Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap not ready to shred blueprint with team marred in 16-game losing skid

Charlotte Bobcats head coach Mike Dunlap discusses a call with an official during the second half of their NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, in Charlotte. The Heat won 105-92. (AP Photo/The Charlotte Observer, David T. Foster III) MAGS OUT; TV OUT; NEWSPAPER INTERNET ONLY (The Associated Press)

Charlotte Bobcats' Ramon Sessions (7) drives in on Miami Heat's Mike Miller (13) during the first half of their NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, in Charlotte. The Heat won 105-92. (AP Photo/The Charlotte Observer, David T. Foster III) MAGS OUT; TV OUT; NEWSPAPER INTERNET ONLY (The Associated Press)

It would be easy for Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap to tear up the blueprint amid a 16-game losing streak and come up with an entirely new plan.

But Charlotte's first-year coach has no designs for any such radical paper shredding.

Instead he's preaching patience.

When Dunlap looks at his team's struggles since opening the season 7-5 he recalls the growing pains Kevin Durant, Michael Westbrook and the rest of the Oklahoma City Thunder endured a few years ago.

Dunlap says "Durant and Westbrook took a pounding in those first two years," but the Thunder stayed the course and last year won the Western Conference championship.

So Dunlap will stick with playing youngsters like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kemba Walker, Byron Mullens and Jeffery Taylor. They'll make mistakes. They'll learn on the job.