[Game] Kings v. Pelicans, 12/23/13, 7:00 PM PST

[Swaze]

Well DeMarcus doesn't win the Kings games. Is he not a truely dominant "game changer"?

Right now the answer is no. Sadly you probably disagree but the reality is that Cousins is not yet a game-changer. He doesn't play defense consistently and certainly doesn't inspire his teammates to play it (like Tim Duncan does) and he really doesn't make his teammates as good as he could on the offensive end either.

Fans of bad teams always tend to overvalue their players and much like Tyreke Evans all that DeMarcus Cousins has proven so far is that he can put up big numbers on bad teams. Call it Al Jefferson syndrome.

 

[Bosnian Diehard]

You seriously gotta be kidding me. You can talk about Tyreke leading his team to the playoffs when they get to .500

Nice of you to over analyze the results of two bad teams playing one another. The Kings sucked going into this game and they sucked coming out of it. Tyreke having a good game against a pathetic defense that can't stop anybody right now means nothing for his career. It's not like after tonight Tyreke is suddenly going to become a "winner" that carries his team to the playoffs.

By the way how many dominant "gifted" players are 5th on their team in scoring? If the Pelicans even sniff the playoffs it will be because of Davis, Holiday, and Anderson. The Pelicans will go as far this year and probably next year as those three guys can take them. Tyreke Evans can help them but as history has shown, Tyreke Evans as the 1st/2nd option results in a lot of losses.

He's fifth in scoring because he had an awful start to the year with very limited minutes. Now he's showing what he can with more minutes, and he's back in form.

 

[Bosnian Diehard]

Right now the answer is no. Sadly you probably disagree but the reality is that Cousins is not yet a game-changer. He doesn't play defense consistently and certainly doesn't inspire his teammates to play it (like Tim Duncan does) and he really doesn't make his teammates as good as he could on the offensive end either.

Fans of bad teams always tend to overvalue their players and much like Tyreke Evans all that DeMarcus Cousins has proven so far is that he can put up big numbers on bad teams. Call it Al Jefferson syndrome.

I stopped valuing this post when you said we overvalue DeMarcus. We value him just right, one of the two or three up-and-coming dominant bigs in the game.

But I guess Kyrie is overvalued, huh?

 

[Bricklayer]

As a 6th man small forward. Something he wasn't willing to to here..

He is a 6th man everything. Tonight he was mostly a 6th man PG.

Oh and BTW, since there was nobody here better than Reke, making him a 6th man would have been a stupid play. It is in fact doubtful he'll even be a 6th man in New Orleans long if they can find anybody to take Gordon off their hands.

Oh and BTW2: Tyreke didn't want to leave. Multiple times he agreed to come off the bench for lesser players while here. Tyreke didn't refuse anything. Certainly not anything reasonable.

 

[Swaze]

I stopped valuing this post when you said we overvalue DeMarcus. We value him just right, one of the two or three up-and-coming dominant bigs in the game.

But I guess Kyrie is overvalued, huh?

There is a difference between being "up and coming" and being a dominant game-changer right now. He has the potential to be but he isn't yet. You asked if DeMarcus Cousins is a dominant game changer and then you actually answered your own question (with a NO) by stating that he is up-and-coming. Probably a good idea to avoid asking dumb questions if your own response contradicts the answer you are looking for.

If DeMarcus is a dominant game-changer right now then what is Lebron? What is Chris Paul? What is Paul George? Those guys make their teammates better and actually win games. When DMC starts doing that he can be a dominant game-changer......until then he's just a guy who fills the stat sheet and has a ton of potential but is not yet a leader or a guy that wills his team to win.

BTW Kyrie is over valued at the moment. He's shooting 41% and playing terrible on defense

 

[Bricklayer]

There is a difference between being "up and coming" and being a dominant game-changer right now. He has the potential to be but he isn't yet. You asked if DeMarcus Cousins is a dominant game changer and then you actually answered your own question (with a NO) by stating that he is up-and-coming. Probably a good idea to avoid asking dumb questions if your own response contradicts the answer you are looking for.

If DeMarcus is a dominant game-changer right now then what is Lebron? What is Chris Paul? What is Paul George? Those guys make their teammates better and actually win games. When DMC starts doing that he can be a dominant game-changer......until then he's just a guy who fills the stat sheet and has a ton of potential but is not yet a leader or a guy that wills his team to win.

BTW Kyrie is over valued at the moment. He's shooting 41% and playing terrible on defense

A better question than LeBron or CP3 would be what is LaMarcus? What is Love? What is Howard? What is Dirk?

And if you don't think that DeMarcus is a game changer you don't know a damn thing about basketball. It would certainly come as a revelation to the opposing coaches who game after game throw doubles and triples at him. Odd thing to do if the guy isn't changing the game/a threat to whip your ass.

 

[Bosnian Diehard]

There is a difference between being "up and coming" and being a dominant game-changer right now. He has the potential to be but he isn't yet. You asked if DeMarcus Cousins is a dominant game changer and then you actually answered your own question (with a NO) by stating that he is up-and-coming. Probably a good idea to avoid asking dumb questions if your own response contradicts the answer you are looking for.

If DeMarcus is a dominant game-changer right now then what is Lebron? What is Chris Paul? What is Paul George? Those guys make their teammates better and actually win games. When DMC starts doing that he can be a dominant game-changer......until then he's just a guy who fills the stat sheet and has a ton of potential but is not yet a leader or a guy that wills his team to win.

BTW Kyrie is over valued at the moment. He's shooting 41% and playing terrible on defense

Since when does "up-and-coming big" equate to "dominant game-changer"? Please refrain any future stupid statements (might be hard for you, though).

Notice that of all players you listed when comparing to Demarcus, they have 100x the better supporting cast (LBJ/CP3 have other stars and much better role players, George has better role players). It's not Cousins' fault that he isn't surrounded with talent.

 

[swisshh]

Probably the same place its been over Reke's entire dominant to the hoop NBA career. Nobody in the NBA does it better. And in typical fan fashion its always so easy to stop. Meanwhile tonight Reke just used any space given him to set up somebody else for an easy assist.

Every good defensive team and every vet team cut off the lane and Reke struggled. It's no revelation that the Kings are bad on D, but how does nobody remember their old teammate's weakness? It's just bewildering.

 

[Swaze]

A better question than LeBron or CP3 would be what is LaMarcus? What is Love? What is Howard? What is Dirk?

And if you don't think that DeMarcus is a game changer you don't know a damn thing about basketball. It would certainly come as a revelation to the opposing coaches who game after game throw doubles and triples at him. Odd thing to do if the guy isn't changing the game/a threat to whip your ass.

Those other guys you listed are very good players on good teams but I would not call them game-changers at least not as all-around type players. Certainly in his prime Dirk was a game-changer on the offensive end and Howard is for the most part a game-changer on the defensive end. The elite players are game-changers on both ends though. Steve Nash in his prime was close to elite in terms of game-changing because he literally made all 4 of his teammates so much better on the offensive end.

DeMarcus is close on the offensive end to being a game-changer but he still has some work to do on shot selection, passing out of double teams, and turnovers. He's not yet at the level where he is really making his teammates significantly better on the offensive end but that is partly the fault of his "chucker" teammates and the Kings not running the offense enough through Cousins.

I think you and I both know that DeMarcus Cousins is not even close to being a game-changer on the defensive end and there lies a lot of the Kings problems. As of yet Cousins hasn't shown the ability to consistently play good solid defense and the coaching staff really doesn't demand it of him. It's hard to get the rest of the team to buy into a defensive mentality when the best player doesn't fully commit to it.

 

[Swaze]

Since when does "up-and-coming big" equate to "dominant game-changer"? Please refrain any future stupid statements (might be hard for you, though).

Notice that of all players you listed when comparing to Demarcus, they have 100x the better supporting cast (LBJ/CP3 have other stars and much better role players, George has better role players). It's not Cousins' fault that he isn't surrounded with talent.

You are the one who asked if Cousins was a dominant game changer? It was only after you didn't like the answer that you started talking about "up and coming".

Lebron took Cleveland to the finals with hardly any talent around him. Of course I don't expect Cousins to be Lebron but game-changers do tend to make their teammates better and win games.

 

[Section 101]

He is a 6th man everything. Tonight he was mostly a 6th man PG.

Oh and BTW, since there was nobody here better than Reke, making him a 6th man would have been a stupid play. It is in fact doubtful he'll even be a 6th man in New Orleans long if they can find anybody to take Gordon off their hands.

Oh and BTW2: Tyreke didn't want to leave. Multiple times he agreed to come off the bench for lesser players while here. Tyreke didn't refuse anything. Certainly not anything reasonable.

He was the SF most of the night except a few mins at the 2. Holiday and Roberts were on the court with him and both at the same time too.

 

[Bricklayer]

He was the SF most of the night except a few mins at the 2. Holiday and Roberts were on the court with him and both at the same time too.

Which is nice, but if one guy is running your offense he isn't playing SF, except in the Scottie Pippen sense, no matter the height of his teammates.

In any case New Orleans runs a very collegeesque 3-guard lineup most of the time when Aminu is out of the game. Reke's the biggest guard, so he will typically take the opposing SF, but the offensive roles are largely interchangeable. When Reke's on the floor with anybody but Holiday he's normally doing the offensive initiating. Tonight he often was even when Holiday was on the floor. Macthups I would imagine.

 

[jalfa]

Those other guys you listed are very good players on good teams but I would not call them game-changers at least not as all-around type players. Certainly in his prime Dirk was a game-changer on the offensive end and Howard is for the most part a game-changer on the defensive end. The elite players are game-changers on both ends though. Steve Nash in his prime was close to elite in terms of game-changing because he literally made all 4 of his teammates so much better on the offensive end.

DeMarcus is close on the offensive end to being a game-changer but he still has some work to do on shot selection, passing out of double teams, and turnovers. He's not yet at the level where he is really making his teammates significantly better on the offensive end but that is partly the fault of his "chucker" teammates and the Kings not running the offense enough through Cousins.

I think you and I both know that DeMarcus Cousins is not even close to being a game-changer on the defensive end and there lies a lot of the Kings problems. As of yet Cousins hasn't shown the ability to consistently play good solid defense and the coaching staff really doesn't demand it of him. It's hard to get the rest of the team to buy into a defensive mentality when the best player doesn't fully commit to it.

hang on, so in your view there's what? four game changing talents in this league? that's...odd...

 

[Tetsujin]

hang on, so in your view there's what? four game changing talents in this league? that's...odd...

Lebron is the only game changing talent in the league and even that's pushing it.