00:00Let's talk some Darren Peterson, shall we?
00:02Kansas today, a double-digit favorite in the Big 12 against Cincinnati.
00:07I'd like to go first, if you wouldn't mind, JY.
00:09I think your perspective on this is going to be really important,
00:11but I just want to try and add in just where I've been at
00:15with this Peterson situation.
00:17I feel for the kid a bit.
00:18I think a lot of people are, you know,
00:21ultimately attacking in an 18-year-old.
00:24And I think some of the attacking of Darren Peterson
00:26is because people don't like the NBA, right?
00:29We keep hearing the word load management being thrown around
00:32and people don't like NIL,
00:33and they're just using Peterson a bit of it as a target for that.
00:39Now, I don't want to be ridiculous.
00:43Like, Peterson is obviously a part of this,
00:46and whatever is going on is a bit confounding.
00:52But there is one element of this that I think people are ignoring
00:56so they can get their anger off.
00:59And that is, if Darren Peterson didn't like basketball
01:03or didn't want to play, he just wouldn't have to.
01:09Darren Peterson was going in the top five at worst
01:14if he never put the Kansas uniform on.
01:17And if he never checked back in after that first half against BYU,
01:21probably locked up the first overall pick.
01:24So, I think I could make a pretty convincing argument.
01:28It is actually in Darren Peterson's NBA best interest to shut it down.
01:33Say, you know what, guys?
01:34I have really tried.
01:35I appreciate everything that I have gotten from Kansas,
01:38but I cannot stay healthy.
01:40I am going to root my guys on.
01:41I will be out there with them each and every night on that bench cheering for Melvin and Flory.
01:46I love this team, but I cannot give them what I wanted to give them.
01:51And people would have his back, and he wouldn't have to risk any injury.
01:55I think he wants to play based on the fact he keeps trying to play.
02:01But I don't really know what to make of him hitting a three against Oklahoma State
02:06and then pointing to Bill, get me out of here.
02:08It is one of the most bizarre things, JY.
02:13And people are like, Self's clearly getting angry.
02:15It's like, yeah, I am sure he is.
02:18But he also seems to have no control over this situation.
02:23And I don't think that's acceptable from Bill Self.
02:28I don't.
02:29Like, there are a lot of coaches who we could accept that from.
02:32Not Bill Self.
02:34Not Rick Pitino, right?
02:36There's not many, but those are two that come to mind.
02:40Coach Calipari, probably another one.
02:43Izzo, for crying out loud.
02:45We would not accept, like, Tom Izzo wouldn't accept this.
02:48I don't know why Bill Self is, JY.
02:50And it just, again, seems like this situation that actually stinks for everyone involved.
02:58Kevin, there are no winners in this situation.
03:02Not the Kansas Athletic Department.
03:03Not Derrick Peterson and his family and his handlers.
03:07And not Bill Self.
03:09And not for the team.
03:10And I think this is, and it stinks, Kevin,
03:13because it's become a distraction for a team that's actually, at times,
03:21you want them and saying,
03:23this is the Kansas team that we thought we were going to get.
03:27A team that we think could make it to a Final Four.
03:31And when you have a hamstring injury,
03:36one little wrong step and you could pull that thing,
03:39it could be three months.
03:40So, yeah, it stinks.
03:43And it just, in the age of 15 cameras at a game and social media,
03:49a guy pointing to the bench is a bigger storyline than a team
03:54that is playing really good basketball.
03:56And that's what really sucks about it.
03:58Because Derrick Peterson is a phenomenal player.
04:01And you're right, Kevin.
04:02That guy is going top five, basically, no matter what,
04:06unless NBA people start really freaking out about his,
04:10quote-unquote, love for the game.
04:12But it takes away what Council's done the last couple weeks.
04:16It's taken away one of the best props I like today,
04:19which is Flory Bodunga over nine and a half rebounds.
04:22A guy that finally got his opportunity a little bit last year
04:23with Hunter Dickinson Hurt and playing great basketball.
04:26Think about this, folks, and I'll tell you this real quick.
04:28Like, Cincinnati's front line, 6-11, 7-2, inside.
04:31That means Bodunga's got a rebound.
04:32Four straight games, he's gone double digits.
04:34So, look at Flory Bodunga over nine and a half rebounds today.
04:38And then it takes away one of the great coaches of this generation
04:42in Bill Self.
04:43And you wonder why Rory Williams left, why Jay Wright left,
04:48why Tony Bennett left, right, why Coach K left.
04:52It's because of this.
04:54But, folks, I hate to tell you this.
04:57It's not going anywhere.
04:59But, J.Y., I'm sorry.
05:01I just, Jalen Johnson, who hilariously was on Team Cameron
05:05at the All-Star game, left Duke in the middle of the season.
05:09I don't think this would be going on at Duke.
05:12I don't think this would be going on at Villanova.
05:16I do not understand why Bill Self is acting like he has no cachet in the matter.
05:21I don't think this would be the way around.
05:21We're going on at Duke.
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