I went back and reviewed the last sequence in slow motion several times. Was Cousins open? Yes! Would it have been possible to get him the ball? Yes, but anything is possible. If you watch the last play carefully, its obvious that the Thunder wanted the ball to go to Evans and not to Cousins. Durant, who is guarding the inbounds, is slanted between Greene who is inbounding the ball and Cousins, and is leaving any inbound pass open to the perimiter. So, by inbounding the ball to Evans, we, number one, did what the Thunder wanted us to do, and number two, avoided a risky pass to Cousins where the outcome may not have been any different than the one with Evans.
So I don't fault Greene for passing it to Evans. But at the same time, I don't fault Cousins for being angry at the ending of the sequence. He was clearly being held by Collison on the inbounds. Collison had his arm locked around Cousins left arm. Cousins was fouled again by Collison who once again was holding Cousins when he was trying for the putback after Tyreke's missed shot. I do however fault Cousins for taking it out on his teammates. What I don't understand is the possible supension and the entire incident being blown out of porportion.
Tony Allen and O.J. Mayo got into a near brawl on an airplane, and neither were suspended. And maybe Cousins won't either. Apparently Cisco pleaded with management to let Cousins remain with the team and let the team work it out, and his requests were denied. These kind of things happen more often than people think. I had plenty of confrontations in my time. I called people out. Sometimes I was wrong, and it was in the heat of battle. But it happens. And in most cases, if left to the people involved, they almost always kiss and make up. And in some cases, the bond becomes stronger between teammates.
Cousins was clearly wrong. What I don't understand is why everything he does has to make the national news, where he is the convenient whipping boy. There are ways to get the message across to him without public embarassment to both him and the franchise. The Oakland A's during the days of Sal Bando and Reggie Jackson were famous for locker room brawls between one another. But no one cared because when they took the field, they won. It was just boys being boys. Or at least that was the perception was at the time.
I agree with Cisco. I would have let the players settle it amongst themselves. Maybe when Cousins looks at the game film and realizes that he played one of his poorest games of the year, he'll have a different take on the entire thing. If I were Greene, and I had to choose between Evans and Cousins on that play, I think I would have been leaning toward Evans myself. At the same time, I admire the fire in Cousins, and I don't think he's a selfish player as someone else stated. I just think he wants to win. But that takes more than having fire in the belly. A bull in a china shop has that. At least there's never a dull moment.
I will say this. If Cousins doesn't play tonight, my interest in watching is diminished. Oh I'll still watch, it just won't be as much fun. I guess that means, regardless of everything, he has fan appeal. He just has to be carefull he doesn't wear it out.
