When Paul Silas took over for Larry Brown as head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats a year ago, the most notable difference was that Silas smiled a lot, so much so that our friends at Rufus On Fire dubbed the veteran coach "Paul Smilas."
Well, Paul Smilas is dead. The Bobcats lost by 30 to an Atlanta Hawks team missing Al Horford on Thursday. From Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer:
Silas said his starters have "just kind of given up now. I don't know what to say." Then he added, "I tell my players, we've got to learn from our losses. That doesn't seem to be coming very quickly."
It's hard to tell exactly who Silas is talking about. Byron Mullens received his first start, replacing DeSagana Diop (a prime candidate for Paul Frownyface's "given up" list). Gerald Henderson also seems to put out effort, even in losing causes. Tyrus Thomas (a natural power forward) just came back from injury, and was asked to guard Joe Johnson, a two-guard. I don't think it's him either. D.J. Augustin didn't have a great game. Perhaps Silas, the head coach that set Augustin free from Brown's shackles in 2011, is disappointed there.
I don't know, let's check the box score from Thursday's game. Hmm ... OH.
Boris Diaw: zero points on 0-3 shooting, six rebounds, four assists, two turnovers, 60 pounds overweight.
It's Boris Diaw.