The Boston game was a tale of two halves. The first half was abysmal, the score at halftime making me wonder if UConn was a learning opportunity for Kentucky’s opponents rather than for Kentucky. But the second half… oh, the second half. Even Boston Coach Patrick Chambers said “[I]All I can say is that must have been one heck of a halftime speech. I’m going to have to ask for a copy of that.”[/I] ([URL=”http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1159645”]source[/URL]) Whatever Cal said to his players at halftime lit a fire under their butts, and the second half saw a team that could go far in the NCAA tourney indeed (with or without Enes Kanter).
Knight had more assists than turnovers (6 to 4), Lamb was scoring off the bench (13 points), Jones was being Jones (18 points, 10 rebounds), and Harrellson got a double-double. Wait, what? Yes, THAT Harrellson got 12 points and 11 rebounds. He was also taking the leadership role we expected from Miller or Liggins. Boston Coach Chambers called Harrellson the ‘mother hen’ – which didn’t necessarily sit well with Josh, but I’m sure it was meant in the kindest sense. Harrellson was communicating, blocking and making good shots (6 of 7 from the field – that’s 86%). I’ve seen two articles now saying Harrellson and Vargas don’t need to be primary scorers, but if they can do the intangibles (defend and make occasional shots), they can be what this team needs a big man to be. If Harrellson keeps this up, he can be so much more.
[youtube_sc width=430 url=HUKWbTNSy80]
