Sacramento Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein wants to dominate the NBA with fellow big man DeMarcus Cousins. From Jared Zwerling of NBPA:
JZ: What would you say is Phase 2 for you and DeMarcus Cousins next season?
WCS: I think a lot of it just has to do with him being comfortable with me making plays, for him to know that it’s not all on his shoulders anymore—that we have a good solid support group for him. So it’s way easier for him, and it’s not all on him. And you don’t have to play with that burden on your back that it’s all on you, because we’ve got other players around him that are ultimately trying to make him the best big in the world. So that’s really my idea and my plan. I want to play off him, I want him to be able to play off me. I want our duo to be something to go down in history.
That’s a pretty massive goal to set, but a good one. Cauley-Stein also discussed the ways that he wants to improve his game:
JZ: Checking out your recent Instagram videos, you wrote in consecutive posts, “The Grind Doesn’t Stop For Anybody.” You’re working on ball-handling and midrange shooting at the Kings’ practice center. Is that your training emphasis?
WCS: Yeah, I’m just trying to expand everything. I’m trying to take my game to the next level because I don’t consider myself a center, so I’m going to make people not play me as a center. So everything from here on out is all power forward, small forward work, trying to get out of the box that somebody put me in a long time ago. I don’t have many plans this summer except to stay in Sacramento and work out. That’s my main focus.
…
I just want to create my own type of big. I just pull a lot of different things from different players. I like Melo’s [Carmelo Anthony] face-up game. I was a big Melo fan growing up, so a lot of my face-up work I want to get to. You can’t get as good as them, but you can have similar footwork, and that’s what I’m really trying to get to. And I kind of like the way KD [Kevin Durant] shoots over people in the lane—even Rudy [Gay]. I love the way Rudy plays. I think I can use my height and length to just shoot over people.
It’s interesting to see Cauley-Stein trying to become more like a Melo, a Durant, or a Gay, because that’s never really been his game. He’s always been labeled as a big, athletic shot-blocker –a defense-first player with limited game on offense. However, Cauley-Stein doesn’t like being “labeled:”
JZ: Have you had a chance to meet Dave Joerger, and if so, what initial plans does he have for you?
WCS: Yeah, I’ve spoken with him. A lot of it is just expanding my game out, allowing me to become something instead of being labeled as something. He’s giving me a chance to label myself, whereas other coaches in the past that automatically label you as something else.
It sounds like Cauley-Stein is serious about evolving as a player, especially on the offensive end. It will be interesting to see if these changes to his game translate into success by next season.
