2015 NBA DRAFT WATCH

Making the Case for the Harrison Twins

I’m sure you probably had the same reaction that I did when you first saw the news that the Harrison twins were declaring for the NBA draft in June. WHAT??? Why the hell would they do that?? Those dudes suck!! Initially I was on the exact same page, I didn’t get it either. They were both highly ranked recruits that never lived up to the hype. So after two average seasons (for them, not the team) they decided to strike while the iron was hot and throw their names in the proverbial NBA hat. But was this a good decision? Well your boy Bobby Catz is here to tell you that; yes, yes it is. First off their stock is never going to get any higher. Sure they could come back for another season and maybe move up to being selected late first round,  but far more likely is they hurt their stock even further or worst case scenario get hurt and don’t get drafted altogether. So they should absolutely capitalize on what little momentum they have after such an impressive season for Kentucky, and two consecutive final four appearances.

Now, here is the other question that people always find themselves asking, are they any good?? Well…that’s a little more complicated.

The Suck Meter: How do we judge the Harrisons?

The first strike against them is that they play for Kentucky and have such a spotlight on them at all times. If they were to play at some random big ten school or even a different school in the SEC, their stock would probably be a lot higher. But when you are part of a team that every media outlet covers on a daily basis, you better be fuckin fantastic night in and night out. Instead for the most part of the first season they played like they were freshmen, not freshmen at Kentucky who are notorious for one and dones.

The second strike against them is that they are twins and carried themselves like they were about to be selected number one and two whenever they decided to grace the NBA with their presence. I suppose that is what happens when you are the top two players coming out of the state of Texas and you choose to play college basketball at Kentucky.  But throw all of that nonsense aside for a second. What do they really have going for them?

Do the Harrisons suck as much as we've all been saying? Maybe not.

A Tale of Two Harrisons

First off, let’s start with Andrew Harrison, otherwise known as the Harrison twin who plays point guard. The reason it was so hard to tell these two apart when they first got to Lexington was mainly due to Andrew trying to jack up a bunch of shots and play much more like his brother Aaron.  Then Calipari had a revelation during a practice one time. He pulled Andrew aside and told him to stop shooting and start passing!! It only took him five months to realize that his point guard should be passing the ball primarily instead of shooting it (are we sure Calipari is a good coach??). From that moment on the team took off and the offense actually looked competent as they shocked their way to a title game run before reeling off 38 straight wins as an encore. Now why couldn’t that translate to the NBA level? I am here to tell you that I actually think it can. I think NBA GM’s see this too, because we have this one little thing in common when it comes to our point guards….we love tall ones!! Seriously when has a tall point guard ever failed?? Some GM is sitting in an office right now watching tape on Drew, just muttering to himself “but he’s 6’5….” again and again as he watches him turn the ball over three times in a row against a guard from South Carolina that wouldn’t crack Kentucky’s top 12. I think he goes late first round, and the real shocker, he actually becomes a competent NBA point guard. Now I’m not talking first team all-pro, or even third team, but he could be a solid backup getting 15-20 min a game on a contending team! That’s pretty good considering how far his stock has fallen since coming out of high-school.

Now for Aaron Harrison aka the Harrison who plays shooting guard. He is legitimately the reason why they get so much hate outside of every city in the country besides Lexington and Jasper TX (hometown). Something about the way he carries himself before games, and then his reactions when he throws up a terrible floater and screams at the ref that the light contact was the reason the ball went fifteen feet over the basket.  So there’s absolutely no saving grace for him right?? He’s the Harrison destined to fail correct? Well, slow your roll on that one too. First off he’s got the same attractive trait of his twin brother (funny how that happens right?) of being 6’4 or 6’5. That’s the size of an average NBA 2 guard, and he definitely fits the image of what a shooting guard is supposed to look like. But there are hundreds of 2 guards who are 6’5 right? Correct, but how many of them have played crunch time minutes on a big stage, and have not only come away without shitting their pants, but have actually thrived in that situation?? Well Aaron fits that bill too. He took some of the most ill-advised shots that I have ever seen, especially in last year’s tournament, and you know what? He hit almost every one of them. Now we aren’t talking about off balance toss ups that hit the backboard and luckily bounced in, he was legitimately standing three feet behind the line squared up a three and drilled it. Not just once, but no less than five times! He won the final four game against Wisconsin with one of those shots, and the amount of ballz that it takes to not only take a shot like that, but to hit it?? HUGE!! That cannot be taken lightly. Shit, Robert Horry made an entire career off standing in the right spot and taking big ass shotz when they were most needed by his team. With all that being said I don’t think that will actually improve his draft stock much as he will still go second round, but it should improve his potential NBA role player stock.

 The Verdict

In the end, are the Harrison twins going to be all stars in the NBA? Probably not, no, but are they going to be NBA players who will get a decent second contract and contribute to an NBA team? Yeah they actually should be, especially Andrew aka the point guard Harrison. Hopefully once they get drafted and stashed away on an NBA bench, they will finally get a chance to develop away from the spotlight for the first time since I am assuming middle school. Now I don’t want people going out and saying “Catz said the Harrison twins are going to make it in the NBA”, but the Harrison twins are going to make it in the NBA and that’s a direct quote (thanks Mike Vick).