Now in his second season in the NBA, Sacramento Kings big man Willie Cauley-Stein is still struggling to live up to the expectations following his impressive stint with the Kentucky Wildcats in college.
In his rookie season, he played sparingly behind DeMarcus Cousins and often times looked not ready to play in the league with his pedestrian averages of 7.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 21.4 minutes per game.
Cauley-Stein may have just gotten his chance to play more minutes in the future as he played a solid game on Sunday against the New York Knicks. He proved that his coach made the right decision to field him in the game for 23 minutes and finished with nine points, four rebounds, and was a +12 in the ball game.
Despite his subpar performance last season, the 23-year-old is looking to put it in the past and is treating this campaign like his rookie year once again with a new coach and system in place for the Kings.
“You’ve just got to remember this is my second year and a new coach, so it’s like being in a rookie year all over again. You’ve got to prove yourself to them that you can make plays, that you can knock down shots.”
Should he continue to build on his solid performance on Sunday, it will be a huge help to the Kings who are currently in 10th place in the Western Conference with a 7-13 record. More importantly, he can prove all his doubters wrong and show that he belongs to play at the highest level.
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