Darius Acuff Jr. vs. Keaton Wagler: Early Impressions

SportsGrid
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Oct 30, 2026
AI Generated·May contain errors
And so now we have a little bit more of a sample size.
Like, what are your thoughts on Acuff against Wagler so far?
Obviously, Acuff's a much different type of player than Wagler,
both different situations.
But what are your early thoughts on both guys so far?
My first impressions of Darius Acuff Jr. were awful.
Awful.
Bad body language, worst shot selection,
and of all things, worst coaching.
He's got the worst coach of all the rookies.
Doug Christie's pathetic.
He's got the worst coach,
but what's going to really put him in a position
to get the Kings turned around,
he's not afraid to shoot.
He's not afraid to take the big shot.
He's not afraid to have the ball in his hands,
and that's what that organization needs right now.
What they're asking Keaton Wagler to do
is just, hey, man, go in.
Play your game, take your shot, and then come on and sit down.
There's no pressure on him to do anything.
The weight of the franchise is on Darius Acuff Jr.
And so his performance because of that,
actually since I've seen him live,
has really kind of helped me come back
to what I thought he was going to be.
Yeah, listen, I am still a very big fan of Darius Acuff Jr.
I don't care that he's...
We knew that he was going to be...
I was booing him.
I was booing him, dog.
I ain't going to lie.
I was booing him from the press area.
Listen, man, it was a rough one.
There have been some rough watches from Darius Acuff so far,
but then inside all that, you see these flashes of him being such a...
So, yeah, such a dominant score.
Like, he's putting up 30-plus points on great efficiency
and getting to the remedies and, yeah, the assist numbers.
And, like, you see it.
So it's going to take some time for a lot of these guys
to kind of mesh into what we think they're going to be.
But, you know, I just think, you know, with Wagler,
watching him now for multiple times, he needs to be more physical.
Teams are going to bully him.
They're going to be very physical with him.
They're going to kind of throw him around like a rag doll.
And that's just going to come in time.
But he is confident.
He's poised, he kind of understands the game already,
so this is going to take some time.
