Do you know what the 7-foot, 280-pound Diop is? A space-eater. A decent rebounder and shot-blocker. But overall, not much more than a stiff. Diop can't shoot at all (career average: 2.1 points per game). There's a reason he's been a career backup.

I wouldn't be opposed if the Bobcats signed someone like Diop on the free-agent market -- a lurching intimidator inside isn't a bad thing.

But to give up Felton -- who is flawed, certainly, but also versatile and as tough as they come -- for Diop? I know there are salary-cap complications, but c'mon. Felton is worth more.

As we dole out criticism after Carolina's 33-13 loss to Arizona on Saturday, don't forget a big dollop to coach John Fox and defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac.

Jake Delhomme was the biggest culprit in this loss with those six turnovers. But Trgovac and Fox put together such a vanilla defensive game plan in the first half -- when this game was decided -- that they should get a huge amount of blame.

I went back and studied the tape of the first half. Arizona's Kurt Warner dropped back to throw 20 times in the half (one turned into a scramble and one was a sack). Do you know how many times the Panthers blitzed on those 20 dropbacks?

Three.

On the other 17 pass plays, Carolina rushed four defenders 16 times and three once. It was totally predictable and utterly ineffective.

Not counting a spike to kill the clock, Warner completed 15 of 18 passes in the first half for 200 yards and two touchdowns. By halftime, it was 27-7, and the game was over.

In the second half, Carolina blitzed more often. And it worked. But that was like closing the barn door after the horse had gotten out.

How could Fox and Trgovac been so slow on the uptake on this? Why wait until halftime to make your adjustments? Everyone in the NFL knows that Warner can kill you when he has time. And -- thanks in part to Julius Peppers doing almost nothing the entire game -- Warner had tons of it.

As for those six Delhomme turnovers, did you know that on four of them he was trying to get the ball to Steve Smith (three interceptions along with a fumble while waiting for Smith to get open)?

Gotta love ACC Basketball. For the first time in four years, the conference has four teams ranked in the national top 10. The game I'm looking forward to Saturday is No.2 Wake Forest at No.10 Clemson; both should be unbeaten entering that one.

A one-on-one matchup I'd pay to see: Wake Forest's Jeff Teague vs. Davidson's Stephen Curry.

Scott Fowler: 704-358-5140; sfowler@charlotteobserver.com

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