It would be easy to write about the players that dominated the Bobcats-Hornets last week. Anthony Davis deserves 300 words for his performance, CJ Miles looked like an MVP candidate for a game, and Dwight Howard looks good again. Even easier, I could attack Charlotte's start to the season as a recalculated version of last year's team's efforts.

Because really, last year's team played last week's games.

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Al Jefferson absence left Kemba Walker with no space to get his game going and the team without an inside scoring presence and a big man capable of standing in the way of Dwight Howard. He also left the team with no rim protection against quicker guards and forwards.

Until Jefferson returns from a nagging ankle injury, Charlotte can look forward to bad possessions and turnovers. When Jefferson comes back, Charlotte must utilize him to create scoring or this team will watch another season spiral toward irrelevancy.

But let's move past the negativity. We can gather relevant information from a team in their first week, despite what most people think about the NBA's long season.

So what did we learn this week?

Gerald Henderson should not be isolated more than a couple of times a game unless he can get a favorable matchup. Hopefully Jefferson's presence will help with that. Cody Zeller already impresses me more than Josh McRoberts, and unless Zeller misses an amazing number of free throws, he should overtake McRoberts in clutch time soon enough.

Kemba Walker needs to have options that can hit open threes. Teams are doubling off of nearly every option when Walker penetrates - something the New Orleans Pelicans did consistently on every ballhandler, producing a number of steals for the aforementioned Anthony Davis (6). Still, the Bobcats-Hornets kept forcing the issue and turning the ball over.

The team's exasperation with a quicker, more skilled defensive squad destroyed what confidence they built in a win over Cleveland the previous night.

As putrid a performance as Charlotte had against New Orleans, they were effective against Cleveland and showed flashes of good offensive sets with a limited Jefferson against Houston.

Especially against the Cavaliers, their first half offense could not have looked prettier. Interior passing and fast breaks allowed the halfcourt sets to flourish. Walker hit a pair of stepback jumpers, Zeller started 3-4 and Charlotte scored 54. Obviously they cannot average 54 per half and Cleveland won't be on the schedule much, but you take the positives where you can.

Their offense sputtered down the stretch, a likely story with last year's team. Walker bailed them out with a late three, as he must do while they struggle through an early injury.

Their defense worked on limiting shots for Kyrie Irving (6-13, 20 pts) while holding the Cavs under 90. Coach Steve Clifford preached a better defense this season, and it showed in the first two games. Perimeter players struggled to get their shots. Big men foiled the team consistently, but without a starting center, it proves tough to judge the team on that.

What fans must hope is that Walker does not have to bear the offensive burden alone. Gerald Henderson played unbelievably poor games against the Pelicans and Cavaliers, shooting 2-10 against the Cavs and not hitting a single field goal until the 4th quarter against the Pelicans.

A tough week for Henderson and an absent Jefferson translated to a tough week for the Bobcats. Low-scoring, high-effort teams rarely start or finish well. Unless the team lessens their turnovers or gets more offensive contributions, 90-84 wins will come tougher as Jefferson continues to sit.

With two games against the Knicks and one against Toronto this week, the schedule does not lighten for Charlotte.

Still, the young season leaves hope, but the Bobcats-Hornets must work to keep our spirits up. Jefferson's return will bring promise, but as we learned this week, Charlotte needs to score some points.

Yell at Jeff on Twitter (@beardsinc) or email him: repetitionsifailure@gmail.com.