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Prospect Profile: Gerald Henderson

by Ricky Henne, nyknicks.com


Posted Jun 12 2009, 5:00 p.m.

Jun 12 2009 5:02PM
  • Draft Central

    In the days leading up to the NBA Draft, NYKnicks.com will look at the top-rated players potentially available to teams with lottery picks in the 2009 NBA Draft. We offer these profiles for fans to familiarize themselves with some of the biggest names in the draft. A player's inclusion in this series of articles is based purely on his rankings in the scouting services and mainstream media and does not necessarily reflect the Knicks organization's preferences for the June 25 Draft at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden.

    We continue our series with a profile of Duke shooting guard Gerald Henderson, a consensus first-round pick according to major scouting services and numerous publications.

  • Photo Gallery: Gerald Henderson

    While many teams look to their shooting guards to be able to light it up on the offensive end, Gerald Henderson is the rare player who is just as effective defensively as he is at scoring.

    Following two relatively quiet seasons at Duke, Henderson exploded his junior year for a monster season, leading the Blue Devils with 16.5 points per game along with 4.9 boards, 2.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.8 blocks.

    As a result, he is poised to be one of the first shooting guards selected on June 25.

    Extremely strong and quick, Henderson is a dynamic scorer able to post up smaller guards while also blowing past them on the way to the basket. While he lacks consistency from three, he has a superb midrange game that keeps defenders off balance. Defensively, Henderson has great lateral quickness that allows him to stay in front of his man. He is also a strong help defender who plays the passing lane well and comes out of nowhere to block shots.

    Most notably, the New Jersey native oozes with athleticism. After all, how many times does a team deploy its 6-foot-4 shooting guard to take the opening jump ball? His hops also allow him to be an excellent rebounding guard.

    Furthermore, Henderson is a winner who wants the ball in his hands, evidenced by his signature moment at Duke. Down 70-69 in the opening round of the 2008 NCAA tournament to 15th seed Belmont in the waning seconds of what would be arguably the biggest upset in college basketball history, he went coast to coast, refusing to let the ball out of his hands as he laid in the winning bucket with 11.9 seconds left.

    Basketball is also in Henderson’s genes, as the explosive junior is named after his father, who played for the Knicks in 1987 and won NBA titles with the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons. With his ability to score in bunches while shutting down the opposition, he no doubt will have the chance to win a few rings himself over his NBA career as well.

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