All-inclusive DMC non-game discussion thread

[VF21]

That's what I suspected. My understanding is NBA requires players are regularily accessible to the media after all games and practice. If Cousins had not made an appearance he might have been subject to another fine or suspension. At least Cousins pouting did not errupt into a full blown temper tantrum on this occasion. Whew!

Reminds me of the days of Ron Artest when we worried nightly if he would be bat-poop nuts Ron-Ron or the SF of our dreams. Being a sports fan shouldn't mean having to worry about the mental stability of your favorite players. Honest, it shouldn't...but it seems to be happening more and more. And it sucks.

 

[Bricklayer]

Just to confirm what seemed pretty obvious:
Bryan May's Twitter

Agreed. That was the obvious context there. But you know what? The way this was reported is no surprise either. The media has a bully pulpit, and if anybody they deem a publci figure want to deny them their pound of flesh, or worse yet, to iimply they are intruding/don't have a right, they respond vindictively. How DARE he not want to answer my questions! I am the media! The people have a right to know! What an immature *******!

Yeah. Not the only one.

 

[LWP777]

Agreed. That was the obvious context there. But you know what? The way this was reported is no surprise either. The media has a bully pulpit, and if anybody they deem a publci figure want to deny them their pound of flesh, or worse yet, to iimply they are intruding/don't have a right, they respond vindictively. How DARE he not want to answer my questions! I am the media! The people have a right to know! What an immature *******!

Yeah. Not the only one.

OMG! Really? Why does it always have to be somebody else's fault?!?! You realize he is required to make media appearances, don't you?

 

[VF21]

How long have you been a fan of the Sacramento Kings? This "mediocrity" has been going on for 20 something years. Really, only the Webber era was good sans a couple of 8th seeds with Mitch Richmond and also the very first year year with Theus and LaSalle Thompson. I've been here since the start.

So you're saying trading DMC would be the final nail in the coffin for you? That's pretty amazing considering some of the atrocities that have occured here:

Trading Webber for Kenny Thomas and company
Trading for Derek Smith
Trading for Ralph Sampson
Trading for John Salmons TWICE
Bill Russell, Dick Motta, Kenny Natt, Eric Mussleman, Keith Smart

I could go on and on......

Oh please. I try not to get involved in the pissing contests around here but this is delusional. Bricklayer's comment is perfectly clear. If you cannot understand it and choose to toss out questions intended to misdirect the discussion, then you either suffer from a lack of reading comprehension or you're purposefully being obtuse and difficult.

READ HIS FIRST SENTENCE AGAIN. It pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the narrative.

As for you stating that you "...could go on and on..." I find that amusing since that's what you seem to be prone to doing, especially when a Bricklayer post is involved.

Bricklayer speaks for more than just himself. There are a lot of long-time fans - and I've been a loyal Kings fan since 1985 - who are feeling the same way.

 

[swisshh]

Sports players are just people. People are full of differences and different way of handling things. We expect them to behave like model employees at all times, but being under the spotlight tends to show the good and bad.

My issue with this interview is that most of it was pretty blatant baiting by the people asking the questions. The exchange about him looking angry and the defense of "just reading body language" is headsmackingly shameful. There's more interesting questions to ask that will get better answers and there's ways to get a story without trying to shove a loaded narrative into your questioning.

 

[VF21]

Sports players are just people. People are full of differences and different way of handling things. We expect them to behave like model employees at all times, but being under the spotlight tends to show the good and bad.

My issue with this interview is that most of it was pretty blatant baiting by the people asking the questions. The exchange about him looking angry and the defense of "just reading body language" is headsmackingly shameful. There's more interesting questions to ask that will get better answers and there's ways to get a story without trying to shove a loaded narrative into your questioning.

Unfortunately for Sacramento sports fans there are a number of sportscasters who have no idea what questions to ask and go instead for loaded questions that will perhaps elicit great video soundbytes for the nightly news tease.

 

[Prince_XY]

Bricklayer speaks for more than just himself. There are a lot of long-time fans - and I've been a loyal Kings fan since 1985 - who are feeling the same way.

VF21.

So you're also saying trading DMC would be the final nail in the coffin for you too?

 

[UK_King]

I don't think the question was out of order personally, to ask whether he is angry about the situation, do you think it was fair etc. I suspect the same question would be asked of anyone serving a suspension this year, wether they chose to answer is up to them, but the media is there to ask questions that they perceive their readership/viewership want to know, and i suspect a large portion of people would be wondering "wow, i wonder how DeMarcus feels about that suspension, is he angry i wonder?"

I don't see it as "baiting." This is professional sports not a bar.

As for the rest of the comments on here, no one knows Demarcus (forgive me if you do) so it's all speculation, people have no idea what his mental state or his personal opinion of anything, so all the billy big balls talk doesn't really hold any water unfortunately. Opinions are opinions, everyones got one.

Do i think DeMarcus needs to grow up? Yeah i do, Do i think the organisation could have done more? Not sure because i don't know what they've done. Do i think DeMarcus needs psychiatric help? No idea, I'm not a doctor and unless you've given him an evaluation personally it's impossible to say. Each human being is different, nothing is treated in a blanket manner, at least i would hope not. So we are where we are. Lets see how he plays against the Knicks, i suspect we'll see a stoic Cousins, his usual demonstrative reactions to fouls will be absent i suspect, i expect a sulk.

Hope he proves me wrong, the best way for him to silence his critics is to go out against one of the best teams in the league and have a fantastic game. For the good of the team, i hope he does. Will always support DMC while he's a king, will support any player who wears the jersey because thats all i care about to be honest.

 

[Elektrik]

lol. Maybe that's true but if they could get some decent players in return they could have something to build on again.

you mean "flexible pieces" like when we traded Webber?

 

[mac]

I don't think the question was out of order personally, to ask whether he is angry about the situation, do you think it was fair etc. I suspect the same question would be asked of anyone serving a suspension this year, wether they chose to answer is up to them, but the media is there to ask questions that they perceive their readership/viewership want to know, and i suspect a large portion of people would be wondering "wow, i wonder how DeMarcus feels about that suspension, is he angry i wonder?"

I don't see it as "baiting." This is professional sports not a bar.

As for the rest of the comments on here, no one knows Demarcus (forgive me if you do) so it's all speculation, people have no idea what his mental state or his personal opinion of anything, so all the billy big balls talk doesn't really hold any water unfortunately. Opinions are opinions, everyones got one.

Do i think DeMarcus needs to grow up? Yeah i do, Do i think the organisation could have done more? Not sure because i don't know what they've done. Do i think DeMarcus needs psychiatric help? No idea, I'm not a doctor and unless you've given him an evaluation personally it's impossible to say. Each human being is different, nothing is treated in a blanket manner, at least i would hope not. So we are where we are. Lets see how he plays against the Knicks, i suspect we'll see a stoic Cousins, his usual demonstrative reactions to fouls will be absent i suspect, i expect a sulk.

Hope he proves me wrong, the best way for him to silence his critics is to go out against one of the best teams in the league and have a fantastic game. For the good of the team, i hope he does. Will always support DMC while he's a king, will support any player who wears the jersey because thats all i care about to be honest.

Exactly ... for all the recent talk around here about mental health we really can't say for certain. I mean, some have even started considering the idea that Cousins may have suicidal thoughts. I respect the opinion of some around here, especially those trained in the field of mental health, but as far as I'm concerned it could be just as equally likely that Cousins simply has a fiery nature and is a little immature. There have also been psychological studies done that proved certain stigmas when treating patients with so-called "mental problems", where doctors insist that patients are still mentally unstable/ having temporary recoveries from their problems when in fact the patients were fully normal, only orignially acting out symptoms to function as placebos.

If you ask me, I see no problem with Cousins' mental health. I see a fiery, hot-tempered guy who needs strong leadership and who in the basketball sense needs to be on a winning team to minimize frustration. To me that isn't a mental health problem (though I'm not sure that the medical field terms it the same way).

 

[Glenn]

OK, you two that think this talk of him seeing a psychiatrist is balderdash, tell me: do you think he should be evaluated? This is where the discussion started. Of course you can't know anything without an evaluation. Otherwise you can stick your head in the sand and say he is immature and discipline him into growing up. BTW, how many immature guys have you seen that act like this the third year into the NBA? Must be a whole bunch as you are implying it is just a phase he is passing through. As I understand it, this phase started in high school and if he now has matured 5 years, he must have been quite a handful in high school.

The discussion of his mental state went too far as I don't know him and I grant that but I think there was a teachable moment about mental health. Nothing I said was impossible. I hope not, anyway.

You can demean my opinions as much as you want just as I privately laugh at the simplistic solutions I read about how to improve a players game, his shot, team offense, team defense, etc. As you say, everybody is different and the comments in these areas tend to be a one size fits all solution also. I happen to have knowledge in an area no one else on this forum has. At least I have put in the requisite 24 (should I count kindergarten and call it 25?) years of schooling to get me where I am. Believe me, I know I am giving opinions because NO ONE can say what is going on with Boogie without evaluating him. It is unethical for a psychiatrist to give psychiatric opinions as FACT of someone they have not evaluated face to face. Maybe I slipped and made mistakes, that's for sure. I hope I have never said anything as a definitive truth except for the fact I think he needs an evaluation.

He needs a psychiatric evaluation and if anyone says he doesn't, they are not paying attention to his demeanor in interviews and even his play on the court.

I hope he plays tonight and kicks butt, I would expect the sullen Boogie to play but then that has been said before and how could any one predict that? It's as much speculation as anything else.



I have made other medical comments over the years re: plantar fasciitis, etc. I do that as I can interpret the medical jargon and have not forgotten too much of what I learned. As far as I know, I am the only medical doctor on this forum and can help. I sure don't know everything and as a psychiatrist, giving opinions about orthopedic injuries is a bit out of my field but I have had training in orthopedics. I am now curious about Tyreke's "bone bruise." This is not meant to hijack the thread but isn't anyone curious about Tyreke? As far as I know, a bruise is a bruise and playing on it will slow you down but you will not further injure it like sprains, etc. Why isn't Tyreke playing? Tyreke at half speed is better than no Tyreke even if just to settle things down on the court. Does anyone remember Willis Reed contributing to the Knicks when he could barely walk? I will speculate that we don't know what the full story is.

Why didn't the unsuspended Tyreke and Cousins accompany the team to Portland? Are the Maloofs trying to save plane fare money or is something else happening? When there is a dearth of knowledge, fantasy takes over and as we are on a discussion forum, fantasy sometimes can wander far astray. Such is the nature of the beast.

 

[Section 101]

Some guys are just not very good guys. That's just the way the world is. It could be due to their childhood, their mental health, a number of things....But sometimes they never snap out of it. They are that way for life. Do we just continue to pamper him or do we cut him loose? I say cut him loose. I realize the team is not very good without him but you know what? They aren't very good with him either. They had 28 assists and 10 turnovers last night in a loss. They had 31 and 14 when they beat the Blazers on Sunday. They played hard in the 2nd half loss to the Clippers. They won't win a lot of games with or without DMC. As a fan, I enjoy watching effort, hustle and teamwork and that's what I've seen since he's been gone. His teammates are making a statement about his behavior. They support the coach's decision to bench him.

Hate to break it to you but Cuz is a center/PF. Stating their assist/turnovers would be more of a statement for Evans than Cuz. Now try looking at the rebound and scoring numbers. And forget about shooting % of others except Cuz, unless your going to tell me they are missing shots on purpose.

 

[Section 101]

OMG! Really? Why does it always have to be somebody else's fault?!?! You realize he is required to make media appearances, don't you?

You realize he doesn't have to answer the questions.

 

[LWP777]

Hate to break it to you but Cuz is a center/PF. Stating their assist/turnovers would be more of a statement for Evans than Cuz. Now try looking at the rebound and scoring numbers. And forget about shooting % of others except Cuz, unless your going to tell me they are missing shots on purpose.

I don't agree at all. I think with Cuz on the floor the team goes into "me first" mode and everybody just thinks about themselves. Cuz is actually one of the team's better passers so having him not play should hurt the team's assist to TO ratio even more.

 

[LWP777]

You realize he doesn't have to answer the questions.

For somebody with a multi million dollar contract I would expect he could be mature enough to at least answer some questions but I guess that would be too much to ask.

 

[mac]

I don't agree at all. I think with Cuz on the floor the team goes into "me first" mode and everybody just thinks about themselves. Cuz is actually one of the team's better passers so having him not play should hurt the team's assist to TO ratio even more.

Alas, as Cousins' own assist numbers show - he's been somewhat of a ballhog this season. Still, it doesn't necessarily mean we play better without him. For all our assists in the last game we still got blown out.

 

[UK_King]

OK, you two that think this talk of him seeing a psychiatrist is balderdash, tell me: do you think he should be evaluated? This is where the discussion started. Of course you can't know anything without an evaluation. Otherwise you can stick your head in the sand and say he is immature and discipline him into growing up. BTW, how many immature guys have you seen that act like this the third year into the NBA? Must be a whole bunch as you are implying it is just a phase he is passing through. As I understand it, this phase started in high school and if he now has matured 5 years, he must have been quite a handful in high school.

The discussion of his mental state went too far as I don't know him and I grant that but I think there was a teachable moment about mental health. Nothing I said was impossible. I hope not, anyway.

You can demean my opinions as much as you want just as I privately laugh at the simplistic solutions I read about how to improve a players game, his shot, team offense, team defense, etc. As you say, everybody is different and the comments in these areas tend to be a one size fits all solution also. I happen to have knowledge in an area no one else on this forum has. At least I have put in the requisite 24 (should I count kindergarten and call it 25?) years of schooling to get me where I am. Believe me, I know I am giving opinions because NO ONE can say what is going on with Boogie without evaluating him. It is unethical for a psychiatrist to give psychiatric opinions as FACT of someone they have not evaluated face to face. Maybe I slipped and made mistakes, that's for sure. I hope I have never said anything as a definitive truth except for the fact I think he needs an evaluation.

He needs a psychiatric evaluation and if anyone says he doesn't, they are not paying attention to his demeanor in interviews and even his play on the court.

I hope he plays tonight and kicks butt, I would expect the sullen Boogie to play but then that has been said before and how could any one predict that? It's as much speculation as anything else.



I have made other medical comments over the years re: plantar fasciitis, etc. I do that as I can interpret the medical jargon and have not forgotten too much of what I learned. As far as I know, I am the only medical doctor on this forum and can help. I sure don't know everything and as a psychiatrist, giving opinions about orthopedic injuries is a bit out of my field but I have had training in orthopedics. I am now curious about Tyreke's "bone bruise." This is not meant to hijack the thread but isn't anyone curious about Tyreke? As far as I know, a bruise is a bruise and playing on it will slow you down but you will not further injure it like sprains, etc. Why isn't Tyreke playing? Tyreke at half speed is better than no Tyreke even if just to settle things down on the court. Does anyone remember Willis Reed contributing to the Knicks when he could barely walk? I will speculate that we don't know what the full story is.

Why didn't the unsuspended Tyreke and Cousins accompany the team to Portland? Are the Maloofs trying to save plane fare money or is something else happening? When there is a dearth of knowledge, fantasy takes over and as we are on a discussion forum, fantasy sometimes can wander far astray. Such is the nature of the beast.

I don't think i said it was "balderdash" and i certainly didn't seek to "demean" anyones opinion, but only to say that it's just that, an opinion. My mother is a psychiatrist so i have some exposure to that profession so you'd be wrong if you thought i was poo pooing it, my point is really what do we really know? It seems some comments vere into the land of knowing rather than commenting, certainly holier than thou, when the fact remains we all know about as much as each other.....

And as for Tyreke, again, not sure. But through history i remember players playing through what appear to be more serious injuries. Remember Iverson when he had about 15 separate injuries in the playoffs but still played, one of them was a dislocated shoulder and broken fingers, bruised ribs i seem to remember too.

 

[LWP777]

Alas, as Cousins' own assist numbers show - he's been somewhat of a ballhog this season. Still, it doesn't necessarily mean we play better without him. For all our assists in the last game we still got blown out.

It's because we aren't very good even with the stellar assist to TO ratio. But we aren't very good WITH Cuz either....

 

[kupman]

If Cousins is a nearly once in a generation kind of big man - a true superstar that could anchor a winning team for more than a decade while collecting mutiple MVPs and chamionships, then why do people claim that we would only get a bag of peanuts in return if we trade him?

Certainly, at least one other team in the league must know what kind of prize we have and would be willing to do whatever it takes to land him.

 

[LWP777]

If Cousins is a nearly once in a generation kind of big man - a true superstar that could anchor a winning team for more than a decade while collecting mutiple MVPs and chamionships, then why do people claim that we would only get a bag of peanuts in return if we trade him?

Certainly, at least one other team in the league must know what kind of prize we have and would be willing to do whatever it takes to land him.

Because he comes with a ton of risk due to his immaturity on and off the court. It's really a catch 22. We probably won't get top talent back for him because of his issues but at the same time, he will never be a star until those issues are resolved and, if that ever happens, we probably wouldn't want to trade him anyway.

 

[kupman]

Because he comes with a ton of risk due to his immaturity on and off the court. It's really a catch 22. We probably won't get top talent back for him because of his issues but at the same time, he will never be a star until those issues are resolved and, if that ever happens, we probably wouldn't want to trade him anyway.

But with his huge, larger than life upside, some other team must be willing to take on that risk.

 

[LWP777]

But with his huge, larger than life upside, some other team must be willing to take on that risk.

lol. Hey, I'm with you! I understand your sarcasm. Bricklayer and I have been debating for months about DMC's talent level. I'm definitely not sold on it.

 

[Glenn]

I don't think i said it was "balderdash" and i certainly didn't seek to "demean" anyones opinion, but only to say that it's just that, an opinion. My mother is a psychiatrist so i have some exposure to that profession so you'd be wrong if you thought i was poo pooing it, my point is really what do we really know? It seems some comments vere into the land of knowing rather than commenting, certainly holier than thou, when the fact remains we all know about as much as each other.....

And as for Tyreke, again, not sure. But through history i remember players playing through what appear to be more serious injuries. Remember Iverson when he had about 15 separate injuries in the playoffs but still played, one of them was a dislocated shoulder and broken fingers, bruised ribs i seem to remember too.

Awwww, I like "balderdash." I had a suspicion that you knew a little about the ethics of psychiatry which DOES say you can't give opinions about people you haven't evaluated. We don't really know anything about Boogie but we have strong suspicions, certainly strong enough to have him evaluated. I was sitting here thinking about how many NBA players might be suffering from a mental illness. I don't mean quirks as most of us have them but an illness that interferes with their life in some significant way. Without looking up the stats, let us say 10% of the population of the US and probably the earth suffers from major depression at any given time. Then let us add anxiety disorders and more severe problems. There are roughly 390 NBA players which is a big enough "n" to give the fairly accurate figures that 30 in the NBA are suffering from Major depression. The stats have a large margin of error with smaller numbers like the size of a team but perhaps at least one of the Kings has major depression. Remember this leaves out all the other types of problems. It certainly isn't a wild speculation that at least one of the Sacramento Kings has a mental disorder. I am saying this merely as a mathematical possibility.

 

[kupman]

lol. Hey, I'm with you! I understand your sarcasm. Bricklayer and I have been debating for months about DMC's talent level. I'm definitely not sold on it.

I don't really mean it as sacrasm as much as a change in perspective.

 

[bajaden]

And this is probably why you and I will disagree on this subject forever. I don't see him as one of the great talents of the world. Not even close.

I guess time will tell which one of us is right....

EDIT: And, by the way, I really hope YOU are right. I would gladly eat crow to watch DMC become a superstar.

I have a good recipe I'll send you. Because he will be a star in this league, despite your lack of ability to recognize talent when you see it. You resemble an ambulance chaser. You've had an agenda in regards to Cousins since we drafted him, and you seize on any opportunity to to validate your agenda. You look at anyone that disagree's with you as excuse makers, which is nonsense. I have only one agenda, and thats the team as a whole. And if Cousins can be reformed into a controlled substance, then the team is better. I don't just throw away people because they have some flaws. If I did, I'd lose half my friends. You call Cousins a softie around the rim, but at the same time you call him a thug for susposedly striking O'Mayo in the groin. He's a softie, but he was one of the best rebounders in the league last year. When you make statements like that, you lose all credibility with me.

You think that because players get paid millions of dollars, they suddenly become perfect clones of one another. Little cookie cutter players running around out there. All going to church on sunday, and sitting around singing Kumbaya the rest of the time. You think they've all been pampered? Cousins wasn't! He didn't have a father, and and he grew up poor in Mobile Alabama. He didn't go to one of those highschool basketball factories. His mother had to finally move, just to get Cousins into a decent basketball program. Had he had a father figure, and gone to one of those basketball factories, he might be a different person today, but he didn't, and what you see is the product of his childhood.

In almost every Kentucky game I watched, Cousins was intentionally provoked by the other team, knowing that if they could get him to explode, they could get him out of the game. He was constantly booed by opposing crowds. In newspapers, and in the video media he was accused of things he simply didn't do, or they only told one half the story. And It all stemmed from his having a heated exchange he had with someone on the highschool coaching staff while on the team bus. One such video report showed Cousins walking off the floor after the game, and a fan from the other team running at him, and him pushing the fan to the floor. Well, one could say that he shouldn't have done that. Or, one could say that the fan shouldn't have been running at him. But the biggest problem with the story was that it wasn't even Cousins, it was Patrick Patterson that pushed the fan to the floor.

Another video on TV showed Cousins on the floor during a game on top of an opposing and throwing his forearm into the players chest. Pretty indicting until you see the entire video. Both Cousins and the other player dove to the floor after a loose ball. Cousins got his hands on the ball and the other player threw an elbow into the side of Cousins face. And believe me, unlike the O'Mayo video, this was intentional. Of course after being sturck in the side of the face, Cousins retaliated with his forearm to the players chest. My point is, on TV they conviently only showed the Cousins part.

So if you wonder why Cousins feels like the world is against him at times, he has a dammed good reason. His best memories are of Kentucky, where the fans loved him, and still do when he goes back every year as part of a charity game. Does any of that excuse some of the things he's done? Of course not, but if your going to change behavior, you need to know why someone behaves the way they do. Its called understanding. Or you can sit back in your armchair at home and be sanctimonious. Maybe because of my childhood, I cut him too much slack. Thats possible. Its not easy to be objective about oneself. And yes, I do have a limit as to how much I'll endure before throwing in the towel. But I'm not there yet with Cousins. Mainly, because I saw him handled well at Kentucky by a coach who knew how to handle him. I doubt what happened with Smart would have ever happened with Calapari. Here's a quote from Calapari about Cousins talent.

"DeMarcus is one of the most talented big men I've ever had. He has tremendous ball-handling skill for a player his size. His combination of size and shooting ability will make him hard to defend. He has a mean streak on the court that gives him an edge."

 

[LWP777]

I have a good recipe I'll send you. Because he will be a star in this league, despite your lack of ability to recognize talent when you see it. You resemble an ambulance chaser. You've had an agenda in regards to Cousins since we drafted him, and you seize on any opportunity to to validate your agenda. You look at anyone that disagree's with you as excuse makers, which is nonsense. I have only one agenda, and thats the team as a whole. And if Cousins can be reformed into a controlled substance, then the team is better. I don't just throw away people because they have some flaws. If I did, I'd lose half my friends. You call Cousins a softie around the rim, but at the same time you call him a thug for susposedly striking O'Mayo in the groin. He's a softie, but he was one of the best rebounders in the league last year. When you make statements like that, you lose all credibility with me.

You think that because players get paid millions of dollars, they suddenly become perfect clones of one another. Little cookie cutter players running around out there. All going to church on sunday, and sitting around singing Kumbaya the rest of the time. You think they've all been pampered? Cousins wasn't! He didn't have a father, and and he grew up poor in Mobile Alabama. He didn't go to one of those highschool basketball factories. His mother had to finally move, just to get Cousins into a decent basketball program. Had he had a father figure, and gone to one of those basketball factories, he might be a different person today, but he didn't, and what you see is the product of his childhood.

In almost every Kentucky game I watched, Cousins was intentionally provoked by the other team, knowing that if they could get him to explode, they could get him out of the game. He was constantly booed by opposing crowds. In newspapers, and in the video media he was accused of things he simply didn't do, or they only told one half the story. And It all stemmed from his having a heated exchange he had with someone on the highschool coaching staff while on the team bus. One such video report showed Cousins walking off the floor after the game, and a fan from the other team running at him, and him pushing the fan to the floor. Well, one could say that he shouldn't have done that. Or, one could say that the fan shouldn't have been running at him. But the biggest problem with the story was that it wasn't even Cousins, it was Patrick Patterson that pushed the fan to the floor.

Another video on TV showed Cousins on the floor during a game on top of an opposing and throwing his forearm into the players chest. Pretty indicting until you see the entire video. Both Cousins and the other player dove to the floor after a loose ball. Cousins got his hands on the ball and the other player threw an elbow into the side of Cousins face. And believe me, unlike the O'Mayo video, this was intentional. Of course after being sturck in the side of the face, Cousins retaliated with his forearm to the players chest. My point is, on TV they conviently only showed the Cousins part.

So if you wonder why Cousins feels like the world is against him at times, he has a dammed good reason. His best memories are of Kentucky, where the fans loved him, and still do when he goes back every year as part of a charity game. Does any of that excuse some of the things he's done? Of course not, but if your going to change behavior, you need to know why someone behaves the way they do. Its called understanding. Or you can sit back in your armchair at home and be sanctimonious. Maybe because of my childhood, I cut him too much slack. Thats possible. Its not easy to be objective about oneself. And yes, I do have a limit as to how much I'll endure before throwing in the towel. But I'm not there yet with Cousins. Mainly, because I saw him handled well at Kentucky by a coach who knew how to handle him. I doubt what happened with Smart would have ever happened with Calapari. Here's a quote from Calapari about Cousins talent.

"DeMarcus is one of the most talented big men I've ever had. He has tremendous ball-handling skill for a player his size. His combination of size and shooting ability will make him hard to defend. He has a mean streak on the court that gives him an edge."

Oh please. Give me a break. First of all, I never had an "agenda" when we drafted Cousins. I don't really even follow college basketball so I wasn't aware of the major issues he had other than the media pointing some things out. I was actually glad we drafted him because he sounded like a good gamble at the time with the 5th pick. It's a gamble we lost but nonetheless it was worth a shot.

I hold myself and others in my life accountable for their actions. There is little of that left in the world. We live in a world where it's always somebody else's fault except our own. We all have had our hardships growing up and in our adult life. Most people are able to overcome those things and become decent human beings. My problem with DeMarcus Cousins is that he has no respect for anybody and has repeatedly showed that over the last 3 years. It's not like he's just made 1 or 2 mistakes like we all do. He's made A LOT of them. How come we never hear about Jason Thompson making these kinds of mistakes? How come Chuck Hayes is never in the news? It's because they are good human beings and show respect for their coaches, teammates and fans. It's really not that hard to do.

Just because I take this position does not make me a bad guy. It doesn't make me a troll or a Kings hater either. Why do you think I'm on these forums? Because I love the Kings. I've loved them from Day 1. I used to listen to Gary Gerould every game on the radio back in the day when they would only televise a handful of games. I would keep track of stats as I listened. I'm as big of a fan as anybody. I believe it's in the best interest of the organization to get rid of DMC if the price is right. I don't think I'm in the minority on that view.

The only person singing "Kumbaya" around here is you sitting around hoping that this guy is all of a sudden going to wake up one day and become a completely different person.

EDIT: Regarding Calipari, what do you expect him to say? A big part of his success is recruiting. If he threw his ex-players under the bus he wouldn't be as respected and it would be harder to recruit the top players. I wouldn't expect him to say anything different about DeMarcus.

 

[sdballer]

Oh please. Give me a break. First of all, I never had an "agenda" when we drafted Cousins. I don't really even follow college basketball so I wasn't aware of the major issues he had other than the media pointing some things out. I was actually glad we drafted him because he sounded like a good gamble at the time with the 5th pick. It's a gamble we lost but nonetheless it was worth a shot.

I hold myself and others in my life accountable for their actions. There is little of that left in the world. We live in a world where it's always somebody else's fault except our own. We all have had our hardships growing up and in our adult life. Most people are able to overcome those things and become decent human beings. My problem with DeMarcus Cousins is that he has no respect for anybody and has repeatedly showed that over the last 3 years. It's not like he's just made 1 or 2 mistakes like we all do. He's made A LOT of them. How come we never hear about Jason Thompson making these kinds of mistakes? How come Chuck Hayes is never in the news? It's because they are good human beings and show respect for their coaches, teammates and fans. It's really not that hard to do.

Just because I take this position does not make me a bad guy. It doesn't make me a troll or a Kings hater either. Why do you think I'm on these forums? Because I love the Kings. I've loved them from Day 1. I used to listen to Gary Gerould every game on the radio back in the day when they would only televise a handful of games. I would keep track of stats as I listened. I'm as big of a fan as anybody. I believe it's in the best interest of the organization to get rid of DMC if the price is right. I don't think I'm in the minority on that view.

The only person singing "Kumbaya" around here is you sitting around hoping that this guy is all of a sudden going to wake up one day and become a completely different person.

EDIT: Regarding Calipari, what do you expect him to say? A big part of his success is recruiting. If he threw his ex-players under the bus he wouldn't be as respected and it would be harder to recruit the top players. I wouldn't expect him to say anything different about DeMarcus.

So since you are so sure that he is never going to figure it out and that it's all his fault. What would you do, specifically? Not in a general trade him for something way but what players and how would those position is for the future.

 

[LWP777]

So since you are so sure that he is never going to figure it out and that it's all his fault. What would you do, specifically? Not in a general trade him for something way but what players and how would those position is for the future.

I've already addressed this in previous threads. I'm not the GM so I have no idea what is out there. I wouldn't trade him for garbage but if we could get a couple of nice players and possibly a pick I'd do it. I'm just not so sure we could even get that at this point.

 

[sdballer]

I've already addressed this in previous threads. I'm not the GM so I have no idea what is out there. I wouldn't trade him for garbage but if we could get a couple of nice players and possibly a pick I'd do it. I'm just not so sure we could even get that at this point.

Yes you've addressed it in the same worthless fashion. You spend so much time ranting and raving against him and anyone that supports him yet have no real thoughts around why it's that way or how to really improve the situation. It's just kind of odd how much time you've spent basically rehashing the same opinion over and over with no real discernible purpose.

 

[bajaden]

Oh please. Give me a break. First of all, I never had an "agenda" when we drafted Cousins. I don't really even follow college basketball so I wasn't aware of the major issues he had other than the media pointing some things out. I was actually glad we drafted him because he sounded like a good gamble at the time with the 5th pick. It's a gamble we lost but nonetheless it was worth a shot.

I hold myself and others in my life accountable for their actions. There is little of that left in the world. We live in a world where it's always somebody else's fault except our own. We all have had our hardships growing up and in our adult life. Most people are able to overcome those things and become decent human beings. My problem with DeMarcus Cousins is that he has no respect for anybody and has repeatedly showed that over the last 3 years. It's not like he's just made 1 or 2 mistakes like we all do. He's made A LOT of them. How come we never hear about Jason Thompson making these kinds of mistakes? How come Chuck Hayes is never in the news? It's because they are good human beings and show respect for their coaches, teammates and fans. It's really not that hard to do.

Just because I take this position does not make me a bad guy. It doesn't make me a troll or a Kings hater either. Why do you think I'm on these forums? Because I love the Kings. I've loved them from Day 1. I used to listen to Gary Gerould every game on the radio back in the day when they would only televise a handful of games. I would keep track of stats as I listened. I'm as big of a fan as anybody. I believe it's in the best interest of the organization to get rid of DMC if the price is right. I don't think I'm in the minority on that view.

The only person singing "Kumbaya" around here is you sitting around hoping that this guy is all of a sudden going to wake up one day and become a completely different person.

EDIT: Regarding Calipari, what do you expect him to say? A big part of his success is recruiting. If he threw his ex-players under the bus he wouldn't be as respected and it would be harder to recruit the top players. I wouldn't expect him to say anything different about DeMarcus.

I figured I'd get a rise out of you! Look, I never said you were a bad guy, or a troll, or a Kings hater. I just think your closed minded on this particular subject. You refuse to even consider that Cousins might be salvagable. Its one thing to have your opinion, but you just beat the drumm a little too loud, and a little too much. To say that Cousins doesn't have respect for anyone is an exaggeration. He certainly respects his mother. Your actually using the wrong word. Cousins doesn't trust many people. But those he does trust, he has the highest respect for. His biggest problem isn't that he disagree's with someone, or that he's even wrong, its that he says what he thinks. And thats what gets him into trouble, and its trouble that escalates once something is said.

Hey, I could be wrong, and if so I apologize to everyone for boring them with my dribble. I wish I was sitting around singing Kumbaya, but your right about one thing. YES! I do hope that Cousins is going to get it, and start to become a different person. And not because I'm dearly in love with Cousins, but because I know he's a very talented player who, if he puts in the proper work, and has the right attitude, could be a franchise player. So yes, I do hope for that! Because I love the team, and that would be in the best interest of the team.

You said you had no knowledge of his early career because you don't follow college basketball. Well, thats why I posted that info, so you would know. And what happens early in a persons life is what forms them as a person later. Unfortunately for Cousins, a lot of it was bad along with the good. Now you can discard that information as not mattering to you. But it gives me some insight in how and why he is who he is. You ask why isn't he like Jason Thompson. Well, thats part of why. Everything isn't black and white. I sat in the stands next to Jason Thompsons mother and father for one of the Kings summerleague games a couple of years ago. His father is a great person as is his mom. Cousins never had a father. Neither did I, so I understand a little better than most. But thats where the discipline comes from in most families. Most son's have a father figure to emulate. I was missing that part, and I assume Cousins was as well. I was a very angry young man. I got into fights for little reason. I slammed the front door of our house so hard it came off the hinges. It took me a while to figure out that I had the problem, and not the rest of the world.

Now this isn't about me, but if you care about the team, and the plight of a young 22 year old talented player, then a little understanding is in order. If you don't care, well then there's nothing more that I can say. By the way, Calapari seldom singles out one player to praise. So those comments weren't the norm for him. Everything with Calapari is about the team, and not about the individual.