Cousins is Mentally Weak

[The_Jamal]

Sheesh. What a thread.

I think there are a lot of over-generalizations being made by a few posters on each side of the argument. In reality, I think 95% of the board at least is in the same boat with regards to Cousins: We're sick of his on-court antics, but understand he's still young and the best chance we have to become a winning franchise again.

 

[King Baller]

I have watched the replay a few times and whatever Dunleavy is doing does not look like a basketball move. It looked more like a cut block from football.

Cousins should not have thrown the elbow, he should have dunked the ball as often as possible. If he had scored 40 that would have been a reckoning heard all over the association. "Don't rough up DMC, he will score 40 on your head."

KB

 

[Chupacabra]

Your a funny guy! No matter what Cousins does, you never give him the benefit of the doubt, but you'll give Dunleavy the benefit of the doubt. You'll give anyone involved in any incident with Cousins the benefit of the doubt.

The term for it is "trolling".

 

[mac]

That's what he does with just about every post and he has a lot of minions here that take his words as though he is God. When you take the minority side on this site you get personally attacked and ridiculed.

for the record, I think is is YOU who started personally attacking people, calling them horrible human beings and what not, and saying others don't have integrity. Nobody personally attacked you just because you dislike DMC

 

[Sac.1989]

Demarcus boogie cousins needs to:

1) discover god/women/the weight room/anger management classes - anything to mellow him out
2) get a class coach and a stable environment
2.1) get a vet big to mentor him/lay down the law

 

[KingMilz]

Any news on if hes been suspended? I have looked around and it says they still waiting for the NBA to take action.

 

[Dime Dropper]

Go ahead a ban me. I obviously don't belong here. So long everybody.

Hallelujah. Please, please, please don't come back. Apart from attacking people and embarrassing yourself, you don't do anything.

 

[mac]

Any news on if hes been suspended? I have looked around and it says they still waiting for the NBA to take action.

Somehow the NBA ALWAYS only tells us like 2 hours prior to our next game. We could have a week off and they'd tell us 2 hours before tip off.

 

[Tyndel]

For me it comes down to the initial reaction... On my part. My first thought was is that a career ender?

This is how serious a bump it was for me and that is why if I were in a position to do it I would have kept Cousins out a few minutes and replaced him with someone who has cousins back with the remark that I don't really care if he gets kicked this game. We, of all fans, should be aware how fragile the knees are. Of course I am biased as my knee was torn up in a similar way but by a friend and totally unintended.

Leadership comes in many ways you have leaders lead by example you have leaders only in the position because they are super talents and lack the normal qualities associated with leaders. You have guys who win the trust of their teammates like say Cisco who don't super excel but people trust they understand what team means. You have leaders pushed into the position and leaders who carve it out by force of will. Leaders sometimes have to be made molded into what they will become and someone has to do that molding. Right now we are just letting the clay sit there in a lump and it's about to go into the fire. It could be a great piece of art or a useful piece of tableware or even a sharp tool but instead lets fire it as a lump of potential and send it down the line. Our next draft pick will save us right? Lins and all that...

/disgusting

I will admit I turned off the tv after Cousins was kicked. At this point I am just waiting for ownership news and hoping to see our young guys mainly Cousins make strides in-spite of the leadership. Sounds like I missed a good game but the disloyalty this franchise shows from the owners down to the fans is off putting. Team mates stick together and have each others back even if that means you hold your team mate back or stop him from doing something stupid. Only a few guys left on the squad that I trust would jump with me if I needed it(and was a teammate) and Cousins is likely one of them.

 

[Kingster]

He's no tough guy, that's for sure. Tough mentally strong players don't lose focus on the game. They continue to concentrate on what they need to do to win. They don't lose their composure and get kicked out of games or pout and commit silly fouls and let their team down. That's not what mentally strong players do; that's what mentally weak players do. And Cousins fits the bill. So let's not even go down this path in describing Cousins as anything other than mentally weak. That's what he's demonstrated himself to be for three years now. And I don't buy this idea that a great GM and coach is going to transform him. That's just wishful thinking. He's got an entire universe of people around him telling him to not lose his cool and keep his emotions under check. It's done no good. Only Cousins can change Cousins.

The new owners are going to have that happy problem to solve. The new owners won't have the same investment as the Magoofs or Petrie. If they don't want the Cousins' drama as the face of their new franchise, they can cut their losses before the first game. Or they might think that they have what it takes to change Cousins, which to my way of thinking is a fool's errand. More than likely, Cousins is going to need to get traded - once, twice, or thrice before the shock of having the door slammed in his face wakes him up to a new reality.

 

[bajaden]

He's no tough guy, that's for sure. Tough mentally strong players don't lose focus on the game. They continue to concentrate on what they need to do to win. They don't lose their composure and get kicked out of games or pout and commit silly fouls and let their team down. That's not what mentally strong players do; that's what mentally weak players do. And Cousins fits the bill. So let's not even go down this path in describing Cousins as anything other than mentally weak. That's what he's demonstrated himself to be for three years now. And I don't buy this idea that a great GM and coach is going to transform him. That's just wishful thinking. He's got an entire universe of people around him telling him to not lose his cool and keep his emotions under check. It's done no good. Only Cousins can change Cousins.

The new owners are going to have that happy problem to solve. The new owners won't have the same investment as the Magoofs or Petrie. If they don't want the Cousins' drama as the face of their new franchise, they can cut their losses before the first game. Or they might think that they have what it takes to change Cousins, which to my way of thinking is a fool's errand. More than likely, Cousins is going to need to get traded - once, twice, or thrice before the shock of having the door slammed in his face wakes him up to a new reality.

Well, I guess thats it. He's a doomed young man at age 22. They should probably just throw him in jail right now and save everyone futher misery. Everyone knows of course that if you don't have it together by age 22, your pretty much done as human being. They probably should have thrown me in jail as well at that age. I will agree with one thing. Only Cousins can change Cousins. But you know what, thats more likely to happen when he's surrounded by high charactor people and in a system thats set up to help develop players, and run by a good coach. A good coach helps prevent a young man like Cousins from getting into those situations.

When his temper flared at Kentucky, his butt was on the bench getting a good talking to from Calapari, and he didn't go right back into the game. That was the dumbest thing Smart could've done. If he sits Cuz and lets him cool for five minutes, none of this happens. Yes, Cousins is still responsible, but it all could have been avoided, and should have been. And Cousins is going nowhere. Billionaires didn't become billionaires by being stupid.

 

[KingMilz]

At the end of the day fans need a player to blame on every team for being a "cancer" even if its not true when I read stuff about other teams there is always a player that has to be traded cause of there attitude and blah blah blah.

Heres a list of a few that fans consistantly moan right now (there to many to name from the past) and call them stat padders/cancers/they have to be traded and you name it
Toronto - Andrea Bargnani :
Suns - M Beasley
76ers - Evan Turner
Lakers - This season they have RIPPED Dwight apart calling him everything
Net: Joe Johnson
Pistons: Rodney Stuckey
Atlanta: Josh Smith (very similar to Cousins)
Memphis: Rudy Gay (before the trade)
Bucks: Jennings/Ellis
Kevin Love: called a stat padder and the rest of it
Knicks: Amare


and there probably a few I forget, problem is dumbass fans think by getting rid of one player things are magically going to turn around and the team is going to become amazing which never works you ethier need to clean it all out or get really lucky with a masterful draft pick. Most the players on that list are extremely talented who might not have fully lived up to the hype but are very productive players. There really no need to get rid of Cousins unless he himself says he wants out, it just fans need to vent when they don't have Lebron James and Dwyane Wade and it always has to be that one guy who causes all the problems and is the reason the organisation is not moving forward.

Than when they do get traded/leave and most the time they get garbage in return they complain about the lack of talent until they hit the jackpot in the lottery or pick up one of these guys who are called "cancers". Kings are no different to any other non elite team in this sense and its something I guess you kinda have to accept even if they are completely wrong.

 

[Padrino]

At the end of the day fans need a player to blame on every team for being a "cancer" even if its not true when I read stuff about other teams there is always a player that has to be traded cause of there attitude and blah blah blah.

Heres a list of a few that fans consistantly moan right now (there to many to name from the past) and call them stat padders/cancers/they have to be traded and you name it
Toronto - Andrea Bargnani :
Suns - M Beasley
76ers - Evan Turner
Lakers - This season they have RIPPED Dwight apart calling him everything
Net: Joe Johnson
Pistons: Rodney Stuckey
Atlanta: Josh Smith (very similar to Cousins)
Memphis: Rudy Gay (before the trade)
Bucks: Jennings/Ellis
Kevin Love: called a stat padder and the rest of it
Knicks: Amare


and there probably a few I forget, problem is dumbass fans think by getting rid of one player things are magically going to turn around and the team is going to become amazing which never works you ethier need to clean it all out or get really lucky with a masterful draft pick. Most the players on that list are extremely talented who might not have fully lived up to the hype but are very productive players. There really no need to get rid of Cousins unless he himself says he wants out, it just fans need to vent when they don't have Lebron James and Dwyane Wade and it always has to be that one guy who causes all the problems and is the reason the organisation is not moving forward.

Than when they do get traded/leave and most the time they get garbage in return they complain about the lack of talent until they hit the jackpot in the lottery or pick up one of these guys who are called "cancers". Kings are no different to any other non elite team in this sense and its something I guess you kinda have to accept even if they are completely wrong.

among the players you listed, dwight howard and kevin love are the only legitimate superstars, and those two players aren't going anywhere if their respective teams have anything to say about it. howard and love may eventually take matters into their own hands and move on in free agency or through trade demand, of course, but both are franchise cornerstones that you surround with complementary talent. you just don't trade them in their primes unless they're attempting to force their way out of town. as for the rest, joe johnson and rudy gay are second tier talents. smith, jennings, and ellis are third tier. amare's washed up. the rest are barely worth a mention, especially in the same breath as demarcus cousins...

point is, talent evaluation in the nba is paramount to success, particularly in a small market. and young, unproven, talented players are among the greatest assets you can compile in this league if you don't happen to have lebron james signed to a multi-year contract. when that young unproven talent is of a special variety--in the "superstar" class of potential--i don't care what other labels you throw at the guy. cancer. stat-padder. good-player-on-a-bad-team. it doesn't matter. the only tag that does matter is "superstar," because those are the players that help teams win championships. you only get to put five guys out on the court at a time in the sport of basketball. often, its one guy who can make all the difference. we call those impact players. they change the entire complexion of a single game just by being on the court (or off the court)...

and demarcus cousins, while not yet a "superstar," is already an impact player. during the milwaukee game, he was dominant to the tune of 24 pts (10-12 shooting) and 10 rebs before the third quarter was even over. the kings had the lead at that time. then he was called for a flagrant 2 and ejected. the kings would swiftly lose the lead after his ejection, and would eventually lose the game. his impact off the court was felt. on that note, when tyreke evans was inserted back into the game, there was also a notable and positive impact on the kings' comeback attempt at the end of the fourth quarter. 'reke's a playmaker who likewise has the ability to make a tremendous difference on the court, though to a lesser degree than demarcus...

in fact, the box score from the milwaukee game tells you all you need to know about the dynamics of star talent. demarcus cousins: 24 pts/10 rebs, +2 on the court. tyreke evans: 20 pts/5 reb/3 asts, +9 on the court. every other kings starter either pulled a zero impact +/- or a negative impact +/-, isaiah thomas being the worst at a -7, as he was in napoleanic mode. but when you allow your best players room to shine, good things happen in this league. both cousins and evans were dominant in the kings' single most competitive game this season: the double-OT loss at miami. yes, it was a loss, but it was an extremely competitive loss on the home court of the league's defending champion, who happen to feature the league's best player by a wide margin. though they did not play perfect games, DMC and 'reke were allowed to shine, and good things happened. if demarcus blossoms into a superstar-level talent with the proper guidance, good things will happen. if 'reke is given the opportunity to be a true second option with the proper guidance, good things will happen...

of course, as we all know, the only thing in demarcus' way is demarcus. but don't tell me for one second that a quality ownership group, a quality management team, and a quality coaching staff can't assist demarcus in getting out of his own way, as opposed to our pee poor excuse for owners, our dazed and confused gm, and our self-sabotaging coaching staff. bring in the right people, surround demarcus with some veteran talent, and all of a sudden your unstable, emotional, potential superstar has a much better chance of growing into a consistent, passionate, actual superstar...

 

[Kingster]

Well, I guess thats it. He's a doomed young man at age 22. They should probably just throw him in jail right now and save everyone futher misery. Everyone knows of course that if you don't have it together by age 22, your pretty much done as human being. They probably should have thrown me in jail as well at that age. I will agree with one thing. Only Cousins can change Cousins. But you know what, thats more likely to happen when he's surrounded by high charactor people and in a system thats set up to help develop players, and run by a good coach. A good coach helps prevent a young man like Cousins from getting into those situations.

When his temper flared at Kentucky, his butt was on the bench getting a good talking to from Calapari, and he didn't go right back into the game. That was the dumbest thing Smart could've done. If he sits Cuz and lets him cool for five minutes, none of this happens. Yes, Cousins is still responsible, but it all could have been avoided, and should have been. And Cousins is going nowhere. Billionaires didn't become billionaires by being stupid.

Getting traded isn't dooming anyone. He'll still be playing a great game for millions. So where is the doom? If a guy gets fired from his first job do you think that dooms him for life? Hardly. It could be an excellent learning experience for him if it happens. Sometimes new surrounding allows for a young guy to transform himself a lot easier than staying in the same environment and acting out the same old bad habits. It can be conducive to breaking the old bad habits and forming a new identity of sorts.

I'm fairly skeptical that the the methods used at Kentucky are transferable to the NBA. At Kentucky he hasn't been drafted and he doesn't have a guaranteed contract for millions. He has no leverage. Different story in the NBA. That's why he hasn't been suspended for the weeks or months. And I don't think that even the pinky finger should be pointed at Smart in this. It's hard enough being an NBA basketball coach, much less doing a mind-read on Cousins. There's always the issue of on the one hand giving Cousins some rope so that he can go through the learning process of getting a hold of his emotions, and on the other hand of pulling back the reins before he goes bonkers. It's a guessing game, and sometimes you're just going to guess wrong.

 

[Padrino]

Getting traded isn't dooming anyone. He'll still be playing a great game for millions. So where is the doom? If a guy gets fired from his first job do you think that dooms him for life? Hardly. It could be an excellent learning experience for him if it happens. Sometimes new surrounding allows for a young guy to transform himself a lot easier than staying in the same environment and acting out the same old bad habits. It can be conducive to breaking the old bad habits and forming a new identity of sorts.

I'm fairly skeptical that the the methods used at Kentucky are transferable to the NBA. At Kentucky he hasn't been drafted and he doesn't have a guaranteed contract for millions. He has no leverage. Different story in the NBA. That's why he hasn't been suspended for the weeks or months. And I don't think that even the pinky finger should be pointed at Smart in this. It's hard enough being an NBA basketball coach, much less doing a mind-read on Cousins. There's always the issue of on the one hand giving Cousins some rope so that he can go through the learning process of getting a hold of his emotions, and on the other hand of pulling back the reins before he goes bonkers. It's a guessing game, and sometimes you're just going to guess wrong.

you're right about it being a guessing game, but who do you like better in this hypothetical situation: keith smart, an inexperienced head coach who has shown little acumen for turning his tutelage under gregg popovich and others into wins, or, say, rick adelman, a head coach who has significant experience coaching malcontents of all shapes and sizes? not only that, someone like rick adelman has significant experience maximizing the talents of players with unique skill sets. he also has considerable experience with lineup shifts that result from major injury, so when he's missing key player(s), he knows how to make the necessary adjustments. such experience is useful when, for example, DMC is in foul trouble, or is ejected from a game. RA knows how to adapt. keith smart, quite simply, does not...

overall, wouldn't you say that an experienced player's coach like RA has a better chance of getting through to demarcus than an inexperienced and unsuccessful coach like keith smart? now, i'm not suggesting that new ownership is going to be able to pry rick adelman away from minnesota this offseason, but, should the future kings/sonics organization acquire a capable head coach who has the right kind of experience (and there's more than one "right kind of experience," for the record), as well as a capable gm who knows how to bring in the right kind of complementary talent (likewise there's more than one "right kind of complementary talent"), i'd say the vegas odds are sliding in the kings' favor with respect to aiding demarcus in accessing the greatest depths of his potential...

this is why it's such a watershed moment in sacramento kings history, and why i am so forcefully insistent upon retaining demarcus cousins into '13-'14. should mastrov/burkle successfully purchase the kings, it is quite likely that they will commit to a firesale of the kings organization. everything must go, from the top down, except perhaps your most unique talents on the court, namely DMC and tyreke. you could also very convincingly characterize such an overhaul as "a fresh start," the new kind of environment and new kind of culture that you've already suggested might be conducive to helping demarcus find the necessary room to grow, thrive, and get out from beneath the burden of his bad habits. if demarcus was third-tier nba talent, it'd hardly be worth the trouble. but because he's got elite-level talent and superstar potential, it's worth the risk to see if his attitude comes around under significantly-improved circumstances...

 

[Darth Divac]

Demarcus boogie cousins needs to:

1) discover god/women/the weight room/anger management classes - anything to mellow him out
2) get a class coach and a stable environment
2.1) get a vet big to mentor him/lay down the law

He already has a girl, so that won't work.........hmmmmmm.

 

[Kingster]

you're right about it being a guessing game, but who do you like better in this hypothetical situation: keith smart, an inexperienced head coach who has shown little acumen for turning his tutelage under gregg popovich and others into wins, or, say, rick adelman, a head coach who has significant experience coaching malcontents of all shapes and sizes? not only that, someone like rick adelman has significant experience maximizing the talents of players with unique skill sets. he also has considerable experience with lineup shifts that result from major injury, so when he's missing key player(s), he knows how to make the necessary adjustments. such experience is useful when, for example, DMC is in foul trouble, or is ejected from a game. RA knows how to adapt. keith smart, quite simply, does not...

overall, wouldn't you say that an experienced player's coach like RA has a better chance of getting through to demarcus than an inexperienced and unsuccessful coach like keith smart? now, i'm not suggesting that new ownership is going to be able to pry rick adelman away from minnesota this offseason, but, should the future kings/sonics organization acquire a capable head coach who has the right kind of experience (and there's more than one "right kind of experience," for the record), as well as a capable gm who knows how to bring in the right kind of complementary talent (likewise there's more than one "right kind of complementary talent"), i'd say the vegas odds are sliding in the kings' favor with respect to aiding demarcus in accessing the greatest depths of his potential...

this is why it's such a watershed moment in sacramento kings history, and why i am so forcefully insistent upon retaining demarcus cousins into '13-'14. should mastrov/burkle successfully purchase the kings, it is quite likely that they will commit to a firesale of the kings organization. everything must go, from the top down, except perhaps your most unique talents on the court, namely DMC and tyreke. you could also very convincingly characterize such an overhaul as "a fresh start," a new kind of environment and a new kind of culture in which demarcus might find the necessary room to grow, thrive, and get out from beneath the burden of his bad habits. if demarcus was third-tier nba talent, it'd hardly be worth the trouble. but because he's got elite-level talent and superstar potential, it's worth the risk to see if his attitude comes around under significantly-improved circumstances...

In answer to your question, Adelman would be no better than Smart, given the current ownership situation. He'd have the same leverage as Smart - little to none. And I don't think his rhetorical skill would make a bit of difference to Cousins. You could make Shakespear the coach and Cousins would still do his thing. Popovitch is a different story altogether because he runs the entire show in SA. He's the president and the coach. So he literally speaks with one voice and there's nobody for Cousins or his agent to run to in that situation. It's the Pop way or the highway. Also, Cousins would have to contend with a strong team culture and strong players in Duncan and Parker and the rest. The SA and Kings situations are entirely different. That's why it's so tough to draft a guy like Cousins into a weak culture like the Kings. So yeah, if the new owners hire Popovitch as their new president and coach, and bring Duncan and Parker along with, that could improve Cousins' chances. I just doubt that kind of team transformation is going to occur.

By the way, I'd love to see the new ownership group do something like what happened in SA - find the right guy and give him the reins to management and coaching. That way the coach can't consistently get undercut in his dealings with players. The organization then speaks with one voice. (There were definitely indications in the last blowup that Smart got "the word" to bring Cousins back sooner than he wanted, hence undercutting his authority). It takes a lot of guts, though, to make that commitment to one guy. If they did something like that, and they did make more changes to bring in very strong good experienced vets , it's possible that it could make a positive impact on Cousins. I just think that's a remote chance at this point.

 

[Darth Divac]

(Random) When I get to 50 posts, I will do a full profile makeover, just like you've all been waiting for. I'll have a siggy, avatar, funny exclamation, you name it.

 

[SCKingsfan]

if demarcus was third-tier nba talent, it'd hardly be worth the trouble. but because he's got elite-level talent and superstar potential, it's worth the risk to see if his attitude comes around under significantly-improved circumstances...

I think this is what most of us are looking at. If, under new and improved circumstances, he continues with team-damaging actions, then sure, cut him loose. Put him in a working environment that is actually structured toward winning, and my hope (and sense, really) is that he'll come around and learn to focus his passion and anger better.

 

[Warhawk]

In answer to your question, Adelman would be no better than Smart, given the current ownership situation.

I disagree. RA would be head and shoulders a better coach for any team than Smart. I don't even see how that is debatable given our experiences with both of them.

 

[Padrino]

In answer to your question, Adelman would be no better than Smart, given the current ownership situation. He'd have the same leverage as Smart - little to none. And I don't think his rhetorical skill would make a bit of difference to Cousins. You could make Shakespear the coach and Cousins would still do his thing. Popovitch is a different story altogether because he runs the entire show in SA. He's the president and the coach. So he literally speaks with one voice and there's nobody for Cousins or his agent to run to in that situation. It's the Pop way or the highway. Also, Cousins would have to contend with a strong team culture and strong players in Duncan and Parker and the rest. The SA and Kings situations are entirely different. That's why it's so tough to draft a guy like Cousins into a weak culture like the Kings. So yeah, if the new owners hire Popovitch as their new president and coach, and bring Duncan and Parker along with, that could improve Cousins' chances. I just doubt that kind of team transformation is going to occur.

By the way, I'd love to see the new ownership group do something like what happened in SA - find the right guy and give him the reins to management and coaching. That way the coach can't consistently get undercut in his dealings with players. The organization then speaks with one voice. (There were definitely indications in the last blowup that Smart got "the word" to bring Cousins back sooner than he wanted, hence undercutting his authority). It takes a lot of guts, though, to make that commitment to one guy. If they did something like that, and they did make more changes to bring in very strong good experienced vets , it's possible that it could make a positive impact on Cousins. I just think that's a remote chance at this point.

i don't think you need one guy to have complete control as with popovich to find sustained success. the kings of the early 2000's are in fact a wonderful example of organizational synergy from ownership on down. back then, the maloofs were willing to pay, they gave control to their gm to construct the team as he saw fit, the gm understood what players the head coach needed in order to succeed, and the players bought into the coach's philosophy. you need synergy as a franchise, and the kings haven't had it since the maloofs forced the webber trade and started taking a more hands-on approach to the management of their team...

beyond that, i take serious issue with your position that a perfect storm scenario a la san antonio is the only thing that will maybe, possibly get through to cousins. people are so effing melodramatic with respect to demarcus' shortcomings it's ridiculous. he's an extremely talented but immature young player whose career needs some massaging from an experienced and talented organization. that's all. geezus, you'd think the kid was an impressionable charles manson type or something...

 

[Glenn]

I see Cousins sat out of practice because of a knee injury. Cousins view of what happened seemed a little outrageous yet not impossible. Smart was asked what his opinion was and he said he couldn't take sides. Petrie was appropriately critical. I presume Petrie is not concerned about Cousins' knee.

Smart can't take sides!! I kinda knew that. I guess no one finds Dunleavy's role in this very interesting but don't you take action against a guy who has injured your star athlete's knee? Shouldn't the NBA?

Never mind, thinking has stopped.

 

[Spike]

I see that as another organizational issues. Of course Smart can take sides! You want to show your players that you've got their back, or else they're not going to battle for you. It's good business to publicly praise, and criticize privately. For some reason, the current organization seems to not know that.

 

[Glenn]

I see that as another organizational issues. Of course Smart can take sides! You want to show your players that you've got their back, or else they're not going to battle for you. It's good business to publicly praise, and criticize privately. For some reason, the current organization seems to not know that.

Yes. A flustercluck right in our backyard. Smart is the anti-Harbaugh who publicly will state that all his players are all stars and perfect human beings.

 

[Bricklayer]

In answer to your question, Adelman would be no better than Smart, given the current ownership situation. He'd have the same leverage as Smart - little to none. And I don't think his rhetorical skill would make a bit of difference to Cousins.

Adleman has reached player after player after player and its not a question of "leverage". That's still pointless fan talk again. The same "oh we'll teach these grown men to respect their boss/betters via force!!" nonsense. Not how it works. And not, BTW, how it works at the high end of any profession. You reach a certain level its about trust and respect. And as they say, respect is earned. You can't just slap the nametag "boss" on some random schmo and expect him/her to carry legitimate authority. On the other hand, Pat Riley walks through that door and you give him a mop and blue jumper and call him janitor and he still carries respect with him.

In Smart's case, he has no authority but that stemming from higher up in the organization. When nobody trusts the higher ups, then there is no authority at any level. In the case of a major proven winner who has repeatedly shown the ability to communicate and reach players of all ilks, they carry their respect and authority around with themselves. People don't listen to Adelman because Kahn has his back. They listen to Adelman because he's Adelman and has 1000 career wins.

 

[Kingster]

i don't think you need one guy to have complete control as with popovich to find sustained success. the kings of the early 2000's are in fact a wonderful example of organizational synergy from ownership on down. back then, the maloofs were willing to pay, they gave control to their gm to construct the team as he saw fit, the gm understood what players the head coach needed in order to succeed, and the players bought into the coach's philosophy. you need synergy as a franchise, and the kings haven't had it since the maloofs forced the webber trade and started taking a more hands-on approach to the management of their team...

beyond that, i take serious issue with your position that a perfect storm scenario a la san antonio is the only thing that will maybe, possibly get through to cousins. people are so effing melodramatic with respect to demarcus' shortcomings it's ridiculous. he's an extremely talented but immature young player whose career needs some massaging from an experienced and talented organization. that's all. geezus, you'd think the kid was an impressionable charles manson type or something...

I don't minimize all the Cousins' outbursts, from the practice and lockeroom incidents to the on the court drama. I doubt the new owners will either, especially if they are the ones who have to pay him. You may think he needs some "massaging." After three years of seeing the Cousins drama I think he needs more than that.

 

[Kingster]

Adleman has reached player after player after player and its not a question of "leverage". That's still pointless fan talk again. The same "oh we'll teach these grown men to respect their boss/betters via force!!" nonsense. Not how it works. And not, BTW, how it works at the high end of any profession. You reach a certain level its about trust and respect. And as they say, respect is earned. You can't just slap the nametag "boss" on some random schmo and expect him/her to carry legitimate authority. On the other hand, Pat Riley walks through that door and you give him a mop and blue jumper and call him janitor and he still carries respect with him.

In Smart's case, he has no authority but that stemming from higher up in the organization. When nobody trusts the higher ups, then there is no authority at any level. In the case of a major proven winner who has repeatedly shown the ability to communicate and reach players of all ilks, they carry their respect and authority around with themselves. People don't listen to Adelman because Kahn has his back. They listen to Adelman because he's Adelman and has 1000 career wins.

Great. You think that the name Adelman is going to inspire trust and respect? That Cousins will miracously be cured by the HOFer coach Adelman? Please. I can see the smirk on Cousins face when Adelman tries to talk some sense in him. This thinking that Adelman would be the silver bullet is pure fantasy.

 

[Glenn]

I don't minimize all the Cousins' outbursts, from the practice and lockeroom incidents to the on the court drama. I doubt the new owners will either, especially if they are the ones who have to pay him. You may think he needs some "massaging." After three years of seeing the Cousins drama I think he needs more than that.

You seem satisfied with mediocrity because if Cousins leaves, that will be our goal. We aren't there yet. With Cousins we can go higher. There are no guarantees but this franchise can be on the cusp of a big change and I don't think dumping Cousins to teach him a lesson or for whatever reason will do anything to help this team. I certainly will lose interest in the team. If the organization doesn't care about the sports fan, they will do what you wish. Then they can scratch their collective heads about how to get people to buy tickets.

 

[Darth Divac]

Why don't we trade Tyreke for DJ Mbenga while we're at it...Pretty much sums up this thread.

 

[Bricklayer]

He's no tough guy, that's for sure. Tough mentally strong players don't lose focus on the game. They continue to concentrate on what they need to do to win. They don't lose their composure and get kicked out of games or pout and commit silly fouls and let their team down. That's not what mentally strong players do; that's what mentally weak players do. And Cousins fits the bill. So let's not even go down this path in describing Cousins as anything other than mentally weak. That's what he's demonstrated himself to be for three years now. And I don't buy this idea that a great GM and coach is going to transform him. That's just wishful thinking. He's got an entire universe of people around him telling him to not lose his cool and keep his emotions under check. It's done no good. Only Cousins can change Cousins.

The new owners are going to have that happy problem to solve. The new owners won't have the same investment as the Magoofs or Petrie. If they don't want the Cousins' drama as the face of their new franchise, they can cut their losses before the first game. Or they might think that they have what it takes to change Cousins, which to my way of thinking is a fool's errand. More than likely, Cousins is going to need to get traded - once, twice, or thrice before the shock of having the door slammed in his face wakes him up to a new reality.

Mentally weak guy #1 and #2:

Mentally weak guys #3 and #4:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0vCaZkULds


Mentally weak = in the HOF apparently.


Now mind you that on a personal level I DO think its mentally weak. My own philsophy runs deeply defensive. I have played every sport, card game, computer game and anything else in life defense first. I am well aware I absolutely despise losing far more than I like winning. I actually look down upon people who like winning as weak minded glory hounds. I am out there to prevent you from winning, to drain all joy of life and the game out of you. To grind you down into a 0-0 war of wills, which I will win when you quit. And you will quit. And so that spills over into incidents. I would never never NEVER allow somebody to provoke me like Cousins does, because that is precisely what they wanted to accomplish. Hence they provoke me = me losing. And I don't like to lose. So whatever they want to me to do, I don't do. That is my ornery and its a defining trait. And so when Cousins responds it IS mentally weak in my book. And so was it when Larry Bird responded, or Alonzo Mourning responded, or any of them.

And you know what? It didn't really matter. Cousins will have to clean up his act. I would love to infuse him with a little of my own philosophy. beat them down and demoralize them on court = your revenge. But being "mentally weak" in that he can't control his temper and goes off does not clearly distinguish him from any number of HOF level players who played right on the edge. The important trait is not the "mental weakness", its the having the fire in the first place. If the fire is there, then so is the potential for greatness. Not being able to always keep a lid on it is a defect, but its a sidelight, and one that naturally corrects to some degree with age.