Caleb Wilson doesn\u2019t forget.<\/p>\n
Bad news for \u201cStix.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bulls veteran Jalen Smith \u2014 \u201cStix\u201d as his teammates call him \u2014 let it be known last week that yes, Wilson has tried to put Smith on a poster in the training camp scrimmages, but it hasn\u2019t ended well for the prized rookie.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaleb was the No. 4 pick so he comes in with that mindset,\u201d Smith told reporters when discussing the highly-touted draft selection out of North Carolina. \u201cI feel like that\u2019s what stands out with him because he wants to be great. The way he carries himself everybody can tell. The way he carries himself on the court, the way he attacks everybody. He tried to jump over me a couple times, it didn\u2019t really work out good for him, but you can tell he\u2019s going to be something special in this league.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rumor was Smith actually pinned a Wilson dunk attempt on the glass. A rumor that Smith said may or may not have happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to say much more about that because I\u2019m not trying to hurt no feelings,\u201d Smith said laughing. \u201cEverybody here knows.\u201d<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s the thing about Wilson: Even back in high school he would remember the smallest slights against him by opposing players and wasn\u2019t shy about exacting revenge.<\/p>\n
There was one instance when he was talking to a reporter early in his college career and admitted that he felt some other standout freshman in his class froze him out in the McDonald\u2019s High School All-American game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just going to keep going out there and killing people,\u201d he said then. \u201cI got the list on my phone and it\u2019s nowhere near done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guess who just got added to the list?<\/p>\n
\u201c \u2018Stix\u2019 likes to exaggerate a lot \u2026 I would say I have tried to dunk on \u2018Stix\u2019 and more often than not there\u2019s a foul,\u201d Wilson said with a smirk. \u201cIt will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
What the Bulls really want to see happen with the first preseason game bearing down on them this Wednesday when they host the Phoenix Suns? What the two young foundation pieces of Matas Buzelis and Wilson look like when they play together.<\/p>\n
While coach Tiago Splitter wouldn\u2019t tip his hand on a starting five, it\u2019s felt chalky since the summer when the team signed veteran shooter Norman Powell and acquired Nic Claxton in a trade. That means Josh Giddey and Powell in the backcourt and Claxton, Wilson and Buzelis making up the frontcourt.<\/p>\n
Splitter has even detailed the versatility of Claxton, Wilson and Buzelis as defenders and how he can use all three in switches and wing defenders.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s no secret that Buzelis and Wilson are the foundation pieces of this rebuild, so their interaction on and off the court is key.<\/p>\n
Buzelis\u2019 take on being part of that duo was exactly what the fan base and organization wanted to hear.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been incredible,\u201d Buzelis said of Wilson. \u201cOf course he\u2019s got a lot to prove, so do I, and I think that\u2019s what makes us dangerous. We want to prove something.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one thing about him is he keeps trying to learn. That\u2019s the difference between guys is when they\u2019re trying to learn and grow, especially a guy like him, it\u2019s going to be a problem. I know we can be something special and it\u2019s just a matter of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Buzelis, he and Wilson have been teamed together in the scrimmages and have also been put against each other. The best thing they can do to raise their level?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can try and kill each other on the court,\u201d Buzelis said.<\/p>\n
Careful, Wilson is listening. He\u2019s always listening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Caleb Wilson doesn\u2019t forget. Bad news for \u201cStix.\u201d Bulls veteran Jalen Smith \u2014 \u201cStix\u201d as his teammates call…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":921054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-921053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}