Category: Charlotte Hornets Blog

Charlotte Bobcats president of basketball operations Rod Higgins promises no “hard right turns” in reaction to his team having the worst record in the NBA at the All-Star break.

By that, Higgins means no trades that could make them cosmetically better the last 30 games of the season without having long-term value. The Bobcats could have up to $21 million in space under the salary cap next summer, and Higgins says they won’t botch that with something short-sighted between now and the March 15 trade deadline.

“Panic doesn’t exist for us,” Higgins said Wednesday. “Once we made those trades (exchanging veterans Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson for packages that included draft picks), we have to see it through, the path we’ve taken: Get assets, create (cap) flexibility.

“The season is going in a direction that maybe some of us didn’t envision. A disappointment, you might say. But with that being said, you cannot make that hard right and forget about what you’ve already done.”

— Reported by Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer

Gerald Henderson An actual decent Bobcat

Things keep getting harder for the 3-20 Charlotte Bobcats.

An MRI taken Thursday confirmed that Bobcats guard/forward Gerald Henderson suffered a right hamstring strain during the third quarter of Wednesday night’s game at Portland. Henderson is expected to miss 2-4 weeks.

Herderson is the team’s leading scorer this season, averaging 15.0 points and 4.4 rebounds in 33.8 minutes per game.

The Bobcats have been getting smoked this season. And now things will get even harder.

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Charlotte Bobcats point guard D.J. Augustin played through three ankle sprains the first dozen games of this NBA season. He knows the difference between a little pain and a debilitating injury.

The right big-toe injury Augustin has suffered is debilitating. So much so that Augustin likely won’t play in any of the upcoming four road games that start Tuesday against the Lakers in Los Angeles. In an exclusive interview Sunday with the Observer, Augustin said sitting out now is necessary, not only to this season, but potentially to protecting his career.

“If I try to come back and play on it too soon, I’ll be right back where I was last week,” said Augustin, who missed the last four games, all losses.

— Reported by Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer

Charlotte Bobcats President of Basketball Operations Rod Higgins announced today that the team has exercised the fourth-year option on guard/forward Gerald Henderson for the 2012-13 season.

Henderson has started all 18 games this season and is currently averaging 15.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steal in 34.9 minutes. He has reached double-figure scoring in six straight games, including three of 20 points or more, and is averaging 19.5 points on .538 shooting (43-80) during that span.

“Gerald Henderson embodies the basketball culture we have created here of putting guys on the floor who work hard at their craft, have a passion for the game and are willing to take advantage of the resources afforded to them here in Charlotte,” said Higgins. “He deserves this and we look forward to watching him grow as a player.”

An early-entry candidate from Duke University, Henderson was selected by the Bobcats with the 12th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. He currently holds career averages of 8.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 129 games.

Bobcats guard D.J. Augustin was seen by Charlotte orthopedist Dr. Bob Anderson today and the diagnosis confirmed an inflammatory condition of the sesmoid bones that lie in the flexor tendons on his right big toe.

Augustin re-aggravated the injury, which had bothered him previously, during to the first quarter of the Bobcats’ Jan. 22, matchup at New Jersey. Augustin is expected to miss the team’s next four games (five days total).

Augustin this season has averaged 13.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.6 assists in 17 games.

North Carolina junior Dexter Strickland will miss the rest of the season after tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament in Thursday’s win at Virginia Tech.

Strickland was hurt when his knee buckled on a drive early in the second half. The school said Friday that Strickland’s surgery to repair the injury hasn’t been scheduled yet.

“Positive thinking!” Strickland posted on his Twitter account Friday night. “Everything happens for a reason, God always has a plan! Thanks to everyone who is praying for me! I appreciate it!”

The 6-foot-3 guard had started every game for the eighth-ranked Tar Heels, averaging about eight points and shooting a team-best 57 percent while thriving in transition. He was the team’s top perimeter defender and doubled as the No. 2 ballhandler behind point guard Kendall Marshall.

— Reported by ESPN.com

Rookie Bismack Biyombo is beginning to make quite an impression with the Charlotte Bobcats.

Enough so that he’s moving up the depth chart.

Bobcats coach Paul Silas said starting Saturday night against Chicago, Biyombo will move to center where he’ll backup starter Byron Mullens for the remainder of the season. That’s a good move for Biyombo, who had been buried on the depth chart beneath a glut of power forwards including Tyrus Thomas, D.J. White and, at times, Boris Diaw.

The decision comes after Biyombo’s most impressive game as a professional Tuesday night at Orlando.

Biyombo registered his first double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the loss to the Magic, and played well on defense. Even though Magic center Dwight Howard scored 25 points, Silas likes the job Biyombo did on Orlando’s dominant big man. Biyombo had four blocks and nine defensive rebounds and seemed to frustrate Howard late in the game.

— Reported by Steve Reed of the Associated Press

It took about a dozen games, but rookie Bismack Biyombo offered evidence to Charlotte Bobcats fans Tuesday why he was the seventh overall pick in the NBA draft.

He’s what Southerners would call “country strong” and what coach Paul Silas called the one truly tough guy on this roster. Biyombo did his best to stand up to the baddest dude in the NBA – Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard – and for a while, it worked.

Biyombo played a big part in Howard committing five fouls. It wasn’t enough to hold off the Magic in the Bobcats’ 96-89 loss at Amway Center, but it held promise for the future, concerning the springy 6-foot-9 big man from the Congo.

“He played Dwight tough. He didn’t just let him back it in all the way to the rim. He’s my toughest player,” Silas said of Biyombo, who finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

— Reported by Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer