By Eddy Landreth
Staff Writer
No team sits idle.
They are either moving forward in their progress or slipping. The ideal scenario is to learn while winning, rather than struggling to find confidence and learn while losing.
Entering Tuesday’s game at Boston College (which was played after the deadline for this column), Carolina was 15-5 overall and 5-1 in the ACC standings and in that enviable position of finding ways to win while growing.
“That is a credit to how much potential we have as a team,†sophomore forward John Henson said. “The way we’re winning, I’m just waiting for that breakout game where we play really well. We’re still trying to get that perfect game, that great game.â€
Henson is one of the main reasons the Tar Heels continue to win. Ever since he moved closer to the basket near the end of last season, his progress has been steady and upward. On Jan. 29 against N.C. State, Henson blocked (at least) seven shots, scored 16 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. The young man gets better every day at using his amazing wingspan to his advantage and that of his team.
UNC’s Tyler Zeller is a big man himself, checking in at 7 feet, but his wingspan is not quite that of Henson’s. Zeller enjoys and admires the impact big John is having around the bucket.
“John altered every shot, altered anything within two or three feet of the basket,†Zeller said of Henson against the Wolfpack. “We just stayed in front of them and let John go block it. He did a superb job also of getting the rebounds.â€
The player who is starting to emerge in dramatic fashion, however, is Harrison Barnes. The freshman is getting comfortable and providing glimpses of the talent Coach Roy Williams saw when he made 11 trips to Ames, Iowa, to recruit Barnes.
Barnes hit the game-winning three-point shot against Miami and then had the biggest day of his young career so far by scoring 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 3-of-7 on three-point attempts against N.C. State. He also had six rebounds, an assist and a steal
Henson seemed to enjoy what Barnes did as much as what he, himself, accomplished.
“I love it,†Henson said. “He told me he was going to be more aggressive. He went out there and did his thing. It was something that we have been waiting for and it finally happened today. I just hope it continues for the rest of the ACC [schedule]. With him shooting like that and playing like that, we’re a much better team.â€
Barnes has handled a difficult situation as well as any coach could hope. No Carolina player ever came to Chapel Hill preceded by more expectations. He was named an All-American before he attended a UNC practice, much less played in a game. Then when he struggled to perform with consistency the first three months of the season, television commentators, other members of the media and fans around the country speculated on whether he is as talented as projected.
The good news for Carolina fans is that Barnes and Henson are not the only talented players on this team, and that is why, barring catastrophic injury, Carolina is going to continue to improve until it runs out of games to play this season.
“Early in the season, I thought the team was going to get better and better, and I still think that,†Williams said.