Willie Cauley-Stein can certainly guard multiple positions on the court. We also know that the Kings are awful on defense. It’s pretty strange why George Karl is reluctant to play his defensive-minded rookie consistently. It has really enraged fans and now Cauley-Stein has addressed it in a very vocal way.
“That’s funny, that’s funny, kind of flimsy, cus’ I can guard five positions, so that’s redundant otherwise I wouldn’t be here,” Cauley-Stein said. “There should be no matchup problems ever. So that’s just an excuse I think. However, I’m not the coach.”
Cauley-Stein is certainly frustrated and doesn’t understand why he doesn’t get enough burn. The words he said were very accurate. Things need to change soon. I think it will be very interesting how Vlade Divac responds to these comments.
Divac is in his first year and he also drafted Cauley-Stein. I’m sure he has a soft spot for his rookie.
Cauley-Stein has played just 14 minutes per game over his last seven contests and an embarrassing 5 minutes against the Pelicans last Monday. That is simply unacceptable and there is no way to justify Karl’s excuses on why he doesn’t play him consistently.
With that said, Karl addressed Cauley-Stein’s inconsistent minutes after the loss to the Cavaliers with some absurd comments.
“My whole feeling is, don’t overreact to the last three or four games,” Karl said. “One, I think was matchup, two, I think was just the personality of the game. Willie’s going to be fine, he’s going to get plenty of minutes over these next 20 games.”
I just don’t think that’s a proper response because if your goal is to win games and it’s very clear Cauley-Stein is one of your best defenders, if not the best, you should be playing him when it matters. Not just because you are falling out of playoff contention.
I have been very fair about Karl’s coaching all season long but after the disastrous loss to the Pelicans, it’s very clear to me that Karl is past his time.
*On a side note, George Karl is having a throat-cancer related procedure at UC Davis today and will miss practice. The two-time cancer survivor insists the situation is “not serious.”
This is way bigger than basketball without a doubt and we should keep him in our prayers.
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