\u201cHe\u2019s been a very honest man, a very honest coach, since I touched down in Sacramento,\u201d Cardwell continued<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ll never forget my very first kind of practice with him and the team were in LA, and he pulled me to the side and\u2026 He said, \u2018I want you to go out there and just beat up on people and foul people. And like, where you\u2019re trying to come from, he was saying you have to find a way to separate yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It\u2019s safe to say that the undrafted big man out of Auburn has done that in his rookie campaign. In his debut season, Cardwell has appeared in an average of 20.4 minutes over 41 games, tallying 5.3 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 58.6 percent from the field. That places Dylan Cardwell 29th among rookies in minutes per game.<\/p>\n While those counting stats don\u2019t jump off the page, they\u2019re actually higher marks than anything he reached throughout five seasons in college. Rim protection has been far and away his most valuable skill set, along with some ability to switch onto smaller players, earning the best defensive rating on the roster.<\/p>\n Coach Christie has been emphasizing the importance of defense since he took over early last season. So, it\u2019s unsurprising that the two seem to have a strong relationship and an appreciation for each other.<\/p>\n \u201c[Christie\u2019s] been very honest about if I do these things, and I make sure that I\u2019m on time, I make sure that I\u2019m being professional, that when the opportunity presents itself, he gives me a lot of grace,\u201d Cardwell said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s been one of the bigger reasons I\u2019ve been successful this year. I\u2019ve had a significant first rookie season because Doug Christie has given me a lot of grace throughout the year to go out there and fail and mess up on rotations and, you know, miss layups or miss free throws or miss assignments, and he allows me to play through that, because the main thing he wants me to do is play hard.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd, man, I can\u2019t thank him enough for, like I said, just the amount of grace that he\u2019s given me as a coach. I\u2019ve never had that much grace given to me by a single coach in my entire life, and just a different level of freedom that I don\u2019t have to go out there and tiptoe around and be afraid to fail or be afraid to mess up. He just wants me to go out there and have fun and play with joy. And I really appreciate it, man. I really do appreciate him.\u201d<\/p>\n His coach has spoken highly of the rookie from early in the season. Nothing shows that more than the fact that Christie started Cardwell in their sixth game of the season, with him having roughly 27 minutes of NBA experience under his belt.<\/p>\n More than 800 minutes and nearly a full season later, the growth in Cardwell\u2019s game has been noticeable. While still a below-average free-throw shooter, it\u2019s much improved from the start of the season. Trust me, they didn\u2019t look pretty in practice, but he was usually there getting work in with assistant general manager BJ Armstrong or others on Christie\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a special human being, and that goes past basketball,\u201d Christie said of the rookie<\/a>. \u201cSo just, you know, I always talked about an honor, but when you got a kid like that, I mean, he\u2019s so highly motivated, he\u2019s so easy to coach. He\u2019s all about his teammates and trying to win, and how can he win? And how can I get better? And do you have any film? And just on and on, like, those are the things that just make me smile about Dylan. So not only is that, but you\u2019re just happy to see him when he\u2019s having success. For sure.\u201d<\/p>\n With there likely to be time before the next playoff contender comes out of Sacramento, Cardwell will have the chance to continue growing as a player. It\u2019ll be interesting to see whether that will still be under Christie\u2019s guidance.<\/p>\n More Sacramento Kings content from Sactown Sports<\/p>\n When is the next Sacramento Kings game?<\/p>\n The Sacramento Kings will travel down I-80 to visit Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n Sacramento and Golden State have split two regular-season matchups thus far, with the Warriors handing the Kings a 137-103 loss at Chase Center on January 9th behind 27 points and 10 assists from Curry.<\/p>\n Be sure to catch all of the Sacramento Kings vs. Golden State Warriors action right here on Sactown Sports 1140 AM, with pregame coverage beginning at 5:30 PM PT on\u00a0Game Night\u00a0before a 7:00 pm PT tip-off from downtown San Francisco.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Upcoming Sacramento Kings schedule for the 2025-26 season<\/p>\n Tuesday, April 7th\u00a0@ Golden State Warriors \u2013 7:00 PM PT Thank you for reading\u00a0SactownSports.com<\/a>. Follow us on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Google News<\/a>, and subscribe to our\u00a0YouTube<\/a>\u00a0channel.<\/p>\n
\nFriday, April 10th\u00a0vs. Golden State Warriors \u2013 7:00 PM PT
\nSunday, April 12th\u00a0@ Portland Trail Blazers \u2013 5:30 PM PT\u00a0(End of season)<\/p>\n
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