The Charlotte Bobcats exercised a fourth-year option on top scorer Gerald Henderson that will keep the guard/forward with the club through the 2012-13 NBA season, the team said on Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time).

Henderson, taken in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft by Charlotte, is averaging 15.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game this season with Bobcats.

Charlotte, the second-worst team in the league with a 3-15 record, currently is without guard and number two scorer D.J. Augustin, who is sidelined with a toe injury. — Reuters

CBSSports.com wire reports
Jan. 25, 2012

WASHINGTON — Randy Wittman didn’t sleep on Tuesday night. Excited and nervous about his debut as Washington Wizards coach, Wittman couldn’t wait to get started.

His players couldn’t wait, either.

The Wizards led throughout the game and blew out the woeful Charlotte Bobcats 92-75 on Wednesday.

Washington is still just 3-15, but after the Wizards quickly built a 20-point lead and didn’t blow it, Wittman was eager to talk about the win.

Replacing his old friend Flip Saunders, who was fired Tuesday morning, wasn’t his choice. Given a contract to coach only through the end of the season by team president Ernie Grunfeld, Wittman said there was no magic in the win.

“There’s nothing to critique tonight,” Wittman said. “This is tough — the things we’ve gone through — this is tough.”

Nick Young scored 20 points, and Andray Blatche had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards, who didn’t have the benefit of a practice. Saunders’ lead assistant has been an NBA coach twice — with Minnesota and Cleveland. His career record improved to 101-207.

He didn’t change the starting lineup.

“All these guys get a clean slate with me,” Wittman said before the game.

When Grunfeld fired Saunders, he explained that the team needed “a new voice.”

Blatche, who had clashed with Saunders on numerous occasions, tried to be conciliatory toward both the old and new coach.

“I can’t honestly say we needed a new voice,” Blatche said. “We just needed somebody to actually check us — like Wittman did. That’s what we needed.”

JaVale McGee, whose showboat dunk on Jan. 16 caused a huge rift between he and Saunders, was reluctant to say the team needed a new coach.

“That’s Ernie’s opinion, and I’m going to let it be Ernie’s opinion,” McGee said.

Wittman likened his team’s fight against mistakes to a smoker trying to quit.

“I’ve got to help them kick some of those bad habits. That’s all it is – we’ve just fallen into a way that’s not conducive to us to win, so when I see them pull out a cigarette, I have to take it out of their mouth,” Wittman said.

Washington started off brilliantly against a team with even more problems. The Bobcats, who have lost six straight, are now 3-16 and were missing their top two scorers: Gerald Henderson and D.J. Augustin.

Matt Carroll scored 17 points and rookie Cory Higgins had a season-high 13 for the Bobcats. Tyrus Thomas also had 13 points and blocked nine shots – one short of a team record.

“Talent is what’s most important in this league. If you don’t have the talent, it’s very difficult to win, it’s very difficult to execute, it’s very difficult to do anything,” Charlotte coach Paul Silas said. “Right now, we just don’t have that. As I said last night, take three or four of your best players off any team, and you’re not gonna play well. Our scorers, our two leading scorers are not playing, how are we gonna score?”

John Wall scored 12 points for the Wizards, who broke a three-game losing streak. Washington had a 31-17 advantage after one. The second quarter was even worse for Charlotte. The Bobcats missed their first seven shots of the quarter and finished 5 for 20 in the period, scoring just 11 points and trailing 48-28 at halftime.

The Bobcats used a 9-0 run early in the third to cut the lead to 50-37, but Washington soon pushed the lead to 25 and led 71-49 heading into the fourth.

Notes

• Henderson was a late scratch with a bruised lower back. Earlier in the day, the team exercised its fourth-year option on him. Carroll started in Henderson’s place. Henderson said that he decided not to play after he warmed up.
• Augustin will miss at least three more games with an inflamed right big toe. Silas isn’t sure how long Augustin will be out. “It’s difficult to know, but the one thing we were concerned about is a fracture and he doesn’t have that. So we’ll just have to wait and see how long it’s gonna take him,” Silas said.
• Wizards F/C Ronny Turiaf says he’s still a few weeks away from returning after breaking his left hand on Jan. 1.
• Washington hired a new assistant coach, Joe Connelly.
• The Wizards (23) and Charlotte (22) both tied season highs for turnovers.

Nick Young scored 20 points, and Andray Blatche had 17 points
and 10 rebounds to lead the Washington Wizards to a 92-75 win over
the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night in Randy Wittman’s first
game as coach.

Wittman took over for the fired Flip Saunders on Tuesday, and
guided the team without the benefit of a practice. Saunders’ lead
assistant has been an NBA coach twice _ with Minnesota and
Cleveland. His career record improved to 101-207.

He didn’t change the starting lineup.

“All these guys get a clean slate with me,” Wittman said.

They started off brilliantly against a team with even more
problems. The Bobcats, who have lost six straight, are now 3-16 and
were missing their top two scorers: Gerald Henderson and D.J.
Augustin.

Matt Carroll scored 17 points and rookie Cory Higgins had a
season-high 13 for the Bobcats. Tyrus Thomas also had 13 points and
blocked nine shots _ one short of a team record.

John Wall scored 12 points for the Wizards, who broke a
three-game losing streak but are still just 3-15.

Washington led throughout and had a 31-17 advantage after one.
The second quarter was even worse for Charlotte. The Bobcats missed
their first seven shots of the quarter and finished 5 for 20 in the
period, scoring just 11 points and trailing 48-28 at halftime.

The Bobcats used a 9-0 run early in the third to cut the lead to
50-37, but Washington soon pushed the lead to 25 and led 71-49
heading into the fourth.

NOTES: Henderson was a late scratch with a bruised lower back.
Earlier in the day, the team exercised its fourth-year option on
him. Carroll started in Henderson’s place. … Augustin will miss
at least three more games with an inflamed right big toe. Coach
Paul Silas isn’t sure how long Augustin will be out. “It’s
difficult to know, but the one thing we were concerned about is a
fracture and he doesn’t have that. So we’ll just have to wait and
see how long it’s gonna take him,” Silas said. … Wizards F/C
Ronny Turiaf says he’s still a few weeks away from returning after
breaking his left hand on Jan. 1. … Washington hired a new
assistant coach, Joe Connelly. … Charlotte tied a season high
with 22 turnovers.

Read More: Andray Blatche (F – WAS), Nick Young (G – WAS), Randy Wittman (A – WAS), Kemba Walker (G – CHA), Washington Wizards, Charlotte Bobcats

After one half at the Verizon Center, the Washington Wizards lead the Charlotte Bobcats by twenty points. In their first game under Randy Wittman, the Wizards had some nice inside-outside balance on the offensive end. Nick Young led Washington with 13 points while Andray Blatche had 11 on the interior. As a team, they shot 47 percent from the field to race out to the 48-28 lead.

On the defensive end, the Wizards clamped down on lowly Charlotte, which shot just 30 percent from the floor. Washington’s frontcourt held Charlotte’s big men in check, and bothered Kemba Walker on his penetration attempts. Walker was just four of 15 from the floor.

Charlotte is playing terrible basketball and presents a golden opportunity for Washington to get its third win of the year. The twenty-point halftime lead is a good start.

For more on the Wizards, as always, you can visit Bullets Forever. For more on the team across the court, you can head to Rufus on Fire, SB Nation’s Charlotte Bobcats blog. For more on this and every NBA game please head to the SB Nation NBA hub page.

When he was drafted with the 12^th overall pick back in 2009, the Charlotte Bobcats had high hopes that shooting guard Gerald Henderson would be an impact player for their basketball club. Three years later and Henderson has done more than enough to entice the Bobcats to keep him around for at least one more season.

The Bobcats have decided to exercise their team option for a fourth year on Henderson’s rookie contract. With that, the Bobcats have ensured that they will have their young guard around at least until the end of the 2012-2013 season.

Now that the Bobcats have exercised their option, Henderson will receive $3.1 million next year in his fourth season in the NBA. That also opens the door for further negotiations to keep Henderson in Charlotte for even longer.

“Gerald 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,” Bobcats president of basketball operations Rod Higgins said of Henderson. “He deserves this and we look forward to watching him grow as a player.”

So far this season, Henderson has started all 18 games for the Bobcats and has emerged as one of the offensive leaders. During that time, he has averaged 15.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. In the last six games for the Bobcats, Henderson has reached double digits in scoring, including three games of 20-plus points.

Henderson’s career averages currently stand at 8.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game in 129 total games.

Despite his best efforts, the Bobcats have stumbled out of the gates this season and are off to a 3-15 start that has them sitting near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. If they hope to dig themselves out of that hole anytime soon, they’ll have to continue putting the ball in Henderson’s hands and making sure that he stays involved in the offensive game plan.

Gil Alcaraz IV is a life-long NBA fan who has followed the Bobcats since their inaugural 2004 season. For more, follow him on Twitter.

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