Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

John Henson heard it everywhere he went during the draft workout process.

Was he strong enough to battle against the much bigger bodies he would bump into each night in the NBA?

The 6-foot-11 Henson weighed in at 216 pounds during the Chicago draft combine, a number that did little to allay the fears of league scouts and executives.

But Henson is up to 224 pounds now and believes he will be able to hold his own as his body continues to develop.

The former North Carolina star, selected 14th by the Milwaukee Bucks in the June draft, gets an important test this week at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

"The one thing about him is he's not afraid of contact," said Bucks assistant Jim Boylan. "Will some guy back him under the rim? Sure, somebody is going to do that to him.

"But he's got tremendous length and a way to maneuver his way around through the contact and still be a presence at the rim. He's gone up and gotten a few impressive rebounds above the rim. . . . I think he's going to be OK.

"He's got to make an adjustment to the physical guys he's going to be playing against on a nightly basis. He's a rookie. He'll have his ups and downs and he'll get bruised a few times. At the same time I think he's going to block shots and he's going to be an effective guy around the basket."

The Bucks' summer league squad completed its third day of workouts Saturday and will have one more session before heading to Las Vegas on Sunday afternoon. The team will play five summer league games, beginning with a Monday night matchup against the New Orleans Hornets.

Continue Reading...