Buddy showed real improvement, especially defensively the last half of the season. I am not going to write that off to just playing against tanking teams and the level of the opposition. Fox had a lot on his plate but had his moments, but I did not see a sudden leap in his performance during the "tanking part of the season". Bogi was our best player, but I didn't see any sudden leap in his performance that you could say was attributed to other teams tanking. If anything, his consistency seemed to fall off a little bit as the season neared the end which I attribute to his lack of a real off season. Don't get me wrong, I am not criticizing these three, just saying if you can't give WCS credit for showing improvement during the "tanking season" then you have to wonder about their stats during the tanking season.
Willie started off slow, but had a nice streak of 8 games during the end of November (28 min. 14.5 pts. 7.1 reb) and there were even articles about how he was putting it together, but then on the 2nd of December he hurt his back and missed 4 straight games. Back problems tend to linger (I know this personally) and can cause other issues. Later he had some knee problems and then around the first of March missed another 4 games which I believe occurred when his back acted up again. So he may very well have been dealing with back problems most of the season, hopefully if that was the case it is cleared up, now.
Willie has a lot of things to work on and he doesn't want to just settle for being the one-dimensional player that a lot of people on here want him to be (even though he could make a lot of money if he would just settle). He wants to be a complete player, but he has a long way to go and the odds are probably against him. He did not develop basketball skills properly as a youngster (you know the wide reciever stories), he was not developed properly at UK (Calipari only used him as that one-dimensional type because that's the way Calipari's system works - showcase strengths, hide weaknesses, to get them to the NBA quickly), he was not developed any under Carl, and the first half season under Joerger was all about trying to win now so he spent most of the time on the bench behind Cuz and Koufos, only averaging about 12 minutes a game until Cuz was traded.
I don't know if Willie can become that complete player, he certainly has the athleticism for it, but the skills were not developed early. It's the old skills vs. athleticism argument. But I can't fault him for trying. He shouldn't have to look back and say he could have been a more complete player if he would only have worked on those skills. Working on those other skills probably at times reduce his effectiveness in other areas of strength. Joerger has allowed him to work on those skills since the Cuz trade and has also played him in a manner that reduces the effectiveness of a one- dimensional player that many want him to be (Joerger doesn't keep him camped out in the paint).
I am not saying you are part of it, but there is a clique on here that resents that Willie won't settle. They resent his lifestyle, that he has a life outside of basketball. They refuse to give him credit for anything good he does and will criticize anybody that does give him credit because it does not fit their agenda. If you see any thread on here about WCS, you will see that it always the same ones disparaging him. If anyone says anything positive about him, they are on it in an instant. They will accuse you of "cherry picking" stats to make him look good while they "cherry pick" stats that make him look bad. They will attack his character. They will make little snide remarks about his interest in art, his fashion sense, his interests outside of basketball. They will call him a stoner and all but accuse him of being a druggie (even though he has never to my knowledge failed a drug test or had any run ins with the law over drugs, but don't let facts get in way of the agenda).
Barring injury, I think this will be the season for Willie to have his breakout and see if he can really start to become that complete player. If he can't he may have to re-evaluate what kind of player he wants to be. But at least he will have given it a shot. I saw a lot of growth in WCS last season compared to the way he looked his last year at UK and his first two seasons in the NBA. He was able to do a lot of things that he couldn't come close to doing before, so maybe he can continue that growth as well as return to some of his strengths. That would be great for the Kings, but probably bad news for his detractors, but hey, they already have an out, they have said even if he does have a really good year, it doesn't mean anything because it is a contract year and that was the only reason he got better and he will return to his former bad self as soon as he gets a contract. Haters gonna hate. I have no doubt this reply will be attacked relentlessly by some of them, but I don't care, I've had my say and I don't need to repeat myself over and over.
