Ranking Charlotte's NBA coaches

I got an email from a reader Friday, suggesting I rank the NBA head coaches who’ve worked in Charlotte. Here goes:

1. Larry Brown: Yeah, I know; hasn’t coached a real game here yet. But his attention to detail in practice is remarkable; he’ll be worth whatever that quirky personality entails.

2. Paul Silas: Functions almost like a baseball manager; his strength was understanding how the schedule (sometimes four games in five nights) affected performance. Knew when to prod and when to give an opportune day off.

3. Dave Cowens: My only problem with Cowens was the last one I expected; a tough guy as a player, he wasn’t good at holding players accountable.

4. Bernie Bickerstaff: He got those first two teams to play above their talent. He did his best work here as general manager.

5. Dick Harter: Would be second only to Brown for his technical understanding of the game.

6. Allan Bristow: Like Bickerstaff, he was more effective in the front office than he was on the bench.

7. Gene Littles: Wasn’t engaged by the job; seemed to think his dry-cleaning was as important as cleaning up the pick-and-roll.

8. Sam Vincent: There was wide-spread relief in the locker room that he wasn’t brought back for a second season. 

  May says he'll be ready   

Sean May talked to reporters after the evening practice Thursday (too late for Friday’s Observer, with the time difference in Las Vegas).

    While no one would call Sean skinny, he looks in good shape. He says he weighs around 270 pounds (he weighed as much as 286 while on crutches 14 weeks, following his right knee surgery). He aspires to report to training camp in October at between 255 and 260 pounds.

    May seems pretty confident he’ll have no restrictions when camp starts, as far as the after-effects of his micro-fracture procedure. He’s on a low-carb diet to lower his body fat.

    If the guy is ready to play again, he’ll be valuable, because this team’s greatest need is still rebounding.