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At 9-19 and having lost four straight games by an average of over 22 points per contest, the Charlotte Bobcats and then-coach Larry Brown decided it was best to part ways after just over two seasons with the team.

In stepped Paul Silas, who last coached the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2004-2005 season and had some previous experience coaching in Charlotte, leading the Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets to four straight playoff appearances from 1999 to 2003. But, after a five-year layoff from coaching and at 28 games into the season, few around the NBA thought the transition into coaching a Bobcats team — who many thought had maxed out it’s potential under Brown — would go as smoothly as it did.

However, the Bobcats would immediately respond to their new head coach, winning six of the first eight games with Silas at the helm and compiling an 11-6 record through the first 17 games. Lately the Bobcats have stumbled, winning just four-of-10 overall over the last two weeks, but are a total of three games over .500 (15-12) with Silas in charge and are coming off of back-to-back impressive victories. The first came in Atlanta Saturday night on buzzer-beater to take down the Hawks, and last night Charlotte shocked the world with a 109-89 dismantling of the Los Angeles Lakers at Time Warner Arena — L.A.’s most lopsided loss this season.

"I think the win in Atlanta really helped our focus.  Now we know that we can beat good teams," Silas said.  "They (the Lakers) played yesterday and might have been a little tired, but they’re still a great team so beating that team no matter what is very significant to me."

The Bobcats’ confidence seems to be at an all-time high, something Stephen Jackson — who drained the 20-foot buzzer-beater with two Hawks’ defenders in his face to give Charlotte the win Saturday — credits his new coach for instilling in the team.

"Our confidence is up. Coach [Silas] is giving us the room to go out there and be basketball players, not robots," Jackson said. "I think guys have been able to play more solid and confident that way."

The hiring of Silas has turned a team in the midst of a tailspin into a scrappy squad that continues to battle for that eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. His approach has Charlotte playing a more cohesive, and all around better brand of basketball since taking over the team just before the start of the new year.

"It’s obviously been good for our team. Our chemistry is better," Bobcats’ forward Gerald Henderson said. "We’re playing better on both sides of the ball. Our team responds better to coach Silas’ coaching. Nothing to say bad about coach Brown. Obviously it just wasn’t working."

Henderson, who spent the most of the first 28 games of the season under Brown locked securely in his dog house, has perhaps benefitted the most from the hiring of Silas. The second-year player scored a total of just 37 points in 175 minutes over the span of nearly two months with Brown coaching, but has taken on a more robust role under Silas; becoming a fourth quarter closer that excels in crunch time for the Bobcats.

Before Silas (28 games), Henderson played more than 20 minutes or scored in double-digits just once each. With Silas (27 games), his play has warranted 15 stints of over 20 minutes (six 30+) and the former 12th overall pick has scored 10 or more points in nine contests

"He gives me a lot of confidence," Henderson said. "Silas coaching style just fits our team, and fits me better."

The Bobcats’ head coach has taken control of a team on the verge of combustion by upping the tempo on the court and allowing players to play within themselves, while at the same time demanding accountability without alienating his players.

"We’re running more, not setting up as much and I expect guys to play up to their capacity," Silas said. "It’s a total change. I just like the energy level that we come with."

One key to the renewed effort and increased chemistry between players on the court is the emphasis Silas puts on communication on the floor, especially on the defensive end.  Charlotte has allowed 94 points or fewer in three of the last five contests, and it appears the defense may be rounding into last season’s playoff run form.

"I think we’re really stressing talking a lot on defense," Silas said. "Which I found they weren’t doing as much [under Larry Brown this season]."

Offensively, instead of changing the offense completely and installing an entirely new system over a third of the way into the season, Silas decided to keep Brown’s offense. By making very few changes to a system the players already knew, Silas reduced the time it would take for the team to adjust out of the gate and that resulted in a quick start under the Bobcats’ coach.

{AUTHOR_BOX}"We’ve basically kept the same plays that Larry had instituted because it’s hard to change on the fly. It takes time for guys to get used to your system," Silas said. "We did change a couple of plays but we basically kept his system so we didn’t have to change very much. We have the same calls and everything, and they knew it so all we did was up the tempo of the game. We’re running a lot more, rebounding a lot better, defending a lot better, so it’s just a total change."

Even with the recent resurgence, the Bobcats currently sit at ninth in the East, one-and-a-half games back of the Indiana Pacers. Each of the three teams that Charlotte is most likely to catch in order to earn a playoff spot (the New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers and Pacers) each hold the tiebreaker should the Bobcats match any of those teams record at the end of the regular season.

Charlotte also faces a rough road over its final 27 games, going on the road to take on the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, Spurs, Thunder, Magic (twice). A total of 16 of the final 27 contests are against opponents currently in the playoffs, but this team has shown it has the intestinal fortitude to play hard against quality opponents. It’s the cellar dwellers, with Friday’s 94-89 loss to the New Jersey Nets as the most recent example, that the Bobcats have had trouble showing up against.

Regardless, with Silas running the show the Bobcats have been much closer to last year’s 44-38 playoff team than the 9-19 disaster that showed up for the first part of the season.