USA - Return to fundamentals pays early dividends for Bobcats

CHARLOTTE (NBA) - If there was something that Michael Jordan detested in his days as a player, it was bad practices.

The old saying "practice makes perfect" was a phrase that MJ believed in.

And it paid dividends because Jordan went on to become arguably the greatest player in history, and his teams won.

Jordan won an NCAA title as a freshman at UNC, six NBA championships with the Bulls and two Olympic gold medals (1984, 1992).

Yet as the majority owner and chairman of the Charlotte Bobcats, Jordan's team did hardly anything but lose last season, setting an NBA record for futility.

The Bobcats lost their last 23 games in the lockout-shortened campaign and finished with just seven triumphs in 66 games for a win percentage of 10.6%, the lowest in NBA history.

Jordan, looking for a back-to-basics approach, put St John's University assistant coach Mike Dunlap in charge of the team and the outcome, at least so far, has been dramatic.

With seven wins in their 12 games, Charlotte have equaled their victory total from last season.

The team’s fans have much to be excited about because the squad stocked with terrific young talent, from Kemba Walker and Byron Mullens to Bismack Biyombo and Sweden’s Jeffery Taylor.

But more important than anything, it seems, was Jordan's insistence that the Bobcats change their practice habits.

His lengthy interview with the Charlotte Observer earlier this month, shortly before the start of the campaign, revealed a lot.

"Well, I watched a couple of practices and one of the things I was very happy about and I really praised the coaching staff in terms of was the method they were going about teaching our kids, teaching our players," he said.

"Because a lot of those players, a lot of those things in the past were not being seen as basketball players.

"I got so excited because these are the things I went through - some of the drills, some of the fundamentals.

"I think those have been missing in some of the pre-season activity.

"Why coaches have skipped steps in the past, I don’t understand and especially because our talent coming out is a lot younger than it used to be.

"And this is from a guy [Jordan himself] who had been in college three years, and I still had to go through that process.

"I felt good about what Coach Dunlap was actually doing, all the little things that seemingly have been our biggest issue in the past."

It's far too early to suggest that Jordan's Bobcats will make the playoffs.

The young squad could very well go off the rails.

There is, however, for perhaps the first time since the Bobcats era was launched in 2004, a belief that Charlotte are on the right path.

There are some new players like Ramon Sessions, Ben Gordon and the second overall pick in this summer's draft, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who are making a difference.

Without question, though, the focus on fundamentals and good practice habits have been hugely significant and that is something that all professional teams should take note of.

FIBA