It's that time again in the year... when I have to mention "chip."

For all of you who have read my preaching for years, you may want to find something better to do.

Statistics show that we play better as a team without DP. That's not fair to DP. His offensive stat numbers are at the top in D1. And his defense and rebounds are substantial, too.

What it points to is how average our team is when guys don't bring 100% effort to games.

If this team, with DP, can bring full effort for 40 minutes a game, we are a Top 10 team. When we don't, we can lose to anyone.

There were times in today's game against WVU I thought we might have learned from our heroic victory against TCU. Then in the second half, we went up by 8, which proved to be the big disaster in the game. At that point, WVU stepped it up a notch, while we didn't. At that point, we stopped getting WVU turnovers, stopped attacking them in the open court, and we reverted to our old ways of losing; not disrupting their game and hoping we can outscore them.

My hope for this team is dwindling. My last bit of hope is after we lose many games and drop off the radar completely, we may then suddenly feel motivated to give what it takes to win. It worked in 2022, after Kentucky kicked our butts in AFH.

This is a team that needs high-octane fuel to be successful! That means, super high energy, all the time! We have the bench to use, especially if we have DP back!

They have to create havoc to be successful. Otherwise, their defense is nothing special at all, and then they are left to try to just outscore our opponents.

SPOILER ALERT: We may have the best athleticism in D1! I definitely put it at the top! We have speed and good size! We should be able to create huge havoc for all teams we face, and if we can keep that high energy going, it will lead to our opponents committing turnovers, taking bad shots and running stifled offense, and will lead to numerous runouts for us!

@jayhawks2010

I like your diagnosis and it makes sense.

I also wonder if he might be battling psychological issues with this. Maybe a little ptsd from an early injury or issue. I don't think it has to be much to cause an over sensitive reaction because on top of it all is this huge payday awaiting him.

I don't think anyone will see the real DP until he plays in the NBA. At that point, he's reached his pinnacle and will be making big cake. I know the big money comes in his second contract, but he's got to get there and he'll have to show what he can do before landing that monster contract.

I don't take any of this personal because I'm a diehard Jayhawk. I'm still grateful we have him.

Going counter to this a little bit. The stats are out and our overall net impact of DP and his PT is a net negative. I think we could all guess this. We do have to realize he hasn't had enough reps to truly fit in as a teammate and guys have to step up and focus on the connection, including DP.

I'm going to extend my thread on Wilt and his accusation that bball players overtrain with weights. Here is a photo of DP. I know photos can be misinterpreted... but look at the quads! I know big quads can come in handy in ball. I used to play one-on-one with KU legend Darnell Valentine. We called him "thunder thighs" back then. Part of what gave Darnell the ability to squash me like an insect was his strong thighs. He could push me around just with his legs... easy peasy! But getting back to DP... I think he has had more than one health issue with his legs. We know he has tightness in his hamstrings... maybe he has tightness in his quads, too. Just look at those beefy quads!

@tundrahok said in Darryn Peterson:

I remember your original avatar on this site. I still think of you as a large black man with groovy sideburns.

I wish! haha... I wish I looked like this:

What really impressed me about DP in our big home win... He was good to go in with a few seconds left, out of stride, and make the play that earned him 3 FTs, that he confidently nailed to put us into OT! Beyond that... beyond all his points... when he penetrated and kicked out to Melvin for the trey! We need more of that! I liked how Self mixed up his minutes so he could stay engaged in the game, but also the other players had to deal with him in and out several times. I think that helps the guys develop some consistency.

What I envision is DP and Melvin becoming a tandem! When one is driving, the other is getting open for a trey, or on a cut to the basket. What DP has to learn... he can create space from double and triple teaming by feeding open shooters. And Melvin.. he had 8 assists. He is our floor general, no question. so he needs to learn how to focus passes to DP. We need more off-ball screens for DP. Ultimately, the assists need to work down in layers, meaning... (example) Melvin penetrates, feeds DP coming off a screen, and DP feeds the big (from the pick and roll) for the slam. This should be easy to scheme. Teams are learning they have to deal with more than DP, and good luck when we create schemes involving multiple players that can score!

@approxinfinity

I find it highly likely DP has overtrained. I know I am going against the grain here because everyone wants to see him dominate and bring us to another title... but I've been impressed with his discipline to stick to a protocol. I'm certain it was that same discipline that brought him to this level in the first place.

It's easy for all of us to gripe at him and call him "oversensitive" to his situation. None of us had to endure what he did to get to this level, nor do we really comprehend what's at risk if he gets hurt.

I don't know if this has anything to do with DP and his issue... but I just needed an excuse to post on one of my favorites. I do believe, to the most part, Wilt was spot on.

It is starting to piss me off... all the fan grief leveled on DP. I'm not sure we deserve his presence on the court. He still wasn't 100% for this game... I'd say about 90%... but look at his stats... 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. What says a lot is his only 1 assist. We need to develop an offense around him.

Why did we lose? It sure wasn't DPs fault. Two things: our post play is horrendous. And our overall defense is mediocre at best. Not sure how we motivate Tiller. I think he THINKS too much while he plays, instead of just playing. He seems to have a delay every time he moves.

I'm curious why Self settles for a switch defense? He used to hate that! Maybe it's hard to recruit players today if you let them know they will have to fight over ball screens? I guess we play switches because Self believes our bigs can guard guards. Right now, we are guarding no one! If he's going to sacrifice his identity as a coach for defense, we might as well play a zone.

I'm running nervous about Tuesday's game. Might we go 0-2?

To me... the lesson in all this... we should have punched the NCAA in the face after that last alleged infringement. We paid a huge price by waiting 5 years (how long?) before we pushed the ball forward with out own punitive response. We should have sued them after a year. If they can't pull their heads out of their backside in a year, they shouldn't be governing college basketball!

Must my humble opinion.

@benshawks08

Yes! He's gone all over the sports media on this topic. And he's right about this.

And now we have Baylor!

What do you all think about it? What if we brought in one of these guys right now?

At what price are we willing to pay in pursuit of a trophy?

I like how Cal said he is sticking to his approach of going after high school kids.

Come on, guys... there is nothing similar to these guys playing ball and being paid and any form of a regular job. How many of you guys started your career with million dollar annual guarantee?

If you want to connect the dots to all of us and our mundane jobs, you will quickly resent all these players and the first time they screw up you'll go ballistic.

Don't take out your job dissatisfaction on players. I'm saying that as much for you as them. None of us are competing with these players and their jobs.

I'm not saying we shouldn't expect players to be responsible while drawing a check. They should be. And if they fake an injury and don't play... well... maybe that's on the university for not putting in a performance clause.

What I'm talking about in my initial post has nothing to do with players being paid. The pressure at UK basketball... and Alabama football... has been there for decades. Just ask Calipari. I never liked that guy and his revolving door teams... just because I saw this is the direction D1 was headed. If I had to grade Cal as a human being, I think of him differently. I followed him at Kentucky and I seriously doubt there is another coach in college basketball who got more involved in his community and was very generous giving to charities. That's the Cal we never talk about. I typically don't.... because I never liked his basketball style.

We are all living in some type of dystopian universe. We all worked hard and made normal money. These kids come along and it just looks like fun play, and many get paid more in one year of college basketball than most of us make in a long career. Dystopia! But no amount of complaining is going to change that. Or hating on players. Or throwing a fit because a kid missed a free throw while 4 million people watch.

2026 is approaching... and I hope all of you have an arse-kicking year! Make tons of cashola! Heck... hit the friggin' lottery! I'll continue to be an old man slaving away, but I'm happy and happy for others who make 100-times more money than me! Good for them!

I'm pretty much happy for any kids today making big cake because I don't see a great job horizon ahead. College basketball may be something immuned to AI, unless we change the rules and let robots play and operate on AI.

I know that since players are getting paid, the attitude has changed from their fanbases and has become much harsher. Is it fair? I don't know... but while we complain about everything they do that doesn't meet our expectations, we also think they don't care about the schools they play for like they did when not played. We can't have it both ways. If we are going to nag on them constantly, it seems natural they will care less about the school and fans.

I blog on other D1 teams' pages, too... One of them is Kentucky... ha... mostly because I'm a Mark Pope fan. His job is impossible because the fanbase expects a Top 5 (or even Top 1) recruit class every year, and that just isn't going to happen. I've been a fan of his since he played at UK and then later with the Bucks, and then into coaching. I hope we never turn into a fanbase similar to Kentucky basketball, or Alabama football. It's a horrible world those programs live in. The pressure is way past anything healthy or constructive.

Thinking back... didn't the JoJo back injury at KU continue to nag him in the NBA and slow down his revenue stream, and maybe still part of his health issues?

We can't rate DP as a Mesoball player where Jaybate and I used to rate players for their ability to "give it all on the court, or die."

And, come on, really... this teenager is months away from signing his first contract, leading to other contracts worth lotto-amounts. It would be dumb if he went flying for a ball on the court and came out injured and lowered his future value. I know it isn't what any of us want to hear... but we have to settle for his potential to give maybe up to 90% effort, and the extra 10% is for caution's sake.

90% of DP is better than 99.9% of the players currently in D1.

My own opinion... up until now, we haven't seen more than a 70% effort because he's not at full strength.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed we eventually get a 90% DP!

@Tallturd1 said in Kansas Jayhawks vs Davidson Wildcats Game Chat Mon. 12/22 7:00 CT:

Reports are that Darryn's family want him to be near 100% and so do we.

Yes.. I heard that. I think everyone around him wants him to be safe first.

I keep saying this... few Jayhawk fans really know what we have here. If you've seen him play at full tilt you realize just how off he has been this entire season.

I know he's scored around 17 points or so... but when he's on, he'll cruise to 30 and he'll make it look so easy, regardless of who we are playing. There are only a few players in college today that can impact a game like he can.

Our athleticism completely dominated this game. It's been years since I've said that! Merry Christmas, everyone!

@BeddieKU23

I hope Self learned a big lesson. Recruiting is more than considering a guy's numbers. Yes... maybe others played a role in that, but Hunter goes back a couple years and both of those years sucked.

Self should realize... a chunk of his legacy is being determined right now and moving forward. Taking risks on players with funky attitudes is not worth it. Literally.. it only takes one guy to crush a team's spirit.

I think Hunter was the problem from the last two years. He was hated by so many other schools because he fed into the hate. I don't think he was a positive for our team. Sports is spiritual based. We talk alot about "team play" and that requires the group of guys coming together. Self praises this team for their cohesion... they have girlfriends but would rather hang with the fellas. Melvin has been a fuse for an explosion of good for this team!

From now on, let's only recruit players that do this! No one is going to convince me this is staged and the guys are only here for a paycheck!

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite all-time Jayhawk teams, and that is regardless of their March performance!