UNC expects breakthrough for Henson
CHAPEL HILL If there was one player who summed up all of North Carolina's struggles last season, it was probably John Henson.
After the Tar Heels lost four starters to the NBA, the highly touted freshman forward was asked to do too much, too soon. It took him almost the entire season and a position change to start playing up to (lofty) expectations, just like the Tar Heels.
They showed occasional moments of brilliance early - that win against Michigan State, so stunning in retrospect - before plunging into depths of incompetence rarely seen at the Smith Center, then emerging in the final month to start playing the kind of basketball the Tar Heels could have (should have?) been playing in January and February.
The same could all be said of Henson, and no player benefited more from North Carolina's unusual appearance in the NIT.
"John is the first person that comes to mind, all the minutes that he got down the stretch in those extra five games, that was extremely important to us," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said.
Everyone's talking about North Carolina's freshmen, most notably Harrison Barnes, but with massive losses in the frontcourt - two starters graduated, two reserves transferred and Will Graves was kicked off the team - what the Tar Heels really need is a boost from last year's big recruit.
Henson looked lost for months while playing small forward, moving aimlessly on the court as if he had no grasp of the offense, occasionally surfacing to throw down dunks on consecutive plays or some other amazing feat, then disappearing again.
But down the stretch, playing power forward, Henson started scoring, became a more effective defender - 34 blocks in UNC's final 15 games, roughly the same rate as ACC leader Solomon Alabi of Florida State - and started looking more like the player who was supposed to be the ACC's best freshman and a potential top-five NBA draft pick.
Now he's 20 pounds heavier, a year older and presumably wiser and will get all the playing time he can handle.
Outside shooting was the Tar Heels' biggest issue last season, but that shouldn't be as much of a problem this time around with Barnes and fellow freshman Reggie Bullock and some natural improvement from Larry Drew II and Dexter Strickland. That alone should be worth an upgrade in ACC wins.
Inside play is the issue for the Tar Heels this year, and they need a breakout season from Henson if they're going to return to the levels of excellence expected of them - and they expect of themselves - on an annual basis.
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