BTI's Rants and Ramblings: Who is Your 5 Guys in the Clutch?

by:Bryan13•03/23/15

Kentucky hasn't faced too many close games in the grand scheme of things this season. In all, UK's opponents have been within 10 points in the final 5 minutes of the game (or overtime) in just 8 games this season. Obviously, UK has come out on top in each of those games. And while in UK's first 2 NCAA Tournament games, this has not been the case, it is almost a certainty that the Cats will play a couple tight games if they are to win the national championship. So who are the 5 guys you would play in the final 5 minutes of the game should UK face a close situation in the next couple weeks? Before you answer that, look at how Calipari has divided up the minutes in those 8 games I mentioned earlier:

TEXAS Cauley-Stein (4:47), Aa. Harrison (4:32), An. Harrison (4:01), Ulis (3:23), Johnson (2:47) Poythress (1:39), Booker (1:06), Towns (:34), Lyles (:34) AT LOUISVILLE Aa.Harrison (5:00), Booker (5:00), Towns (4:28), Cauley-Stein (4:00), An.Harrison (2:44) Ulis (2:01), Lyles (1:32), Lee (:15) AT OLE MISS (overtime game) Aa.Harrison (10:00), An.Harrison (10:00), Cauley-Stein (10:00), Booker (6:24), Lyles (5:51) Johnson (3:54), Ulis (2:10), Towns (1:40) AT TEXAS A&M (double overtime game) Aa.Harrison (13:00), Lyles (11:11), Ulis (9:34), Booker (9:20), An.Harrison (8:17) Johnson (7:31), Towns (6:18), Lee (5:08), Cauley-Stein (:50) VANDERBILT An.Harrison (5:00), Cauley-Stein (5:00), Aa.Harrison (4:44), Towns (4:11), Booker (4:00) Ulis (1:16), Lyles (:49) AT FLORIDA Aa.Harrison (5:00), Cauley-Stein (5:00), Ulis (5:00), Towns (4:09), An.Harrison (3:51) Booker (1:09), Lee (:51) AT LSU An.Harrison (5:00), Cauley-Stein (5:00), Aa.Harrison (4:06), Ulis (3:26), Towns (3:25) Booker (2:27), Lyles (1:35) AT GEORGIA Aa.Harrison (5:00), An.Harrison (5:00), Ulis (5:00), Cauley-Stein (4:27), Towns (2:48) Johnson (1:35), Lyles (:26), Booker (:11) COMBINED (out of possible 55 minutes) Aaron Harrison- 51:22 Andrew Harrison- 43:53 Cauley-Stein- 39:04 Ulis- 31:50 Booker- 29:37 Towns- 27:33 Lyles- 21:58 Johnson- 15:47 Lee- 6:14 A couple things are clear from the mind of John Calipari, and I don't think these are groundbreaking thoughts: the Harrison twins and Cauley-Stein are going to be on the floor late in close games barring some unforeseen circumstances. Once SEC play started, that was the case in every close game except at Texas A&M when Cal benched Cauley-Stein fouled out before the overtime periods. As the season progressed, Tyler Ulis has seemed to earn a spot in crunch time as well. But who that 5th guy is has fluctuated. Booker, Towns, and Lyles have all seen their time in crunch time but with no noticeable pattern. In fact, I was a little surprised to see that Towns hasn't played more in crunch time, even in the last couple close games. Personally, the 4 I think are a must on the floor are the Harrisons, Ulis, and Towns, not Cauley-Stein. His play is so wildly inconsistent, even in a particular game, that I am not sure his spot at the end of games should be a guarantee. We have been getting a much more productive, consistent performance from Towns for quite a while now. Sometimes I even think that Willie's highlight reel dunks sometimes mask the fact that he goes large portions of games doing little to no positive. Cincinnati had their way on the offensive glass and many times that was on WCS. Now, Willie at his best is probably the best player on the team. But, in the Cincinnati game for instance, if that game had been close at the end, I think I would have moved Towns to the 5 and left Lyles in at the 4. What about you? Who is your 5 "Crunch Time" Players right now?