Mike Dunlap was an assistant coach for the last 10 years or so, starting with the NBA and going back to the college ranks, then he was hired as the Charlotte Bobcats head coach. Now, he has to fill out his staff of assistants.  The Bobcats have had some interesting assistants over the years.  Mostly determined by need and nepotism (has there ever been a coach that didn’t have a brother/son/relative on staff?) familiarity and someone that’s good at certain positions are what have shaped past staffs, but I don’t know about that with Mike Dunlap.

Like many fans, especially here at BobcatsPlanet.com, I’m hopeful things are going to change.  Not just uniforms, staff and draft picks, but a whole cultural change, starting with Rich Cho and continuing with this still, somewhat, questionable hire of Mike Dunlap.  But let’s hope for the best and assume that Dunlap will surround himself with interesting and influential assistants.

First hire, as far as I know, is Rick Brunson.  Rick Brunson is a young former player, at 40, he played for the Rockets as recently as 2006.  He finished his career and became an assistant/scout 6 months later.  Brunson was the 1991 McDonald’s All-American Game MVP, well, co-MVP with Chris Webber.  He went on to play at Temple and wasn’t drafted but, here’s where paths cross:  he was signed in 1995 in Australia with the Adelade 36ers.  That’s right, for coach Mike Dunlap.  So much for few connections, but there’s nothing really wrong with that.  Team MVP for Dunlap and he was back in the US for a few years at the CBA level, some stints with the Trailblazers and then he became a fixture in the NBA for almost 10 years.  As I said, he must have caught someone’s eye as an analytical player because he was hired at the NBA level as a player development assistant.  That somebody was George Karl, wait, not the George Karl that was so glowing about the hire of Mike Dunlap, was it?  Yes, and Mike was a fellow assistant at the same time in Denver.  Rick Brunson went on to assist at the college level and then was hired to join Tom Thibideau’s staff in Chicago, another good mentor.

After the season the Charlotte Bobcats had last year there really is only one direction for the team to go—up. Assuming that new head coach Mike Dunlap is able to work with young guys at the pro level like he was in college (since the age range is pretty similar I don’t see why not) the team could very well be on the right path to success.

Now I wasn’t a fan of the Dunlap hire when it was announced, but what’s done is done. Like most of you, I’m just going to hope for the best going forward. Should he be able to mold this collection of raw, young talent into a team the Bobcats will be fun to watch if nothing else next season.

Dunlap can’t do it alone. A coach can cover the X’s and O’s in practice and make adjustments from the sideline, but a team needs a guy that can help make those adjustments on the court rather than waiting for a time out. It needs someone who can be a leader and in the case of the Bobcats a teacher on the court.

The team needs a solid veteran presence.

The one they had was traded away; Corey Maggette for Ben Gordon and a future first round draft pick (solid trade in my opinion). Gordon is a good player, and unlike Maggette not injured a lot, but I don’t know if he has what it takes to lead this young team.

You sure it's me and not Higgins? You know, we're both named Corey, mine with an "E"

Oh Corey, sweet, sorry, injured Corey.  We barely got to know you as a Bobcat, and now, you are gone.  Stephen Jackson and Shaun Livingston to swap picks and bring in Maggette, last year on draft day, worked.  It was worth it to get Bismack Biyombo, or was it Kemba?  This time around, Corey Maggette for Ben Gordon and a protected first round pick, might just be crazy enough to work.

My question is, did Cory Higgins demand the trade because he has to be the only person named Cory or Corey on the team?  How would that conversation go?  ”Dad!  I’m tired of the coach saying “Corey, get in the game!” and then he looks at me and Maggette getting up and tells me to sit down!”

No, that probably wasn’t it.  I wondered aloud if this was a trade for trading’s sake, sort of to kick-start the week of the draft.  That was immediately met with “Nah, Rich Cho just loves him some draft picks.”  Very true.  Rich Cho is all about acquiring assets.  As “assets” go, conditional first round picks seem pretty easy to come by, if you have a guy that is that puzzle piece that a team thinks they need.

It’s interesting to me that Maggette was traded the same week as Kevin Youklis of the Boston Red Sox.  If you have read or seen “Moneyball,” you know that Youklis is the “Greek God of walks.”  Similarly, Corey Maggette is the “Greek Sub-God (if that’s a thing) of going to the free throw line).”  When he came in, a quick glance at his numbers would tell any Bobcats fan that he gets to the line a lot for a guy who doesn’t average as many points as a superstar or has the cache to draw fouls like a superstar.  His attempts jump off the page at you as probably the one thing he did really well.

I just finished watching the latest episode of the USA show Royal Pains off my DVR (great show; highly recommend it although they need to put an end to the whole sibling rivalry thing). Afterwards I scanned some of the latest and greatest tidbits on the Charlotte Bobcats (or is it just Cats now?).

In the middle of reading one article about His Airness punching former teammate Steve Kerr at practice back in their playing days I came to a realization.

Michael Jordan is a royal pain.

To be more specific, he is the taller, African-American version of Evan (played by Paulo Costanzo). In the show the two brothers, Evan and Hank, are arguing over the direction of their concierge medical practice. Hank just wants to practice medicine while Evan wants to turn it into a money-making machine.

Separately the two are floundering. Evan knows nothing about medicine while Hank knows even less about business.

Jeff Siner - Charlotte Observer

I always love when a team unveils new uniforms, because it means we get these adorable, quasi-gay photos of the players fondling each other in them, looking as if they’re about to break into song.  This latest sartorial change to the Bobcats has the added bonuses of a) looking cool, b) taking one step further away from the original toxic orange color that made Brevin Knight look as though he had been dropped in a vat of radioactive Fanta (or just actual Fanta).  Even better, they’ve stripped the “Bob” out of the “Bobcats,” so we’re less reminded of original owner Bob Johnson, a man who remains genuinely miffed that fans weren’t more excited about his 30-win teams that had no regional cable deal, and that he couldn’t get more support from the community (other 100% funding for a brand new $260 million arena).

I trust any coach with a crew cut.

Who the hell is Mike Dunlap?  Well, he’s the new coach of your Charlotte Bobcats, ladies and gentlemen!

No, for real.  Who the hell is Mike Dunlap?  The Bobcats have hired one of the lesser known candidates that they interviewed.  He wasn’t on the “narrowed down to” list that Rick Bonnell reported last week and that I, apparently needlessly, broke down in a post.  No one got excited about him when it was mentioned he was a candidate.  I was more excited about the possibilities of Dave Joerger or Nate Tibbets and I know they garnered a bit more attention than Mike Dunlap.  Dunlap was an assistant on a college team, not an NBA team, the St. John’s Red Storm.  He did step in for Steve Lavin while he dealt with prostate cancer last season, so he was an associate or interim head coach, more than assistant, that’s what I’m selling anyway.

Not Jerry Sloan, who withdrew his name over the weekend.  Not Brian Shaw, who Tom Sorrenson was pushing in the Observer (and our own Blogcat has learned to love to hate).  Not Quin Snyder, who we were all told was on the short list.  Not Patrick Ewing, who “friend” Michael Jordan supposedly let down easy a couple weeks ago.  Nate McMillan didn’t impress in his interview, who everyone had as an early leader before the interviews even began.