-- On Thursday afternoon, Kansas head coach Bill Self conducted his weekly press conference on Lawrence. During his time with the media, Self provided the very latest update on both Dajuan Harris and Kevin McCullar, Jr.
“I haven’t seen either one of them, because we were obviously off yesterday,” said Self on Thursday afternoon. “They’ve all had at least four treatment sessions so far, since we’ve been back, and maybe five. I don’t know that either one of them will practice today, but I’m hopeful that they can be on the court tomorrow.
“And if they’re on the court tomorrow, they’ll play on Saturday,” he added.
Self said the plan going into the Oklahoma State was not to play Bobby Pettiford much unless it was absolutely necessary. When Dajuan went down, Self said they kind of had to play Pettiford against the Cowboys.
As far as Pettiford goes, Self believes his availability will be more come Saturday and hopefully Monday. Self said they kind of bought another week because he didn’t really have to push it.
Self added that Zach Clemence is still bothered by his knee, but he also said that everybody knows that Kansas isn’t going to play 11 guys, more than likely. Still, the knee is bothering Clemence.
Even though he would have been available to play, Clemence wouldn’t have been at 100 percent. It may still be a matter of time before he’s 100 percent, but it sounds like he can get on the court and play.
Cam Martin still isn’t doing well with his shoulder and, to me, it doesn’t sound like he’s going to play this season. I could be wrong about that, but that’s certainly the feeling that I get when hearing Self talk about him.
-- Kansas will likely play its biggest regular season game of the year to date when No. 9 Baylor comes to Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. (Central) tip. With ESPN GameDay in attendance, a National Audience watching, and the Big 12 regular championship still very much up for grabs, the Jayhawks have a chance to take a giant step forward in winning another regular season championship.
Self, on Thursday, was asked about the game against Baylor on Saturday.
“I think GameDay adds to it, but I don’t think GameDay, in the players' minds, makes it a bigger game,” said Self. “I think it’s a pretty damn big game regardless if GameDay was here or not. I still think both teams will be excited to play, but of course, we love GameDay being here.
“But it’s a big game,” he added. “It’s a big game for a lot of reasons – one, it’s the next game. It's not going to be the biggest game we play this year, and it's certainly not the biggest game Baylor is going to play this year. Up until this point, it's probably about as big a game that we’ve played this year.”
-- Overall, Kansas enters the game with a record of 21-5 and 9-4 in Big 12 play. The Jayhawks have won three-straight games and fined themselves tied for the Big 12 standings. Obviously, KU’s game against Baylor on Saturday is big for a number of reasons, including the race for the Big 12 regular season championship
Baylor already beat Kansas in Waco this season and another loss at home would certainly make winning the regular season championship outright somewhat of a difficult task. Self, on Thursday, was asked what he thinks it will take, record-wise, to win the Big 12 regular-season championship.
“I would think five would for sure win it,” said Self. “I would think six we'd have a shot. But anybody goes 13 to five in our league. Because when you look at it, because we play each other, so somebody's got to lose in the games when you play each other.
“So, I would think obviously if a team were to win out, be done, but I could be wrong,” he added. “I think Texas still has us, Baylor and Iowa State left. I could be off on that. I know Baylor still has, and I think Texas may have TCU left as well. I can't go through them all. But there's opportunities for great wins, and there's also opportunities for somebody to get you on everybody's schedule. So, four and one the rest of the way I would guarantee it would win it. And getting to 12, although I don't think that's the percentage play, I do think there's a chance I could get a piece of it. But I think 13 would be a number that anybody that's in our league right now would be very content with.”
“I haven’t seen either one of them, because we were obviously off yesterday,” said Self on Thursday afternoon. “They’ve all had at least four treatment sessions so far, since we’ve been back, and maybe five. I don’t know that either one of them will practice today, but I’m hopeful that they can be on the court tomorrow.
“And if they’re on the court tomorrow, they’ll play on Saturday,” he added.
Self said the plan going into the Oklahoma State was not to play Bobby Pettiford much unless it was absolutely necessary. When Dajuan went down, Self said they kind of had to play Pettiford against the Cowboys.
As far as Pettiford goes, Self believes his availability will be more come Saturday and hopefully Monday. Self said they kind of bought another week because he didn’t really have to push it.
Self added that Zach Clemence is still bothered by his knee, but he also said that everybody knows that Kansas isn’t going to play 11 guys, more than likely. Still, the knee is bothering Clemence.
Even though he would have been available to play, Clemence wouldn’t have been at 100 percent. It may still be a matter of time before he’s 100 percent, but it sounds like he can get on the court and play.
Cam Martin still isn’t doing well with his shoulder and, to me, it doesn’t sound like he’s going to play this season. I could be wrong about that, but that’s certainly the feeling that I get when hearing Self talk about him.
-- Kansas will likely play its biggest regular season game of the year to date when No. 9 Baylor comes to Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. (Central) tip. With ESPN GameDay in attendance, a National Audience watching, and the Big 12 regular championship still very much up for grabs, the Jayhawks have a chance to take a giant step forward in winning another regular season championship.
Self, on Thursday, was asked about the game against Baylor on Saturday.
“I think GameDay adds to it, but I don’t think GameDay, in the players' minds, makes it a bigger game,” said Self. “I think it’s a pretty damn big game regardless if GameDay was here or not. I still think both teams will be excited to play, but of course, we love GameDay being here.
“But it’s a big game,” he added. “It’s a big game for a lot of reasons – one, it’s the next game. It's not going to be the biggest game we play this year, and it's certainly not the biggest game Baylor is going to play this year. Up until this point, it's probably about as big a game that we’ve played this year.”
-- Overall, Kansas enters the game with a record of 21-5 and 9-4 in Big 12 play. The Jayhawks have won three-straight games and fined themselves tied for the Big 12 standings. Obviously, KU’s game against Baylor on Saturday is big for a number of reasons, including the race for the Big 12 regular season championship
Baylor already beat Kansas in Waco this season and another loss at home would certainly make winning the regular season championship outright somewhat of a difficult task. Self, on Thursday, was asked what he thinks it will take, record-wise, to win the Big 12 regular-season championship.
“I would think five would for sure win it,” said Self. “I would think six we'd have a shot. But anybody goes 13 to five in our league. Because when you look at it, because we play each other, so somebody's got to lose in the games when you play each other.
“So, I would think obviously if a team were to win out, be done, but I could be wrong,” he added. “I think Texas still has us, Baylor and Iowa State left. I could be off on that. I know Baylor still has, and I think Texas may have TCU left as well. I can't go through them all. But there's opportunities for great wins, and there's also opportunities for somebody to get you on everybody's schedule. So, four and one the rest of the way I would guarantee it would win it. And getting to 12, although I don't think that's the percentage play, I do think there's a chance I could get a piece of it. But I think 13 would be a number that anybody that's in our league right now would be very content with.”
