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Larry Brown: Three or Four Teams in the East Are Capable of Winning an NBA Championship

The Charlotte Bobcats are one of the youngest teams in the NBA, but a season ago under Larry Brown, the Bobcats had their best season in franchise history.  They won a club-record 35 games, missed the last playoff spot in the East by just four games and Larry Brown is looking to improve on that this season.  Larry Brown has been a winning coach in his past and while he has an uphill battle ahead with this young Bobcats team, he has a lot of talent on the roster and I think he has the franchise going in the right direction.  The problem is, other teams in the East are better this season as well, so it’ll be tough for the Bobcats to snag the first ever playoff berth in franchise history.

The Bobcats open up the season with the Celtics tonight and will get a good gauge of where exactly they are this season playing against one of the NBA’s elite teams.  Bobcats head coach Larry Brown joined WFNZ in Charlotte to talk about the expectations this season, the top teams around the NBA and the trade of Emeka Okafor in the offseason.

On the expectations for the team this year:

“Well I don’t know.   A lot of the teams that didn’t make the playoffs in the conference have really improved so that’s a challenge and then the teams ahead of us have gotten a lot better.   But if we’re healthy, I think we’ve improved a great deal.   We gotta have Tyson (Chandler) healthy.  You know he’s coming off of two surgeries so he didn’t get much work during preseason.   And Boris (Diaw) missed most of preseason with an ankle injury.   Then with Raja (Bell) and “Flip” Murray you know we have some issues there, but hopefully those guys get back.   We had a great draft.  I think Derrick Brown and Gerald Henderson are going to be quality players in this league someday.  I thought we had a great draft last year with D.J (Augustin) and Alexis (Ajinca), if Alexis gets stronger he has a chance.  So our future’s bright in that regard and we just gotta coach them better and play as a team better.”

On whether he keeps up with what else is going on around the NBA:

“I’ve always been one to be concerned with our team because we don’t have any control over anything else.  But I’m a huge fan.  I saw Florida State play Carolina in football on Thursday last week; you know anything with a ball I watch.  I’m really interested in our league, I like to watch other people coach and I’m aware of what other teams are doing.  So I think the league has gotten a lot better, we have a lot of great young kids coming into the league.  You’re right when you say there is a lot of strength in the East now.  With Wallace and Daniels going to Boston they’re certainly better.  With Shaq and Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon going to Cleveland they’re better.  I think people are forgetting about Orlando.  Them getting Vince Carter and (Ryan) Anderson have made them much, much better.  Atlanta’s young and improving, so there’s tremendous growth in the East.  But the Lakers and Spurs out West I think are the two teams to beat.  And then 3 or 4 teams in the East I think are capable of winning an NBA Championship.  We just gotta simply get better. “

On the addition of Tyson Chandler:

“Well if I say that then people will think I didn’t appreciate what Emeka (Okafor) did, so I’m really cautious about that.  But if Tyson is healthy, the fact that we lack depth, I think it’s a big help because he can play more than one position.  Emeka was a center and did a really good job there, but Tyson’s a little more athletic and a little more comfortable out there on the floor both offensively and defensively, so that in itself really helps us.  He has to be healthy.  If he is, I think he changes the game in a lot of ways.  He runs better, I think he is a natural shot blocker and gives us options in terms of guarding multiple positions.  So hopefully they both can stay healthy and both can help their respective teams. “

 On getting the NBA officials back:

“Well, that whole conversation was taken out of context, so I asked the NBA just to read the tape Rick Bonnell (Bobcats Beat Reporter) had, and they would have known I wasn’t criticizing the officials.  This has been the third time that I’ve been through this, we had replacement officials when I was coaching San Antonio in the playoffs, and then about five or six years ago we went through it again.  My thing is we have the best officials in any sport.  Coaching in the NBA, they do this all year round, they work hard in their profession and we need a partnership.  We’re certainly better off having the best ones doing it, so I’m happy they’re back because it helps our game.  My big concern is we have to find a way where less fouls are called with the players going up and down the court more than two times without a whistle being blown.  I keep arguing this case.  We need to find a way to get more shots taken in a game and once that happens, the game will improve no matter who’s refereeing.”

Listen to Larry Brown on WFNZ in Charlotte on the Mac Attack 

Tags: Charlotte Bobcats, D.J Augustin, Eastern Conference, Emeka Okafor, Larry Brown, NBA, Raja Bell, Tyson Chandler, WFNZ