[Grades] Grades v. Blazers 4/6/2016

[King Baller]

And that's sort of the point isn't it? It shouldn't get swept under the rug, and fans here clearly would be aware of the issue in their assessment of Blake. At the end of the day the conclusion might be the same, that a player is still worth keeping in spite of his flaws, but (at least to me) it's important that one recognizes those flaws rather than simply pretending they don't exist or don't matter at all.

I think you are missing the point. Cousins antics on the court do not equate with any actual crimes as in Blake's and the Morris Twins cases.

I know we are all frustrated with the disappointing Kings season. Many of us can't stand the schemes Karl and his crew has had the players run all year long. Look at the improvement when Thibs showed up and suggested the Kings use ICE on the pick and roll. Karl also seems to take an adversarial approach to his players. It has been a extremely frustrating season for us fans. No wonder so many of us are upset.

Now imagine if you were DeMarcus Cousins who invested your whole being in being the Sacramento Kings Cornerstone Player. Do you think some of your frustration would show during the games?

 

[King Baller]

It should be pointed out that Cousins has the lowest TS% of those 16 27/11 seasons with the exception of the non-HOFer Webber (52%). The other 15 seasons by the HOFers you listed average a TS% of 60% which is 6% higher than where Cousins is at this season (54%).

I'm not denying Cousins talent, and he is the furthest thing that is wrong with this team, but looking at raw numbers without efficiency or context is borderline reckless. It's the equivalent to looking at a company's revenue without even bothering to look at the costs.

Borderline reckless??? IMO individual stats in any team game but especially basketball require one to look at many factors. Coaching for one and who else is on the team for another. But to say repping a favorite players stats is "borderline reckless" seems a little over the top to me

 

[mac]

I think you are missing the point. Cousins antics on the court do not equate with any actual crimes as in Blake's and the Morris Twins cases.

I know we are all frustrated with the disappointing Kings season. Many of us can't stand the schemes Karl and his crew has had the players run all year long. Look at the improvement when Thibs showed up and suggested the Kings use ICE on the pick and roll. Karl also seems to take an adversarial approach to his players. It has been a extremely frustrating season for us fans. No wonder so many of us are upset.

Now imagine if you were DeMarcus Cousins who invested your whole being in being the Sacramento Kings Cornerstone Player. Do you think some of your frustration would show during the games?

It's not just getting technicals during the course of a game. How about other emotional outbursts at the coaching staff? And let's not pretend that he hasn't had his share of (basketball-related) off court incidents in past years. Are you telling me all those things don't bear any weight on his team mates? You think his team mates are happy about his feud with their coach from the start of the season? You think his team mates are happy when he yells at the coach and gets suspended? Or when he gets suspended for approaching commentators after games? Or when he picks up cheap and dumb techs and gets himself ejected?

(This is not directed at you KB, so please don't take this personally)
Just because other (great) players have done such things in the past, or just because the league used to allow more physicality doesn't mean that we should tolerate these things now. Oh boo hoo, the NBA used to let so much physical contact go on. Now it's just a bunch of 3 point shooting weenies! Well then go watch a different league, or buy a team and make your views known to the league office. As I said, that's not to say that you must trade Cousins or that he's holding the team back. I don't see it as an either or. I can't see why one can't take the good with the bad, without making light of either, and coming to a balanced conclusion at the end of it. Don't excuse the bad, and don't make light of the good. Take them together, and then decide whether one outweighs the other.

 

[twslam07]

Borderline reckless??? IMO individual stats in any team game but especially basketball require one to look at many factors. Coaching for one and who else is on the team for another. But to say repping a favorite players stats is "borderline reckless" seems a little over the top to me

Is it though? You could have a player take the entire team's shots in a game and score 50 points per game. Wow, 50 points! What an achievement! Except it took him 80 shots to get there...

 

[dude12]

It's not just getting technicals during the course of a game. How about other emotional outbursts at the coaching staff? And let's not pretend that he hasn't had his share of (basketball-related) off court incidents in past years. Are you telling me all those things don't bear any weight on his team mates? You think his team mates are happy about his feud with their coach from the start of the season? You think his team mates are happy when he yells at the coach and gets suspended? Or when he gets suspended for approaching commentators after games? Or when he picks up cheap and dumb techs and gets himself ejected?

(This is not directed at you KB, so please don't take this personally)
Just because other (great) players have done such things in the past, or just because the league used to allow more physicality doesn't mean that we should tolerate these things now. Oh boo hoo, the NBA used to let so much physical contact go on. Now it's just a bunch of 3 point shooting weenies! Well then go watch a different league, or buy a team and make your views known to the league office. As I said, that's not to say that you must trade Cousins or that he's holding the team back. I don't see it as an either or. I can't see why one can't take the good with the bad, without making light of either, and coming to a balanced conclusion at the end of it. Don't excuse the bad, and don't make light of the good. Take them together, and then decide whether one outweighs the other.

Your assuming that Cousins team mates are happy with the job George Karl did this year.....I don't believe that was the case and think they are in line with Cousins. I think it was documented that Rondo and Cousins were asking Karl to actually coach them. How non-sensical is it for players to beg their coach to coach them and have their back? The head coach who had tried to trade Cousins in the Summer was the one who started this season off on the wrong path. Have to back to the root of the problem and not give Karl a pass.

 

[pshn80]

Your assuming that Cousins team mates are happy with the job George Karl did this year.....I don't believe that was the case and think they are in line with Cousins. I think it was documented that Rondo and Cousins were asking Karl to actually coach them. How non-sensical is it for players to beg their coach to coach them and have their back? The head coach who had tried to trade Cousins in the Summer was the one who started this season off on the wrong path. Have to back to the root of the problem and not give Karl a pass.

Agree with mac. Karl is not an excuse for Cz taking himself out of games which he does in a variety of ways and way too often. Only a few seconds of "out of the game" is enough to make a negative difference especially on defense but anytime it happens it's a negative. Getting suspended, sitting n the floor looking for a call, getting back on defense slowly, getting down the floor slowly on offense, I'm sure I don't have to say more to folks that have watched him play. And the rest of the time he can be truly great and often is. He is a mixed bag. I would keep him if he would deal with this problem. We know he can when we see him dribble the whole court and rather quickly when the spirit moves him. He can.

 

[twslam07]

I think the most frustrating thing about Cousins is that his weaknesses (mental game, transition defense, relationship with refs, attitude) are either average or strengths for the majority of the rest of the players in this league while his strengths are in areas much, much more difficult to master for the average NBAer. Again, it's one of the reasons he can be frustrating at times, but it's also the reason you absolutely do not trade him.