Is Josh Harrellson really the answer at center for this upcoming season? I don’t think so but I think he can make some solid contributions to the team with his heart and hustle. At 6’10 and 275lbs Harrellson certainly has the size to make a difference. Most of us were probably more familiar with Harrellson than Iman Shumpert before the draft because of Kentucky’s Final Four run in the 2011 NCAA tournament. If you’ve seen him play then you know what I mean by saying the guys got heart. Now lets try to predict what the man nicknamed Jorts will do this upcoming season.

Harrellson played very solid in the tournament averaging 13 points and 8 rebounds per game. However, what most likely led to Harrelson being drafted in the middle of the second round was his great performance against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Sweet 16 of the tournament. Harrellson scored 17 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and swatted 3 blocks while being matched up primarily against Jared Sullinger a very likely top 5 pick in next years draft. Overall Harrellson averaged 7.6ppg, 8.7rpg, 1.5bpg while shooting 61% from the field in his last season at Kentucky.

To go beyond the numbers what the Knicks are getting is a hard working player who is going to do whatever it takes to help his team. I’ve heard a lot of Knicks fans throw around the name Charles Oakley when they talk about Harrelson. I don’t by any means think he’ll have the impact that Oakley did when he was with the Knicks but Harrelson could be somewhat of a hybrid between a Kevin Love and Brian Cardinal, let me explain.

I see him as this because he definitely has the large body like Kevin Love with below average athleticism. He also plays rough so if he can consistently box out NBA level centers he should be able to grab rebounds at a high rate much like Kevin Love. Now for the Brian Cardinal comparison I feel that he will take charges, be active and foul hard in order to make up for his lack of talent with pure will and desire. Roll these two aspects of him together and you have a future Knicks fan favorite in the making.

The best case scenario for Harrellson is he earns the starting center position in his rookie year averaging somewhere around 5-7ppg and 8-10rpg while impacting games with his defense and rebounding. While that seems somewhat unlikely the worst case scenario is Harrellson never sees the court and the Knicks send him down the the D-League for development in hopes to see a much improved player.

The likely scenario we can expect for Harrellson is that he will come off the bench play some solid defense, block a shot here and there and get some momentum shifting offensive rebounds in a 8-9th man bench role. We have to remember the guy is a second round pick but sometimes we underestimate will and desire so don’t be so shocked if Jorts impresses us all in a Knicks uniform.
http://network.yardbarker.com/nba/article_external/new_york_knicks_a_deeper_look_at_josh_harrellson/5995876

AnubisADL wrote:I dont expect anything from Harrelson next season. Maybe the 2013 season.

loweyecue wrote:Whatever he produces, I just hope he does it consistently and becomes a dependable rotation player eventually. But I have set my expectation low, last year Fields was great surprise, hope JORTS turns into one as well.

TheGame wrote:Been watching video on this guy. He will definitely bang bodies, but this guy moves in slow motion. I don't see how he can guard anyone except other big slow centers. Given what we had at the center spot (Jeffries), he might be an improvement but that isn't saying much. Hopefully, Jordan is developing.

How many quick 275 lb guys are there. Shelden Williams is slow as molasses but he was effective. Jorts strength is in the fact that he can take up space and hold it. We really need someone that can do that on a consistent basis and bang with bigger C's we face. We don't need him to venture outside of the paint that far. We want him in the paint and grabbing boards. What I do like is that he's got a great base and isn't easily backed down. The better he is at man defense and defensive boards the better for us, cuz there are too many nights when we just get killed in that dept.

He also has a little Zach in him, in that he shoots quick and on the way up. It gives him an advantage in getting off even tho he's not a jumper or long armed.

One thing to think about is that his game is on the upswing! He really only started getting going last year. He says that what really helped him improve was his attitude and going up against Enes Kanter everyday in practice. When you think about it, that must have really opened his eyes. He was facing a dude that was probably tougher than most of the kids he faced every night and probably realized that he himself was better than he thought. That gave him confidence and really that's the 1st step to success.

NYKBocker wrote:

jrodmc wrote:I'll take anybody who'll even sniff at drawing a charge on this team, or who has neither the desire (or the footspeed) to run away from getting posterized.

Hopefully, he makes everyone forget the last rebounding white guy we had.

Thank you, Mr. Walsh.

Did we cut Balkman?

Isn't Balkman's middle name DNP-CD?