DeMarcus Cousins:
- Thread starter bajaden
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Uncia03
Starter
What was this thread about again?
Oh, right....Cousins.
One of Hawes' biggest issues has been his lack of aggression when going against other 'power' players.
If we draft Cousins, we will immediately have a player who will go out and bang with the other team's bigs in the post. That is something that this team could really benefit from.
I've managed to watch every single play-off game this year. It's clear as daylight that regardless of what kind of talent Horford is, he just doesn't have the physicality to match up with Howard.
The same can be said for Boozer and his attempts to match up against Gasol or Bynum.
The Magic and the Lakers are able to dominate in these match-ups due to their size and length.
That is why I'd draft Cousins over Favors, because we need someone who can hold their own against the other team's bigs. Favors may be a better athlete, but he doesn't have near the physicality factor that Cousins brings. We simply need a Center with size, strength, post-presence, and aggression.
With that said, I'd still take Turner 1st and Wall 2nd, because the talent is just too much to pass on.
We'll know soon enough, but Favors is an exceptional 'consolation prize', so any pick in the top 4 is a winning pick in my mind. I just happen to think that Cousins will help this team down the road more than Favors if I had to pick between the two.
Oh, right....Cousins.
One of Hawes' biggest issues has been his lack of aggression when going against other 'power' players.
If we draft Cousins, we will immediately have a player who will go out and bang with the other team's bigs in the post. That is something that this team could really benefit from.
I've managed to watch every single play-off game this year. It's clear as daylight that regardless of what kind of talent Horford is, he just doesn't have the physicality to match up with Howard.
The same can be said for Boozer and his attempts to match up against Gasol or Bynum.
The Magic and the Lakers are able to dominate in these match-ups due to their size and length.
That is why I'd draft Cousins over Favors, because we need someone who can hold their own against the other team's bigs. Favors may be a better athlete, but he doesn't have near the physicality factor that Cousins brings. We simply need a Center with size, strength, post-presence, and aggression.
With that said, I'd still take Turner 1st and Wall 2nd, because the talent is just too much to pass on.
We'll know soon enough, but Favors is an exceptional 'consolation prize', so any pick in the top 4 is a winning pick in my mind. I just happen to think that Cousins will help this team down the road more than Favors if I had to pick between the two.
This is pretty much exactly how I feel.
I don't want to hijack this into another fight over who we should draft, but that is what people have to understand when it comes to why many of us value Cousins so highly and feel he has the most upside/potential of any of the bigs. You just don't often find a player coming into the draft with his size and skillset. When I say size, I don't mean size just in terms of height, I also mean in terms of thickness and the core strength that he has. That strong base is what allows him to be a very hard to move player on either end of the court in the post. That doesn't mean I hate Favors or think he is without potential or anything, as each player has their pros and cons. I just value Cousins' skillset a lot, to the point that I am on the fence as to whether or not I would even take him over Evans or Wall.
Like Bajaden, I am just sick of people bashing on Cousins for nebulous reasons. If you happen to think Wall, Evans, or Favors is a better fit, that is fine. Make arguments for those reasons, not based on vague attacks on his character from afar. He isn't a perfect person and has struggled with some immaturity at times, but that is hardly a crime for a guy who has been under so much scrutiny in his young life. It is pretty audacious to think you can understand a persons character because of what you read from the media or heard from other fans. I don't pretend to think I know and understand him perfectly either, I just think you should always seek out both sides of the story and try to be fair and honest about it. If anyone wants to get some backstory with a slant more from Cousins' perspective, check out this article from back in March. You can see he does seem to have a bit of immaturity to deal with, but when you put it in the perspective of his age and look over the course of an entire season and see how he handled other situations, like the Mississippi State one or how he didn't take the tech-bait against Wake Forest, they don't seem quite so serious. Certainly nothing that matches the reputation that he has been labeled with.
Well that would certainly be nice, but who is this raw Center we are going to trade for? Any Center that isn't a complete stiff is at a premium in the NBA today because they aren't easy to find. Not many become available via FA or trade, which is part of why so many raw bigs get taken early in the draft. Fesenko is a slight possibility as a RFA depending on whether or not the Jazz re-sign Boozer, but there may be a good bit of competition for him. Maybe Gortat since several of the guards on the Magic are going to be free agents. They might be willing to take Garcia for him, though it would hurt our guard depth a bit.
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bajaden
Hall of Famer
To the best of my knowledge and from every site I've looked at, Fesenko is an unrestricted free agent. Therefore a very real possibility. I think Utah wants to have him back, but with the money situation they're in and players like Korver and Boozer higher on their priority list, I don't think they'll get into a bidding war with anyone over Fesenko. Doesn't mean other teams won't. But we certainly have the cap space to aquire him. Just depends on how much we want to pay..
sc3252
Bench
LOL, I never saw that post. I must have been kidding around when I was posting in that thread, or very very homerish that day.
bajaden
Hall of Famer
I don't think the red flags with Cousins has so much to do with his game. People are looking for the things he can't do on the court to justify avoid him in the draft. The legit red flag has to do with his flare ups with Coach Calipari in the tournament games.
You want your player's head in the game and focused on battling opponents and not your own head coach. I think you have to lay it out on the line if you get serious about drafting this guy and set him straight from day one and be consistent. Westphal let Hawes have too much rope and was a little too late getting him in line. You can't do the same with Cousins.
You want your player's head in the game and focused on battling opponents and not your own head coach. I think you have to lay it out on the line if you get serious about drafting this guy and set him straight from day one and be consistent. Westphal let Hawes have too much rope and was a little too late getting him in line. You can't do the same with Cousins.
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