WCS reports out of shape to kings camp

[bigblueinsanity]

I dont doubt hes out of shape. But saying he has to take himself out of the game after 2 trips down the court? Give me a break. No way thats the case for any elite professional athlete period. I dont care if they sat on the couch for 6 months prior to camp.

At best its hyperbole from someone I presume is a sports personality. At worst its just an outright falsehood.

 

[KyCatFan]

I have a hard time seeing him be out of breath after running up and down the court a couple times. Sure he can still be out of game playing shape, but that seems ridiculous. I am 42 and about 30 to 40 pounds overweight and have allergy issues that make it harder to breathe and I could run up and down the court 2 or 3 times and not be having that much trouble that I have to come out. Now 4+ times I might.

 

[BobCat6]

GTFO with that crap.

The guy has been nothing but great for Kentucky, he was an All-American, helped us get to 2 Final Fours, and with him in 2014 we win the natty title.

He didn't cheat, made good grades, worked hard, and was nothing but a positive off the court. Never got arrested, never got in trouble, and he represented the blue and white well.

Hate posts like this. If you don't like WCS then you're just not that big of a Kentucky fan.

My Thoughts Exactly !! WCS should be forever enshrined with the BBN !!

 

[1war]

Willie does NOT have sickle cell anemia. He has the trait for it which can be passed on to his children if the mom also has the trait or the disease. He would have ZERO symptoms from just having the trait. He just is not a completely dedicated basketball player which was obvious in about 50 percent of his college games. There is no sugar coating his lack of desire and effort.

http://www.sacbee.com/sports/nba/sacramento-kings/article25687051.html

 

[Montana81]

So much vitriol towards Willie from our fanbase.

Way to show our true colors guys.

 

[UKWildcats#8]

WCS cost UK a national title by getting hurt in 2014. WCS cost UK a national title by not getting hurt in 2015.

#UKFanLogic.

 

[BlueSince92]

Doesn't take a Psychology Ph.D. to know what I'm reading is a lot of people feel like they just found an outlet for their frustrations at not having made it all the way to 40-0.

 

[UKCATSFREAK]

Sickle-cell, plus the media whirlwind around being such a marketable, quotable rookie, plus him putting those other obligations ahead of on the court stuff all probably a factor.

Also gotta remember what that organization and coaching staff are like. Lot of layers beyond just Willie not putting in the work.

Excuses. That's the way the league sees it anyway.

 

[kyups01]

Sickle-cell, plus the media whirlwind around being such a marketable, quotable rookie, plus him putting those other obligations ahead of on the court stuff all probably a factor.

Also gotta remember what that organization and coaching staff are like. Lot of layers beyond just Willie not putting in the work.

Omg, u cannot be serious?

 

[kyups01]

Willie does NOT have sickle cell anemia. He has the trait for it which can be passed on to his children if the mom also has the trait or the disease. He would have ZERO symptoms from just having the trait. He just is not a completely dedicated basketball player which was obvious in about 50 percent of his college games. There is no sugar coating his lack of desire and effort.

Totally agree.

 

[UKSlim]

Between WCS ears will decide if he is going to be a 15 year NBA player, or a 7'1" surfing poet.

 

[UKWildcatT]

Unlike most Uofl fans that are making excuses for their athletic department, glad to see the vast majority of fans not making excuses for him

I have nothing against him whatsoever, but no
Excuse: people are paying you seven figures. They don't need to hold your hand. Take some responsibility Willie (and good for him that he seems to be)

Don't be that fan who'll defend everything if it's a UK player. Everyone does boneheaded things.

 

[kybassfan]

Willie does NOT have sickle cell anemia. He has the trait for it which can be passed on to his children if the mom also has the trait or the disease. He would have ZERO symptoms from just having the trait. He just is not a completely dedicated basketball player which was obvious in about 50 percent of his college games. There is no sugar coating his lack of desire and effort.

This is not factual save the genetic discussion. SCT is not "symptomless" in all cases.. From http://sickle.bwh.harvard.edu/sickle_trait.html you'll find this: "Sickle cell trait usually is not regarded as a disease state because it has complications that are either uncommon or mild. Nevertheless, under unusual circumstances serious morbidity or mortality can result from complications related to polymerization of deoxy-hemoglobin S. Such problems include increased urinary tract infection in women, gross hematuria, complications of hyphema, splenic infarction with altitude hypoxia or exercise, and life-threatening complications of exercise, exertional heat illness (exertional rhabdomyolysis, heat stroke, or renal failure) or idiopathic sudden death (1-4)."

There are cases where symptoms can manifest and those can be serious. That said, WCS should know this. He should be very cautious about allowing himself to get out of condition which could make him somewhat more susceptible to adverse symptoms.

I also call BS on him not being able to make more than a couple of trips up and down the floor. I can believe he's not in tip top condition but one doesn't go to seed in a couple of months. Perhaps his SCT has exacerbated his condition or, more likely, some flakey talking head is trying to make something out of nothing in the lead up to the first season of a storied rookie.

 

[jte123]

The kings are gonna be a wild hot mess this year.

 

[DodgerDukie1985]

The kings are gonna be a wild hot mess this year.

They've been that way for a while now. It's all gone downhill for them since that loss to the Lakers in 2002.

But to the topic to Willie Cauley-Stein, I saw he acknowledged his mistake of not being fully prepared for his first NBA camp. That's a start. Now it's all about taking the necessary steps to fix his routine so that doesn't happen again.

 

[Wall2Boogie]

Technically he's not out of shape, he's in shape just round

 

[KopiKat]

He actually quit before the Wisconsin game...

Right you are. Think the last game I remember him really giving a game's effort was the regular season game against Arkansas. I refused to accept that he had long since checked out until that move he made in the Wisconsin game, when he tried to dribble the baseline behind the goal while stepping on top of his own feet to avoid going out of bounds. It didn't work. It was that exact moment I knew we would lose.

 

[Tampa_cat54]

He looks to be in pretty good shape right here...

 

[Rhavicc]

He looks to be in pretty good shape right here...

View embedded media

Was literally about to post this. Lol
Nice post, OP.

 

[TrustinCal]

Put the pipe down Willie

 

[*Bleedingblue*]

GTFO with that crap.

The guy has been nothing but great for Kentucky, he was an All-American, helped us get to 2 Final Fours, and with him in 2014 we win the natty title.

He didn't cheat, made good grades, worked hard, and was nothing but a positive off the court. Never got arrested, never got in trouble, and he represented the blue and white well.

Hate posts like this. If you don't like WCS then you're just not that big of a Kentucky fan.

I resent that what you posted. You cannot judge a guys fan hood by him staring what he thinks about the guy. Hell even I get tired of his look at me antics and I never thought he was that good. Repeatedly got outplayed by guys 6" shorter than him, I stated before the draft I wouldn't draft him till way down the line as their are better prospects than him.

I guess since Pitino was coaching here for 8 years and brought us a title and several FF's and laid the ground work for another title if you question him your not a fan? Is that how that works?
I personally did not like Pitino's private life here at UK and we were lucky what he was doing behind the scenes didn't get made public. What he did at Porcini's is not new to him. Their is a reason why his wife was always away. I guess I'm not a fan because I didn't like what he was doing? Great coach very poor character guy.
WCS a like able guy with a poor work ethic and would disappear for weeks at a time. The tubby saying of looks like Tarzan and plays like Jane apply's to WCS.

 

[Montana81]

He was defensive player of the year in all of college hoops.

Some of that can be attributed to his natural athleticism but I can't help but remember how lost he looked every other time down the court on that end as a freshman and how incredible he was on that end as a junior.

People have such short memories. He was THE biggest factor in a historically great defense. He guarded all 5 positions effectively. You can't get to that point at that level without work ethic and consistent effort.

He had some off nights. Even the best have off nights. But he was the unanimous defensive player of the year. Unquestioned.

 

[EastKYWildcat]

Yeah f you Willie I can't believe you came here and played on two final four teams like that.

 

[KyFaninNC]

Hate posts like this. If you don't like WCS then you're just not that big of a Kentucky fan

News flash, Nancy, you do NOT get to choose who is or is not a fan. Just because a fan might not like a certain player, for whatever reason is not a test of being a UK fan. In fact one could turn the tables on you and say if you are only a fan of the players, then you are NOT a serious UK fan.

 

[bbsanders]

I do not think he will get a 2nd contract

 

[mj2k10]

I do not think he will get a 2nd contract

Then I do not think you know much about basketball.

He might not end up getting a huge, max or near it contract, but there's no chance he's out of the league after 3-4 years unless he completely melts down. Athletically gifted 7'1" guys don't grow on trees. If a pitcher can throw 100 mph, he's going to get multiple shots over a long period of time before teams give up on him. WCS has the basketball equivalent of a 100 mph fastball. I mean, Javale frickin' McGee is going into his 8th season. Andrew Bynum got like 5 different chances before it became blatantly obious that he just had 0 interest in playing.

Whatever issues WCS might have with focus and effort, they pale in comparison to those guys.

 

[Chino1176]

Kind of surprising to me. Willie didn't look out of shape at the alumni game. I know they weren't running hard but still.

 

[mj2k10]

Kind of surprising to me. Willie didn't look out of shape at the alumni game. I know they weren't running hard but still.

And he didn't look out of shape in the NBA summer league, which ended about 2 1/2 months ago.

I don't think this was a case where he gained 20 pounds and showed up buttery soft. I'm betting he wasn't doing enough/any running the last few months, so his cardio was bad. That's pretty easy to fix at 22.

 

[Tampa_cat54]

News flash, Nancy, you do NOT get to choose who is or is not a fan. Just because a fan might not like a certain player, for whatever reason is not a test of being a UK fan. In fact one could turn the tables on you and say if you are only a fan of the players, then you are NOT a serious UK fan.

Who said I'm only a fan of the players??

Hmmmm. Reaching A LOT on that one bud

Sorry if I hurt your little feelings

But I stand by what I said.

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

Sickle-cell, plus the media whirlwind around being such a marketable, quotable rookie, plus him putting those other obligations ahead of on the court stuff all probably a factor.

Also gotta remember what that organization and coaching staff are like. Lot of layers beyond just Willie not putting in the work.

He has the sickle cell trait, not sickle cell. Willie is a pro now. If he plans to make a career of it, he may want to take it seriously.

 

[OHcatfan]

Never been a fan of WCS, can't say this news is very surprising to hear.

I concur.

 

[Blueaz]

Exactly. It's absurd the way our fans have repeatedly misunderstood and misrepresented this. All that story said was that he carries the genetic marker indicating that he possibly could get sickle cell anemia sometime in the future. He does NOT have it now, and It has absolutely no impact on his current health or conditioning (and hopefully never will). It's not any sort of excuse for him being out of shape at all.

if has sickle cell trait, you are wrong
http://www.sicklecelldisease.org/index.cfm?page=sickle-cell-trait-athletics

 

[Drcatfan]

Hopefully Willie gets it together. I wish him nothing but the best. I have to admit when I saw this headline I couldn't help but think about a year or more ago when he was interviewed and said he wasn't sure if he even wanted to play NBA basketball. He definitely marches to the beat of a different drummer.

 

[WitnessGreatness]

I do not think he will get a 2nd contract

And the dumbest post of the day goes to^^^
If you are tall and walk and chew gun at the same time they last many many years especially with his athleticism and where he was picked. Kwame Brown was in the league 13 years, Darko Milicic lasted like 10 years.

 

[Aike]

Training camps are famous for strategically placed trash cans. Willie wasn't the first player to show up at camp out of condition, and he won't be the last.

Hopefully, lesson learned for him. Not sure why our fan base is so freaked out about it. Other than our plans to have all 24 participants in a future all star game and 3 billion dollars worth of contracts.

 

[BlueCat43]

http://sickle.bwh.harvard.edu/sickle_trait.html

Exactly. It's absurd the way our fans have repeatedly misunderstood and misrepresented this. All that story said was that he carries the genetic marker indicating that he possibly could get sickle cell anemia sometime in the future. He does NOT have it now, and It has absolutely no impact on his current health or conditioning (and hopefully never will). It's not any sort of excuse for him being out of shape at all.

It is almost impossible to tell any difference in testing between sickle cell trait and a mild case of the actual disease. He very well could have the disease and it be affecting him but it is not determinable in blood tests and so he has never been diagnosed.

http://sickle.bwh.harvard.edu/sickle_trait.html

 

[ClockCalamity]

I see a lot of excuses, excuses, excuses. It's call being a pro and being mature. Things like this is why I questioned WCS dedication to the game of basketball. I know he's a fan favorite but the kid lacks maturity. Bottom line, NBA doesn't buy excuses.

I'm not so sure if its immaturity, but I have always questioned his heart and/or passion for the game. He just seems like the kind of person that is doing this for now, and will find his next thing and move on... I just hope he doesn't squander a great opportunity.

 

[KYtotheCore]

If true, just ridiculous. WCS is not good enough to pull this kind of crap. Maybe it's not true, so I'm withholding judgement. But at the same time, I'm just keeping it real.

Every time I see your avatar, it makes my day. Just cant stop laughing. Thank you.

 

[.S&C.]

Sickle-cell, plus the media whirlwind around being such a marketable, quotable rookie, plus him putting those other obligations ahead of on the court stuff all probably a factor.

Also gotta remember what that organization and coaching staff are like. Lot of layers beyond just Willie not putting in the work.

Come on Gonzo step out of the theoretical whirlwind and get some perspective.

Sometimes players just aren't putting in the work. I'm not saying I know for a fact what's going on, but the immediate jump to make excuses by some is a bit, umm, Obama.

 

[LmdCat]

I posted during the season that he had a very good chance of becoming the next Javale McGee because of his habit of appearing somewhat disinterested during games. If one suffers from this malady with no money, it is likely to become worse with money. I hope not, but I won't be surprised if it does.