Name them (and when I say that its almost inevitably a trap -- just sayin'
).
Well , first and probably the most glaring is their general demeanor. Cousins is a demonstrative A-hole on the court always scowling and berating team mates. Getting into it with officials by whining and pouting all the time. Some may dismiss this as "competitive fire" or "desire to win" but it flat out isn't that. It is immature selfishness and putting what you want ahead of the team. Noah is energetic, happy, excited and supportive. He has lost his cool (like when he told all three official F**K you and you and you) but on a nightly basis he is a very strong, positive force both on and off the court.
To be clear Cousins is a monster. He plays angry and with a chip on his shoulder and I wouldn't want that to go away. He just needs to mature (and I think he will) before he can lead a team the way Noah has.
The next thing and very noticeable when you watch both teams play is Noah is so active on the defensive end. I think you know this and would probably agree with me. He literally never stops moving and can guard any position 1-5 on the court. He challenges everything, switches, fights, scraps claws and kicks on the defensive end. He plays a lot of minutes with probably the worst defensive power forward in the game (I have watched a lot of Carlos Boozer) and the are still the best defensive team in the league. I am sure it doesn't hurt that they have Jimmy Butler and Kirk Hinrich on the perimeter but DJ Augustine has never been known as a good defender. Noah is the anchor and energy defensively. Cousins can play good defense but most of the time he just doesn't. He doesn't have the energy or the desire most nights. Noah never takes a night off.
Noah is a better passer, just as good of a rebounded and while not nearly as gifted offensively he is very efficient on that end too. He also doesn't turn the ball over nearly as often even though he handles is more.
Cousins is good, Really good and it isn't like have him to build your franchise around is a bad thing. Given the choice between the 2 I think I would take Noah but it wouldn't be an easy choice.