CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The way Stephen Jackson sees it, the Charlotte Bobcats had no other choice than to fire Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown so they could shift to a more effective offensive style.
Jackson said Sunday that Charlotte's miserable 9-19 start littered with blowout losses came as players resisted the demanding Brown's slowdown system. The Bobcats have gone 4-2 since under interim coach Paul Silas.
"It's kind of like losing a team. Nobody wanted to play no more," Jackson said. "Everybody wanted to play a different style than we were playing. We didn't agree with what was going on. Obviously, it wasn't working, so we needed a change. We had to figure something out."
Brown, coaching his 13th professional or college team, led the Bobcats to 44-38 record and the franchise's first playoff berth last season after a number of moves, including Jackson's acquisition in a November 2009 trade with Golden State.
But after getting swept by Orlando in the first round of the playoffs, things started to sour under the well-traveled Brown.
He publicly showed displeasure with owner Michael Jordan's decision to not re-sign point guard Raymond Felton, who ended up in New York. Charlotte also traded center Tyson Chandler essentially to get the payroll below the luxury tax threshold.
