This is a direct result of Rudy mailing in his effort the past couple weeks - he and Cousins are clearly not on the same page on the court (with the arguments and stares at each other).
Rudy is literally standing still on the floor on defense many plays - doesn't even try to go for a rebound or box out, etc.
His bumbling lately is approaching deliberate levels - he is simply not this bad of basketball player - I think he's been playing badly on purpose to force the issue to trade him.
He's had enough of Cousins, and this is a microcosm of the entire Kings franchise:
Look, guys, we can pretend that all it takes is just one or two more guys in here to make this team take off and become the playoff contender we want, but I'm beginning to see signs that indicate this will never happen as long as Cousins' attitude pervades the franchise.
His whiny, petulant behavior which constantly TALKS about playing hard and getting good enough to make the playoffs, yet his utter inability to see how his failings are causing the very thing he is complaining about, are at clinical levels.
Cousins played so badly in that 1st quarter, he put the Kings in a hole so deep they couldn't come out.
Rudy probably wants out before he gets blamed for this failure. (He's mostly avoided most of the blame so far)
Things behind the curtain obviously have not gone well, and they are dysfunctional and can't get past it.
But this is the story of this team, is it not?
In-fighting, and camps, and creating/breaking alliances, and two-faced-ness, and a bunch of "me" in front of "we".
Divac and Vivek have not fixed the sucking wound the Kings have in coaching/system, and they haven't managed the player's dissatisfaction with what they're doing.
The entire organization and the city and fans, can't simply wait one more year to fire Karl (or *GASP!* - make it work with him, seriously is that so impossible to freaking do?!), and hope to become competitive next year.
They ran out of time.
Apparently not listening to "Cousins' camp" last year allegedly not wanting Karl was the last mistake the franchise could absorb.
It's clear that Cousins is tight with Rondo and Casspi.
Guess who plays Casspi's position?
Cousins can't stand losing to the 3ball. He wants a reliable player to knock down the 3. He's reactionary, so he probably made the demand after last night to management to try to get Anderson, and Rudy was notified and is sick of the crap so he leaked it to "league sources".
This is a last straw that this team will not survive, I fear.
They HAD to make it work with THIS group of players.
Not accomplishing it with this group highly suggests that the problem is not in the magical combination of players to make the magical brew - it's more likely pointing to Cousins as the root of the problem, now.
And to be clear - the problem is that the players for whatever reason, are not playing to their ability levels.
They lack the desire to put forth the effort on a night-to-night basis to win. They would rather point fingers and dodge personal blame for the failures on the court.
If we're being honest - What personality does that sound like?
Actually, it sounds like equal parts Cuz and Karl, ironically.
The main symptom this franchise has had for years is the inability for differing personalities to set aside their egos and work together for the benefit of the team.
That has been the overall dysfunction of the team ever since Demarcus joined it.
Maybe that's a total coincidence that ownership and management acted the exact same way when they couldn't get along with Malone and make it work, who knows?
But if Demarcus can't make it work with Rudy, then it's now clear to me this is an indictment of Demarcus as a teammate more than any of the other flaws it reveals in all involved.
