Kentucky Frontline Gets Headlines, but Harrison Twins Most Important Wildcats

The Kentucky Wildcats looked like an NBA team Tuesday night when they thoroughly eviscerated the Kansas Jayhawks 72-40.

This wasn't your run-of-the-mill November schedule-filler, either. The Jayhawks were ranked No. 5 and largely considered a Final Four threat out of the Big 12. Kentucky made a statement to the rest of the country, and it was deafeningly loud.

For anyone watching, the first thing that jumped out was Kentucky’s deep and physically imposing front line. Between Karl Towns, Dakari Johnson, Willie Cauley-Stein, Marcus Lee, Alex Poythress and Trey Lyles, John Calipari has an entire roster of big guys who could contribute at the NBA level today if needed and the guards in Aaron and Andrew Harrison to keep them involved.

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Johnson finished with 11 points, Towns had nine points, eight rebounds and four blocks, Cauley-Stein tallied seven points and 10 rebounds, Lee added four points, seven rebounds and four blocks, Poythress had four points, three rebounds and two blocks, and Lyles finished with four points and four rebounds.

As a team, Kentucky racked up an incredible 11 blocks and completely dominated the paint on both sides of the ball.

Despite the litany of NBA-ready big guys who will impose their will all season with length, overall size and athleticism, the Harrison brothers are the most important players on Calipari’s roster.

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The two sophomore (which constitutes veteran status on Kentucky) guards completely controlled the tempo from the opening tip and proved themselves as the best perimeter threats the Wildcats have at their disposal. For as talented as freshman Devin Booker may be, he never looked comfortable from distance and finished 1-of-6 from three-point range.

The Harrisons were a combined 4-of-5 from downtown and hit some momentum-swinging shots in the early going.

With so many formidable bigs, opposing teams are going to have to utilize double-teams at some point if they dream of stopping the Wildcats. That will leave shots open on the outside, and the Harrisons will be more than ready to knock them down.

However, everything the Harrisons do for this team does not necessarily show up in the box score.

They provide a calming presence on the floor with the ball in their hands and are in complete control of the tempo and the game. What’s more, it is their responsibility as the primary guards and ball-handlers to spread the shots around and keep so many elite pieces happy this season.

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An impressive 12 different players scored in the rout against Kansas, and everyone who stepped on the court felt like he was involved on the offensive end at some point.

When you have nine McDonald’s All-Americans on the team, it is easy to envision a scenario in which players are not happy with the number of shots they receive on a game-to-game basis. The Harrison brothers can quell any concerns about that becoming a problem, as they are more than willing to act as distributors who only care about whether the team is winning.

While neither has posted notable assist numbers yet, they are keeping the ball moving. It is important with so much talent that the guards don't simply pound the ball into the ground until most of the shot clock has ticked away, and the Harrison brothers rarely do. Rather, Kentucky's offense has kept the ball in motion, allowing a number of guys to touch it.

The real value of the Harrisons, though, follows supply-and-demand principles.

For as incredible as Kentucky’s front line is, the Wildcats could realistically afford to lose up to three big guys to injury or something else and still have more talent in the paint than any team in the country. That is a worst-case scenario, and nobody wants to see injuries in college sports, but Kentucky does have that security blanket.

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There is a smaller supply of elite guards on this roster, even if Ulis and Booker do eventually fulfill their potential. Impressive guard play will always be in demand at the college level, and there is simply less room for error from the Harrison brothers because they don't have the established pieces in the backcourt behind them to pick up any slack.

It is imperative that they both stay healthy all year. 

Sure, the platoon system is working brilliantly now, but you have to figure certain players will separate themselves and earn crunch-time minutes at some point. The Harrison brothers will likely be the ones on the floor in the backcourt down the stretch of March Madness games, especially if platoon No. 1 continues to play like it did Tuesday, via Kyle Tucker of The Courier-Journal:

It is no coincidence that platoon No. 1 features the Harrisons.

Aaron Harrison drilled game-turning shots in the final moments against Louisville, Michigan and Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament and carved a spot out for himself in Big Blue Nation lore forever. Those types of crunch-time contributions are why Calipari needs him on the floor down the stretch of close games.

Experience and leadership from the Harrisons will be critical on a team that is so reliant on production from freshmen. Ideally, they will act as mentors for Ulis and Booker as the year progresses. The Harrisons should understand everything the freshmen go through because they experienced growing pains themselves last season when Kentucky almost didn't make the NCAA tournament.

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They also boast a proven ability to come through in the clutch, which Kentucky will need at some point this season. Every game isn’t going to be as lopsided as the Kansas one was Tuesday.

In fact, the game against Buffalo was surprisingly close for most of the 40 minutes, and the Wildcats even trailed at the half. Every opponent is going to give Kentucky its best shot, so the Wildcats have to be ready to deliver on a nightly basis.

The Harrison brothers sparked Kentucky's turnaround from a season ago as they gradually improved throughout the schedule. If they consistently act as leaders and go-to options throughout the 2014-15 campaign and deliver a national championship to Lexington, they will be Kentucky legends forever.

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