It’s strange enough, and infuriating enough for Kansas fans, to be a breeding ground for conspiracy theories. And conspiracy theories don’t take much to grow.
If Peterson cramped in that second half against BYU, why didn’t anyone take care of him? Was that his agent talking to him on the couch? Why did a deputy AD from Kansas approach him? Have you seen the posted video of the text from the press row suggesting a conflict between Peterson and Bill Selfwhich Kansas shot down as speculation? Why does Self sound nervous about the situation after the games and then about the people talking about the situation between games?
After watching Peterson score 10 points in 24 minutes of work in a 74-56 loss Saturday at Iowa State, I have to ask out loud what I’ve been asking myself for a few weeks: Why would anyone do the things Peterson did if the injuries and illnesses weren’t real?
The best answer I can think of is that he’s mad at Kansas for some reason: the millions to play in one season weren’t enough, the dorm food is sub-par, the football team sucks, who knows? So he wants to do just enough to tease the Jayhawks and their fans about what could have happened, and then plans to sit out for some reason as a team with Final Four potential leaves well before that in March.
That’s pretty stupid. But it’s no dumber than the popular theory, which is that a combination of Peterson’s agent and family forces him into burden management as a preparatory strategy. Please tell me how that helps his agent, Darren Matsubara of Wasserman Group. Please tell me how that helps Peterson and his family.
The last thing anyone would want to do in such a scenario is exaggerate the reality of a health situation.
This should be the number 1 choice, folks. This is the best player in arguably the best freshman class since 1981. If only Peterson had played every game so far, without any issues, without any questions, without any bits of limited explosiveness like those who have watched him closely for years – like The Athletics‘s Sam Vecenie – discovered on and off this season, I don’t think there’s any doubt about it.
Instead there is doubt. Doubts about his long-term health. Doubts about his commitment to his team. I doubt his agent has any idea what he’s doing.
Everything spoke to five NBA scouts and executives on Peterson a few weeks ago, and the prevailing sentiment was that his stock remained high pending the full medical results that will be available at the combine.
However, one source told Vecenie, “I would like to see Peterson play. Ultimately, if he doesn’t play enough, it could ultimately lead to the No. 1 team being more comfortable with one of the other two guys (BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and Duke’s Cameron Boozer) at the top from a safety perspective.”
Play and help yourself. Sit down and ask more questions.
Hamstring, quad and ankle injuries, cramps and flu-like symptoms have been cited at various times as reasons why Peterson missed 11 games and was severely limited in the second half of others. That didn’t stop him from shredding Dybantsa’s Cougars in the first half on Jan. 31, scoring 18 points and making some plays that only NBA stars make before he was in the second half. That didn’t stop him from playing an entire road game two days later and ripping out Texas Tech’s heart with two three-pointers in the final 80 seconds to win.
On Saturday, he played 13 minutes in the first half and 11 in the second, leaving the game for good with 7 minutes, 1 second remaining and Kansas trailing by 18 minutes. He didn’t look like his best self. He could have been pulled much sooner, with Kansas up 24 points in the second half, which was especially bad, but that wasn’t the case. Those things don’t fuel the stories.
Some of Self’s comments are. He said after the BYU game that he had “no idea” why Peterson came out, then mentioned the cramps. He told reporters earlier this season that “they want him 100 percent” regarding Peterson’s camp, adding, “I’m not in his head.”
An illness kept Peterson from Monday’s home win over No. 1 Arizona — no, Kansas isn’t better without him, please don’t add to the pile of bad theories.
Self added: “We thought he was going to go. I thought the adrenaline was going to kick in, and he was going to go. He was at the shooting today. I mean, he was out there. But you could just tell he wasn’t feeling great.”
Whether intended or not, this comes across as frustration, making it easy for fans to root for a culprit. Self finally followed that fast-growing mentality on Thursday. He even admitted to checking social media to take fans’ temperatures, and he swore all the ailments were legit.
“The story is BS in many ways,” journalists told Self. “Load management, that guy hasn’t even talked about that or anything. Load management, gosh, that’s when you play four games in seven days. That’s not when you play half a week or something like that. So that’s not true.”
Here’s a theory. It might be a bit wild, but give it a shot: Peterson has had a lot of bad luck with his health this season; he fears a more serious injury and tries to avoid it; he really wants to play, and Kansas has been largely honest in discussing him. What do you think? Too far away?
#Darryn #Peterson #situation #Kansas #weird #wondered