Demarcus Cousins Headcase Story

[Spike]

When did I say that? It's a little over the top to let little things like that get to a player like him.

Why a player like him and not anyone else? He's still a college kid - we tend to want to mature those who play a game just because they're in the public spotlight. Some were mature at 4 yrs old, some are still kids at 18. He was doing what a normal 18 yr old would do in that situation. If anything, you're lucky he didn't fill a cup and throw it at you or anything. THEN that would be a story. When I was that age, I was dancing behind the FT line at bball games while the opposing team tried to shoot free throws. Ladies can't laugh and shoot free throws at the same time, but that's another story.
Kids will be kids.

 

[bajaden]

When did I say that? It's a little over the top to let little things like that get to a player like him.

\

As long as he doesn't let these little things affect him on the court, and doesn't break the law off the court, I could care less. I think you have to ask yourself what was your motivation for starting this thread. You've already admitted that your wording might have been just a wee bit strong. And if so, why? If your goal was merely to get responses, then well done! Perhaps not the responses you wanted though.

 

[Arco Arena]

Definitely not a headcase or anything close to it.

He was probably feeling horrible after getting eliminated, and here comes you and your brother provoking him.

What reaction did you expect? Him to just take it and start crying?

I think it was pretty funny what he did. He didn't lay a finger on you guys. He didn't say/do anything explicit. All in all his reaction was pretty PG rated, yet he still managed to scared you and your brother to the point that you guys were shaking. lol.

 

[hammystyle]

When did I say that? It's a little over the top to let little things like that get to a player like him.

You didn't get to him. He got to you. Pretty well I might add since you still don't get it.

 

[Gary]

Sorry but I am not buying this whole story from the OP.. It does not sound anything like what a normal person would do, and even IF a normal person did this it should have not been taken seriously. Kind of a stupid thing to report on. I still want Cousins too.

 

[Gary]

I don't know about the story, but I've watched a few Kentucky games, and I've seen too many where he and the coach are getting into it. Red flag warning. He's emotionally immature. And he's going to get into foul trouble a lot in my opinion in the NBA, especially in his early years. Foul trouble and emotionally immature spells trouble. It could be a Thompson situation squared.

OK... I call BS on this.. There has not been anything outside that game where he took a shot and then stood back up like "WHAT?!" where I thought he could blow his top and get into some trouble (which he ended up walking away). Calipari, and Cousins had a great camaraderie and they were often seen on the sidelines joking around, and even giving each other "noogies". He was supposedly a headcase or "potential" headcase going into college but he has proved EVERYONE wrong this year that thought so, and there is no worries from me at all.

 

[Gary]

I can't imagine anyone using a palm punch thingy as a real threat and not as a joke.

LOL yah.. After all those MSU fans were crank calling him even using the worst word you could ever use to a black man he stated he started just taking the calls and would talk with them for a bit. Now that's funny..

It's documented that he does have a sense of humor.. Look at his hats and glasses!!! He's supposedly a funny guy.. I have never met him, but if I saw him doing what he did to the OP I would laugh my butt off. Even more so if it actually made the OP and his friend "scared shaking" lol.

 

[Gary]

OK... I call BS on this.. There has not been anything outside that game where he took a shot and then stood back up like "WHAT?!" where I thought he could blow his top and get into some trouble (which he ended up walking away). Calipari, and Cousins had a great camaraderie and they were often seen on the sidelines joking around, and even giving each other "noogies". He was supposedly a headcase or "potential" headcase going into college but he has proved EVERYONE wrong this year that thought so, and there is no worries from me at all.

Wanted to add the tweet from Calapari..

"Congrats to DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall for being named to the John Wooden Award All-American Team. You both deserved it!"

Calapari has had nothing but good things to say about Cousins and Wall. I think ppl are making things up.

 

[hammystyle]

Wanted to add the tweet from Calapari..

"Congrats to DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall for being named to the John Wooden Award All-American Team. You both deserved it!"

Calapari has had nothing but good things to say about Cousins and Wall. I think ppl are making things up.

Fran Fraschilla: "I remember how unresponsive to coaching he was when he attended the LeBron James Skill Academy the summer before his senior year of high school. I remember it clearly because I was coaching him."

David Thorpe: "I sat there in shock watching him get into at least two verbal spats with Kentucky head coach John Calipari in the Elite Eight. "

It's true that Calipari has been almost entirely complimentary, but he's a salesman as much as a coach. I don't even mean that as a negative, but its just how he does it. He's selling DeMarcus on doing the work for the one year he has them, and he's selling his next batch of recruits on what its like to play with Coach Cal. So while I wouldn't discard his comments, I would take them with a grain of salt.

 

[bajaden]

Fran Fraschilla: "I remember how unresponsive to coaching he was when he attended the LeBron James Skill Academy the summer before his senior year of high school. I remember it clearly because I was coaching him."

David Thorpe: "I sat there in shock watching him get into at least two verbal spats with Kentucky head coach John Calipari in the Elite Eight. "

It's true that Calipari has been almost entirely complimentary, but he's a salesman as much as a coach. I don't even mean that as a negative, but its just how he does it. He's selling DeMarcus on doing the work for the one year he has them, and he's selling his next batch of recruits on what its like to play with Coach Cal. So while I wouldn't discard his comments, I would take them with a grain of salt.

I agree with you. There's no doubt that Cousins reputation preceeded him and to some degree, he lived up to it. He's 19 years old and has a temper. He's immature and does and says things at times that he shouldn't. But, and to me its a big but, Calapari was able to coach him. I saw progress in his game and on court attitude from the first game to the last. Now it may not have been easy at times, but its the results that count.

I think this year is the first year he was actually challenged, by both his coach and by the opposition on the court. I've searched the internet for every piece of information I can find about Cousins. I've yet to read anything about dissention on the team because of him. His teammates all seem to like him. I've seen nothing about offcourt problems. Most of his problems seem to be basketball related. Problems with some of the calls and problems with not wanting to come out of the game at times. In other words, they all seem to be, in the heat of the battle, type of things. Which once again goes back to his immaturity and temper. I never once saw him quit in a game, or give what I thought was a lackadaisical effort. And thats something I would have more concern about than being too passionite.

I'm not saying we should ignore any red flags. But I also think you have to weigh them against the talent he has. Which is substantial. There's always and element of risk with any pick. In his case, maybe a little bit more. But no one doubts his talent. Well maybe Kingster does. Hey, a little dissent is a good thing..

 

[Kingster]

I agree with you. There's no doubt that Cousins reputation preceeded him and to some degree, he lived up to it. He's 19 years old and has a temper. He's immature and does and says things at times that he shouldn't. But, and to me its a big but, Calapari was able to coach him. I saw progress in his game and on court attitude from the first game to the last. Now it may not have been easy at times, but its the results that count.

I think this year is the first year he was actually challenged, by both his coach and by the opposition on the court. I've searched the internet for every piece of information I can find about Cousins. I've yet to read anything about dissention on the team because of him. His teammates all seem to like him. I've seen nothing about offcourt problems. Most of his problems seem to be basketball related. Problems with some of the calls and problems with not wanting to come out of the game at times. In other words, they all seem to be, in the heat of the battle, type of things. Which once again goes back to his immaturity and temper. I never once saw him quit in a game, or give what I thought was a lackadaisical effort. And thats something I would have more concern about than being too passionite.

I'm not saying we should ignore any red flags. But I also think you have to weigh them against the talent he has. Which is substantial. There's always and element of risk with any pick. In his case, maybe a little bit more. But no one doubts his talent. Well maybe Kingster does. Hey, a little dissent is a good thing..

It all depends on where you take him. If we were talking about Wall or Turner having these issues, I could see a reasonable argument about taking either of them at #3. But they are a head above Cousins in talent imo, and therefore taking him at #3 should be, and I believe will be, a non-starter for Kings management. Atypical immaturity is associated with somebody who is uncoachable, believes they are much better than they really are, doesn't take responsibility for his actions, no perspective on his actions, doesn't deal well with authority, impulsivity that can lead to very rash actions, and putting selfish concerns above the team. He's now being somewhat controlled by his desire to get into the NBA. Once he gets into the NBA and has a guaranteed contract, what then? Is he really worth that risk over taking the guy who you currently have at #4?

 

[bajaden]

It all depends on where you take him. If we were talking about Wall or Turner having these issues, I could see a reasonable argument about taking either of them at #3. But they are a head above Cousins in talent imo, and therefore taking him at #3 should be, and I believe will be, a non-starter for Kings management. Atypical immaturity is associated with somebody who is uncoachable, believes they are much better than they really are, doesn't take responsibility for his actions, no perspective on his actions, doesn't deal well with authority, impulsivity that can lead to very rash actions, and putting selfish concerns above the team. He's now being somewhat controlled by his desire to get into the NBA. Once he gets into the NBA and has a guaranteed contract, what then? Is he really worth that risk over taking the guy who you currently have at #4?

Part of my post was to infer that he was coachable. I think your going to the extreme with the A typical. I suspose that a player can be all of those things, but I don't think they all apply to Cousins. My god, there wasn't a constant war going on. For every time he may have lost his temper, there were 20 or 30 times that he was laughing with his teammates or listening to Calipari. I never say him do anything that implied that he was selfish. I'm not quite sure where you coming up with all this. I watched him play over 20 games this year and in all those games I can only think of 2 or 3 times where it was obvious that he was having a problem.

If I thought this guy was a walking volcano waiting to go off I'd say so. I think your blowing this way out of proportion. If you want to see someone thats got red flags waving all around him, just watch Lance Stevenson play sometime. He makes Cousins look like a pussycat.

 

[Kingster]

Part of my post was to infer that he was coachable. I think your going to the extreme with the A typical. I suspose that a player can be all of those things, but I don't think they all apply to Cousins. My god, there wasn't a constant war going on. For every time he may have lost his temper, there were 20 or 30 times that he was laughing with his teammates or listening to Calipari. I never say him do anything that implied that he was selfish. I'm not quite sure where you coming up with all this. I watched him play over 20 games this year and in all those games I can only think of 2 or 3 times where it was obvious that he was having a problem.

If I thought this guy was a walking volcano waiting to go off I'd say so. I think your blowing this way out of proportion. If you want to see someone thats got red flags waving all around him, just watch Lance Stevenson play sometime. He makes Cousins look like a pussycat.

I'm coming up with this from all the smoke that swirling off this guy, as well as my own observations of him on the floor and off the floor (with Calipari).

By the way, Calipari doesn't look to good when he's interviewed in the pre-game of the NCAA championship game and talks about how all his guys are going to the pros. First, who cares? This is college ball. Go do your recruiting on ESPN prior to the draft. Second, who in their right mind believes that he, Calipari, is the one that made them into NBA talents? He really comes off as some self serving sleazy car salesman who cares a lot more about his paycheck than he does the college basketball.

 

[Chupacabra]

Part of my post was to infer that he was coachable. I think your going to the extreme with the A typical. I suspose that a player can be all of those things, but I don't think they all apply to Cousins. My god, there wasn't a constant war going on. For every time he may have lost his temper, there were 20 or 30 times that he was laughing with his teammates or listening to Calipari. I never say him do anything that implied that he was selfish. I'm not quite sure where you coming up with all this. I watched him play over 20 games this year and in all those games I can only think of 2 or 3 times where it was obvious that he was having a problem.

If I thought this guy was a walking volcano waiting to go off I'd say so. I think your blowing this way out of proportion. If you want to see someone thats got red flags waving all around him, just watch Lance Stevenson play sometime. He makes Cousins look like a pussycat.

Amen. There isnt NEARLY enough wrong with Cousins to make him a less valuable pick in my mind. Besides, the kings have a history of acquiring guys with supposed attitude problems and theyve always ended up playing the best basketball of their careers here. Even if Cousins is a headcase, which he isnt, I still wouldnt care.

 

[JJ22L]

OP:

Whatever the outcome of this thread, don't let it deter you from continuing to post here, you seem cool enough. Just learn from it.

Lol...so pretty much: "you are about to get reamed by the rest of the board."

I do to my friends, what Cousins did to you, on a regular basis . Definitely not something to call him a "headcase" over and DEFINITELY not something I would say should deter us from drafting him if he's available.

 

[bajaden]

I'm coming up with this from all the smoke that swirling off this guy, as well as my own observations of him on the floor and off the floor (with Calipari).

By the way, Calipari doesn't look to good when he's interviewed in the pre-game of the NCAA championship game and talks about how all his guys are going to the pros. First, who cares? This is college ball. Go do your recruiting on ESPN prior to the draft. Second, who in their right mind believes that he, Calipari, is the one that made them into NBA talents? He really comes off as some self serving sleazy car salesman who cares a lot more about his paycheck than he does the college basketball.

Obviously Calapari didn't give them their talent. But he took a team with five freshmen playing the bulk of the minutes and almost took them to the final four. Having watched almost every game they played on television from the beginning to the end, I think he did a remarkable job. Yes, they were very talented players, but young players make mistakes, talented or not. They played in a tough conference and played a tough out of conference schedule.

I found his interviews after games, whether they won or lost quite refreshing. I thought he had a very realistic view of his team and what they were capable of. Whatever problems he's had in the past may affect your opinion of him. But he is a good coach.

As far as cousins goes, your entitled to your opinion. But as I said. I watched over 20 some odd games and I didn't see what you saw. I suscribe to a scouting combine and I can tell you that most of the scouts don't share your opinion. So I'm not sure where you getting all this smoke from, because I can't find it.

 

[Kingster]

Obviously Calapari didn't give them their talent. But he took a team with five freshmen playing the bulk of the minutes and almost took them to the final four. Having watched almost every game they played on television from the beginning to the end, I think he did a remarkable job. Yes, they were very talented players, but young players make mistakes, talented or not. They played in a tough conference and played a tough out of conference schedule.

I found his interviews after games, whether they won or lost quite refreshing. I thought he had a very realistic view of his team and what they were capable of. Whatever problems he's had in the past may affect your opinion of him. But he is a good coach.

As far as cousins goes, your entitled to your opinion. But as I said. I watched over 20 some odd games and I didn't see what you saw. I suscribe to a scouting combine and I can tell you that most of the scouts don't share your opinion. So I'm not sure where you getting all this smoke from, because I can't find it.

I can't stand the self-promotion. Go do your recruiting trip someplace else, Calipari, not on the pre-game show for the NCAA Championship game. Maybe he bookends himself with a couple of Kentucky cheerleaders next time to add a little sex appeal to the commercial.

The smoke comes from simple observation from Cousins on the floor and off the floor. I'll tell you another thing. Can't remember the particular team, or the guy that Cousins hit, but one game I saw Cousins give a groin shot to the opposing player. No freaking way was it unintentional. The announcer said that he must have been going for the ball. Well, I guess Cousins had difficulty in differentiating what ball he needed to go after. The basketball was held above the guys head and Cousins swatted the guy in the crotch. Then every game I saw him the coach was yelling at him. What's that about? I don't see Calipari yelling at the other guys. Yeah, Cousins has no issues to concern oneself with...right.

 

[bajaden]

I can't stand the self-promotion. Go do your recruiting trip someplace else, Calipari, not on the pre-game show for the NCAA Championship game. Maybe he bookends himself with a couple of Kentucky cheerleaders next time to add a little sex appeal to the commercial.

The smoke comes from simple observation from Cousins on the floor and off the floor. I'll tell you another thing. Can't remember the particular team, or the guy that Cousins hit, but one game I saw Cousins give a groin shot to the opposing player. No freaking way was it unintentional. The announcer said that he must have been going for the ball. Well, I guess Cousins had difficulty in differentiating what ball he needed to go after. The basketball was held above the guys head and Cousins swatted the guy in the crotch. Then every game I saw him the coach was yelling at him. What's that about? I don't see Calipari yelling at the other guys. Yeah, Cousins has no issues to concern oneself with...right.

Absolutely amazing how you saw all this in the couple of games you watched and I saw very little of what your implying. You don't like Cousins, fine. I get that. But I know what I saw and I'm not about to argue with someone that just sits and makes up stuff. Now your asking me to defend a play that some how I didn't see quite the same way you did. You know for a fact that Cousins intentionally tried to hurt another player. Fine!! I'm just not the mind reader you are.

But one thing I can respond to. For you to imply that in every game Calapari was spending all his time yelling at Cousins, is just a flat out lie. Amazingly I watched games where Cousins played hard and the only extra interaction between Calapari and Cousins was a pat on the butt as he came off the floor. I saw a couple of heated exchanges between Wall and Calapari. I saw more than one between Calapari and Bledsoe. Does that make those guys headcases? This kind of stuff happens all the time between players and coaches.

All I know is that Cousins had a very good year. He played hard in every game I watched. He does have a little bit of a mean streak in him out on the floor, so he plays a physical game. Something I thought we wanted on our team. Does he give hard fouls? Yes he does. Does he tend to let your ribcage know he's there with his elbows at times? Yes he does. And Personally I'm fine with that. I'm not looking to draft someone that wants to win the Nobel peace prize. Does he have a temper at times? Yes, but as the season went on I thought he did a better job of controling it. Did he get into an argument with Calapari in his final game? Yes, but it came out of frustration. All the chips were on the line and they were losing. Just what the hell do you expect from a 19 year old kid? He and the whole Kentucky team were being outplayed and no one on the Kentucky team could make a shot. They either couldn't or didn't try to go inside, so yes, Cousins was frustrated and he let it get the best of him. Now maybe he expressed that frustration the wrong way, but it came out of wanting to win. Your the big man in the middle and you watch you teammates miss 19 three point shots in a row. Don't you think that might frustrate you too?

For heavens sake, cut the kid some slack. Your painting him out to be one step from a federal prison.

 

[Chupacabra]

Quite frankly, I wouldnt mind the Kings getting an interior player that might "accidentally" swing their elbows too high after getting a rebound.

Whats up with the anti-cousins campaign, Kingster? Cousins is going to be a beast in the NBA. The NBA 3pt line is going to give Cousins all the room he needs to be an absolute force in the paint. Wait and see.

 

[Kingster]

Absolutely amazing how you saw all this in the couple of games you watched and I saw very little of what your implying. You don't like Cousins, fine. I get that. But I know what I saw and I'm not about to argue with someone that just sits and makes up stuff. Now your asking me to defend a play that some how I didn't see quite the same way you did. You know for a fact that Cousins intentionally tried to hurt another player. Fine!! I'm just not the mind reader you are.

But one thing I can respond to. For you to imply that in every game Calapari was spending all his time yelling at Cousins, is just a flat out lie. Amazingly I watched games where Cousins played hard and the only extra interaction between Calapari and Cousins was a pat on the butt as he came off the floor. I saw a couple of heated exchanges between Wall and Calapari. I saw more than one between Calapari and Bledsoe. Does that make those guys headcases? This kind of stuff happens all the time between players and coaches.

All I know is that Cousins had a very good year. He played hard in every game I watched. He does have a little bit of a mean streak in him out on the floor, so he plays a physical game. Something I thought we wanted on our team. Does he give hard fouls? Yes he does. Does he tend to let your ribcage know he's there with his elbows at times? Yes he does. And Personally I'm fine with that. I'm not looking to draft someone that wants to win the Nobel peace prize. Does he have a temper at times? Yes, but as the season went on I thought he did a better job of controling it. Did he get into an argument with Calapari in his final game? Yes, but it came out of frustration. All the chips were on the line and they were losing. Just what the hell do you expect from a 19 year old kid? He and the whole Kentucky team were being outplayed and no one on the Kentucky team could make a shot. They either couldn't or didn't try to go inside, so yes, Cousins was frustrated and he let it get the best of him. Now maybe he expressed that frustration the wrong way, but it came out of wanting to win. Your the big man in the middle and you watch you teammates miss 19 three point shots in a row. Don't you think that might frustrate you too?

For heavens sake, cut the kid some slack. Your painting him out to be one step from a federal prison.

You haven't seen Calipari screaming at him? What have you been watching?

 

[bajaden]

You haven't seen Calipari screaming at him? What have you been watching?

Read what I said. Your a smart guy, you can figure it out. You implied that every single game and throughout the game all Calapari did was spend his time screaming at Cousins. Pure nonsense, and frankly I'm just damm tired of it. Did I see games where Calapari pulled Cousins out of the game and sat him down and gave him a good talking to? Yes. So what! It happens on a lot of teams. If you want to blow it out of proportion, have at it. I'm done discussing this.

 

[Emma]

Lol...so pretty much: "you are about to get reamed by the rest of the board."

Yuck, but yeah. You notice the OP hasn't had any activity since Apr 1st? He may have been scared off. I was trying to prevent that... Damn.

 

[jthompson1]

Yuck, but yeah. You notice the OP hasn't had any activity since Apr 1st? He may have been scared off. I was trying to prevent that... Damn.

No im still here i was on vacation i went to indianapolis for the final 4, i haven't been scared off. Im just not posting because i already admitted the headcase comment was wrong and i think i edited that. And I never said that we shouldnt draft Cousins, and ppl who have been posting are saying that i have said that. Fine you can keep calling BS on this see if i lose any sleep. I just don't think im going to waste my time posting repeating what ive already said. Thats fine with me i posted this to merely share a story that happened, some ppl on here have been accusing me of those things it's not that big of a deal to me. I dont need to keep explaining my point of this.