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Derrick Brown falls, Bobcats lift him up
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Gerald Henderson with Derrick Brown (AP Photo Chuck Burton)
Duke University guard Gerald Henderson was selected in the first round of the 2009 NBA draft by the Charlotte Bobcats and is a name most basketball fans in North Carolina are aware of.
With the 40th pick in the second round, the Bobcats selected Derrick Brown, a forward from Xavier University.
Derrick Brown is a name, rather unfamiliar to North Carolina basketball fans, but Brown posted good numbers at Xavier and may be able to work himself into a valuable backup role in his rookie season for the Charlotte Bobcats.
At 6’8 and 227 lbs., the left-handed shooting Brown is going to be trained to play the small forward and power forward positions for Charlotte. He will need to bulk up and learn to be more aggressive to play the power forward position, as he did in college, but Brown shows a set of athletic skills that will enable him to be a well-rounded basketball player.
Charlotte is known as a rather “short” team, with no player in the starting lineup being over 6’10. Boris Diaw, Charlotte’s starting power forward, is listed at 6’8, so if Brown muscles up, height should not be an issue at the power forward position.
Not only can Brown get to the glass for rebounds, Brown shot 43 percent last season from 3-point range, electrified crowds with YouTube worthy dunks and led Xavier to the Elite Eight, only five points shy of the Final Four.
Brown was ranked by many mock drafts as a first-round pick. In an NBA player's mock draft, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Daniel "Boobie" Gibson selected Brown in the first-round for the Cavs, listing his athleticism for a forward as something that could not be passed on.
After being skipped over by many teams into the middle of the second round, Brown told the Associated Press that he feels he has something to prove in Charlotte.
"I want to prove to a lot of people, two or three years down the line when they look at this draft, that they got a real good player that a lot of teams missed out on," Brown said to the A.P. "I'm not mad or anything like that. I'm just ready to get this thing going."
Larry Brown said that the Bobcats had Brown at No. 20 on their draft board, so Brown was nothing short of a steal when still available to Charlotte at No. 40.
The Bobcats need depth at every position, so Brown may have the opportunity to backup Gerald Wallace early on and give the rising superstar needed rest.
On the other hand, there have been several rumors, that seem nothing but rumors, from some sources that Wallace may be back on the trading block. Charlotte would need to trade for a quality small forward, but regardless, Brown can provide quality backup minutes for whoever is in front of him.
With Charlotte not having a summer league to save money, Brown is getting practice with the Utah Jazz's squad and trying to ready himself against NBA competition.
Brown has averaged 9 points, 2.3 rebounds and one block in only 17:23 minutes per game, thus far for Utah.
Gerald Henderson may be the rookie that Charlotte is watching, but Brown may be the rookie that Charlotte needs to look out for.
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