Brown's influence apparent early

New Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown is fond of saying players must understand the difference between coaching and criticism. Tuesday’s practices in Las Vegas demonstrated what Brown meant.

Over the course of a late-afternoon session, Brown repeatedly told Adam Morrison to run the lanes harder, on a straight line, without turning his hips before reaching where he needs to be.

Later, during a scrimmage, Brown repeatedly told Ryan Hollins to post up closer to the basket, and not settle for being pushed out of the spot where he’s best equipped to score.

Brown was correcting, not criticizing. He was changing bad habits and being meticulous, and I’m guessing Morrison and Hollins understood that. I’m confident Brown shouted their names more than others’ Tuesday because Morrison and Hollins likely are to be on this team next season.

Brown doesn’t surrender to players’ bad habits. Considering how poorly coached the team was last season, what I saw Tuesday was refreshing.

The other thing you notice about Brown’s practices is how free the assistants are to offer input. Phil Ford, Dave Hanners and LaSalle Thompson constantly took players aside to clean up errors. Ford has made D.J. Augustin his pet project, reminding the rookie point guard he can’t shy away from ordering around veterans when they’re out of position.

Assistants asserting themselves didn’t happen so much under previous coach Sam Vincent. By-and-large, the assistants were told to keep a low profile. In fact, there were orders limiting how much assistant coaches could talk to Vincent during games. (Yes, it got bizarre.)

Regarding Thompson, it’s obvious from one day of practice that his title – strength and conditioning coach – doesn’t cover his responsibilities. Thompson is the de facto big-man coach because Brown trusts the former NBA center to teach play in the post.