Kentucky Basketball Notebook

By: LARRY VAUGHT

Kentucky assistant coach Barry Rohrssen says recruits have been “very receptive” to UK’s platoon system.

“It’s nice when you’re ranked number one in the polls. It’s a nice way to have a conversation going into somebody’s home,” Rohrssen said.

Rohrssen said recruits really don’t know yet if the platoon system is something that will stick at UK.

“That’s to unfold next season. If we’re talking about this season, Kentucky is very well received no matter where you go and whom you speak with. It’s nice to have that royal blue ‘UK’ on your chest when you’re walking into a high school or a home,” Rohrssen said.

Different Harrison: Kentucky point guard Andrew Harrison continues to draw praise from the coaching staff for what he’s doing on and off the court.

“Andrew has done everything it takes to run a program. He took the summer to change his body. He’s worked on his game. He’s playing with extreme confidence,” UK assistant coach Kenny Payne said.

Kentucky coach John Calipari likes the way his sophomore point guard is communicating.

“Andrew (has taken on a great leadership role. He's unbelievable right now,” Calipari said. “He's talking to me. He feels good, comfortable giving me ideas and stuff and that's how this — this eventually has got to be his team and their team and not mine.”

Calipari noted how Harrison point out in the exhibition win over Georgetown that UK needed to get the ball to forward Trey Tyles.

“The other thing he was talking about is if these bigs run the court, we gotta give it to them,” Calipari said.

Payne said it can be a challenge for Harrison, or freshman point guard Tyler Ulis, to find a way to get the ball to so many talented teammates.

“There’s a lot of things they’ve got to learn. Karl Towns, for example, his game is growing, so his instincts are that of a three or four. So we’re trying to get him to understand that when you’re around the basket, you’re shooting 70, 80 percent. So those guys are not going to give you the ball 15, 18 feet from the basket. They’re going to give it to you where you’re going to score the best percentage,” Payne said.

“So there’s adjustments to be made from every player. When you have so many great guys, great kids that are about winning, those two positions, Tyler’s and Andrew’s, are important. It’s important for the growth of our team. It’s important for the team as a unit to play together, to share the ball. But more importantly, it’s going to be a process, now.”

Payne said Andrew Harrison, along with his brother, Aaron, and forward Alex Poythress so far have all dramatically improved their body language on a daily basis.

“ I can only really speak on what my own eyes have seen. (All of those) guys have been very good. They are in a position right now where they are the veterans on the team and they should be providing the leadership for both themselves and for pushing some of the new guys along,” Payne said.

Dunk-a-thon: Kentucky seemed to throw down dunk after dunk in Sunday’s win over Georgetown.

Aaron Harrison liked Willey Cauley-Stein’s dunk where he imitated former NBA great Karl Malone’s dunk with his hand behind his head and smiled while he was doing it.

“It’s not really surprising coming from Willie. It was kind of cool. I gave him the pass. I didn’t really expect that, but I wasn’t surprised because it is Willie,” Aaron Harrison said.

Freshman Trey Lyles thought UK had a lot of special dunks. His favorite was by Alex Poythress.

“I like Alex’s alley-oop that he caught on the little guard that tried to jump,” Lyles said.

What about Cauley-Stein’s dunk?

“Yeah, that one was nice, too,” Lyles said.