Grants Rant

[rainmaker]

Not sure how many of you heard it today. Brought up a few things I found interesting.

First, said Cousins needs to shut the hell up and stop arguing with coaches and peers. Implied twice, that Cousins is not only arguing with members of the coaching staff, but teammates as well.

Said in the last 2 weeks, members of 3 seperate organizations said when teams pull into Arco, they are laughing at the banner of Cousins.

Veteran players on the team have a problem with the poster of Cousins on the side of Arco, and were mad it went up before Cousins had played a single game. Thinks that banner is not good for Cousins, or the other guys on the team.

Also, said veteran players, including Bobby Jax who is in the practice facility on a regular basis, have tried talking to Cousins about his professionalism on a number of occasions.

Just putting this out there for anyone who missed it.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

The banners are pretty ridiculous. Bad move on the Maloofs part. As for Cousins arguing with teammates/coaches, I hope it doesn't become a chronic problem. It would be a real bummer if all the worst fears about Cousins come true.

 

[LWP777]

Not surprising to me at all.

 

[PurpleHaze]

Having an immature big mouth along with a big head = huge problem child

 

[=LarryLegend=]

I don't have a problem with the banner. I do wish he would work harder on basketball to get better and not let his immaturity be such an issue. But he is a kid. I M not going to panic.

 

[Spok22]

That's sad to hear about with the guys laughing at cousins because i really like cousin's even though his play can be pretty frustrating sometimes. I think that the whole deal was that cousins was so hyped by the fanbase so wen we did get him wat better way to promote a new beginning and get more fans in the building? But, I agree though the poster should not have gone up.

 

[rainmaker]

Cmon cousins. I agree though, the poster should not have gone up. Tyreke seems like an a lot more mature guy so i didnt mind with him but with cousins...lets just say i just dont think he's quite there yet.

Also the poster went up after Tyreke had won ROY. Cousins poster went up before his first preseason game. Quite a difference.

 

[swisshh]

Having an immature big mouth along with a big head = huge problem child

yeah, but enough about Grant

 

[Sarunas]

Peaches was mad!
The most disconcerting thing for me about all this is the fact that we brought in Hughley to help Cousins along. I realize that he is 20, and struggling, but with that said him having 2 incidents within one month, even WITH someone brought in to oversee him, is very alarming to me. I'm not going to panic yet, but while there is still time for him to right the ship, learn from his mistakes and grow as a person/player...there are so many guys that had similar trials at his age who did not fare well down the road from it. I guess time will tell, but tough day not just for the team, but for the franchise.

 

[swisshh]

If Vets have a problem witht he Cousins banner, take it to management. It was another stupid move along with the Kevin Martin is our supserstar move, and along with the Tyreke Evans is a superstar move. Management is feeding egos. Grant is throwing Cousins to the dogs because he never liked him. The truth is this is all on upper management. They made the circus and they didn't bring in a vet leader to deal with it.

 

[LakersStink]

Like I said before, Cousins is the NBA version of Jamarcus Russell except worse, he won't even let you talk to him, and at least Russell showed 'some' flashes of brilliance. Cousins is another Hawes - wasted draft pick, that should have been traded and never used.

 

[Bricklayer]

If I were the Maloofs I would be on the phone to Chris Webber, today, and offer to send the jet for him if he would come out and hang out wiht DeMarcus for a few days betwen announving gigs and talk to him. Given his own career arc, including clashing wiht Nellie as a rookie, growing up before our eyes, taking an interest in Cousins this summer etc., I can hardly imagine a better voice of reason to try to settle him down.

 

[King Baller]

Just don't let this become a Webber vs. Nellie type feud. Lets hope the wiser mature people step forward and help Cousins accept the results of his tirades.

Oh and note to Cousins: No more spin moves brutha! Pass the ball or THROW IT DOWN BIG MAN!!! LET YOUR BALLIN DO YOUR TALKIN!!! KNOCK GUARDS ON THIER *** IF THEY COME IN YOUR PAINT!!!

KB

 

[gunks]

If I were the Maloofs I would be on the phone to Chris Webber, today, and offer to send the jet for him if he would come out and hang out wiht DeMarcus for a few days betwen announving gigs and talk to him. Given his own career arc, including clashing wiht Nellie as a rookie, growing up before our eyes, taking an interest in Cousins this summer etc., I can hardly imagine a better voice of reason to try to settle him down.

Co-sign.

I've been all for bringing C-Webb and/or Vlade back to be big man coach(s) for awhile now. Considering the tightness of the Maloof's purse strings however, it probably wont happen. Ah well, at least we have Cuz's highschool coach, right?

This is concerning about Cousins though. Although with how bad our guard play has been of late, I cant really blame him. He went from playing with Wall to playing with Beno. Thats gotta suck. Hopefully he steps the professionalism up though. It would suck if he wises up after we trade him to some other team, that has happened with a lot of players.

 

[LPKingsFan]

I don't see how you can fault the marketing department for the banner, though. Coming off another losing season, getting another disappointing pick in the draft again... but then Cousins falls, and everyone in ARCO goes nuts when Stern announces his name at #5. How could you not see that and think, people are excited again, let's go with this.

 

[kingsboi]

Grant is just speaking his mind. Nothing wrong with that. He does make some good points, I agree about the part of putting Cousins' banner way too early on a building. That is added pressure and expecting WAY too much out of a 20 year old, short tempered rookie.

 

[Arco Thunder]

Grant is just speaking his mind. Nothing wrong with that. He does make some good points, I agree about the part of putting Cousins' banner way too early on a building. That is added pressure and expecting WAY too much out of a 20 year old, short tempered rookie.

I totally agree.

 

[SacTownKid]

If I were the Maloofs I would be on the phone to Chris Webber, today, and offer to send the jet for him if he would come out and hang out wiht DeMarcus for a few days betwen announving gigs and talk to him. Given his own career arc, including clashing wiht Nellie as a rookie, growing up before our eyes, taking an interest in Cousins this summer etc., I can hardly imagine a better voice of reason to try to settle him down.

So should the organization stick with the coach that's seemingly pissing off the two most important players for the Kings moving forward? The same coach who has a history of clashing with somewhat disruptive players. Or not?

How'd that work for the Warriors and 'ol Nellie?

I like the idea but I'm almost afraid of what Chris would say about his time with Nellie! Might not help us much. hahahaha.

 

[ArcoKings]

Bench the kid for a handful of games so he can wise up. It'll do him good. He's a pro and needs to show respect. Take down the banners and put up action shot banners of EACH player instead. I like the idea about C-Webb "counseling" Cousins. His issues need to be addressed ASAP someway or the other.

 

[bajaden]

I was worried about the banner thing from the beginning. Not so much how Cousins would react to it, but how his teammates would react. The kid hadn't even played a game and there is his banner covering the entire side of the building. I'm also sure Cousins hears about it from opposing players while on the floor. All this makes for good soap opera. I'm sure ESPN will find a way to squeeze it into one of their broadcasts or at the very least have it on their website. And its sad, because it perpetuates Cousins reputation. Which neither he nor the Kings need right now. Grant isn't helping in the least. He has little tolerance for what he percieves as weakness or lack of discipline.

The best thing that could have happened was that no one found out about it. If they could have kept it in house. Whatever! Whats done is done. They say that character comes from overcoming situations like this. I empathize with Cousins because I was very similar at the same age. I once slamed the front door of our house so hard that it popped off of its hinges. I wore my feelings on my sleeve. For reasons I won't go into, I felt it was me against the world. I think at times Cousns feels that way. That everyone is watching him every second just waiting to pounce. And if he is feeling that way, he's right. There are a lot of people out there that want him to fail, just so they can say I told you so.

I'm not making any excuses for him. He obviously did something wrong. Wrong enough to get him kicked out of practice. And to fair to Westphal, he wasn't hired to be a babysitter. I do believe though, that if he wants to connect with Cousins, he does need to understand him. Calapari said of Cousins that he was a very intelligent kid, but that he needs to understand why your asking him to do something. He needs the why, as well as the what. He said most of his conflict with Cousins came when he just told him what he wanted him to do, without explaining why he wanted him to do it. I don't know if thats the problem. But whatever the problem, they have to figure it out, because he's an important piece of this franchise. In a ironic way, he's more important than Westphal. He even makes more money than Westphal. When you think about it, maybe thats part of the problem. That and the poster.

 

[jcassio]

I don't see how you can fault the marketing department for the banner, though. Coming off another losing season, getting another disappointing pick in the draft again... but then Cousins falls, and everyone in ARCO goes nuts when Stern announces his name at #5. How could you not see that and think, people are excited again, let's go with this.

Because that would be short-sighted, as many of the Maloof's decisions have proven to be. They are such fans that they are often blinded by the light created by their own enthusiasm.

 

[Asaf]

I obviously don't know what happened there, and I guess for Cousins to get kicked out he probably said something he shouldn't have, but from the bits and pieces of information we've been getting, this is what I think:

1. If I was Cousins, I'd be frustrated as hell with the coach and with my teammates, and I would probably be very vocal about it too. He is our best post player, but he constantly gets ignored by his teammates when he's down low, and only gets the ball 15-18 feet away from the basket, and often with not enough time left on the clock, forcing him into turnover situations and low shooting percentage.

2. Whatever the coach is trying to teach Cousins and the rest of the guys, it's obviously not getting through, and it's definitely not working in games, and I don't blame Cousins for not being on the same page with the coach. If what they do in practice doesn't make sense, then someone needs to come out and say it, which leads me to my last point:

3. Again, I don't know exactly what went on there, and it could be that Cousins just acted like a big baby, but over the past year there have been many many elephants in the room that have been ignored, causing the Kings to sink deeper into the sea of illusions that they are "on the rise", while not addressing the oh so many issues that needs to be addressed. While he is probably not doing it in the most elegant manner, I am glad that at least someone refuses to ignore those elephants and is forcing the issues to be discussed and hopefully addressed. Whatever he is trying to say, I hope someone out there is taking notes, because Cousins might be, in his unique way, the Kings' most insightful and constructive critic.

 

[mac]

I obviously don't know what happened there, and I guess for Cousins to get kicked out he probably said something he shouldn't have, but from the bits and pieces of information we've been getting, this is what I think:

1. If I was Cousins, I'd be frustrated as hell with the coach and with my teammates, and I would probably be very vocal about it too. He is our best post player, but he constantly gets ignored by his teammates when he's down low, and only gets the ball 15-18 feet away from the basket, and often with not enough time left on the clock, forcing him into turnover situations and low shooting percentage.

2. Whatever the coach is trying to teach Cousins and the rest of the guys, it's obviously not getting through, and it's definitely not working in games, and I don't blame Cousins for not being on the same page with the coach. If what they do in practice doesn't make sense, then someone needs to come out and say it, which leads me to my last point:

3. Again, I don't know exactly what went on there, and it could be that Cousins just acted like a big baby, but over the past year there have been many many elephants in the room that have been ignored, causing the Kings to sink deeper into the sea of illusions that they are "on the rise", while not addressing the oh so many issues that needs to be addressed. While he is probably not doing it in the most elegant manner, I am glad that at least someone refuses to ignore those elephants and is forcing the issues to be discussed and hopefully addressed. Whatever he is trying to say, I hope someone out there is taking notes, because Cousins might be, in his unique way, the Kings' most insightful and constructive critic.

With reference to your first point, I don't think Cousins has earned the right to be putting the blame on anyone else. He leads the team in TOs, and I don't think it's because he's being "forced" into TO situations like you said. More so I think he's just getting called a lot for travelling as well as turning it over while dribbling and that's simply because he hasn't adjusted to the NBA yet, to the refereeing and the higher level of play and defence from the other team. I wouldn't call him our best post player yet, simply because he turns the ball over too much while making a move. I'd say he's our best option in the post for the offence overall because he draws a double team and kicks it out well, but in terms of finishing he hasn't shown as much as Landry.

The main thing is, the guy is a rookie, who hasn't done very much at all when you look at the big picture. He has the heart, but has some attitude and immaturity issues. I don't mean this in the sense that he is a cancer or some lazy guy like some others have said, but rather that he gets too frustrated and too worked up about some things. Just imagine this - the Kings are sort of a good team and Cousins is putting up good numbers. But every time he gets called for a foul or travelling or something like that he makes that face, pouts and frowns - it just isn't good for team chemistry and it's hard to have fun playing with a guy who looks all angry on the court. Note that I said looks, and I am a strong believer that Cousins is a fine young man (dang soon I'll actually be older than the younger players in the league ..) who only wants the best for himself and the team, but the whole "the world is against me" attitude needs to change if he wants to have fun playing the game he loves.

This is easier said than done, but as a rookie I would think the best way to approach such a situation (if you think the coaches are morons) is to go to the vets/captains on the team and voice it out in private OR go directly to the coach after practice. Firing off in the middle of practice isn't going to achieve anything, and will only make your team mates think worse of you. Getting thrown out of practice is not only detrimental to Cousins but to the rest of the team as well during the practice, and it also stirs up more tension off the court. Overall just not the kind of control one would want to see out of Cousins, and I certainly hope this is last time we hear of such an altercation.

 

[LPKingsFan]

Because that would be short-sighted, as many of the Maloof's decisions have proven to be. They are such fans that they are often blinded by the light created by their own enthusiasm.

If this city doesn't get an arena soon, the Kings are gone. The team needs to rally community support, so yeah, marketing has every right to be shortsighted. As long as the personnel moves on the court aren't, I'm ok with it.

 

[Kingster]

If I were the Maloofs I would be on the phone to Chris Webber, today, and offer to send the jet for him if he would come out and hang out wiht DeMarcus for a few days betwen announving gigs and talk to him. Given his own career arc, including clashing wiht Nellie as a rookie, growing up before our eyes, taking an interest in Cousins this summer etc., I can hardly imagine a better voice of reason to try to settle him down.

Webber is the last guy that I'd want Cousins to hang out with.

Cousins must experience some consequences for his actions, not talk. You can blather on all day long with Cousins, as I'm sure has happened ad nauseum, and it's not going to get through. Oh, I can just see it now from Webber: "When I was your age...." "....and then I got into it with Nelson and they traded me......"(Cousins' is thinking, yeah, baby, that sounds good....just what I want....."and then at Washington they traded me again..." (Cousins thinking, yeah, and then you ended up with a good team playing exactly the way you wanted to play (sounds like a plan). Finally, Cousins nods off....

Give him a special seat on the end of the bench to think about it - for a considerable period of time. If he likes playing as much as everybody thinks he does, then that's the most useful punishment for him right now.

This should have been nipped in the bud by now. When Cousins went off on the assistant coach - BAM - the hammer should have come down. You don't wait until finally he escalates his behavior up to the head coach. The longer they placate Cousins, the worse it's going to get.

 

[Kingster]

Not sure how many of you heard it today. Brought up a few things I found interesting.

First, said Cousins needs to shut the hell up and stop arguing with coaches and peers. Implied twice, that Cousins is not only arguing with members of the coaching staff, but teammates as well.

Said in the last 2 weeks, members of 3 seperate organizations said when teams pull into Arco, they are laughing at the banner of Cousins.

Veteran players on the team have a problem with the poster of Cousins on the side of Arco, and were mad it went up before Cousins had played a single game. Thinks that banner is not good for Cousins, or the other guys on the team.

Also, said veteran players, including Bobby Jax who is in the practice facility on a regular basis, have tried talking to Cousins about his professionalism on a number of occasions.

Just putting this out there for anyone who missed it.

The banner was ridiculous. Should have been vetoed by the Maloofs. They are their own worst enemy here - trying to hype a 20 year old unproven rookie to make ticket sales, serving to inflate his already immature bloated ego while inflaming the resentment of proven veterans.

Petrie did the research on this guy. He has to know more than anybody on the planet about his psychological makeup. He had to know the risks of drafting him. Given all of the above, what I want to know is: What is the plan, Petrie, for dealing with Cousins' immature behavior? So far, it's been talk, by Bobby Jackson, presumably by Cousins' baby-sitter, presumably by Westphal, and other assistant coaches. So is that the plan, Petrie? Talk? You knew it could blow up, Petrie. So if you knew it could blow up, wouldn't you have a contingency plan to deal with it?

 

[kupman]

Grant is just speaking his mind. Nothing wrong with that. He does make some good points, I agree about the part of putting Cousins' banner way too early on a building. That is added pressure and expecting WAY too much out of a 20 year old, short tempered rookie.

Great post.

How often does a 20 year old rookie center make a splash in this league? Way too much pressure way too soon on DMC.

A very young, immature hot head that hates to lose playing big minutes on a bad team = recipe for an "incident"

 

[MizzouKing]

Bench the kid for a handful of games so he can wise up. It'll do him good. He's a pro and needs to show respect. Take down the banners and put up action shot banners of EACH player instead...

Totaly agree! He needs to know his place in the pack, and it isn't at the head. It's easy to see how he could miss that when the giant banner of him was erected before he even got started. I disagree, though, about flying in Webber or anyone else at this point as that too would muddy the waters. He needs to get clarity, and fast. I don't see special treatment helping with this right now.

I can totally see how an organization needing to fill seats would want to capitalize on the excitement that came with Cousins, but it obviously created perception problems on several fronts - not the least of which involve the other players who had already given their blood, sweat and tears for this team.

The Kings organization needs to fix this NOW, for the sake of the team and the long-term benefit of DMC. I think the two steps ArcoKings mentioned above would go a LONG way in the right direction. Handled properly, this situation could be a very positive catalyst for growth.

Mizzou King

 

[Larry David]

Starting to look a lot like Jay Bilas’ assessment regarding Cousins was fair. His position was that Cousins was a great talent, but best case you’d have to babysit him for several years and deal with a number of tantrums and worst case his character issues wouldn’t make him worth the hassle/collateral damage despite his level of production. Based upon those factors, Jay would have passed on Cousins. At the time, Jay was lumped in with the “baseless red flag chatter” crowd despite the fact that he had personally worked with Cousins.

With this many documented incidents this early into a rookie year (more importantly scale rookie contract, when Webber feuded with Nellie his great grandkids were set for life), Jay’s position is at the very least a legitimate opinion.

You can still make the case that he can grow out of this/he will improve to the point that you accept the headaches based upon the production he provides at center. However, the risk that Cousins is an uncoachable player/ cancer is now real, legitimate, and more than “mere speculation.” As we’ve seen with Beasley, sometimes the “red flag” talk is more than just mere speculation.

 

[Kingsguy881]

The banner was ridiculous. Should have been vetoed by the Maloofs. They are their own worst enemy here - trying to hype a 20 year old unproven rookie to make ticket sales, serving to inflate his already immature bloated ego while inflaming the resentment of proven veterans.

Petrie did the research on this guy. He has to know more than anybody on the planet about his psychological makeup. He had to know the risks of drafting him. Given all of the above, what I want to know is: What is the plan, Petrie, for dealing with Cousins' immature behavior? So far, it's been talk, by Bobby Jackson, presumably by Cousins' baby-sitter, presumably by Westphal, and other assistant coaches. So is that the plan, Petrie? Talk? You knew it could blow up, Petrie. So if you knew it could blow up, wouldn't you have a contingency plan to deal with it?

Oh, yeah, thats it. Blame Petrie. Wow.