The news keeps getting worse for the 3-20 Charlotte Bobcats as they are going to be without starting shooting guard Gerald Henderson for the next 2-4 weeks due to a pulled hamstring.  Henderson has played in 21 games (all starts) for the Bobcats so far this year and he is averaging 33.8 minutes, 15.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.  Henderson is the Bobcats’ leading scorer so far this year and they are only averaging 87.3 points per game this year, so they are going to miss him big time.  Look for 31-year old Matt Carroll and 25-year old Reggie Williams to see bumps in P.T. until Henderson is ready to return to action.  Carroll has played in 20 games (2 starts) for the Bobcats so far this year and he is averaging 13.6 minutes, 3.8 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game on a pathetic 34.6% shooting from the floor.  Reggie Williams has just recently starting playing for the Bobcats this year as he has been rehabbing an injury.  He has played in 2 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats so far this year and he is averaging 15.0 minutes, 4.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  The Bobcats are really going to miss Gerald Henderson and they better hope that he heals quickly.

The Bobcats are 11-21 on the season so they should be looking for a spark.  I think that spark could come from 24-year old power forward Tyrus Thomas if they just started playing him more.  Thomas has played in 27 games (1 start) for the Bobcats so far this year and he is averaging 20.6 minutes, 11.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game.  The Bobcats should go small and put the best five players on the basketball court and that would be D.J. Augustin, Boris Diaw, Tyrus Thomas, Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace.

23-year old SF/SG Gerald Henderson is still struggling in his second year with the Bobcats.  Henderson has played in 14 games (0 starts) so far this year for the Bobcats and he is averaging 11.8 minutes, 2.6 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  He is also shooting only 37.5% from the floor and 58.3% from the free throw line so far this year.  Henderson has now played in 57 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Bobcats and he is averaging 9.1 minutes, 2.6 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Henderson is only shooting 36.1% from the floor in his NBA career so far.  Henderson was the #12 pick of the first round of the NBA Draft by the Bobcats in June of 2009 out of Duke and he has been a complete bust to this point of his NBA career.

25-year old Domonic McGuire has been replacing Gerald Wallace (ankle) for the last couple of games and he has been busy.  In his last 2 games, McGuire is averaging 34.0 minutes, 8.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game.  But, he is only 6 of 17 shooting from the floor (35.3%) and that stinks.  The Bobcats really miss Wallace’s offensive game and they need him back soon.  McGuire has played in 14 games (3 starts) for the Bobcats so far this year and he is averaging 18.2 minutes, 4.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  McGuire is only shooting 31.8% from the floor so far this year.  The Bobcats need McGuire to step up while Wallace is out of action.

28-year old C/PF Kwame Brown had not done much this year for the Bobcats.  Seeing how his competition for minutes at center is with Nazr Mohammed and DeSagana Diop, the Bobcats need him to start showing something.  Brown has played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats so far this year and he is averaging 12.7 minutes, 3.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.  You would think that Michael Jordan would learn from earlier mistakes as he took Brown with the first overall pick when he was running the Wizards.

29-year old center DaSagana Diop has absolutely NO GAME! He has played in 7 games (0 starts) so far this season and he is averaging 10.7 minutes, 1.0 point, 2.7 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Diop has nice size for a center but he has absolutely no offensive game. He can rebound and block a shot once in a while and that is the extent of his skills on the basketball court. The more he plays the worse the offense is going to be for the Bobcats.

The Bobcats are like a donut as they have a big whole in the middle (center). Just thinking out loud I wonder if they might put 2nd year point guard D.J. Augustin on the block. The 22-year old Augustin played in 80 games (2 starts) for the Bobcats last season and he averaged 18.4 minutes, 6.3 points, 1.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He was a huge disappointment for the Bobcats after turning in a solid rookie year. He has now played in 152 games (13 starts) for the Bobcats (2 years) in which he is averaging 22.2 minutes, 8.9 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Personally I would keep Augustin but you never know what Michael Jordan and the Bobcats have up their sleeves.

Veteran shooting guard Larry Hughes has not helped the Bobcats much since signing with them last month. He has played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats this year and he is averaging 17.7 minutes, 6.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Hughes is only shooting 26.1% from the floor with the Bobcats so maybe he should start passing more. Signing Hughes looks like a waste of time and money.

Tyson Chandler was supposed to give the Bobcats a lot of rebounding and solid D but he hasn’t done either in 2009-10. Chandler has played in 40 games (25 starts) for the Bobcats this season and he is averaging 22.7 minutes, 6.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. He has been hurt most of the year but he’s back now. The sad thing is that Chandler is getting outplayed by Theo Ratliff right now.

The Charlotte Bobcats are 2-6 in their last eight games, including an embarrassing (2nd) loss to the 6-54 New Jersey Nets, and their recently stagnant offense is to blame.  In those six losses, they averaged only 88.8 points and their top players like Gerald Wallace, Stephen Jackson, Raymond Felton, and D.J. Augustin all shot the ball poorly.  Wallace is averaging just 9.7 points in his last three games, Jackson has been turning it over too much and is shooting 41% during this eight game span, Felton is shooting 29% from the field in his last six games, and Augustin has hit only 22% of his shots in the last eight games.  Those are all some pretty pathetic numbers and these guys are the Bobcats best offensive players.  If the Bobcats are going to get themselves out of this funk and get into a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, all of these players need to step up their game big time.