With the latest injury to starting center Tyson Chandler the Bobcats have turned to Nazr Mohammed and he has been solid. Mohammed has played in 44 games (19 starts) this season and he is averaging 15.5 minutes, 7.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He is also shooting 55.7% from the floor for the Bobcats. Mohammed is doing a good job for the Bobcats this season and look for his minutes to continue to increase even after Chandler returns from injury.

The Charlotte Bobcats were very excited when they acquired Boris Diaw in a trade from the Phoenix Suns last season, and he did not disappoint.  In 59 games with the Bobcats last season Diaw averaged 37.6 minutes, 15.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.7 blocks on 50% shooting and 42% from three.  Diaw has been inconsistent this season and his stats have had a big drop-off compared to last season despite getting nearly the same amount of playing time.  In 35.1 minutes per game, he is averaging only 10.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.6 blocks on 46% shooting and 33% from three.  Diaw really needs to step it up if the Bobcats want to have success in the second half of the season.  At 22-22, the Bobcats are currently the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference, but if they want any chance of making it out of the first round they are going to need to get themselves up at least a spot or two come playoff time.  Diaw could be the difference-maker for them, he just needs to start playing like he did last season.

The Bobcats will be without 23-year old forward D.J. White for a while (6-8 weeks) due to recent surgery on a fractured thumb. White has played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats this season and he is averaging 9.0 minutes, 4.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. The Bobcats won’t miss White too much as they weren’t playing him much anyway.

The Charlotte Bobcats’ forward Gerald Wallace does anything that will help his team win, often times laying his body on the line.  Wallace always plays hard and will out-hustle most players on the court.  Usually a guy that hustles as much as Wallace does is making up for his lack of skills, especially on the offensive end.  That is not the case for Wallace, as he has loads of talent.  So far this season Wallace is averaging 18.5 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2.o assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.1 blocks while playing a team-high 41.8 minutes per game.  Wallace also shoots for a very good percentage (47.8%), especially lately.  In the Bobcats last nine games, in which they won eight of nine, Wallace has been hitting 52% of his shots and is averaging 20.4 points.  The Bobcats are one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now, and Gerald Wallace is one of the main reasons why.  This guy is no doubt an All-Star in my opinion.

Since coming over from the Warriors in a trade Stephen Jackson has been given the Bobcats’ offense a needed jolt. He has played in 26 games (all starts) for the Bobcats so far this season and he is averaging 41.0 minutes, 20.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game. On the downside, Jackson is selfish with the basketball and he is not shooting too well for the Bobcats hitting 39.8% of his shots from the floor and 29.3% from three point range. Even with Jackson hogging the ball too much at times the offense of the Bobcats is better with him than it was without him.

Although the team moved to New Orleans, Bobby Phills never played there. He died in a car accidend on January 12th, 2000 at the age of 30. His #13 was the first number retired in Hornets’ history and it’s just a shame that it wasn’t for what he did on the court. Phills had to work for everything he got as he was the 12th man for the Cleveland Cavaliers for quite a while before getting a chance to really show what he could do. He played in 133 games (113 starts) in his three years in Charlotte and he averaged 32.2 minutes, 12.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game. This was a sad day in Charlotte Sports History when Bobby Phills died and hopefully NBA players have learned a lesson from it.

With the Eastern Conference being as weak as it is this season the Bobcats are going all out to make the playoffs and that has resulted in the rookies not getting much playing time. Forward Derrick Brown has played pretty decent in his limited time on the court this season. He has played in 24 games (0 starts) in which he has averaged 11.6 minutes, 4.0 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Brown could get more playing time if the need arises due to injury along the frontcourt. SG/SF Gerald Henderson has been pretty awful this season for the Bobcats so far. He has played in 21 games (0 starts) in which he is averaging 8.9 minutes, 3.2 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.3 assists per game. Henderson is only shooting 37.9% from the floor and 28.6% from three point range this season. Until his shooting picks up I just don’t see him getting much playing time.

In his rookie year last season it looked as if D.J. Augustin was ready to push Raymond Felton to a new city in 2009-2010. The Bobcats were smart to bring Felton back because Augustin has been heaving enough bricks towards the rim to build a house. Augustin has played in 28 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats this season and he has averaged 18.2 minutes, 5.6 points, 1.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Augustin is only shooting 34.3% from the floor this year and that is why his minutes are way down this year for the Bobcats. They simply can’t afford to play him much until he starts taking better shots and making some of them.