Status of Kansas Jayhawks’ Remy Martin up in air: ‘He’s still experiencing some pain.’
.JPG "Kansas’ Remy Martin celebrates after making a basket during the second half against Stephen F. Austin on Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021, in Lawrence.")
Kansas senior point guard Remy Martin, who has missed the last five games because of a bone bruise in his right knee, is still experiencing discomfort that may continue to prevent him from practicing, KU men’s basketball coach Bill Self said on Tuesday’s Hawk Talk radio show.
“I don’t know,” Self said when asked by host Brian Hanni if there’s “any chance” for Martin to return to action in the next week. “I would hope so. He does some individual work and things like this, but he is still experiencing some pain.
“I’d like to see that,” Self added of Martin’s return to drills and ultimately games, “because it is getting so late you probably are going to put yourself in a position that it’s going to be hard for him to be 100% good if he doesn’t have a chance to practice and play with the guys. Right now he is not ready and he’s not. I don’t know if there’s a time frame on it at all. It’s just whenever he feels it,” Self added.
Self explained on Tuesday that the Jayhawks, partly because of injuries, “haven’t had a very deep bench this year.”
Aside from combo guard Joseph Yesufu (22 minutes) and forward Zach Clemence (nine minutes), nobody off the bench played more than three minutes in Monday’s 76-62 victory over Oklahoma State at Allen Fieldhouse.
“Not having Remy is obviously a big loss. Bobby (Pettiford) gave us one minute last night (at point guard) because Juan (Harris, starting point guard) needed to rest for a second,” Self said. “Bobby … he was hurting. He told me, ‘Coach I don’t think I can do this.’ We knew that going in. We said, ‘Bobby can you give us one minute? Don’t really try to do too much.’ He said, ‘Yeah, absolutely.’
“He is not healthy and Joe is not a point guard, so we are kind of really thin back there,” Self stated.
Pettiford, who has been slowed by an abdominal strain, has played in 14 of KU’s 25 games.
Self, in talking about needing to reduce Harris’ minutes, said after Monday’s victory: “We have got to get a way to rest him. Bobby’s beat up, so he’s not going to be healthy, possibly for the rest of the year. Remy’s out and Joe’s not a point guard, so we have got to find some way to spell him (harris) some minutes. Hopefully we can get Remy back at some point in time so he can be the guy that does that but I thought he (Harris) played really solid.”
Meanwhile, shooting guard Jalen Coleman-Lands didn’t play versus Oklahoma State.
“He had a migraine, so he was not available to us. He should be available for us tomorrow for practice,” Self said on Hawk Talk. “We have pretty much settled in with what we’re going to do (rotation wise). I think depending on the game situation, who is playing well … it may be a little bit different game to game. I wish we could play our bench a little more, but I’m not discouraged on who we are playing at all.”
Self explained the reasoning behind playing regular rotation player Mitch Lightfoot just three minutes against the Cowboys compared to Clemence’s nine minutes.
“One thing I’d like to say, and this is not being positive, negative or anything, this is factual: Don’t read anything into Mitch didn’t play much last night,” Self said of the senior forward, “because I wanted to see what Zach was like and give him an opportunity so we can have some idea moving forward kind of how we can utilize him.
“Mitch is in the same place he’s always been with us. He gives us a chance to win. He is so supportive of everybody else. He didn’t get a chance to play last night because David (McCormack, 12 points, 12 boards, three assists, two blocks in 28 minutes) is playing well. You want to give Zach a chance. You don’t give Zach near as big a chance if you try to split the time with Mitch. That’s the reason for that as much as anything,” Self noted.
Clemence, who missed nine straight games because of a fractured bone in his big toe right foot, returned to hit a three-pointer that put KU ahead to stay in Saturday’s narrow 71-69 home win over Oklahoma.
“He’s gotten nine rebounds in the 18 minutes he’s played (last two games) and they’ve been real rebounds not just balls falling to him,” Self said of Clemence, a 6-10, 225-pound freshman from San Antonio, Texas. “I’ve been really pleased in how he doing,” Self added.
Clemence did a good job guarding OU forward Tanner Groves down the stretch of Saturday’s game Self said.
“When you look at him,” Self said of Clemence, “he’s thin but he is not soft. He’ll get his nose in there and get his nose dirty. I’ve been impressed with his competitive spirit as much as anything, because when you are pretty athletic and he is, he is 6-10 and can cover space and is pretty long and you can shoot, you will figure it out before long, He is close to figuring it out.”
KU will next meet West Virginia at 7 p.m., Central Time, Saturday in Morgantown, West Virginia.
