Your Thoughts on Willie Tonight
- Thread starter Random UK Fan
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yeah it wasn't good, but other people stepped up
maybe we could have a game where Willie and WCS both drop 20
maybe we could have a game where Willie and WCS both drop 20
He may not have stuffed the stat sheet tonight, but he sure as hell had two key blocks, including the lead-up to the shot clock violation at the end and no turnovers in 33 minutes.
Willie and Trey need to collect themselves and wipe the slate and be ready wisky...they're coming and we're going to meet 'em!
Willie and Trey need to collect themselves and wipe the slate and be ready wisky...they're coming and we're going to meet 'em!
Space Cadet a majority, but did what he needed at the end. The entire team was out of sorts and confused.
Any other team in the country would have lost though.
My thought is: The Cats played Wisconsin without him last year. I'm very happy to be playing them with him this year.
Two critical defensive plays that helped win the game at "crunch" time. We've heard it all year. Height and length. It worked. So do did the FT shooting, and the D in that last few seconds. It will work again.
We all know Willie has consistency issues and tonight illustrated that , it's what the NBA teams are concerned with as well . It's ok to have an off night but it's clear he didn't assert himself the way he should have , fortunately we can win games when he's not in the mood or whatever it is that makes him look apathetic . I rarely criticize players unless they don't give the effort that I know they could but there is no excuse for apathetic Willie at this point of the season .
What happened to our emotional Willie with the headband and screaming after dunks, remember the Kansas game???
Now he's quiet, reserved, shows no emotion, and is just kind of out there. I just want him to smile and have some fun again!
Now he's quiet, reserved, shows no emotion, and is just kind of out there. I just want him to smile and have some fun again!
Willie is that kid in school that is smart enough to slack all semester and then ace the final
Which is basically what he did tonight
I wish to hell he would play up to his potential and not down to the least expectations possible without failing
Which is basically what he did tonight
I wish to hell he would play up to his potential and not down to the least expectations possible without failing
He went through the motions tonight. Love Willy, but he needs to light the fire.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Posted from Rivals Mobile
He has seemed to lack that energy that makes him so great. Obviously, the game plan was to feed Towns all night, but I thought Willie should have been more aggressive offensively. Especially with a 6'5 guy trying to guard him.
He was not awful, but did not deliver what most Naismith finalist would. Again. Good player. But if I any other of the 3 finalist had his stat line, we all would agree it was a subpar game.
Not that stats are the end all. But willie can play better. He can be a stud when he plays with energy.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Not that stats are the end all. But willie can play better. He can be a stud when he plays with energy.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
He was our only consistent defender. Notre Dame shot 4 of 14 from three and he was a huge part of that.
Remember the play where Dakari backed off Grant with two seconds left on the shot clock (Notre Dame's last basket) negating Aaron's three? That's why what Willie did all game long was so important.
Remember the play where Dakari backed off Grant with two seconds left on the shot clock (Notre Dame's last basket) negating Aaron's three? That's why what Willie did all game long was so important.
It is a continual source of pain and amazement to me that WCS has been taught no post moves -- zero -- none -- in the three years he's been at U.K. What makes it so very painful is that he's such a great athlete, you know that he could learn anything anybody wanted to try to teach him. Just tragic.
Willie needs to get in his "Dudes is lit" mode for the next couple of games. I can't imagine having to watch the last few games of last season from the sidelines is lost on him.
I was disappointed in not only his unwillingness to go at baseball player inside but his typical wth game on boards. Four rebounds with the minutes he played was really a downer to me. But he is our ace pick and roll defender as he can easily switch it and force a hard shot than any of other bugs
I'm fine with willie as a role player and not a prime offensive guy. But he needs to control the boards better to be that role plYer
I'm fine with willie as a role player and not a prime offensive guy. But he needs to control the boards better to be that role plYer
I thought he played very passive. Buuuuut he was still crucial in the defensive game. Big play to caus that shot clock violation. His lob dunk to open the game let em know we were gonna be who they thought we were from the get go. It was clear they wanted the guy w/ a bad haircut to be in foul trouble so he would play weak D and avoid 5th foul. So happy for him that he gets to play in the F4. Good luck in Indy Go Cats!!!!
It never ceases to amaze me that after 3 years of watching Willie play, people still don't understand his role on this team. I'm thankful Willie understands his role. They think if he doesn't get 20 points and 10 rebounds he has had a terrible game. Willie does so many things that do not show up in the box score, and in fact the things he is asked to do many times hurt the those kind of personal stats. It's hard to rebound when you are expected to guard multiple players on the perimeter 30 feet away from the basket. While Willie might not have had one of those great statistical games we don't come close to winning this game without him.
WCS' lack of post move development is a disappointment. Given where he is offensively, I actually think he plays smart and doesn't try to force his offense...it would be easy to do so given his national profile. Instead, he was content to watch KAT decimate ND with superior inside scoring ability. His defense on that last play was sensational. I believe ND would have tied or possibly won the game without his hounding of Grant the length of the floor.
I disagree with this, I think most of us know Willie. He definitely did not come with the energy this game. He had 2 more rebounds versus Providence while guarding one of the nation's leading perimeter scorers. ND's 6'5 baseball PF had as many defensive rebounds as WCS, KAT, and Trey combined.
It's easy to see when Willie is ready to play. I do agree we don't win without him.
He took on the task of guarding the perimeter and I'd say he was successful since they didn't knock down many 3's. He had to stay out there too so he couldn't get down low and block as many shots, or gets rebounds. He completed his task and at the end of the game when his teammates asked him to make it all better, he did. Great game.
Don't know why anyone was want someone other than Towns taking the shots down low, that's just smart basketball letting him take them. He also hit them all in the second half. Willie provided defense and Towns provided the offense, and they say it's a guards game
Don't know why anyone was want someone other than Towns taking the shots down low, that's just smart basketball letting him take them. He also hit them all in the second half. Willie provided defense and Towns provided the offense, and they say it's a guards game
My thoughts on Willie are, without him we don't win the game last night, and, that makes him pretty important. My thoughts on most of the people that disparage him here are not so positive.
Apparently Cal thought he was doing something right as he kept him on the floor 33 minutes, which may have effected his energy level some. He may have felt the need to pace himself. I did expect him to come out with more energy, but he has done a good job of playing within himself in the tournament, not trying to do too much. I thought he did a really good job in the previous game of helping out against WV's press, again not trying to do too much.
As far as minutes go, Andrew was next with 29 minutes. Willie played the 33 minutes with no TO and 1 PF. Not all positive stats are big numbers. I believe I am more concerned with KAT's PF's and Trey's TO's and both player's low rebound numbers than Willie's low rebounds, again because this was one of those games where they kept Willie on the perimeter more and he was constantly closing on the shooter or potential shooter taking Willie away from the basket. He only had 4 rebounds and 2 of those were offensive. However, there were 2 or 3 rebounds I thought he could have had, but you could probably say that about every player out there.
He may not have had one of his more spectacular games but at the end it may have been his defense that saved the day.
Watching Willie last night reminded me how much we missed him against UConn last year. No, he wouldn't have dominated inside in that game, either. But he would have had the same effect on those guards that he had on Notre Dame's last night. Look at Grant, Jackson and Connaughton's shooting percentages. Look at how much damage Auguste was able to do with Willie out of the middle. Willie is to our defense what Karl is to our offense.