Sammy has been playing well, Cousins, who has been a turnover factory and not-so-coincidentally not as dynamic w/o Evans, will come off the bench. Makes sense to me. This worked well earlier in the year.
Uhhh, sorry Spike it hasn't.. Cousins hasn't played nearly as well off the bench as he has when he's started. And thats not just a personal opinion, but all the stats confirm it. Now that has nothing to do with how the team has played, just Cousins. He is, or he is not, the future of the team. If he is, then you need to develop him, without losing him. I watched Calapari and how he handled Cousins. When he made a mistake, and I'm assuming it was a mistake that Calapari had on his list of mistakes not to make, Calapari would almost immediately jerk him from the game. But he would also make him sit right next to him and he would talk to him. And after 3 or 4 minutes, he would send him back into the game.
Cousins is a bright, but emotional guy. He's one of those guys that needs to know why, what and where. He seems to accept punishment as long as he knows the reason why. He needs to know what he did wrong. Its very hard to be a head coach. Your dealing with a lot of different personalities, and they all require a different approach. There are people that you need to hit squarely between the eyes, and there are others that just being pointed at, is enough. What you don't want to do is hit the guy that just needs to be pointed at, between the eye's.
Its not about discipline. I'm fine with that. And its not about pampering. I'm not encouraging that. I'm saying that every player is an individual, and that one method can't be used for all. Don't get me wrong. The same rules should apply for all, but the method of discipline and how its administered can't be. Well it can, but if it is, you'll start to lose the respect of those your in charge of.. Metaporically speaking, you don't use a bomb to kill and ant, and you don't spray mace in the face of a grizzley bear. And sometimes, ants come in bear's clothing. Thats why its a tough job.
