By Nick Gray

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Sophomore guard Andrew Harrison discovered last season that UK head coach John Calipari expects his team to be run with the effectiveness of a well-oiled machine.

Andrew Harrison also discovered that the point guard is most comparable to the transmission — the point guard gets the team in gear offensively and makes sure the offense runs smoothly and at the right pace.

So it was fitting that Calipari made a tweak to get the transmission of his team, Andrew Harrison, in gear before the SEC Tournament. From there, UK’s offense hummed its way through March Madness enroute to the National Championship game against Connecticut.

Yet the improbable run wasn’t the sole result of tweaking Andrew Harrison’s play, according to Calipari, who pushes his players to become the best they can possibly be.

“They’ve got to get to another level,” Calipari said about Andrew Harrison and his his brother, Aaron. “And we have guys that can really compete with them, which is making them better.”

Andrew Harrison will have to improve his play if he expects to continue to see the court; especially with new talent in the form of freshmanTyler Ulis fighting for the starting job. Harrison’s entire 2013-14 season spelled out inconsistency, even in the games where he “figured things out.”

During the NCAA Tournament, Andrew Harrison had 30 assists — a respectable number for six games — that were marredby 24 turnovers, an unnerving number for the leader of an offense.

Offenses, much like cars, don’t run that long with a fault transmission. So what Andrew Harrison and the Cats did in making it to the National Championship game was simply astonishing. Add Harrison’s shooting percentage during the tournament – 21 – for – 61, or 34.4 percent – and it is a near miracle that the Cats’ offense defeated four Top-four seeds on their way to becoming the national runner-up.

Those numbers explain why Calipari was tentative in labeling Andrew Harrison the face of the sudden postseason rise, no matter the outside perception.

“Like, what are you watching?” Calipari said. “The good news for them is, hopefully they’re comfortable (now) and they know that (the team has) their backs.”

Andrew Harrison does look more comfortable this year, an attribute Calipari said was due to having a full year under his belt.

“I’m not getting caught up in the past,” Harrison said. “This season is a new one, and I have to prove that I’m better this year.”