t out-athlete opponents at the NBA level, so he had to outwork and outthink them. That’s a good learning platform to coach.

• Speaking of Skiles, Magic executive Pat Williams tells a funny story on when he knew Skiles had coaching potential.

Seems there was some player on an opposing team who was too dense to understand what his coach kept telling him to do in a given situation. Skiles grew so exasperated with his opponent not understanding the instruction that he finally spelled it out for the guy during a stoppage of play.

That, Williams concluded, is a born teacher of the game.

• I wrote a story for Tuesday’s Observer about the hassles the Bobcats had getting to Milwaukee on Saturday. There were references in that story to frustration with cold food or the players not getting an ideal afternoon nap.

You could assume NBA players are all spoiled brats, but that’s not how I see it.

Certainly the salaries and perks can foster a sense of self-entitlement, but it’s more complicated. NBA players are the ultimate creatures of habit. Their pregame regimens combat the chaos that is an NBA schedule.

I know how tired I get covering four games over five nights in four cities. I can’t imagine how they play those games, in rapid succession, with energy and precision.

Throw players off their routine as dramatically as the weather did Friday and Saturday, and you’re going to rattle them.