The Michael Jordan era with the city of Charlotte and the hometown Bobcats officially starts tonight with the team’s home opener against the Indiana Pacers.

The unofficial start, however, occurred last week. That’s when Jordan and two other team executives held a town hall meeting for season tickets holders and various members of the press. As luck would have it, I was able to attend.

Jordan showed flashes of his trademark charisma and left the adoring crowd with a clear yet unspoken message: that unlike his predecessor, the much-maligned Bob Johnson, he and his staff will make every attempt possible to unite the team and city – on and off the court.

For nearly an hour Jordan and staff gave candid answers to a variety of questions. And buried somewhere within each of those answers was the 2010 theme, “Win as One.”

What started as a Q&A ended as something closer to a spirited pep rally. I was impressed by Jordan’s openness and apparent desire to assemble a winning team. (He all but promised a playoff appearance.)

Still, I question how good this team will be. In other words, I hope that by season’s end that the Bobcats’ slogan, “Win as One,” hasn’t morphed into “If We Could Just Win One.”

I have two reasons for concern.

Lets start with the oh-so-obvious -- the position of point guard. DJ Augustine may be young and talented, but he is no Raymond Felton. The team struggled last year at point guard, even with Felton at the helm. So what did the Bobcats do? Instead of bringing in a quality free agent (i.e. Allen Iverson) who could lead while Augustine develops, they chose to downgrade at that position.

The backup point guards of Shaun Livingston and Sherron Collins don’t fare much better than the height-challenged Augustine.

To win in the NBA, a team must be solid at point guard to keep turnovers to a minimum, something coach Larry Brown knows better than most.

Reason No. 2: The position of center.

Historically speaking, other than the Jordan-era Chicago Bulls, every NBA championship team has had a dominant center. Although the position has changed over the years, its importance has not.

The Bobcats have neither a center who is a defensive stopper nor one who is a prolific scorer. Nazr Mohammed is a commendable power forward, but he is not a true center. Kwame Brown has yet to prove himself as an NBA center -- or even as an NBA player.

The Bobcats need consistency from center to avoid having opponents double team Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace, who account for 50 percent of the team’s scoring.

By the way, Jordan conceded in the town hall meeting that he, too, is concerned about point guard and center.

That being said, the new owner seems convinced that his coaching staff has put together a winning formula. If he is correct -- and I hope that he is -- then we should get our first up-close glimpse of that playoff-bound team tonight.
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Bobcats vs Pacers: These teams are similar in that both are 0-1 after losing their season openers on the road to Texas teams (Dallas and San Antonio), both have NBA legends in the front office (Jordan and Larry Byrd), both are looking to establish an identity of defense first, and both are long shots to make the playoffs.

What separates the teams are fan support and history. The history thing will come in time for the Bobcats. As for fan support, we’ll find out tonight whether Charlotte is ready to embrace the new Jordan era.

I predict a Bobcats win in a capacity-filled Time Warner Cable Arena. See you there.

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