It does not take an NBA scout to notice two things about Kansas basketball. The first, when healthy, Darryn Peterson is an elite talent on the court. The second, Darryn Peterson and the rest of the team have not quite meshed.
“He's a special talent, but we don't know how to play with him yet,” quoted head coach Bill Self after Tuesday’s remarkable comeback 104-100 win over the TCU Horned Frogs.
“And he doesn't know how to play with the others yet. There's a lot of things that we need to be until we become that, and that is tougher, harder, faster, and we weren't any of those things tonight until the very end.”
Let's make one thing clear: Kansas has not excelled on the offensive end, really at all, throughout this season. The Jayhawks currently sit 126th in the country with 77.7 points per game, and yes, Kansas has undergone a difficult schedule thus far, yet at the same time there has really only been one recent matchup where Kansas has looked continuously in sync when on the ball, and that came against the Davidson Wildcats, who’s defense is in a constant state of flux which is dependent on the opposition’s offensive structure.
When Peterson is on the court, things just look to lag that bit more; it almost feels like there is an unspoken agreement that the Jayhawks will rely on Peterson to be the lone scorer. Of course, with a talent as great as Peterson, he will ultimately be the No. 1 guy; there appears to be just too much of a pull for Peterson to fill that role.
Self has stated multiple times that things are not as simple as just plucking Peterson and putting him back in the lineup and that things would just magically mesh together, and of course, that is true. Yet the Jayhawks have been put in an interesting pinch of the situation, as Big 12 play is ramping up, meaning an already season-wide paltry offense will have to find a new gear sooner rather than later, and that is assuming Peterson will be fully fit through it all as he was kept out of the entire overtime period after his brief appearance in the final five seconds of last night.
The Jayhawks will next take to the hardwood against the West Virginia Mountaineers. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. CT with streaming available on FOX.