Just so you know, I was a big fan of Cousins, and I took the same approach with Cousins that I'm taking with Willie. Big men traditionally take 3 to 4 years to reach whatever level they're going to reach. By no means am I going to let Willie off the hook for lack of intensity. Whatever improvements he makes on the offensive side of the ball shouldn't come at the expense of the defensive side of the ball. However, I don't put a lot of emphasis on what occurs in preseason games. And, I don't think it has to be either/or.
It appears to me that their trying to run a lot of the game through Willie in the high post. When a team is working on certain things, I'm willing to excuse the lack of performance in other areas. But only in preseason. If I see some of these things carry over to the regular season, then I'll get concerned about them. But my god folks, can we at least get 20 games into the season before we start forming the lynch mob. I know some of you have put a label on Willie, and if he does anything to change that label your upset. Willie's idea of who he is may be different than yours. And his idea may not be the right one either. But I'll never fault a player for trying to expand his game. Especially a young player.
The hard part is taking the things you've worked on and smoothly merging them into your game. Most times, it doesn't happen smoothly. Plus, I think it can affect your focus in other area's. I don't think that's an excuse, but it is a historical fact. If it works you have yourself a more valuable player. If it doesn't, well, then you've wasted a lot of time. I'm hoping for the former. Whatever the outcome, Willie's fate will likely be decided at season's end. My hope is that he earn's that extension and becomes the King's center of the future. But he does have to earn it.
There is no lynch mob. Players will get criticized and there will be disagreement over the level of valid criticism.
Willie approaches his 3rd season in the NBA. Criticism isn't about this years preseason games, but about his whole body of work with the Kings. That's because the issues Willie had in preseason aren't new.
I think nobody is proclaiming right now, that Willie is a lost cause, or that the Kings should give up on him, or that his issues can't be fixed. Instead pretty much everyone writes, that Willie has all the tools and all the talent he needs.
So there is no need to exaggerate things.
You make some good points. I agree, that our current system has something to do with Willies struggles on offense. I agree that it's a great thing, when Willie tries to expand his game and I would be happy, if he actually develops into a core piece of our offense.
You wrote, that you don't let him off the hook for his lack of intensity and that his offense shouldn't affect his defense. That's excactly where I'm coming from, so I don't think there actually is that much dissens between the two of us.
From my humble point of view players should focus on the fundamentals before worrying about anything else. In general and even moreso in todays guard driven league the big man fundamentals are defense, rebounding, rolling to the basket and running the floor.
When a player has stellar physical tools like Willie, the fundamentals are basically all he needs to be a franchise cornerstone and potentially max contract player. I mean Willie is a legit 7footer, who is one of the fastest players in the league up and down the floor, who can jump straight out of the building, who is one of the most explosive bigs I ever saw and who is also blessed with way above average body coordination for a guy his size.
Buddy, Skal, Papa, KK and especially DMC don't have the kind of physical gifts Willie has. Therefore I agree, that I hold Willie to a different standard, than the above mentioned, when it comes to making athletic plays or using athleticism to cover ground on D.
It drove me crazy when DMC took plays off on D, or when he basically was put in a pick&roll everytime down the floor by the opponent, because he couldn't move his feet quick enough. But I knew that he had his physical limitations, that caused these issues and that he would try to make up for them in other areas. That's why I was in the pro Cousins crowd during his tenure as a King.
Or take Marcus Smart as an example. The guy so far is one of the worst outside shooters in the history of the game and his shot selection is aweful at times. But watch the season opener versus the Cavs and you have to admit, that Smart was one of the main reasons the Celtics came back into the game, because he found a way to contribute in other areas just due to his intensity alone. He came up with huge defensive stops, he rebounded, he got to the floor for looseballs and he posted up every Cavs player not named Lebron. His offense was gruesome in the beginning of the game and after the horrible Hayward injury, he tried way too hard on offense.
But after the half he focused on his fundamentals and made an impact.
Now Marcus Smart is 6'4, strong but not explosive or particularly fast.
Imagine a 7foot guy with Willies physical gifts would focus on the fundamentals like Smart does. Imagine the impact he could have on the floor.
That's what frustrates me, everytime I watch Willie casually float over the court. He doesn't focus enough on his fundamentals, even though that's all he needs to do to make a huge impact on the floor.
And we both watch enough basketball to know, that there may be many explanations for this, but very few excuses.
