We have watched Josh Harrellson turn into a dependable center for the Cats this year, and it is all due to Enes Kanter. Enes is the talk of every Cat fan nowadays and there is a good chance Josh Harrellson would have never stepped up if it wasn’t for Enes’ misfortunes with the NCAA. Yahoo.com looks at Josh and his rise to stardom this year and how much he has improved under the guidance of Coach Cal.
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“It feels good to finally see rewards and to know that hard work really does pay off,” Harrellson said. “It’s not bogus when people say, ‘When you work hard it pays off in the long run.’ It actually does. I stuck with it, and now I’m seeing the benefits.”
So, too, is Kentucky.
Harrellson’s 14 boards against Pac-10 favorite [URL=”http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/waf/”][COLOR=#046bca]Washington[/COLOR][/URL] propelled the Wildcats into the championship game of the Maui Invitational last month. The senior has posted 10 or more rebounds in each of Kentucky’s last three contests, all of which resulted in wins.
Calipari, who said he’s been getting phone calls from NBA scouts about his “big, white center” couldn’t be more pleased with Harrellson’s progress.
“I told Josh, ‘There aren’t that many dominating big guys out there,’” Calipari told reporters earlier this month. “Josh can be whatever he wants to be. He can paint his own canvas. He can paint his own masterpiece. He can do whatever he wants.”
He didn’t realize it then, but Harrellson said going against players such as Cousins, Patterson and Orton – all of whom are in the NBA now – in practice last year readied him for some of the stiff competition he’s faced so far this season. He also said going head-to-head with Kanter during the summer and fall enhanced his game.
More than anyone, though, Harrellson credited Calipari with his recent surge in development. The coach and player’s relationship has blossomed since November, when Harrellson complained on Twitter that he wasn’t getting enough praise from Calipari for his production in preseason games.
“He could’ve kicked me off the team if he wanted to,” Harrellson said. “But he saw something in me and stuck with me. Coach Cal has pushed me to the fullest these last couple of months. He’s turned me into a new man.”
As well as Harrellson is playing, there is still plenty of room for him to improve. That’s especially true on the offensive end. Harrellson is averaging just five points and has scored four points or less in seven of the Wildcats’ 11 games.
He said Calipari wants him to call for the ball more often, and instead of shooting 1-footers – he’s missed a few of them this season – Calipari wants him to be more aggressive.
“I said, ‘You dunk every ball, I don’t care if you miss the dunk,’” said Calipari, adding that he also wants Harrellson to take more charges. ” [Still], if he’ll rebound and do what he’s doing, we can’t ask much more. We’re just saying, ‘Give us five percent better. Where can you improve? How can you draw a foul? Where can we put you to get a couple of baskets?’ He’s doing everything.”
And loving every minute of it.
Harrellson said he still has regular conversations with Patterson and often receives congratulatory texts from Cousins and John Wall. They couldn’t be more proud of their former teammate, who has been referred to as the “mother hen” of a squad that features three freshmen in its rotation.
“I just try to come out and play my game and do what I’ve got to do and go after every rebound with two hands,” Harrellson said. “I tell myself each game that I’m going to outwork my opponent. I may not be as talented as him.
“But I’m going to outwork him.”
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[URL=”http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news;_ylt=Akh2r2H.0UhWV6AUPeL5cp7evbYF?slug=jn-sec122410″]Source[/URL]
Josh has improved every game and I firmly believe we wouldn’t have won the games we have without the “big white boy” in the middle.
