The Ringer Article

[Suicide King]

The Ringer has been doing positional articles highlighting 3 players per position. Sort of a past, present, future examples.

Our very own WCS was one of the centers chosen. The write up on Willie is not extensive or earth shattering, but I figured some might enjoy it.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2017/...s-jusuf-nurkic-thon-maker-willie-cauley-stein

 

[John Galt]

Was just talking about WCS today with my ticket partners. I feel like it is clearly all about motor with this guy. When he's committed he is so good... but can he really play intensely for 35 minutes a night??? If so, I think the Kings will crush the 28.5 wins "over". If not... Vegas is right. WCS is soooooo important

 

[Kingsfan23]

Was just talking about WCS today with my ticket partners. I feel like it is clearly all about motor with this guy. When he's committed he is so good... but can he really play intensely for 35 minutes a night??? If so, I think the Kings will crush the 28.5 wins "over". If not... Vegas is right. WCS is soooooo important

He's a wild card. It would be big for the franchise for him to step up

 

[kingsfan1984]

Willie should be allowed to supplement his blood due to his sickle cell issue. Id love to hear an update about his condition from his coaches and him specificlly about how they feel it affects him on the court, if at all, and anything special he does or his coaches do to manage it or deal with it.

 

[SacTownKid]

The Kings are in a position where they should have some decent to good, if not potentially great individual defenders on the roster. Now it's up to Joerger to develop a plan defensively that will allow them to thrive. This team should in a lot of ways be the exact opposite of the grit and grind style of Memphis. Up and down, with an attack mindset on both ends.

 

[Suicide King]

The Kings are in a position where they should have some decent to good, if not potentially great individual defenders on the roster. Now it's up to Joerger to develop a plan defensively that will allow them to thrive. This team should in a lot of ways be the exact opposite of the grit and grind style of Memphis. Up and down, with an attack mindset on both ends.

That up and down play style is what I am hoping for. Fox, WCS, Skal etc, seem tailor made to flourish in that style of offense. The best way to increase fast break opportunities is to excel on the defensive end. I am looking to Fox and WCS both to be especially vigilant on the defensive end to facilitate fast breaks. Hopefully.

 

[bajaden]

That up and down play style is what I am hoping for. Fox, WCS, Skal etc, seem tailor made to flourish in that style of offense. The best way to increase fast break opportunities is to excel on the defensive end. I am looking to Fox and WCS both to be especially vigilant on the defensive end to facilitate fast breaks. Hopefully.

Yeah, I agree.. Hopefully this is a breakout year for Willie. He's blessed with very unique athleticism, and if he can figure out how to use it properly he can a very good player. Very athletic players like Willie who came to the game late, tend to play a little too fast and it affects everything they try to do. My knock on him is that he seems to go from trying to do too much at times, to being a spectator at other times. We need to get a consistent effort from him every game, and at a pace where he's under control.

After Cousins was traded, I think that was the first time in either college, or in the NBA that Willie was the main man in the post. At Kentucky he was always paired with someone that was thought to be better than him. Noel, Randle, and then Towns. Then he came to the Kings and he played behind Cousins. It seemed to me that he relished his role after Cousins left, and that he started to figure things out. You think differently on the court when your not looking over at the scorers table to see if Cousins is sitting there. Hopefully this is his year. The Kings need it to be.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

Willie should be allowed to supplement his blood due to his sickle cell issue. Id love to hear an update about his condition from his coaches and him specificlly about how they feel it affects him on the court, if at all, and anything special he does or his coaches do to manage it or deal with it.

From what I understand, WCS has sickle cell trait, not sickle cell disease. There's a difference (see below). So Willie shouldn't have any major medical concerns from it.

According to sicklecellna.com:

What is the difference between sickle cell disease and trait?
People with sickle cell trait (AS) inherit one gene for normal hemoglobin (A) and one gene for sickle hemoglobin (S) from their parents. Because they have one (A) gene, individuals with trait do not have any medical problems, but they can pass the (S) gene to their children. People with sickle cell disease (SS) inherit two genes for sickle hemoglobin (S) from their parents. They have symptoms because their red blood cells do not make normal hemoglobin.

http://sicklecellna.org/faq.html