Inside the NBA

Byron Mullens will start for Bobcats tonight

Byron Mullens will make his first NBA start for the Charlotte Bobcats tonight against the Atlanta Hawks.

Coach Paul Silas announced that at the morning shootaround. Mullins was acquired in a preseason trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Mullins will replace Gana Diop at center.

Iverson's 'Practice' rant still follows him

          Allen Iverson was a You Tube classic long before You Tube was invented.

          The year was 2002. The Philadelphia 76ers' season had just concluded, and coach Larry Brown had made some blunt remarks about Iverson's practice habits. More specifically, his lack-of-practice habits.

          Then it got ugly. And intensely entertaining.

          This is the "Practice? We're talking about practice!'' rant. Iverson, unplugged: How he brings it every game, how he sacrifices his body, how silly it is tell him what to do in the time between games.

          Then someone asked if he understood that practicing with Iverson – the best and least replaceable player on the Sixers' roster – might benefit his teammates.

          "How the Hell,'' Iverson replied, "can I make my teammates better by practicing?''

          There you have it; what the Charlotte Bobcats would get if they go ahead and sign Iverson. Iverson isn't a bad guy, and he's the fifth-best scorer in NBA history. But if you're looking for a leader, a nurturer, someone who will raise the character or intensity of your locker room, you've wasted your time.

          Iverson is Manny Ramirez when he went from the Red Sox to the Dodgers: A great talent who some teams – many teams, actually – would consider more trouble than he's worth. He'll be a mercenary; someone with such talent you overlook the pimples.

          There will be pimples if he's a Bobcat. He's a Hell-raiser, and now-Bobcats coach Brown knows that.  Brown sees what a good locker room the Bobcats have, and must figure they can manage Iverson's quirks.

          My buddy, Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia Daily News, once explained all this: A superstar is supposed to make his team better, but the Sixers made Iverson better that year they made the NBA Finals.

          Here's why – they were all he wasn't. Between Eric Snow, Aaron McKie and George Lynch, they compensated for Iverson's flaws. They allowed him to do what he does without imploding.

          I hope Gerald Wallace and Raymond Felton – the leaders in the Bobcats' locker room – can be all that. But that's quite a burden to lug.

Support the team? Not my job

I had a chuckle this morning reading letters from readers on the Observer’s editorial page.

I was accused of never "supporting’’ the Charlotte Bobcats. And my reply is, that’s not my job.

I no more should "support’’ the Bobcats than our city hall reporter should "support’’ the mayor or our banking writer should "support’’ Bank of America over Wachovia.

My job is to cover this team, not to root for it – to be both fair and skeptical, hopefully asking many of the questions the reader would if he had the same access. Sometimes I get accused of being too harsh. Other times I get accused of being too forgiving. As long as those criticisms come in roughly equal measure, I figure I’m doing my job right.

Would I rather see the Bobcats win? Sure. There are a lot of good people in that locker room, working hard to succeed. They deserve some reward. And a team that wins big is always a good story.

But I’m not vested in whether the Bobcats win or lose or whether they do or do not sell tickets. So "support’’ isn’t – and shouldn’t be -- part of my job description.

Bobcats could work out deal with Nuggets

The Charlotte Bobcats didn’t end up in the Allen Iverson deal, but don’t be surprised if they and Iverson’s new team - the Denver Nuggets - do something before the trade deadline in February.

The Bobcats have all that cap space - probably $13 million or more - and acquiring Iverson pushes the Nuggets above the luxury-tax threshold. It makes sense for the Nuggets to move a contract to another team with cap space to avoid that tax.

Bobcats coach-general manager Bernie Bickerstaff talked generically about a deal of that sort Saturday night.

"Those are things you have to entertain,’’ Bickerstaff said. "But it really has to help the basketball team, and it can’t hurt you going forward.’’

Translation: If some team offered a first-round pick or a good young player or major cash, in return for reducing payroll, Bickerstaff would listen - so long as he wasn’t inheriting a long-term contract for a player the Bobcats didn’t want.

Why wasn't Herrmann cut?

I can't particularly argue with the Bobcats' decision to cut Kevin Burleson. Great a guy as he is (the ideal 12th man -- low-maintenance and high character), he simply isn't talented enough to stick on an NBA squad. But if I were the coach-GM, I would have waived Walter Herrmann.

When a guy shoots 5-of-30 and gets his drive blocked multiple times, there's a problem. It's a big problem when that player is here to be a shooter-scorer. Herrmann is a liability defensively and is of limited athletic ability. If he isn't scoring in the half-court, then I'm not sure what role he fills.

Obviously, Bernie Bickerstaff disagrees with that. He's being patient in giving Herrmann a chance to adjust to the NBA. Clearly the guy has barriers to overcome: Language, culture, rules. But I see the potential for a bust here, similar to what Lonny Baxter was last season.

If they'd kept Burleson, at least they'd have insurance at the point guard spot. Brevin Knight gets hurt a lot -- typically about 20 games a season. I don't see Bernard Robinson ever being proficient enough to the point that you could count on him as a true backup to Raymond Felton.

Bobcats get no breaks, but Rufus ...

The Bobcats’ injury bug just might have reached the point of no return Friday when the guy who plays Rufus, the furry mascot, broke his right wrist during the home game against the Miami Heat.

Sorry, Rufus, but the injuries to the players are probably more consequential. They’ve not only affected the team’s results (a franchise-record 11 straight losses), but its approach as well.

The Bobcats established an identity as takeaway defenders. They lead the league in forcing turnovers, averaging over 18 per game. But over the past four games, they’ve never reached 15 opponent turnovers.

Gerald Wallace and Brevin Knight lead the league in steals, and neither was on the court Charlotte's past three halves. That’s the obvious deficiency. The subtler issue is how the absence of Wallace and Emeka Okafor affect the interior defense.

Without one of those two to act as goalie under the basket, the Bobcats have no choice but to condense their defense in the lane. They can’t take the same chances along the perimeter, looking to steal the ball.

That hurts defensively and offensively, too. They’re last in the NBA in field-goal percentage, and steals are a great opportunity for easy baskets.

Right now, nothing is easy for the Bobcats.

Bobcats injuries baffling

Let’s review: Gerald Wallace’s knee sprain was really a knee bruise and Keith Bogans’ knee bruise was really a knee sprain.

Can’t really blame the Bobcats for the confusion. With this many injuries, how can you keep them all straight?

This team’s bad luck is preposterous. At their current pace, they will finish the season at well over 200 player-games lost to injury. That averages about 14 games lost per player, and 14 games are equivalent to a month of an NBA season.

There’s no one to blame here, though I’ve actually read some fan sniping at team trainer Joe Sharpe. That’s like holding weather forecasters in New Orleans responsible for Katrina.

I understand why the NBA didn’t grant the Bobcats’ request for a 16th roster spot, but maybe the Bobcats should make a counter-proposal: Any time a team plays the Bobcats, that team is limited to as many players as the Bobcats can dress out.

And if things continue on their current path, that would make for a neat two-on-two game in March.