Feb 6, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Fans hold up a sign mentioning Miami Heat forward LeBron James (not pictured) and Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving (not pictured) during a game between the Charlotte Bobcats and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Sometimes the Charlotte Bobcats play better than their record indicates. Earlier this week on ESPN’s First Take, NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith briefly applauded the Bobcats for their improvement in effort this season, coming off the heels of a close game against the Miami Heat.

Wednesday wasn’t one of those nights.

The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Bobcats 122-95. All-star Kyrie Irving had 22 points in 28 minutes and was perfect from the three point line. Rookies Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson combined for 36 points.

The Cavaliers shot over 56% from the field and had 33 assists to six turnovers. The Bobcats allowed 50 points in the paint to Cleveland, which anchored an easy and efficient offensive attack for the Cavaliers.

Byron Mullens in his second game back from an ankle injury led the Bobcats in scoring off the bench with 15. Ramon Sessions added 14 while Kemba Walker had just five points on 2-11 shooting. The Bobcats trailed by more than 20 at the half, but were never able to chew away at the halftime deficit.

While the effort has certainly been a lot better this season, nights like these still have been more than plenty this season. The Bobcats have a lot of spare parts on the team, and it doesn’t seem like Dunlap has ever been able to figure out a good way to put them together.

When Gerald Henderson was out with an injury, the team looked like they were starting to put some chemistry together. Henderson’s return though crowded the backcourt and minutes became inconsistent between four or five guards. Injuries up front haven’t helped matters either.

Dunlap’s been given a lot to experiment with, and there’s been no shortage of lineup changes and role configurations. However, there just hasn’t been great results. It’s a combination of talent level and role.

What’s the solution?

With the trade deadline coming up, surely fans can use their imagination on ideas to get a tighter rotation and more consistency with this group. Fans can also throw out scenarios that upgrade the Bobcats going forward with their talent. This team could use some veteran scoring, particularly up front.

June 28, 2012; Newark, NJ, USA; NBA commissioner David Stern in attendance during the 2012 NBA Draft at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

It looks like David Stern is actually serious about his new flopping policy. The NBA gave Jose Barea and Donald Sloan warnings for what the league perceived as flops in the first week of the year.

Here are the two flops the league decided were atrocious enough deal out punishments for.

Sloan totally flopped. But if the league is calling what Barea did flopping, its going to have a hard time explaining its inconsistently to questionable calls down the road (like on that is linked a few paragraphs down in this story).

The next time either of these guys are cited for flopping, they’ll be fined $5,000.

What’s yet to be seen about the league’s new flopping policy is whether they’ll apply to players people have actually heard of before.

This video of LeBron James reacting very late to a Carmelo Anthony foul (it was a foul) was posted on YouTube three days ago. It looks strikingly similar to the Barea foul and flop, except this one happened while the flopper was posting up.

Oh, and here’s Omir Asik doing his best Johnny Depp impression, and Darius Morris looking like he stepped on a grenade,

If the league wants people to take this policy seriously, it has to become more consistent with dishing out warnings and fines as the year goes on.