Willie Cauley Stein is an interesting character. From headbands, armbands, knee pads, and a dye job . When Willie sported the blonde hair Coach Calipari claimed he wasn’t the fashion police and didn’t care what his players looked like as long as they play. Fans as well as the UK staff have been looking for the old WCS who seemed to play with passion and had a will to win.
Well on January 28th Kentucky and WCS took on a LSU team in New Orleans. Kentucky was never in the game and lost 87-82 but it really wasn’t that close of a game. LSU beat UK not by the new school guard play but with old school big man ball. The Tigers took it to the Cats and WCS and the Cats never counterpunched.
With no blonde hair WCS made Johnny O’Bryan look like Shaq on that icy night allowing him to score a career high 29 points. Kentucky was outmuscled and outfought. To be fair all of Kentucky’s big men were man handled and ESPN basketball analyst spoke about it on Sportscenter by saying “He got pushed around,” Williams said of Cauley-Stein. “He’s getting ‘beasted.'” LSU’s big men blocked 11 shots while outrebounding and outhustling the Cats.
The game tips off at 4 pm on ESPN as the 16-9 Tigers take on the 20-6 Wildcats. This is a big test for WCS and the rest of UK’s big men and a chance to get revenge.
On Saturday WCS and the Cats have a chance to get revenge by showing up to play. It’s no secret that LSU matches up with UK well and that Willie shy’s from physical play. A once starter who was notched as a lottery pick needs to play well in this game to not only help UK but to show NBA scouts that he can play down low in the league.
Fans and media have speculated that something is wrong with Willie but even during warm ups he is the last to come out of the locker room. To call him lazy would be wrong but if any athlete especially a Kentucky basketball player lost his starting spot, wouldn’t they be the first out on the floor working on their game? Let’s hope WCS shows up Saturday to keep Calipari’s 11-1 record in revenge games alive.
