SPORTS

Himmelsbach | The Harrison twins' sacrifice

Adam Himmelsbach

ahimmelsbach@courier-journal.com

INDIANAPOLIS—One of the themes of this Kentucky basketball season will be sacrifice. Players will sacrifice minutes and points and television time for the greater good.

Coach John Calipari has praised the Wildcats for embracing the 10-man platoon system, for accepting that they might be on a bench for longer than future NBA players are usually on a bench.

In reality, though, this system has adversely affected the playing time of just two returning players: sophomore guards Aaron and Andrew Harrison.

Through three games, Aaron Harrison's minutes per game have decreased from 32.6 to 22, and his brother Andrew's have been cut from 31.7 to 20. That's a significant percentage, particularly for two players who seriously considered entering the draft last spring.

By comparison, Willie Cauley-Stein's minutes have stayed at 23 in each of his three seasons. The other three returning rotation players have actually seen increased playing time, with Dakari Johnson's minutes going from 14.1 to 21.3, Alex Poythress' rising from 18.4 to 21 and Marcus Lee's improving from 6.3 to 16.3.

So it should come as no surprise that Calipari has focused on publicly praising and building up the Harrison twins recently. I first noticed it after the Buffalo game.

Andrew Harrison had struggled and looked frustrated, making 1 of 6 shots and tallying one assist and no rebounds in 18 minutes. Calipari came to his defense before anyone had even criticized him.

"Knowing that Andrew didn't have one of his better games, knowing [freshman point guard Tyler Ulis] had one of his better games, I knew where the dialogue would go," Calipari said. "So I shut it down."

Then on Tuesday afternoon, Calipari went on SportsCenter and used the national stage to boost up both Aaron and Andrew, again without coaxing.

"The twins, they're selfless to say, 'I'm good with this. I'm going to do it,'" he said, referring to the platoon system. "Instead of playing 30 minutes, they're playing 23."

Actually, both played more than 30 minutes per game last year, and both are playing less than 23 so far this year. But you see where Calipari is going with this.

On Tuesday night, basking in the afterglow of the Wildcats' stunningly lopsided 72-40 win over No. 5 Kansas, Andrew Harrison was the first player Calipari mentioned, even though no one had asked about him.

"Andrew Harrison was unbelievable today," he said, "his control of the game and how much energy he played with."

Finally, near the end of his press conference, Calipari made a point—again unprompted—to single out Aaron Harrison in a manner that showed his importance.

"Aaron's got to get baskets for us," he said. "You guys know if we're in a tight game and there's a basket that needs to be made, it's gonna come from him. Now, we've got to figure out ways—and he does—to get more shots and more opportunities, better shots. So maybe I've got to put in a couple things that we know we can go to him."

That sounded like an indirect message to Aaron, the hero of last season's NCAA tournament run. It sounded like Calipari was saying not to get discouraged, because he would be a focus moving forward.

Most assumed the Harrison twins would be NBA-bound after last season. Their father, Aaron Sr., told me in April that league evaluators indicated the twins would likely be selected somewhere in the draft's late-first or early-second round.

So both players returned to school, partly to chase a national title, and partly to elevate their games and become lottery picks. It wouldn't be surprising if the twins are now wondering how they will make that jump if a third of their playing time is eliminated.

Maybe that's partly why Calipari has been boosting them up over the past week. Maybe he wants them to understand that they need Kentucky, and that Kentucky needs them.

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at 502-582-4372 by emailahimmelsbach@courier-journal.com and on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach