Season three.
More experience.
More talent.
More wins?

If you were among the 18,518 fans watching Monday night, you might not be quick to think so. The Bobcats repeatedly shot themselves in the foot in the closing quarters of a 106-99 loss to Indiana in their NBA regular season opener, in the process losing all the impact of a roaring start full of promise.

There were plenty of things not to like, in addition to the outcome. The Bobcats turned the ball over 22 times, leading directly to 35 Pacers points, and misfired time and again on free throws in a 65.6 percent performance at the line.

Don’t be too quick to make early pronouncements about the Bobcats future, however, despite the sting of those numbers. Disguised in the disappointment of the evening were some strong signs of improvement, some that even Bobcats Head Coach and General Manager Bernie Bickerstaff acknowledged in his post-game critique.

“We’ll be OK because we’ll get our priorities right,” Bickerstaff said.

Just as last season’s 2-1 start wasn’t a true indication of where this then-second year team was headed, neither was Monday’s disappearing act. At least for now, there is no reason to believe the things that most hurt the Bobcats on opening night will be permanent.

Through two years of quietly building one block at a time, the Bobcats have been steadfastly reliable in three areas of the game -- they play hard, they have their heads screwed on straight and they take care of the basketball.

They played hard against Indiana but inexplicably lost their way with turnovers and, as Bickerstaff pointed out several times, their priorities.

“At the start of the game we played like a team that’s been reading all this stuff about the playoffs,” Bickerstaff said moments after the game. “Fifty percent of (Indiana’s) points came off second-chance points and us turning the basketball over…

“It was almost like a Phoenix situation – you shoot it so we can go down and shoot it. And that’s not us. We were being real careless with the basketball and that’s something we don’t do. I think right now we’re playing cool.”

Point guard Raymond Felton didn’t use as many words but echoed Bickerstaff’s comments and said he understood why his coach was taking the loss -- or the way it unfolded -- so hard.

“He was upset,” Felton said. “A lot of us, just about everybody, were upset. The main thing we have to do is play better team defense and do some things on offense. There is just some stuff we’ve got to clean up as a team…I think we came out a little too fired up, a little too anxious, instead of just relaxing and playing our game.”

Bickerstaff consistently avoids prolonged post-game tirades, preferring to wait until the emotions cool and he takes a step back the next morning before assessing all aspects of his team’s performance. Today he will find some things to feel good about.

Among them:

At the top of the list is the emergence, or re-emergence, of Emeka Okafor. He missed most of last season with an injury, then came to camp this fall still trying to get the rust off his game.

From the early moments Monday night he looked much more like the player who made his NBA debut with a Rookie of the Year season in 2004-05. Quick and agile and timing his moves down low, Okafor hit 8-19 shots and scored 19, though he was disappointed that he missed several close-range jump hooks that he usually makes. He collected 13 rebounds and was intimidating around the basket with six blocked shots.

“It was good to get out there and run around,” Okafor said. “I think I’m there. Preseason and regular season are two different things but I don’t think it will take long. I’m ready for it.”

Rookie Adam Morrison, the Bobcats’ first-round draft pick, got a rousing welcome from the crowd and created excitement in the stands each time he got his hands on the ball. His shooting percentage wasn’t as good as it almost certainly will be long-term -- he hit 5-13 -- but overall he scored 14 and provided one of the night’s Charlotte highlights by turning from about 40 feet out and firing in a three-pointer at the close of the opening quarter.

High-flyer Gerald Wallace had his moments, hitting each of his four shots and scoring nine points. But he played only 14 minutes, leaving the game for good after getting hit in mid-air on a drive and falling hard to the floor. He sustained neck and back injuries but, while no medical report was available Monday night, most in the locker room said they expect him to be quickly back on the floor.

The Bobcats played without starting center Primoz Brezec, who will miss about two weeks recuperating from exhaustion and dehydration. Second-year forward Sean May, who missed most of his rookie season with an injury, started, shot well (5-11) and grabbed 10 rebounds.

The night’s effort, no matter how misguided at times, kept the Bobcats ahead for the entire first half and part of the third quarter, before the Pacers moved ahead for the first time.

“We competed like we always do,” Okafor said. “We just got sloppy at times. But we got the jitters out of the way and now is the time to get down to what we do.”

They will have two more opportunities this week, Friday night at Memphis and Saturday night at home against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

As Felton pointed out, they have some things to clean up before they play again. May, for one, is confident they will.

“It’s a long, long season,” May said. “This team is still going to do some special things.”

Leonard Laye covered the NBA, ABA and college basketball for more than three decades for the Charlotte Observer and the old Charlotte News until his retirement from writing sports fulltime. He will write a regular column throughout the season for BobcatsBasketball.com for his second straight year.