Gerald Henderson's Path to 20 Points Per Game

The 2011-2012 Bobcats season does not offer fans the promise of a deep playoff run, or frankly the reasonable hope of a playoff berth. No, as previously chronicled here, the Bobcats' path to relevance involves more than a few future lottery picks. With that in mind, progress can't be measured in team success, so it needs to be measured in individual success. So, let's look at one of the more critical pieces of the puzzle: Gerald Henderson. By most accounts, his on-ball defense, shot-blocking, passing, rebounding, etc. are at least passable for shooting guards in the league. But, does he have what it takes to score at a 20+ per game clip?

Obviously, when compared to the wing players that scored 20+ points per game last season, Henderson comes up noticeably short of the mark. Not only are the attempts nowhere near the group, but efficiency is lacking on free throws, 2 point attempts, and 3 point attempts. But, the story is far different when looking at the last 23 games of the season (March and April, after the Gerald Wallace trade):

Shot attempts increase noticeably, but notice that efficiency on all shots increased. In fact, when looking at the last 23 games, he was scoring at a more efficient clip than either Stephen Jackson (.909 points per shot on 20.3 shots per game) or Gerald Wallace (.865 points per shot on 18 shots per game) did last year as Bobcats.

So, what's it going to take to make Gerald Henderson a 20 point scorer this season? In a word: seven. As in, seven more shots per game. Given his efficiency scoring the ball, all he has to do is take seven more shots at the same level he played the last 23 games. Doesn't matter what kind of shots he takes. Even if he took seven more 3's a game, with his disturbingly low accuracy on that front, he'd get there. Now, at the end of the day, even if Gerald's numbers improve, and he joins the ranks of 20 point scorers in the league, will that make the Bobcats relevant? Frankly, no. But for a team that seems several pieces away from NBA relevance at the moment, it's a small comfort that maybe one of those pieces isn't as far away as it seems.