24-year old starting point guard D.J. Augustin’s toe is still barking and he will likely miss the Bobcats upcoming 4-game road trip.  He has played in 17 games (all starts) for the Bobcats so far this year and he is averaging 32.6 minutes, 13.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game.  21-year old rookie Kemba Walker has stepped up so far while Augustin has been out of action.  Walker has started the last 9 games for the Bobcats and he is averaging 15.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game.  He has now played in 21 games (9 starts) overall this year for the Bobcats and he is averaging 27.1 minutes, 12.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game despite only shooting 37.3% from the floor.  The Bobcats need Walker to keep up the solid work until Augustin is ready to return to action.

The Bobcats have been awful this year but you can’t blame that on 24-year old SG Gerald Henderson, who has really stepped up so far this year.  Henderson has played in 18 games (all starts) for the Bobcats so far this year and he is averaging 34.9 minutes, 15.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  Henderson has been the best player on the Bobcats so far this year and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

The Bobcats saved 22-year old center Byron Mullens from being nailed to the Thunder’s bench or playing in the D-League this year when they dealt a 2nd round pick for him before this year started.  He has been a nice surprise so far for the Bobcats.  Mullens has played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Thunder so far this year and he is averaging 18.8 minutes, 11.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  Mullens is shooting 52.7% from the floor as he looks especially good offensively for the Thunder.  Look for Mullens to start getting more P.T. if he continues to play at a high level.

29-year old Boris Diaw is off to a good start for the Charlotte Bobcats.  Despite being only 6’8″, 245 pounds, Diaw has been throwing his weight around so far this year in the paint.  Diaw has played in 2 games (both starts) for the Bobcats so far this year and he is averaging 34.5 minutes, 12.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 0.5 steals and 1.5 blocked shots per game.  He is shooting 47.8% from the floor so far this year and he is 3 for 7 (42.9%) from three point range.  The Bobcats don’t expect Diaw to keep his production anywhere near the level it is right now, but he has not shied away from banging bodies with the big boys in the paint so far this year.

33-year old shooting guard Stephen Jackson played well again for the Bobcats lasst year.  He played in 67 games (all starts) for the Bobcats last year and he averaged 35.9 minutes, 18.5 ppints, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game.  Jackson has now played in 747 games (656 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 33.5 minutes, 16.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  Jackson has only played two years for the Bobcats, yet his name is all over the team record books.  Jackson is #6 in Bobcats’ history in three pointers made with 239 of them.  He is also #8 in rebounds (670), #6 in assists (499), tied for #5 in steals (198), #9 in blocked shots (65) and he’s #5 in points scored (2,758) in Bobcats’ history.

The Charlotte Bobcats were 9-19 when they decided to let Larry Brown walk away.  They hired 67-year old Paul Silas to replace Brown and he did a solid job leading the team to a 25-29 (46.3%) record despite not having Gerald Wallace (dealt to Portland) the last two months.  The Bobcats only finished three games out of the playoffs which is a testament to how well Silas coached.  Silas, if you remember, coached in Charlotte before.  From 1998-1999 to 2001-02, Silas coached the Charlotte Hornets.  The Hornets were 161-120 (57.3%) during the regular season and they were 11-12 (47.8%) during the post-season under Silas.  He now has a career record of 380-429 (47%) during the regular season and he is 13-16 (44.8%) during the playoffs.  I think the Bobcats should keep Silas around (as long as he wants to) this year to see if he can coach them up again.

23-year old shooting guard Gerald Henderson underwent hip surgery to repair a torn labrum early today and he will need a 4-6 month recovery time to get back up to speed.  This is a shame as Henderson really stepped up after the Bobcats dealt Gerald Wallace to the Blazers.  Henderson played in 68 games (30 starts) for the Bobcats last year and he averaged 24.4 minutes, 9.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.  He has now played in 111 games (30 starts) in his first two years with the Bobcats and he is averaging 18.2 minutes, 6.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  If healthy, Henderson will likely enter the 2011-12 season as the Bobcats’ starting shooting guard.

When Raymond Felton signed with the Knicks as a free agent, the Bobcats rushed out and signed Shaun Livingston to battle D.J. Augustin for the starting job at the point in training camp.  23-year old D.J. Augustin won the starting job and he never looked back.  He played in 82 games (all starts) for the Bobcats last year and he averaged 33.6 minutes, 14.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game.  He has now played in 234 games (96 starts) in his first three years with the Bobcats and he is averaging 26.2 minutes, 10.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.  Augustin is already #5 in games played in Bobcats’ history with 234.  He is also #5 in assists (941), #8 in steals (141) and he is #7 in points scored (2,536) in Bobcats’ history.  Look for Augustin to keep climbing up the franchise record books in the future as he looked pretty good last year.

29-year old center Kwame Brown is playing pretty decent when the Bobcats need it the most.  In Brown’s last 8 games, Brown is averaging 34.9 minutes, 9.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 blocked shots per game.  He has now played in 60 games (44 starts) this season and he is averaging 24.9 minutes, 7.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  Kwame Brown is a personal favorite of Michael Jordan as he refuses to admit that he made a big mistake taking him #1 overall with the Wizards.  Brown has a chance to vindicate Jordan if he can help get the Bobcats into the NBA Playoffs this year.

24-year old forward D.J. White, 23-year old forward Dante Cunningham and 31-year old center Joel Przybilla are off to decent starts for the Bobcats.  White has played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats so far this year and he is averaging 20.5 minutes, 8.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  He is shooting 53.7% from the floor for the Bobcats as he has been pretty impressive for the Bobcats so far.  Cunningham has played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats so far and he is averaging 18.5 minutes, 6.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  He is shooting 52.8% from the floor so far for the Bobcats as he is heating up for them as of late.  Joel Przybilla has played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats so far and he is averaging 14.8 minutes, 1.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on 40% shooting from the floor.  These three guys have added some much needed toughness around the basket for the Bobcats.