Dude... really? REALLY?
I'll comment on the entire message as a whole, but that one little part caught my eye right off. That is some optimism right there. I don't think one player would have impacted that game's final result besides another superstar. Also, if Ray Willis was meant to be out there, I would have thought Coach would find some minutes for him last year. He was a freshman, and it was obvious watching him play that he was wet behind the ears a little, which I suppose does support the "play him more and work out the growing pains" argument, but Ray kind of placed himself behind the ball with his arrest. It was a dumb mistake, but not one that merited a dismissal from the team. He just made a mistake, and decreased playing time was part of that punishment. Coach has to maintain control of his team.
When I say he (Cade) is consistent, I do mean he doesn't make glaring mistakes. He's not going to lose a game for you by making foolish or selfish decisions. That is one of things I hear most often with Ray: he needs to learn how to fully incorporate his teammates into the game. He may not be a 1, but if he was fully game ready, I would have thought Capel would have given him the minutes that reflected that. With another year under the coaches, maybe he shows he deserves those minutes and Coach gives it to him. I wouldn't be disappointed if that was what the coaches felt was for the betterment of the team.
As far as Cade not showing his athletic ability more often, he was playing within the role Coach Capel assigned to him - which I'm sure must be another reason Coach Capel trusts him by increasing his minutes each season. The shoulder injury set him back a bit early in his D1 career, but once he got into the swing of things he showed the potential for a sweet stroke. The thing is, our entire offense flowed through Blake, and rightfully so. Even a dynamite scorer like Willie only averaged in the low teens because we were a post-dominated offense. Pouring some guard-hot-sauce onto the gameplan is not the smartest move when you have the consensus #1 NBA draft pick on your team. This year may see Cade have the freedom to utilize more parts of his game as the offense is going to be initiated from the perimeter most times, and built around Willie getting to the basket. I expect to see a boatload of Willie cutting to the basket and then passing out to the perimeter if he doesn't take the shot himself, with the option of dumping it off to Tiny or Big O. On that same token, I wouldn't be surprised to see our other guards take it inside more often to free up Willie on the outside. We have some slashers on this team, Cade included. Personally, I hope Cade refines his mid-range game. I think if he can become a mid-range/perimeter threat, he could earn himself even more minutes.
Once again, I am not against Ray Willis getting more minutes, and I wouldn't even be upset if some of those minutes were Cade's, but I want him to have earned them with hard work and savvy play. I want to see him do exactly what the coaches ask of him, take smart shots and make good decisions. I want to see him handle his business on the practice court, on campus, outside of campus, on Mars, etc. Basically, play within the role the coaches give him - like Cade.
If he does that, then he deserves increased minutes.
