For those wanting some clarification on the status of junior D.J. Johnson and freshman Dante Williams, Bruce Weber addressed both issues following Sunday's game.
On DJ Johnson:
"It took a toll playing the three games in five days and back-to-back games. The only time we're going to have a situation like would be the Big 12 Tournament. So we made a decision to rest him. I was hoping we wouldn't have needed him... We just took a chance and we rested him a few days. Now he's come back. He worked out today a little bit. He'll probably do treatment tomorrow, practice Tuesday and Wednesday, probably rest him a little bit on Thursday, and then have him for the game on Friday."
On Dante Williams:
"Yeah, Dante's practicing. I told the coaches, one of the last things I said, are we going to play him tonight? A lot of it depends on DJ, but I'd hate to use a year for Dante for 40 or 50 minutes. He's probably not ready now, but he's made progress. He blocked Justin's dunk the other day in practice that got a lot of roar from our guys. You're behind five months and you've practiced a couple of weeks so we we'll have to see what happens here in the next stretch and how much improvement he makes. The game is a little quick for him right now, but he is a big, tall drink of water. He takes up a lot of room and he's getting better at just keeping it high and scoring in the paint. If we're going to need him for our season, we'll have to use him."
My two cents is both players are fine. DJ just got needed rest because he was struggling after the UNC game. I saw him walk to the team bus gingerly with crutches. He moved around find today, though. I think Williams is raw, but as time goes on, I think he will see the floor this season. K-State needs production from the bench, especially in the front court. Both he and DJ can be a nice combo to have there.
On DJ Johnson:
"It took a toll playing the three games in five days and back-to-back games. The only time we're going to have a situation like would be the Big 12 Tournament. So we made a decision to rest him. I was hoping we wouldn't have needed him... We just took a chance and we rested him a few days. Now he's come back. He worked out today a little bit. He'll probably do treatment tomorrow, practice Tuesday and Wednesday, probably rest him a little bit on Thursday, and then have him for the game on Friday."
On Dante Williams:
"Yeah, Dante's practicing. I told the coaches, one of the last things I said, are we going to play him tonight? A lot of it depends on DJ, but I'd hate to use a year for Dante for 40 or 50 minutes. He's probably not ready now, but he's made progress. He blocked Justin's dunk the other day in practice that got a lot of roar from our guys. You're behind five months and you've practiced a couple of weeks so we we'll have to see what happens here in the next stretch and how much improvement he makes. The game is a little quick for him right now, but he is a big, tall drink of water. He takes up a lot of room and he's getting better at just keeping it high and scoring in the paint. If we're going to need him for our season, we'll have to use him."
My two cents is both players are fine. DJ just got needed rest because he was struggling after the UNC game. I saw him walk to the team bus gingerly with crutches. He moved around find today, though. I think Williams is raw, but as time goes on, I think he will see the floor this season. K-State needs production from the bench, especially in the front court. Both he and DJ can be a nice combo to have there.
