John Henson Is Going To Be Alright In The NBA
Thursday, July 19, 2012 at 1:11AM Joe Simmons 
Everyone kept saying that Henson wasn’t going to be a good pro because of his size. He may not be when it’s all said and done but my first impression is that of all the UNC players that I have seen in this year’s summer league, Henson looks the most comfortable in his role as a professional.
I knew he would be okay on the defensive end because of his length. I also knew that he would be a force in the open court because of his ability to run in the open floor. What I didn’t expect was his ability to catch and shoot on the move. We never saw that part of his game at UNC whether by design or lack of necessity.
Henson has shown us an array of post moves and a jump hook that was almost unstoppable in college but we never saw him catch and shoot on the move. Now that he has added that part to his game he can be a force in the league. I can see him averaging eight or nine rebounds a game and a few blocked shots but if he can add a scoring punch to go along with it, John Henson is a name you may hear for many years to come.
Other Tar Heels have been impressive as well. Harrison Barnes has looked good in his first two games as well. Barnes has shown us moments of brilliance and aggressiveness that we didn’t see much this year in college. We saw glimpses of it last year when the Tar Heels were making that run into the tournament when we deemed him the Black Falcon 4.0. What I am learning about Barnes is that he’s more of a three than a two and that he’s not as athletic as I thought he was. He’s more fundamental than phenomenal. There’s nothing wrong with that though as he can be a good twelve and seven guy in the league for a long time.
Tyler Zeller has been the biggest surprise of all the players drafted from the Tar Heels roster. Zeller is much better than I thought he would be. He still thinks he’s a small forward at times as he draws more charges than he blocks shots, but he is effective on both ends of the floor. He runs the floor like a wing player as well and that works well for that roster. I am not sure how long he will be in Cleveland but he sure does seem to be a nice fit for that roster in its current form.
The biggest disappointment so far for me has been Kendall Marshall. He looks out of his element and timid to me. Part of it could be due to late signing and the rest could be nerves. Quite frankly he just doesn’t look athletic enough to be on the floor at times. I have seen a bunch of second round picks that I would rather have on my team right now, but I know he will get better as he gets better talent around him. What I will say is that defensively he’s much better than I expected and I hope his offensive game evolves throughout the rest of the week.
Stay Breezy ~ I'm Out!
Reader Comments (1)
Henson showed a lot of improvement I'm glad he stayed in school longer than the scouts and GM's wanted him to
I like Marshall a lot I think he will be fine in the league , he might have a rocky start though