If you are Adam Morrison, the agent of Adam Morrison, or a fan of Adam Morrison, this Associated Press-culled quote from Larry Brown's first morning in Charlotte bodes poorly.

"I saw Sean (May) when I walked in and Matt (Carroll)," Brown said. "And the kid with the long hair, I didn't know his name. He wasn't dressed like a basketball player."

He can pick out Matt "The Hammer" Carroll ... but not the 2006 #3 pick, who happens to have a rather unforgettable mug?

All the other youngsters on the roster -- Emeka Okafor, Raymond Felton, May -- have got to feel like a weight's been lifted off their shoulders: Day 1 and Ammo's already the goat. (It makes perfect sense too, considering Ammo lacks defensive acumen and does not quite fit in the "right way" offensive schema.) Morrison'll be on the trade block by Columbus Day.

The AP is reporting that the Charlotte Bobcats will announce the hiring of Larry Brown as their new head coach in a press conference tomorrow, according to a source close to the situation. Brown will replace Sam Vincent, who was fired last weekend after only one year with the club. The Bobcats' job will be Brown's ninth NBA team to run, and will likely prove to be a significant challenge. Of course, Brown knows something about challenges, as his last head coaching position was with the New York Knicks in 2006.

Brown said last week after resigning from the 76ers organization that he had to get back into coaching because he was "bored." He certainly won't be bored now, with a major reclamation project to accomplish with a team that has struggled since it's inception in 2004. Brown has often been criticized for his inability to develop young talent, and now he takes over a team that features seven players with 3 years or less NBA experience. While the Bobcats have pursued more veteran players recently at the request of minority owner Michael Jordan (Jason Richardson), the Bobcats are still a very young squad. If Brown is going to find success in Charlotte, he's going to have to either develop the young assets this team possesses, or blow the whole thing up and start over. Either way, one of the game's most prolific coaches is back behind the clipboard.

With Sam Vincent mercifully gone from the coaching ranks already, all eyes in the Carolinas turned to Larry Brown to fill the vacancy with the Charlotte Bobcats. And he is probably still the number one candidate -- although I'm not sure how much Michael Jordan needing to request biographical information on him helps his case.

Paul Silas, though, would also like to be in the running. Badly. Actually, it would be the perfect landing spot for the former Charlotte Hornets and Cleveland Cavaliers coach; he not only lives in Lake Norman (a few miles away) but also dropped the phrase "dream job" regarding the opening.

'They need someone who knows how to handle people, get the most out of them,' Silas told the [Charlotte] Observer. 'My teams have always been really good defensive teams. This team has that potential" in terms of personnel.

'They need to be in a system. I have a system offensively that has proven to work.'

Silas's self promotional style is a tad bit aggressive, but if you're running a campaign against LB, that's probably the angle you have to play. Also, I would tend to agree that Silas is not only a good candidate for the position, but was th better candidate a year ago when the Bobcats wasted a year on Vincent.

However, if Michael Jordan has his Tarheel-riddled heart set on Brown, and LB is reciprocating the love, you better believe this job is all but sewn up.

Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star knows what makes Primoz Brezec happy.

Brezec, Toronto's end-of-the-bench centre, walked into the locker room the other day and pumped a fist in celebration, expressing happiness in news that one of the banes of his existence as an NBAer, a coach named Sam, had just been fired.

"Sam Vincent!" Brezec kept repeating, rather excitedly.

Brezec's disdain for Coach Vincent, whom he spent all of three months with in Charlotte this season, has been documented previously. In fact, here's what Brezec said about the guy in February.

"I was like, you know what Sam? You don't need me, you don't like me and I don't like you, so get me out of here. And see how they're doing this year?"

Players and coaches feud all the time; it's not even necessary that one moves on for it to occur. But taunting a guy who just got the axe? That's a bit harsh, yes?

But hey, Primoz is a gangsta. He can't help it.

Hey look, Charlotte rookie coach Sam Vincent got fired this morning ... a few hours after the Charlotte Observer published a rumor coaching legend Larry Brown was interested in the job, and only a couple days after Brown resigned his executive post with the 76ers. How about that?

The Observer reported that Charlotte had requested biographical information on Brown from Philadelphia earlier this week ... which is really weird, actually. Did they need to check LB's zodiac sign in order to make sure he'd be compatible with Emeka Okafor? Hey MJ, we have this thing called Wikipedia now. It's not an academic source, but it's cool for figuring out stuff like birthdays.

Most considered the Vincent hire another MJ crony bid, one which flew out of nowhere and was not likely to end well. Even a month ago, Vincent's eventual visit to the gallows was called an "inevitability" by ESPN.com's Marc Stein. The interesting part, though: Brown lobbied for the Charlotte job last year. Jordan didn't give him much of a gander (no one did); did MJ realize his mistake? Was Vincent so bad the Cats wouldn't touch another first-time head coach? Will Memphis suddenly get itchy with Marc Iavaroni if they see Brown disappearing from the cupboard? (Not likely, but it's fun to project the domino effect.)

It didn't take long for Larry Brown to start rumor mills flowing, shock of all shocks. Even though the Charlotte Bobcats have not made a decision regarding the return of head coach Sam Vincent, a report in the Charlotte observer stated today that a source close to Brown indicated he would be interested in discussing the head coaching position.

The report goes on to say that shortly after Brown resigned from the 76ers, Charlotte contaced the Sixers for biographical information on Brown.

Brown has heavy ties to the area, including having played for the University of North Carolina and family ties to the area.

Given Brown's notoriously low patience for developing younger players, it would have to be assumed that F/C Emeka Okafor would be sign-and-trade-bait if Brown were hired.

Evaluations of Vincent's performance are ongoing, a source for the team said.

ESPN's Marc Stein has drops at least one or two bits of breaking news in his Weekend Dime, and today's no exception. Stein confirms Charlotte coach Sam Vincent is on the chopping block after a highly disappointing season at the helm of the Cats.

Bobcats president Michael Jordan would surely prefer not to fire Sam Vincent after just one season. Yet one plugged-in source describes it as an inevitability, with any hit that Jordan might take for the growing perception that the former teammate he hired can't reach Charlotte's players sure to be softened if he can convince a coach of [Larry] Brown's stature to take over.

A-yep, that's a Larry Brown rumor in Charlotte. Vincent's clearly been overmatched this season, much moreso than fellow rookie Reggie Theus, and on a level likely worse than Marc Iavaroni. The Kings are bad, but that was expected. The Griz are bad, but that was predetermined by science. The Bobcats? No reason they shouldn't be in this playoff sprint with the Nets, Pacers, and Hawks.

Of course, the coaching position is about the least of Charlotte's concerns. It seems to me MJ needs to first decide whether he wants to keep Emeka Okafor as his stud power forward, and whether Raymond Felton will ever be a top-flight point guard.

(Standard disclaimer: I like ESPN's Chad Ford, and I think he's excellent at what he does.)

Ford updates his feelings on which NBA prospects are having good or bad NCAA tournaments. The bulk is on point (the Lopezes? good! Eric Gordon? bad). But one passage -- the unsurprising Part III of Ford's crusade against UCLA's Kevin Love -- must not pass without notice. Ford quotes a scout and responds:

"How many big guys can do the types of things Kevin Love can do?" he said. "His skill-set is so complete. He can't really run or jump, but once you get past that ... he's got everything. I think with the proper conditioning, he could be very good."

Sounds a lot like the analysis people started to make about Sean May after UNC won the title. That's worked out well for the Bobcats ... hasn't it?

May has suffered from knee problems during his NBA career, and had microfracture surgery this past summer. But when May has been on the floor, he's been dynamite: about 18 points and 10 rebounds per 36 minutes of play, on efficient shooting. On the floor, May has been a success. Unfortunately, he hasn't been on the floor enough to make Bernie Bickerstaff look smart.

To compare Love to May as a way to argue Love will be a bust is saying you think Love will be as injury-prone as May has been. No matter how much of a draft soothsayer Ford can claim to be, he cannot predict whether a guy will tear a tendon at some point.

If we don't care about the scourge of the NBA, who will? The Bleaker Rankings will assess the grotesque each Tuesday.

1. The Bucks. Is it still considered tanking if you play all your best players (40+ minutes for Michael Redd, Mo Williams, and Andrew Bogut) and still manage to lose to the Heat, who played only three guys who haven't played in the D-League this year? I think so.

2. The Jim Boylan regime. Boylan could very well get jumped in the middle of a game by half his team, and I wouldn't be surprised. What could possibly be so revolting about his style to illicit such anger from his charges?

3. The Knicks. Signs of life in James Dolan's skull!

4. The Bobcats. March has been loads better than the season-killing 1-11 Ferbuary Charlotte had. But the franchise-high 5-game win streak led to another 5-game losing streak. Charlotte will probably not clear the 30-win mark, after a promising run last year (33 wins). Sam Vincent might be the first rookie coach firing this summer.

5. The Mavericks. Dallas, of course, could still very well win a title this summer. But watching Dirk Nowitzki go down and watching Jason Kidd be so ineffective in late-game situations ... it's got to be a nervous in Big D. And don't forget how old this team is -- they were the 5th oldest before trading 26-year-old Devin Harris for 35-year-old Kidd.)

Others receiving votes: The Kings; The Clippers; The Nets, who should in these playoffs with that much talent.

In case you were curious where Adam Morrison and his 13% shooting percentage and total and utter disdain for defense have been hiding, well, it's probably Charlotte. His alma mater Gonzaga played and got beat by the Davidson Wildcats earlier today, and since the game was in Raleigh, it means it was just close enough for him to crawl out of bed, take a shower, comb his mustache and drive the two and a half hours to the RBC.

Unfortunately for Jeebus Morrison, the Zags apparently can't play well when they're not a sub-nine seed, and were sent out of the tournament in the first round, primarily because Stephen Curry did his best Morrison imitation, but with a taste of defense. Fortunately for Morrison, the cameras neglected to let us know whether or not he actually wept following the L this year. Odds are probably good he did.

And in case you're curious, here is Morrison's final stat line for 2007-08: 0 GP, 0 PPG, 0 RPG, etc. Needless to say he's not playing quite as well as Brandon Roy or Danny Granger. Or Rudy Gay. But hey, he does have a smaller head than Shelden Williams. And a mustache too boot! Sigh.