Bill Self: Darryn Peterson dealing with cramps, Louisville takeaways

Kansas concludes its exhibition schedule against Fort Hays State at Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday night. Bill Self met with the media ahead of the matchup. He talked about Darryn Peterson dealing with cramps, what he’s taking away from the Louisville exhibition, and Jayden Dawson’s recovery.

Self said Kansas hasn’t remedied situation with Peterson’s cramps

Peterson played just 10 minutes in the second half against Louisville after exploding for 24 points in about 15 first-half minutes. Self said Peterson has been dealing with cramps for a while, and the issue resurfaced on Friday night.

“I don’t want to say he’s perfectly fine yet,” Self said. “It’s been something that’s been bothering him, you know, off and on for a while. And that was, you guys don’t know this, but there was a reason why he didn’t play the second half is because of that.”

Self said Peterson did practice on Sunday but not on Monday, with the cramps causing soreness in his muscles. He added that they need to figure out what the issue is and get it fixed.

“I don’t think that we’ve quite remedied the situation yet,” Self said. “That’s gonna be a big deal, if your best player can’t finish games because of cramping or whatever it would be. So we’ve gotta figure that out.”

Kansas got good experience in road environment, played with positive ‘reckless abandon’

Self said they wouldn’t draw much from the exhibition, but there were some positives to take away from the performance. Louisville pressed every play and put the team in some adverse situations. Self said they reacted to it pretty well.

“I thought we actually reacted to some situations better than what we had prepared to react to them, just because we hadn’t got through enough situations yet,” Self said. “Louisville pressed every possession for the entire game. So I thought, I mean at least getting it in, just getting it in bounds and attacking their pressure. When we attacked their pressure, I thought we executed and got layups or whatnot, for the most part.”

The exhibition also gave the Jayhawks’ freshmen good experience playing in front of a road crowd. A crowd of 15,885 came to the KFC Yum Center! to watch Kansas face Louisville. Self said they took the crowd out of the game a little with a good start, but did some things that will be helpful in winning on the road.

“I thought it was a good way to give us an idea about how we need to stick together on the road, and what really wins on the road,” Self said. “Because I did think we did some things that you have to do on the road in order to win.”

Self mentioned things like being the first team to the floor “just about every time there was a loose ball.” He said that the Jayhawks did some positive things that you’re not able to coach.

“I thought there were some things that didn’t have anything to do with coaching or technique,” Self said. “The guys played with a reckless abandon for the most part that I thought was really positive, because I don’t think we’ve seen that as much in practice as what we’d like to.”

Jayden Dawson a bit behind as he works his way back from injury

Dawson played just three minutes against Louisville, not attempting a shot. Self said that Dawson is healthy and his limited minutes were due to him being behind in practice.

“He’s healthy, so that didn’t have much to do with him not playing a lot,” Self said. “But him being hurt probably put him behind, where he probably wasn’t as ready to play the other day. There’s nothing negative that he’s done or anything, but his health is fine.”

Self said he expects Dawson to be more available against Fort Hays State. He wants the Loyola Chicago transfer along with Kohl Rosario to give Kansas “a legitimate three-point threat out there whenever they’re on the court.”

“I anticipate him definitely being able to be out there a lot more, because he’d be more in the groove,” Self said.