<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">What happened? In the 2-1 start, they shot 44 percent from the field. Since then, they're shooting 38 percent, which is a huge decline. This was never a team that shot well, but now only three teams shoot worse.Part of this is guys missing shots they normally make (Emeka Okafor's 0-of-7 night against the Miami Heat), but some of it is not getting the ball to dependable shooters. For instance, coach Bernie Bickerstaff told rookie point guard Raymond Felton to start finding Primoz Brezec more. Brezec is this team's best shooter from 18 feet and in -- he's shooting 57 percent from the field -- but he averages fewer than seven shots per game. That must change. What's up with Okafor? Good question. The most dependable Bobcat has gone three games without a double-double. Okafor showed up 25 pounds heavier this season than last. It's muscle, not fat, and you can see it in his arms and shoulders. But I wonder if the added bulk has cost him some flexibility and quickness. That's just a theory, but I don't see anything else that's different about the guy. Why the energy crisis? The one thing you could consistently expect from this team last season was superior effort. The dirty little secret about that was they had no other choice; they didn't have the talent to win with anything short of maximum effort.They have more depth this season, but that hasn't translated into additional energy. Maybe the injuries are a factor in this, and the heavy schedule (six games over nine days) didn't help. But if they look tired and flat in mid-November, what will they look like in January? Anything positive going on? The lottery picks -- rookies Felton and Sean May -- are figuring out the NBA quickly. Both played well in Miami. Felton had back-to-back steals in the second quarter to briefly get his team back in the game. May scored 18 points off 5-of-9 shooting and made two great passes to set up Jake Voskuhl and Matt Carroll for easy baskets. Also, this is the best team in the league when it comes to steals. They average 13 a game, and the next-best team is Boston, averaging 10.6 steals.</div> Source
