CHARLOTTE (Oct 27, 1997 - 19:22 EST) -- The Charlotte Hornets go into their 10th season with the potential for it to be their best ever -- and the potential for one big distraction.
With one exception, optimism abounded as the Glen Rice-led Hornets prepared to try to improve on 1996-97, when they won a franchise-record 54 games under first-year coach Dave Cowens.
Point guard Muggsy Bogues, who joins Dell Curry as the only two remaining original Hornets, is unhappy with the team's attempts to add youth to the backcourt and the way the moves have affected him.
The 5-foot-3 Bogues sounded off again Monday after Charlotte worked out for three hours.
"It's a feeling that you're not wanted," said Bogues, 32, who played a total of just 59 minutes in the Hornets' eight exhibition games.
After knee and hamstring problems limited Bogues to appearances in 74 of a possible 167 games over the previous two seasons, the Hornets suggested he might want to retire.
That idea didn't sit well with Bogues, and neither did the team's order that he have a special examination on his chronically sore left knee before training camp. He initially refused but relented after four days.
When Bogues joined his teammates, he found it hard to get playing time behind David Wesley, one of two free-agent guards the Hornets signed in the offseason.
Bogues doesn't always show up by the prescribed time before games, and once he does arrive, his performances aren't always up to par.
After Utah rookie Jacque Vaughn repeatedly drove past Bogues in the first half of a game last week, Cowens pulled Bogues and did not play him in the second half.
Bogues said increased playing time would increase his effectiveness.
"I think I deserve a lot better than what's going on right now," he said. "I've given this organization too much to be treated like this."
Cowens said Bogues has not been a distraction yet and that there are no plans to release him, even though the Hornets went into the final week of training camp with four point guards on their roster.
Cowens shrugged when asked what Bogues' role is.
"Basketball player," he said. "He's one of 12 guys that will be on the team. He'll basically do what he's supposed to do, and that's come in and play basketball, work hard, run the team, make good decisions -- and that's it. The player's job is a pretty simple job."
Backcourt inconsistency and lack of depth hurt Charlotte last season, when the Hornets were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
Over the summer, Charlotte signed Bobby Phills, 27, a shooting guard who played his first six NBA seasons with Cleveland, to a seven-year, $33-million deal.
Wesley, 26, who had stops in New Jersey and Boston in his first four seasons, was given a seven-year, $22-million contract with the hopes he can be the Hornets' floor leader into the next century.
"It's taking some time to get comfortable with everyone and learn the system, but I'm making progress," he said.
Cowens said Wesley is more accustomed to being a complementary player than an assertive playmaker.
"He still has a ways to go in terms of taking over as a leader on the floor," Cowens said. "But we're working with him, talking to him every day about it. We're pleased. He's getting there."
Wesley and Phills, who has been slowed in recent days by a badly sprained ankle, are likely to get backcourt support from Bogues, second-year point guard Tony Delk and Curry, who is entering his 12th season in the league.
Charlotte's front line, the driving force in the Hornets' success last year, is even deeper with the offseason addition of backup forward J.R. Reid and the return to health of Matt Geiger and Anthony Mason.
Geiger was slowed much of last year by a bad back and Mason battled a sore arch over the last half of the season.
Geiger and Reid can relieve Mason and center Vlade Divac, and they also give Charlotte the change to use a lineup featuring just one guard.
Cowens hopes Charlotte's offseason additions will mean Rice won't have to shoulder as much of the scoring load this season, although the 6-foot-8 small forward proved last year he's quite capable. Rice averaged 26.8 points, third best in the NBA and nearly five points better than in any of his previous seven seasons, and he led the league in 3-point percentage, helping the Hornets to a 13-game improvement over their 1995-96 record.
"I want to get more balance, more of an even distribution," Cowens said, "and that's where I think David and Bobby come in. They'll give us a new look back there and take some of the pressure off Glen and our whole inside game."
For all of his exploits on offense, Rice, the MVP of the 1997 NBA All-Star game, thinks improved defense will be the key if Charlotte is to be a contender in the Central Division.
"We made a lot of strides in our defense last year, and we have to do it again," Rice said. "There's a lot expected of this team, and a lot we expect from ourselves, but we need to come together and establish a strong presence to make it happen."