Future of Willie Cauley-Stein?

Kingster

Hall of Famer
It is bizarre. He says he doesn't go for block shots because he thinks he will break his finger on the rim. No big men in the history of the game has seemingly felt this way until Willie. You prevent the same injury from recurring by increasing your court awareness. You recognize when you are under the rim and go vertical you could hit your hand. We should not need to have this discussion or concern. This guy is so soft if he cannot get past this past and be an aggressive rim protector. Get rid of him, Vlade.
It was also bizarre that he didn't know he should go outside of his area to get rebounds. o_O

Or his comments after KAT destroyed him in the T-Wolves game: "It's fun every time. That's all love. It's little bro....It's always all love."

https://www.abc10.com/video/sports/...-towns-after-kings-loss-to-wolves/103-8020540

Or the Porzingas comment?

Any reasonable person has got to wonder a little about what is upstairs.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
Baggz Szn - Bagley's Season?

I interpret it to mean the Kings drafted Bagley to play over him.



Stress plus rest equals growth. This pertains to any endeavor: mental, physical, creative. LeBron spends over one million per year on recovery regimen, including cryo-chambers and the like. You go hard outside your comfort zone then you step away and consolidate those gains. The hardest part for extreme athletes is often not the training itself, it is allowing themselves downtime to heal and come back stronger. There is a science and art to this. So yeah Willie has time to fingerpaint. But I don't think he is stressing himself enough to achieve the growth he needs to be a first string center. For those who may not remember, two years ago Willie came to camp out of shape. He admitted as much and vowed to not let it happen again. So it is not speculative whether his work ethic is not where it needs to be. There is a track record of inadequate effort. I don't see this as a problem with guys I think will take his minutes: Bagley, Giles and Skal.
Or maybe it means, "I'm bagging it next season." :p ( https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/bagging it) If nothing else, the guy is candid!:)
 
Willie's limitations are nearly all in his head. No one with fear can be a good rebounder and shot blocker in a league full of athletic giant humans. You have to be fearless or you get hurt even more. I played under sized center for years. With out a fiesty intense attitude you are toast. I still get fired up whenever I hear a basketball thump on a wooden court and shoes squeaking. Basketball kept me out of trouble when I was young. Leave your aggression on the floor. If you have no aggression you cannot play with the big boys. Willie needs to watch Dennis Rodman flims every night before he goes to bed.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
Willie's limitations are nearly all in his head. No one with fear can be a good rebounder and shot blocker in a league full of athletic giant humans. You have to be fearless or you get hurt even more. I played under sized center for years. With out a fiesty intense attitude you are toast. I still get fired up whenever I hear a basketball thump on a wooden court and shoes squeaking. Basketball kept me out of trouble when I was young. Leave your aggression on the floor. If you have no aggression you cannot play with the big boys. Willie needs to watch Dennis Rodman flims every night before he goes to bed.
Willie can watch all the Dennis Rodman film he wants but that won't change who he is, that's not something you can teach.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Willie's limitations are nearly all in his head. No one with fear can be a good rebounder and shot blocker in a league full of athletic giant humans. You have to be fearless or you get hurt even more. I played under sized center for years. With out a fiesty intense attitude you are toast. I still get fired up whenever I hear a basketball thump on a wooden court and shoes squeaking. Basketball kept me out of trouble when I was young. Leave your aggression on the floor. If you have no aggression you cannot play with the big boys. Willie needs to watch Dennis Rodman flims every night before he goes to bed.
You actually think that Willie is afraid? You do remember that Willie's first love was football, and he was an all state wide reciever. You know, where people actually tackle one another and smash you into the ground. What a load of nonsense! The only thing that might resemble fear with Willie is fear of failure, something every professional athlete feels at one time or another in their career. I was one of the most confident hitters in the world until Von McDaniel struck me out 4 times in a row. I was almost ready to quit baseball.

That lasted about a minute and a half, and I went to work adjusting how I would approach him the next time. But there was that momentary fear that I wasn't good enough. Every sport is about talent, and confidence. You have to have both. I don't pretend to know what's in Willie's head, and frankly I don't care. I care about results, and he'll either produce this season or he won't. If he doesn't, then he'll likely move down the bench, or be traded. The Kings have three years invested in him, so I'm hoping for his success. If your not, (not you personally) then I have nothing more to say to you.
 
Willie has freely admitted his fear of being around the rim and re-injuring his hand.
He plays like he has fear. That is a problem.
I have coached basketball for years. It is absolutely possible to turn kids into ferocious rebounders. When they get beat twice in a row on a defensive rebound they get to run laps around the gym. The intensity goes up by a lot. I was taught the same thing. Coach would have two of us square off while the whole team watched. If we got beat we had to shoot 100 foul shots after practice. After awhile it becomes automatic to think that any rebound you can get near is yours.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
Willie has freely admitted his fear of being around the rim and re-injuring his hand.
He plays like he has fear. That is a problem.
I have coached basketball for years. It is absolutely possible to turn kids into ferocious rebounders. When they get beat twice in a row on a defensive rebound they get to run laps around the gym. The intensity goes up by a lot. I was taught the same thing. Coach would have two of us square off while the whole team watched. If we got beat we had to shoot 100 foul shots after practice. After awhile it becomes automatic to think that any rebound you can get near is yours.
I'm nominating ppine to be WCS's rebounding coach!
 
Baggz Szn - Bagley's Season?

I interpret it to mean the Kings drafted Bagley to play over him.



Stress plus rest equals growth. This pertains to any endeavor: mental, physical, creative. LeBron spends over one million per year on recovery regimen, including cryo-chambers and the like. You go hard outside your comfort zone then you step away and consolidate those gains. The hardest part for extreme athletes is often not the training itself, it is allowing themselves downtime to heal and come back stronger. There is a science and art to this. So yeah Willie has time to fingerpaint. But I don't think he is stressing himself enough to achieve the growth he needs to be a first string center. For those who may not remember, two years ago Willie came to camp out of shape. He admitted as much and vowed to not let it happen again. So it is not speculative whether his work ethic is not where it needs to be. There is a track record of inadequate effort. I don't see this as a problem with guys I think will take his minutes: Bagley, Giles and Skal.
I think it means "contract year". He's going to try to get paid.

I'm softer on WCS than most, but I'm ready to cut losses on him too. Every year we draft a big that's worth investing time into. A boom-bust prospect late in the first round, an injury risk that we're pouring all our energy into, and the highest pick we've had since 1989.

The last thing we should do is shell out $15 million a year plus to WCS. That completely screws up the cap and there's no need to with three bigs that all have higher ceilings on the team and he's not worth a hefty deal anyway.

There are other guys we're going to have to pay. They won't remain on rookie deals forever.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Willie has freely admitted his fear of being around the rim and re-injuring his hand.
He plays like he has fear. That is a problem.
I have coached basketball for years. It is absolutely possible to turn kids into ferocious rebounders. When they get beat twice in a row on a defensive rebound they get to run laps around the gym. The intensity goes up by a lot. I was taught the same thing. Coach would have two of us square off while the whole team watched. If we got beat we had to shoot 100 foul shots after practice. After awhile it becomes automatic to think that any rebound you can get near is yours.
No personal offense intended, but I've know quite a few basketball coaches. Some were brilliant in my opinion, and some were walking talking idiots. I can't give credence to you one way or the other. Don't know you, other than from this forum, but I think the Kings have fairly knowledgeable coaches on the team. I also think that things that might work in high school, won't work in the NBA. About the only leverage an NBA coach has is minutes. He's not dealing with kids, he's dealing with grown men, that in many cases are making more money than he is.

I do agree that rebounding, talent aside, is about desire and effort. I will also agree that there are times when Willie becomes a spectator instead of a participant. And yes, it bugs me. There are other times when his defensive assignment takes him away from the basket, making it more difficult to be in rebounding position. There are people on the forum that think Willie should be running the floor and be the first one down the floor, and others that think he should be going to the basket for a defensive rebound. Very hard to to both those things at the same time.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
I think it means "contract year". He's going to try to get paid.

I'm softer on WCS than most, but I'm ready to cut losses on him too. Every year we draft a big that's worth investing time into. A boom-bust prospect late in the first round, an injury risk that we're pouring all our energy into, and the highest pick we've had since 1989.

The last thing we should do is shell out $15 million a year plus to WCS. That completely screws up the cap and there's no need to with three bigs that all have higher ceilings on the team and he's not worth a hefty deal anyway.

There are other guys we're going to have to pay. They won't remain on rookie deals forever.
After three years of investment, don't you think it would be prudent to see what he does this year before deciding what to do with him one way or the other? Are you saying that if Willie were to put up 20 and 10 along with 4 to 5 assists per game this year, you wouldn't want to keep him? You'd rather let another team enjoy the fruits of our efforts? I don't understand the logic.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
No personal offense intended, but I've know quite a few basketball coaches. Some were brilliant in my opinion, and some were walking talking idiots. I can't give credence to you one way or the other. Don't know you, other than from this forum, but I think the Kings have fairly knowledgeable coaches on the team. I also think that things that might work in high school, won't work in the NBA. About the only leverage an NBA coach has is minutes. He's not dealing with kids, he's dealing with grown men, that in many cases are making more money than he is.

I do agree that rebounding, talent aside, is about desire and effort. I will also agree that there are times when Willie becomes a spectator instead of a participant. And yes, it bugs me. There are other times when his defensive assignment takes him away from the basket, making it more difficult to be in rebounding position. There are people on the forum that think Willie should be running the floor and be the first one down the floor, and others that think he should be going to the basket for a defensive rebound. Very hard to to both those things at the same time.
And nobody, and I mean nobody, has said they believe WCS should simultaneously run the floor and rebound at the same time. You've watched a ton of basketball over the years, I'm sure, and in those many years you've seen thousands of time where a guy gets a defensive rebound, immediately gets it to a guard or a wing, and then sprints down the floor. Then you've seen thousands of times where a guy gets a rebound, passes the ball, and does a slow jog down the floor. I think we need a lot more of the former from WCS, and very little of the latter.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
And nobody, and I mean nobody, has said they believe WCS should simultaneously run the floor and rebound at the same time. You've watched a ton of basketball over the years, I'm sure, and in those many years you've seen thousands of time where a guy gets a defensive rebound, immediately gets it to a guard or a wing, and then sprints down the floor. Then you've seen thousands of times where a guy gets a rebound, passes the ball, and does a slow jog down the floor. I think we need a lot more of the former from WCS, and very little of the latter.
Look, we can make blanket statements and say situations don't matter. That a player should always do this or that, regardless of the situation. The problem is, players aren't machines. Did you notice that Willie ran the floor more often and harder when Bogdanocic was bringing the ball up the court than when Mason was? Why do you think that was? Could it be that he'll get rewarded for running hard by Bog's? How many times did you see Willie wide open for a pass under the basket and get ignored, early in the year by Hill, and later, Mason.

Look, I'm not saying it's right, but it is human nature. There are times when situations dictate what happens, and I'm not going to write a book here to explain all of them. We'll just have to agree to disagree amigo. Do I think there are times when Willie seems to take plays off, with no regard to the current situation? Yes, I do, and yes, it upsets me, and he needs to correct that, whatever the reason. But on the whole, for a third year player, I'm still optimistic about his future.

Willie has some abilities that you can't teach. Abilities that are extremely rare for a seven footer. If he can put all that together he can be special, and I think that deserves one more year. As I've stated many times, he's a late bloomer, which requires more time. Just my opinion!
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
Look, we can make blanket statements and say situations don't matter. That a player should always do this or that, regardless of the situation. The problem is, players aren't machines. Did you notice that Willie ran the floor more often and harder when Bogdanocic was bringing the ball up the court than when Mason was? Why do you think that was? Could it be that he'll get rewarded for running hard by Bog's? How many times did you see Willie wide open for a pass under the basket and get ignored, early in the year by Hill, and later, Mason.

Look, I'm not saying it's right, but it is human nature. There are times when situations dictate what happens, and I'm not going to write a book here to explain all of them. We'll just have to agree to disagree amigo. Do I think there are times when Willie seems to take plays off, with no regard to the current situation? Yes, I do, and yes, it upsets me, and he needs to correct that, whatever the reason. But on the whole, for a third year player, I'm still optimistic about his future.

Willie has some abilities that you can't teach. Abilities that are extremely rare for a seven footer. If he can put all that together he can be special, and I think that deserves one more year. As I've stated many times, he's a late bloomer, which requires more time. Just my opinion!
No more excuses for WCS. Fourth year. He's an adult. He's 24 years old. If he's still on the roster when the season begins and he's still doing this crap he's a goner, whether Bogs or Mason makes the pass or not. I'm not even putting that much weight on the beginning of the season for WCS. I want to see what he has under the hood after the 20 game mark. Then we'll see whether after the grind begins it's the same ol' same ol' for WCS.
 
You actually think that Willie is afraid? You do remember that Willie's first love was football, and he was an all state wide reciever. You know, where people actually tackle one another and smash you into the ground. What a load of nonsense! The only thing that might resemble fear with Willie is fear of failure, something every professional athlete feels at one time or another in their career. I was one of the most confident hitters in the world until Von McDaniel struck me out 4 times in a row. I was almost ready to quit baseball.

That lasted about a minute and a half, and I went to work adjusting how I would approach him the next time. But there was that momentary fear that I wasn't good enough. Every sport is about talent, and confidence. You have to have both. I don't pretend to know what's in Willie's head, and frankly I don't care. I care about results, and he'll either produce this season or he won't. If he doesn't, then he'll likely move down the bench, or be traded. The Kings have three years invested in him, so I'm hoping for his success. If your not, (not you personally) then I have nothing more to say to you.
im sorry I totally disagree, and to back me up WCS even admitted publicly that he was afraid. Multiple times. He had a stretch one year where he got stitches in his hand after a block and another injury playing defense or rebounding and he's never really tried since then.

Sure when he was 14,15,16,17 he played football but that was forever ago. He's only tough when he's trying to get something (a scholarship, or drafted)

#1 He has all the physical tools to be a defensive anchor at the least. While he was trying to get drafted and wasn't getting paid he showed these traits. Although every year of the 3 years it took him to get drafted. Which btw are like being in contract years and he was still inconsistent (he is mentally just all over the place and lost in general )

#2 the second he did get drafted and up to now, currently. He's put all his time and effort into becoming the "next unicorn". Again another perfect example of his lack of awareness into his role and skills.

#3 he's just a prima donna. He's really only motivated by flashy offensive attention and money. He played defense in college to get drafted and paid. Then never played that way again. I fully expect to watch him at least initially this next season go all out on that end in a contract year trying to get more paid again. Then watch after he gets that next deal he will fall right back into working on his fade away jump shots.

My guess is WCS will play just well enough to get a team interested in his still potential (and I think they would get his restricted rights?) plus "said team" would also dump a bad contract for some of our 1 year expiring deals.
 
im sorry I totally disagree, and to back me up WCS even admitted publicly that he was afraid. Multiple times. He had a stretch one year where he got stitches in his hand after a block and another injury playing defense or rebounding and he's never really tried since then.

Sure when he was 14,15,16,17 he played football but that was forever ago. He's only tough when he's trying to get something (a scholarship, or drafted)

#1 He has all the physical tools to be a defensive anchor at the least. While he was trying to get drafted and wasn't getting paid he showed these traits. Although every year of the 3 years it took him to get drafted. Which btw are like being in contract years and he was still inconsistent (he is mentally just all over the place and lost in general )

#2 the second he did get drafted and up to now, currently. He's put all his time and effort into becoming the "next unicorn". Again another perfect example of his lack of awareness into his role and skills.

#3 he's just a prima donna. He's really only motivated by flashy offensive attention and money. He played defense in college to get drafted and paid. Then never played that way again. I fully expect to watch him at least initially this next season go all out on that end in a contract year trying to get more paid again. Then watch after he gets that next deal he will fall right back into working on his fade away jump shots.

My guess is WCS will play just well enough to get a team interested in his still potential (and I think they would get his restricted rights?) plus "said team" would also dump a bad contract for some of our 1 year expiring deals.
He is just gonna be that "what could have been" guy. He will stick around for longer than he should cause of those physical atributes but he's just an atrocious teammate and player. He's totally clueless and kills his team with his lack of self awarness,focus and work ethic. The guy is clown city. I wish him well with his watch and clothing companies.

Side note Bagley dropped a rap album but, everyone that knows him knows he's a workout monster. I have no problem with guys doing other things. WCS however Is always other things lol! captain unicorn 2.0
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
He is just gonna be that "what could have been" guy. He will stick around for longer than he should cause of those physical atributes but he's just an atrocious teammate and player. He's totally clueless and kills his team with his lack of self awarness,focus and work ethic. The guy is clown city. I wish him well with his watch and clothing companies.

Side note Bagley dropped a rap album but, everyone that knows him knows he's a workout monster. I have no problem with guys doing other things. WCS however Is always other things lol! captain unicorn 2.0
Sorry, I'm no longer a part of this forum! Enjoy!
 
Sorry but as someone who goes beast mode in the gym his physique is scrawny. Willie has little definition in his back shoulders core or arms. He should have 20-30 more pounds of muscle and he hasn't put in the work. Skal and Giles are way more ripped. Willie is doing deadlifts with 40 lb dumbbells? Give me a break. That's nothing. Now if Willie fancies himself to be a perimeter Kevin Durant-like player, then this type of physique would make sense. But we all know he's not skilled enough be a face up perimeter oriented player. He either intentionally has not added sufficient muscle because he thinks it will slow him down or he's not working hard enough. I tend to think the latter.
I think the question is he skilled and quick enough to be a perimeter defender? He and Beli could well swap roles offense and defense. I’m willing to put up with his offensive limitations if he can be a SF stopper.
 
Sorry, I'm no longer a part of this forum! Enjoy!
Baja,
I hope you meant this string and not this entire forum!
I can understand not being a part of this string which has devolved into a nonsensical beat up Willie thread. But I’d really hate to lose your contribution entirely. And despite the vitriolic haters who post repeatedly and don’t have the mental capacity to listen or take in new info, there are a lot of reasonable people on this forum. Many of whom appreciate your insights.
 
The One thing you can easily predict with WCS. Lack of Consistency. He will put together a string of games where he looks good. Then, the next 4-5 he'll disappear.

Videos on Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, and FB mean absolutely nothing.
Sure, he wants the money and to be the first offensive option. He's a joke. Trade Him.
 

gunks

Hall of Famer
I think that a best case with WCS sees him bumped back into a more streamlined role by the emergence of other bigs on the roster.

He absolutely has a place on the team, but I think that place is 3rd big off the bench. With less minutes, maybe he'll bring more consistent energy

He can be disappointing, but I wouldn't trade him to trade him.