Heels should put Bobcats on better footing with fans.(Charlotte Bobcats )

The excuses must stop. The Charlotte Bobcats had the second-worst attendance in the National Basketball Association last season. The team and its apologists blame it on the city's former franchise, on a poorly designed television package, on playing in an old building. They probably even blame it on Rio or the rain.

They need to face facts: This season, the team's second, will say a lot about the NBA's future in the Queen City. Elements necessary for success are in place. The franchise will play in a new arena, with two hugely popular rookies from UNC Chapel Hill's national championship team as key players. If those factors don't translate into a lot more fans in the stands, it would be hard not to conclude that Charlotte just isn't NBA material anymore.

That conclusion would have seemed ridiculous in 1989 when a second-year NBA team with the fifth pick selected a Tar Heel in an effort to connect with its fan base. The team was the Charlotte Hornets; the player was …