Marshall Henderson: The pros and cons of a ‘green light’ player

Watching tonight’s game between Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, I wanted to see one thing: Marshall Henderson.

All season, I’ve yet to see the Rebels’ redshirt junior play a full game, be it because I was busy or another game was more interesting. I finally got to see it, and wasn’t disappointed.

What’s beyond this link is why (credit to Matt Norlander for the video).

CLICK HERE TO WATCH.

The scary thing is that Henderson squared his feet from 35-feet and leaned only slightly forward to get the leverage to shoot that ball. It was nearly a textbook jumper for a guy who earns his scholarship chunking it from three.

As a fan, that’s tons of fun to watch. A guy that you see in your normal rec league game, playing Division I basketball, only he’s way more talented. He shoots in bunches and coach Andy Kennedy said he’s given Henderson the green light to shoot numerous times. It’s worked. The Hurst, Texas native leads the Southeastern Conference at 18.6 points per game.

What’s it take to do what Marshall Henderson is doing? Also, how is he limiting himself, offensively? Glad you asked. Even if you didn’t, you can find out below.

PROS

Square feet – The great shooters always do it. Lately, it’s become somewhat of a lost art. Something I like to call the “Pigeon Toe” effect is what makes Henderson great. When he sets his feet, his toes point inward, so that when he jumps, his feet — and as a result, his shoulders — are square to the bucket. It will always get the ball going in the right direction.

Defensive energy – Most offensive machines aren’t known for great defense. Henderson is by no means a Russ Smith or Aaron Craft, but he’s one of the more underrated perimeter defenders in the SEC. In his 41 minutes on the court, Henderson got his hands (deflection or steal) on 11 balls, all on the perimeter. He’s 6-2, and even though he averages 1.4 steals per game, he’s not going to do too much when a guard penetrates, but he has active hands, and legs. Four times in the second half alone, even if it was ill-advised, Henderson ran from the top of the key to the deep wing or baseline to chase down a shooter. For better or worse, Henderson likes the play the perimeter on both sides of the ball.

Ball-screen awareness – Any shooter worth his salt knows how to properly come off a screen, especially off the ball in a catch-and-shoot situation. What sets Henderson apart is his ability to know when to come off the screen. He’s great at coming off the shoulder of the screener. But, for example, five minutes into the game against Vanderbilt on Tuesday night, Marshall started on the right baseline, hesitated when he saw the ball get to the top of the key, and instead of coming off the screen of Reginald Buckner immediately, put enough of a stutter-step up to freeze the defender, Kedren Johnson, to get the space he needed to go wide off the screen, wrap around, catch and shoot from 25 feet. It’s the fact that he knows how to do this that gets Henderson space.

CONS

Overconfidence – Henderson has no fear. That’s fine. He’s got the tools to always believe he’s going to drop 30 in a game. But some nights, it’s not going to be his night. Henderson’s got the shooting part down, but the percentages suggest there’s night when they wont  fall. He’s hitting 36.1-percent from three and 39.7-percent overall. All hoopers have that night. When that comes, Henderson has a tendency to rely on jacking up threes to regain the swagger he shows — and pisses a ton of people off with. He had to learn to defer to teammates. His ability to pull the defense deep outside the perimeter can open a ton of mid-range looks for Reginald Buckner and Nick Williams.

Perimeter floating – Henderson is a bomber. He’s thrown up an mind-numbing 158 threes this season already. With that, home is on the perimeter. That can make any shooter complacent. There wasn’t much crashing the boards when it mattered for Henderson and a ton of cherry-picking. This can be a good thing on outlet plays, but to rely on it against a team like, say, Kentucky, could end in a lot of athletic guards like Archie Goodwin getting some offensive rebounds.

Henderson falls into the category that guys like Jimmer Fredette and J.J. Redick (at least his freshman year) did in college. Deep range with no conscience. I can dig that. So can a lot of fans. And it’ll help Ole Miss a bunch this season. To break down Henderson’s game is lesson in controlled chaos. Beautiful chaos. It’s what happens when that chaos starts to hinder the team’s gameplan that will determine if this is Kennedy’s year to take the Rebels to the NCAA Tournament.

Yes, Marshall Henderson is that important.