Nice article and I like the pick. Really excited to see how this guy plays considering we have two All Stars on this team now. Perfect role that he is used to playing and his intensity will be Feried like ;-)
By Jared Zwerling
His stats don't jump out at you at first. But when you consider the offensive system he was playing in and who was playing in front of him, then you realize what could've been.With Kentucky head coach John Calipari orchestrating his trademark dribble-drive motion offense, favoring his perimeter players, Brandon Knight (17.3 points per game), Terrence Jones (15.7 ppg), Doron Lamb (12.3 ppg), Darius Miller (10.9 ppg) and DeAndre Liggins (8.6 ppg) took advantage. And even while those guys were getting theirs, center Josh Harrellson, who was the Knicks' second-round draft pick, still managed to average close to a double-double (7.6 rebounds and 8.7 rebounds), helping the Wildcats reach the 2011 Final Four. He also put up a very respectable 1.5 blocks and 0.9 steals per game.
Harrellson became a 'Bocker after the team purchased his rights from the New Orleans Hornets with the 45th pick. At Iman Shumpert's introductory press conference on Friday afternoon, Mike D'Antoni said that the four-year starter's biggest strength was -- you guessed it -- his big 6-10, 275-pound frame.
"He’s a wide body. He’s a big guy," D'Antoni said. "He just showed a lot of improvement in his senior year at Kentucky. The thing we liked about him is that he came in and had a very good workout against [16th pick] Nikola Vucevic, who he guarded. [Harrellson] banged him around. He’s not a sure thing, but we’re happy with that pick. A lot of our scouts liked him even higher, and hopefully we can say we got away with one like we did with Landry Fields."
Harrellson may not crack the rotation in the first half of next season -- heck, he may even have to start September with the Erie BayHawks, the Knicks' new single-affiliate D-League team. But, as I explained today as the main guest on TheKnicksBlog TV, Harrellson has the potential to be a poor man's Kevin Love.
Not only is Harrellson charismatic and a vocal leader like Love, but he has quick hands, great anticipation in the post, and he can pick-and-pop and knock down the outside shot. Of course, Love has additional range, and he's a more complete player and better passer. But don't count out Harrellson making a lasting impression like Woody Harrelson did in the movie "White Men Can't Jump."
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