[Photo: AP/Jeff Roberson]
Since John Calipari came to Kentucky (and Memphis for that matter), the success of his teams has been predicated on the talent and performance of his point guards. Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, John Wall, Brandon Knight and even though everyone focused on Anthony Davis because he was a basketball mutant in 2012 at Kentucky, Marquis Teague was the key to Kentucky’s tournament run. His improved play took that team to another level offensively and once he consistently knocked down shots, they were unstoppable by the season’s end. Except for the blip on the screen last year with Ryan Harrow which went very wrong for many reasons (most of which had nothing to do with Coach Cal), he has an impeccable record with getting spectacular seasons out of young point guards who all have been one and done.
That brings us to this year. Coming into the season, he was the number one ranked point guard recruit in America and along with his twin brother Aaron, was thought of as one of the best guards in the country. He has taken a beating from both the fans and media this year, but unless they have been under a rock, I doubt they harbor those same sentiments today. Its hard to argue with the fact that when Andrew Harrison is on, he is scary good and while Julius Randle eats up headlines as the star freshman in Lexington, when you look at what makes the gears turn in the Kentucky offense and what has been the unsung key to the Cats elevated level of play lately make sure not to overlook Andrew Harrison.
Most of the flack thrown at Andrew this season has unfairly fallen on his twin brother Aaron as well. They seem to forever be lumped together when discussing how well or poorly they played, which meant early on in the year when UK went through some growing pains it seemed that even though Aaron could have very well had a case for the best player on the team in conference play, people said his draft stock was falling and he was disappointing. And vice versa. Now that Aaron has had his struggles in the SEC tournament and late in the year his play has led to pundits questioning if Andrew had what it takes to run this team and this offense. While it may be fair to say at times his transition D isn’t as solid as we might like, his man to man defense has been spectacular as he improves in March, which we expected from a 6-foot-6 point guard with the muscle of Tyreke Evans to push around smaller guards but also have the quickness to stop a Russ Smith type from getting to the rim. When he is on and healthy (he sustained an arm injury late in the game against Kansas State) he is the complete package point guard.
Other than his defense, Andrew’s shooting has improved immensely since the season began. I know many Kentucky fans remember seeing Andrew drive the lane and instead of looking for the open man, he would just put his head down and try to bull rush his way to the rim which gave us all PTSD flashbacks of Archie Goodwin last year. Now? You will be Andrew come off a screen and recognize how many options he has, which has led to some spectacular lobs to Randle and Cauley-Stein and also led to the wrap around pass to Alex Poythress that we all remember as the play that put the dagger in the heart of Louisville.
The older Harrison also has improved his three point shooting and free throw shooting since SEC play. Before the tournament started if I would have told UK fans that Andrew would be taking clutch free throws against Wichita St. in a one point game they would have thrown up all over themselves. Now, the fans have a confidence in him hitting shots and clutch free throws that is reminiscent of Marquis Teague in the 2012 tournament. We all remember when Marquis Teague took that three against Kansas late in the game and we all cringing, screaming no and he drained it with all the confidence in the world. If Kentucky makes a final four run this year we will have a similar moment with Andrew where we realize we shouldn’t have doubted our young point guard.
Looking ahead at the game Kentucky faces Friday against the Dirty Birds, the site of a healthy Andrew Harrison should strike fear into the hearts of Louisville fans. While Louisville can’t matchup with the size and physicality of Julius and Willie (and Dakari, who is a whole different player than when these two played in December) they also had no answer for the Harrison twins in the second half of that game and they should remember it was Andrew who hit a three and set Poythress up for two dunks late in the game to bury the Cards. Russ Smith will get his points on way too many shots as he always (CHUCKER) does and Chris Jones will hit a few threes that will lead to him taking way too many of them in the game, but those two will have no answer for a bulldog coming down the lane like Andrew. Need I remind folks of the and one layup that gave us our first Andrew Harrison stink face in the Louisville game back in December? More of that to come this Friday, and you can bank on that .
Andrew has been constantly criticized from the national media and while those media members had to weep and hit the delete key on their columns crushing Kentucky after the upset Wichita St., they also had to admit that Andrew, playing hurt, wasn’t the timid, indecisive point guard from the Arkansas game earlier in the year. He has grown and he has become a leader in just a few weeks. If UK pulls off a Final Four run or even wins a title, there will be lots of glory to pass around, but don’t forget about the main cog that makes the Kentucky offense run most efficiently. Number 5.
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