NBA suspends, fines Cousins
- Thread starter PurpleHaze
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Point taken about the technicals Mr. Slim.
I guess what I object to is the very simplistic way of looking at the Ts as the one barometer of Cousins progress as a man. I read an article (wish I could find it) that basically concluded Cousins is worse than ever based on the technicals. Basically, he's not just the same guy that he was the first 3 years, but he's in fact worse. That simply hasn't been true. The last couple, three weeks have been disappointing to say the least. But he showed tremendous growth this season on the whole.
Sadly, the growth as a player and man has all been forgotten at this point. Sad for fans, the man himself, the NBA, and USA basketball. True basketball fans know Cousins is a unique talent. I root for those guys, whatever team they are on. I watch Durant, I watch Lebron, CP3. And yes, Demarcus Cousins. He's in extreme rarified air talent wise. Only Cwebb in Sac history is anywhere close and I think we can all see Cousins being even better. I want to see greatness.
I just can't jump off the bandwagon. I'm riding this bad boy till the end. Knew the day he got here he'd either be an all time great, or he'd be out of the league before his time. Well, right now he's in between, and the growing pains suck, but he's making progress. But as a lot of people have said, this won't be a straight progression. And frankly, he will always be near the league lead in Ts. It's not a good thing, and there's really no excuse, but I see hoping he cuts those down tremendously on the scale of hoping someone like Rick Barry would stop being an butthead and Jim Harbaugh stop being so competitive. Guess what? That won't happen. And Cousins isn't going to become a giant teddy bear. And we shouldn't want that either. Part of what makes some of these guys great is that they are a little crazy. Does he need to control it? Of course. But some of this zero tolerance talk is just absurd.
I guess what I object to is the very simplistic way of looking at the Ts as the one barometer of Cousins progress as a man. I read an article (wish I could find it) that basically concluded Cousins is worse than ever based on the technicals. Basically, he's not just the same guy that he was the first 3 years, but he's in fact worse. That simply hasn't been true. The last couple, three weeks have been disappointing to say the least. But he showed tremendous growth this season on the whole.
Sadly, the growth as a player and man has all been forgotten at this point. Sad for fans, the man himself, the NBA, and USA basketball. True basketball fans know Cousins is a unique talent. I root for those guys, whatever team they are on. I watch Durant, I watch Lebron, CP3. And yes, Demarcus Cousins. He's in extreme rarified air talent wise. Only Cwebb in Sac history is anywhere close and I think we can all see Cousins being even better. I want to see greatness.
I just can't jump off the bandwagon. I'm riding this bad boy till the end. Knew the day he got here he'd either be an all time great, or he'd be out of the league before his time. Well, right now he's in between, and the growing pains suck, but he's making progress. But as a lot of people have said, this won't be a straight progression. And frankly, he will always be near the league lead in Ts. It's not a good thing, and there's really no excuse, but I see hoping he cuts those down tremendously on the scale of hoping someone like Rick Barry would stop being an butthead and Jim Harbaugh stop being so competitive. Guess what? That won't happen. And Cousins isn't going to become a giant teddy bear. And we shouldn't want that either. Part of what makes some of these guys great is that they are a little crazy. Does he need to control it? Of course. But some of this zero tolerance talk is just absurd.
Sort of a chicken and egg thing though, don't you think? At some point you also have to wonder whether Cousins can be the leader of this team. Every coach after Westphal has come in and specifically targeted supporting him. At what point do we say that there's just no point in giving the guy more and more opportunities to prove he can be an effective leader? You can't be publicly flogging your leader, but your leader also shouldn't be "regularly" putting himself in a position where you even have to make a tough decision about how to handle him.
Guy with HOF potential who comes around once in a decade or two, guy you decide to build your team around, and he just HAS to have "issues" of sorts. Just another day in the life of the Sacramento Kings.
I don't think Cousins can be a leader of this team. I think it was a mistake laying this tag on his immature rear end. In the end, it may have hurt him. I also don't think IT is a leader no matter what he says. Does the team need a leader or can we add talent and see who comes out of the ooze? Heck, Reggie Evans sounds like a great leader for what it's worth.
i've said it before and i'll say it again: demarcus cousins does not necessarily need to be declared "the leader" of this team. he's young. he's immature. he's volatile. i think he's capable of further developing his leadership abilities, but becoming "the leader" is a tall order for him to live up to, given the many personal obstacles he needs to overcome on his path to success. such a role is much better suited to a veteran with considerable experience, someone more capable of commanding respect in the locker room...
chris webber had vlade divac to hold the golden era kings together. in three-and-a-half years with the kings, demarcus cousins has had... john salmons? samuel dalembert? beno udrih? chuck hayes? carl landry? these names don't exactly inspire confidence. rudy gay seems like a quality locker room presence, but he doesn't strike me as a natural motivator. reggie evans may actually be the closest thing the kings have had to a hard-nosed veteran leader in many years. so here's to hoping that evans can offer the kind of guidance across the remainder of this season that helps to stabilize demarcus in the long run...
chris webber had vlade divac to hold the golden era kings together. in three-and-a-half years with the kings, demarcus cousins has had... john salmons? samuel dalembert? beno udrih? chuck hayes? carl landry? these names don't exactly inspire confidence. rudy gay seems like a quality locker room presence, but he doesn't strike me as a natural motivator. reggie evans may actually be the closest thing the kings have had to a hard-nosed veteran leader in many years. so here's to hoping that evans can offer the kind of guidance across the remainder of this season that helps to stabilize demarcus in the long run...
I used to train dogs. Does anyone have a shock collar handy? It does help for the untrainable barkers. What neck size is Cousins, by the way?
The truth is, you can't just name a person the leader of anything. Well, you can, but that doesn't mean anyone will follow him or her. The old saying is, that leaders are born, not made, and I think there's a lot of truth to that statement. I had some leaders in the Marine Corps that I wouldn't have followed around the block much less into battle. However, I also had some that I would have followed into hell. Some people are inspiring, and some aren't. Some invoke confidence, and some don't. One thing I know for sure. You don't become a leader just because someone says you should be. Good test is to yell follow me. Then look back and see if anyone is there.
Yes, however perhaps that's because he already went through growing pains with the warriors and wizards. I found the following article a fascinating look back in time. Do you really want this to be about Sac giving up on Cousins in a similar manner?
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/15/sports/nba-webber-traded-to-sacramento.html
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/15/sports/nba-webber-traded-to-sacramento.html
I don't think you give up on Cousins in the sense of trading him or anything. Regardless of his "issues" the guy has insane talent and can dominate on any given night. The real problem is whether you can depend on him and make him your leader/ go-to guy. What if he gets himself thrown out in a crucial playoff game, or even just picks up a cheap T and gives away a critical point? We've given him a max extension so it's a little late for second thoughts though
So what if you can't depend on him all the time? IT scored 12 points on 4-12 shooting last game. Is that dependable? I swear there is a real fan thing here that demands perfection of its stars that is unrealistic. I would rather have DMC with an occasional crap fit than most other players in the NBA.
Demarcus needs to get his act together. He is not beating his dog or his girl-friend or fighting in bars or anything else that would indicate a real problem. He's frustrated with losing and he's frustrated with what he - and a lot of us - perceive to be unfair treatment by the officials. In addition, he's become the league punching bag because players (and coaches) know about his short fuse.
Is that what we want or need from our franchise center? Hell no. Is it terminal? Also, hell no. What ails Demarcus is fixable and I have no doubt the front office will do whatever it takes to get our DFC any and all help he needs.
Some of you are making it sound as though he's a combination of Dennis Rodman and Ron Artest. He's not.
He's made some mistakes and he's going to have to work hard to correct them and change how he's viewed by many. I think he'll do it and I'm going to do whatever I can as one fan to show my support.
Is that what we want or need from our franchise center? Hell no. Is it terminal? Also, hell no. What ails Demarcus is fixable and I have no doubt the front office will do whatever it takes to get our DFC any and all help he needs.
Some of you are making it sound as though he's a combination of Dennis Rodman and Ron Artest. He's not.
He's made some mistakes and he's going to have to work hard to correct them and change how he's viewed by many. I think he'll do it and I'm going to do whatever I can as one fan to show my support.
What is the most concerning is not so much the excessive technical fouls from arguing with the refs,...it's the dirty plays and regular negative interaction with players. Both are not good, but the dirty play is very negative for the effort to change the "culture"
At some point, lets hope he decides to just 'talk' with his play and the scoreboard. It would be entertaining and a sign of progress, if he could at some point say to another player...."scoreboard"
At some point, lets hope he decides to just 'talk' with his play and the scoreboard. It would be entertaining and a sign of progress, if he could at some point say to another player...."scoreboard"
And that's what we have to get Cousins to understand. But, in all honesty, he hasn't seen a winning culture yet in Sacramento. He's seen discord, uncertainty, confusion, complacency, etc. I think as we continue to rotate out the least productive players on the roster, things will slowly change. It's just going to take time...and time isn't really something we have a lot of unless we can get DMC to understand that what he's doing is not only nonproductive, it's destructive - both to the team and to him.
Oh please Glenn, let's not pretend that Cousins getting so easily aggravated that it throws his game off and picking up Ts left and right isn't going to be a problem when you want to be a championship caliber team. It's a different issue altogether from simply having a bad shooting night (not that I would ever even consider IT to be our dependable leader). You want to be the leader of a championship team you better be sure that your team can depend on you when it matters, that you aren't getting suspended and giving away free points. Or have you already forgotten how one bad bounce of a ball can make such a big difference?
If you had read my post you'd see that I too said that Cousins could dominate on any given night. The problem is his "antics" kinda point toward him having a higher probability of him not being dependable when you need him, which in my humble opinion is something a team that aspires to win should be a little concerned about.
If you had read my post you'd see that I too said that Cousins could dominate on any given night. The problem is his "antics" kinda point toward him having a higher probability of him not being dependable when you need him, which in my humble opinion is something a team that aspires to win should be a little concerned about.
Haha. Haha. Jeesh kids these days.
HOFer
HOFer
HOFer
and just etc. Must have needed some culture change.
A great many of the best players and best teams over the years have flat out been dirty players/teams. Intimidators. Its not an accident. Its not to say you can't win without being dirty. It is to say that being dirty is often a symptom of why you win: you burn a little brighter. You love physical play. You despise losing a little more than they do. You're tough, you're nasty, and you don't let anyone mess with you. I've probably just described half the players in the HOFs of every contact sport ever invented.
and just etc. Must have needed some culture change.
A great many of the best players and best teams over the years have flat out been dirty players/teams. Intimidators. Its not an accident. Its not to say you can't win without being dirty. It is to say that being dirty is often a symptom of why you win: you burn a little brighter. You love physical play. You despise losing a little more than they do. You're tough, you're nasty, and you don't let anyone mess with you. I've probably just described half the players in the HOFs of every contact sport ever invented.
That's missing the point. Winners are winners no matter the technology (technology? What's that got to do with it?). They share the same traits they always have, in every field of endeavor. Being "nice" is rarely part of the package. Just being an over aggressive jerk doesn't make you a winner. But it certainly doesn't prove you're not. Every winner from Alexander the Great to Bill Gates has stepped on a few throats getting tot he top.