The Harrellson Effect:What Does It Mean For UK Basketball?

That picture does not do Josh Harrellson’s efforts against Louisville justice. He was head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd there for the whole game. But unlike the article after article this weekend applauding Josh’s incredible efforts, I am here to ask a question. What do we do now?

Do Josh’s Herculean efforts signal a change in game planning for Cal and the Cats going forward? I heard Cal say that he blamed himself for not coaching Josh more earlier on in his time with him and that may come back to haunt the Cats later, but that is another matter. Calipari now has a budding collegiate superstar on his hands, who seems to only get better with work and time, so does Josh now fit the bill to complete Calipari’s latest incarnation of the Cats? At first glance it would seem that this is all coming a little too much too soon, however, if you know Calipari, you know better. He knew long ago that the Kanter situation was going to be tedious at best. So is this all a part of the Master’s plan for 2011? Are we seeing Calipari develop what everyone said he could not do?

Supposedly all Cal knows how to do is recruit. He can get the big name recruits to come and showcase their talents for a year or maybe two, but he can’t develop steady everyday guys into top talent can he? Guess we all are finally starting to see what John Calipari can do when the need arises. Josh Harrellson was a leftover from the Billy Clyde Gillispie era. A kid who spent halftime of a game in a bathroom stall, just so the coach could make a point; he is not top tier talent is he? The truth of the matter is that John Calipari is a basketball coach. He can coach good kids, bad kids, troubled kids, kids with reputations, talented kids, and any other kid you send him. Not only that, he can recognize things in kids that others cannot. It is time he was recognized for that. A friend told me that these “all-star” talented kids could not play for coaches like Bobby Knight, Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith, etc. Spare me. These kids can play for anyone, but they WANT to play for John Calipari. And who wouldn’t. He makes the game fun, he makes the kids better, and he wins. Is that not what he was hired to do?

So what happens now that Josh Harrellson has come out of his shell, so to speak? It is real simple. John Calipari just added another weapon to his arsenal. Now while teams are trying to double Terrence Jones, they have to worry about Josh Harrellson on the weak side. Now when teams go out and try to clamp down on the perimeter to stop the Cats 3pt shooters, they have to be concerned that Harrellson and Jones are going to be inside killing them in the paint. This was the missing piece that Kentucky needs this year to become a team that can get to the next level. If Cal and Harrrellson can maintain things at this level, the SEC, and the rest of the world of collegiate basketball need to be very concerned about the Cats and their chances. Talent was never a question about this Kentucky team. And now some of the things that were question marks are starting to get answered. That does not bode well for anyone trying to compete with the Cats. But it does bode well for what John Calipari is doing at UK. It bodes very well indeed.

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