UK's depth gets first test against Pikeville

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The experiment begins Sunday night. John Calipari's two-platoon system will make its stateside debut in the top-ranked University of Kentucky basketball team's exhibition opener against Pikeville at Rupp Arena.

The Bears won't likely provide much resistance – neither did the professional teams the Wildcats played in the Bahamas this summer – but that's not the point. Sunday marks the unveiling of UK's full complement of players all on the same side.

The Cats' only public appearances so far have been intrasquad scrimmages and those Bahamian exhibitions, which were played without two projected lottery picks: junior Willie Cauley-Stein and freshman Trey Lyles. The full effect of this platoon plan, then, has so far been left to the imagination.

How will it look now with Cauley-Stein and Lyles back? We're all about to see.

This is the first chance to get a glimpse at how Calipari is thinking about dividing up his dozen-deep deep roster – which five will start, how many minutes the second wave will play and whether the remaining two, Dominique Hawkins and Derek Willis, can carve out a niche, too.

What we know for sure: The platoon system is going to happen. Calipari swears he is "committed" to making it work.

"We don't have a choice," assistant coach Kenny Payne said Friday, standing in for the boss who was on the road recruiting. "We've got 12 really good players. We've got to find time for all of them. They all deserve to play."

Point guard Andrew Harrison sees it the same way, offering up almost the exact same response. The players know now that not platooning is not an option. Might as well get on board.

"No choice," Harrison said. "We have a surplus amount of talent on the team, and Coach wants everybody to play because everyone works hard. If somebody passes someone else, they're going to get more playing time. Coach said that from the beginning.

"It's good in a way because … it's so competitive that you have to play or somebody's going to come take your spot, somebody's going to get more minutes than you. And Coach did that for a reason."

So far, the Cats seem to be taking the idea of fewer minutes for all pretty well. That's a tough sell on a roster with nine McDonald's All-Americans and Cauley-Stein, a 7-footer who is arguably the best defender in college basketball.

All of them would play more minutes elsewhere. Payne was asked Friday whether any of them are struggling with that.

"Right now, I would say no," he said. "I think everybody's bought in. I think it was vital what we did in the Bahamas. It showed that it could work. And these guys are really, at (their) core, about winning. And that's important. So right now, everybody's bought in. We don't expect to have them not buy in. We just gotta make it work, and it will. It will."

Kyle Tucker can be reached at (502) 582-4361. Follow him on Twitter @KyleTucker_CJ.