Milwaukee Bucks: The new and improving John Henson

After experiencing many ups and downs throughout his six-year career, John Henson is looking to write a new trend in his new role for the Milwaukee Bucks this season.

Nearing the one month mark of their season, the Milwaukee Bucks have already gone through a half season’s worth of highs and lows.

Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s hot start and the four-game malaise that set in after the first week of the season forced everyone to ask how the Bucks could get the help that was clearly needed to lighten the heavy burden on the superstar’s shoulders.

The acquisition of Eric Bledsoe has not only stabilized things for the Bucks, but his arrival has given the team the shot in the arm they desperately needed, even as they work to build their growing chemistry with him now in the fold.

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While the usual cast of characters have been incredibly reliable or are rounding into form like in Khris Middleton‘s case, the one surprising standout for the Bucks so far this year has been their longest tenured player, John Henson.

Prior to this season, Henson’s time in Milwaukee has been marred with so many starts and stops, whether it was based on his own form or the amount of turnover and changes he experienced in the early years of his career.

Couple that with the four-year, $44 million extension he signed in the summer of 2015, Henson’s standing within the team and with Bucks fans was on perilous footing (to say the least) by last season’s end with his inconsistencies persisting.

Whether it’s wanting to break that vicious cycle or his reported interest in being open to a change of scenery over the summer, it all has set the stage for Henson’s encouraging start to the year.

Through the team’s first 14 games, Henson is averaging double figures in points (10.6) and rebounds (10.8) as well as 2.5 blocks per-36 minutes.

For how proficient he has been so far in the areas where he’s been impactful in the past through fits and starts, Henson has shown flashes in other areas that normally haven’t been associated with his game.

The biggest example of that has been his passing ability, particularly from the elbow as Henson has regularly connected to cutting teammates to the hoop. That kind of willingness and recognition has resulted in Henson averaging a career-high 11.5 assist percentage through the first month of the season.

Playing with this kind of purpose, as head coach Jason Kidd was noting back during the team’s preseason, Henson’s current form has made him an integral piece to the Bucks’ formula to start the year, especially as he’s now moved into the team’s starting lineup.

Discounting the limited sample size for Bledsoe, Henson has the highest net rating (7.0 points per 100 possessions) and has a -12.7 point on/off court differential per 100 possessions, per NBA.com/stats.

Evidenced by his more determined play on the court, Henson has gotten to the point where his ambitions have crystallized for him at this stage in his career as he relayed to Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"“My role now is to be the defense maker, to communicate, help these other guys out as far as offensively, being in the right spots. That’s kind of my role now,” said Henson.“When I first got here, I was a power forward, I would shoot a little bit, I was running iso(lation) plays. It’s changed, but I think it’s changed for the better. Right now I’m at the point in my career where, I’ve gotten enough money, I’ve gotten paid now, so it’s about winning. That’s a big thing for me. I just want to win. Whatever it takes.”"

Despite Henson’s invigorating start to the season, some Bucks fans will always be waiting for the next shoe to drop for him as they have been accustomed to seeing throughout his time in Milwaukee.

Considering how thin they are at the 5 with Greg Monroe gone, the Bucks have never been more reliant on Henson than they are right now, which only adds more stakes for him to keep up his production level as we get deeper into the season.

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Whether this time will be when he turns the corner for good remains to be seen, but the Bucks are reaping the rewards with Henson’s renewed play and the 26-year-old has arguably never looked better while in green and cream.

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