Should kings get Cousins a big man coach?

Showtime

Showtime

Starter
#1
#1
We know they hired his former coach for more of a mental benefit. The kings have Truck Robinson, but he was more of a rebounding/tough guy than an offensive player. SAR is there, but was a tweener. I think it would benefit DMC greatly to have an offensively gifted big man work with him during the summer. Ask Webber, or Hakeem, or somebody to help get this kid a couple of go-to moves down pat, because he just seems to be forcing wild stuff too much.

Even during camp, he had that hook shot which wasn't a complicated move. He used it effectively, but it doesn't seem like he's been doing that at all this season. He's facing up a lot more. I'd like to see him develop that short hook as a go-to move, as well as work on a drop step ala Shaq. Establish position low, get a quick go-to move and finish. That's what we need out of him, instead of wild drives and 360 spins and crazy shots.
 
PurpleHaze

PurpleHaze

All-Star
#2
#2
Big man DeMarcus Cousins has remarkable basketball skills for a 20 year old - Coachie says best he's ever seen at that age. I think he'll continue to develop natually with the group that is surrounding him now plus others who may be brought in from time-to-time - like maybe Bill Walton, CWebb, etc. The Kings very raw talent that could use such hands on big man coaching is that other 20 year old - Hassan Whiteside.
 
Fear the Putin

Fear the Putin

Starter
#3
#3
if we can actually hire Chris Webber to be a big man's coach, that would be great.

Not only was he a great offensive player, but he actually loves Cousins and his talent. C-Webb has always had great communication skills and he would teach him many tricks of the trade.
 
Entity

Entity

Hall of Famer
#6
#6
Not sure how many know this because I keep seeing it said the "The kings hired Cousins highschool coach" In fact yes they did but he also coached at Pete Newell's "BigManCamp" which is where every big man in the NBA has gone in his first few seasons to learn from Otis and others. Otis Hughley a.k.a. "cousins highschool coach" also coached in the NBA China program and has worked as an assitant for 3 college teams.
 
bajaden

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#7
#7
Entity said:
Not sure how many know this because I keep seeing it said the "The kings hired Cousins highschool coach" In fact yes they did but he also coached at Pete Newell's "BigManCamp" which is where every big man in the NBA has gone in his first few seasons to learn from Otis and others. Otis Hughley a.k.a. "cousins highschool coach" also coached in the NBA China program and has worked as an assitant for 3 college teams.
Click to expand...
Thats true, I had forgotten that his highschool coach had been an instructer at Pete Newells camp. It was a sad day when Pete Newell died. But his camp goes on and I hope that Cousins and Whiteside both attend this offseason. I know that Thompson has attended it, and probably will again this year.

I wonder what ever happened to Benard King. That guy had more shakes and bakes under the basket than anyone I can remember. Hey, how about Barkley, he could use some exercise..
 
M

mac

All-Star
#8
#8
bajaden said:
Thats true, I had forgotten that his highschool coach had been an instructer at Pete Newells camp. It was a sad day when Pete Newell died. But his camp goes on and I hope that Cousins and Whiteside both attend this offseason. I know that Thompson has attended it, and probably will again this year.

I wonder what ever happened to Benard King. That guy had more shakes and bakes under the basket than anyone I can remember. Hey, how about Barkley, he could use some exercise..
Click to expand...
It would be awesome if we got Barkley. Cos then he wouldn't be able to talk thrash about DMC anymore lol
 
Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#9
#9
If your list is going to be just composed of HOf bigs with even more offensive game than Cousins its going to be a pretty short list, with most of them engaged otherwise or not interested. Webb or McHale working with over the summer = maybe best case scenario. But not every great big man coach had to be a great big himself. COusins is so outlandishly talented that you really just need somebody to help him refine it and bring it out and work on the mental stuff rather than a guy who has to teach the stuff from the very beginning.
 
Last edited:
Tetsujin

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#10
#10
Bricklayer said:
If your list is going to be just composed of HOf bigs with even more offensive game than Cousins its going to be a pretty short list, with most of them engage otherwise or not interested. Webb or McHale working with over the summer = maybe best case scenario. But not every great big man coach had to be a great big himself. COusins is so outlandishly talented that you really just need somebody to help him refine it and bring it out and work on the mental stuff rather than a guy who has to teach the stuff from the very beginning.
Click to expand...
This. HOF Big Men coaches are usually used to help an athlete who generally lacks skill but has athleticism (Dwight has got/had Patrick Ewing working with him and worked with Hakeem over the summer, Bynum had Kareem helping him until the Lakers said eff it and brought in Gasol. Hell, even Al Jefferson had Kevin McHale working with him). DeMarcus, on the other hand, is almost in the opposite boat as he seems to have all of the skills yet needs some help with the physical side of things. If we do bring in a big man coach, it would be for Hassan's benefit rather than for DeMarcus's.
 
M

mac

All-Star
#11
#11
Tetsujin said:
This. HOF Big Men coaches are usually used to help an athlete who generally lacks skill but has athleticism (Dwight has got/had Patrick Ewing working with him and worked with Hakeem over the summer, Bynum had Kareem helping him until the Lakers said eff it and brought in Gasol. Hell, even Al Jefferson had Kevin McHale working with him). DeMarcus, on the other hand, is almost in the opposite boat as he seems to have all of the skills yet needs some help with the physical side of things. If we do bring in a big man coach, it would be for Hassan's benefit rather than for DeMarcus's.
Click to expand...
Still, if Kobe Bryant can learn post moves from Hakeem I think it wouldn't hurt for DMC to do so too
 
S

Shorty

Prospect
#13
#13
I think he has a couple already. If you mean having a high-profile former big, that will personally undertake the task of making him into an allstar, then, yes. I think we should bring in an ex-NBA player to do this.
 
FaStRmAn

FaStRmAn

Starter
#14
#14
There are plenty of big man coaches on the Kings. Shareef was a quality near allstar player whom Cousins could learn from. Truck Robinson is also a good defensive rebounding coach in the post. Hopefully experience along with the coaching from Shareef, Robinson, and Coachie will be enough to help Demarcus learn a few post go to moves. He is already being double teamed in the post, so now he needs to learn how to play the post and pass out of double teams. Starting as center will give him plenty of experience. It is up to Cousins to learn and improve his game under the rim.
 
bajaden

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#16
#16
Bricklayer said:
If your list is going to be just composed of HOf bigs with even more offensive game than Cousins its going to be a pretty short list, with most of them engaged otherwise or not interested. Webb or McHale working with over the summer = maybe best case scenario. But not every great big man coach had to be a great big himself. COusins is so outlandishly talented that you really just need somebody to help him refine it and bring it out and work on the mental stuff rather than a guy who has to teach the stuff from the very beginning.
Click to expand...
Your right about HOF guys. In general, most HOF type guys don't make good coaches or instructers. There are exceptions of course, but, very few. The problem is that what comes easy for them, doesn't come easy for the average player, and the HOF guy usually get frustrated, and can't figure out why the average guy can't do what he could do. If you look around the league in any sport, you don't see many HOF guys as head coaches or as full time instructers. You might get a guy like Akem to spend a couple of days with someone, but thats about it.

I think the only way you could get a guy like Webb to be a part of something like this, is that there would have to be some other incentive involved. Webb has a big ego, and there are also big ego's in the organization. Big ego's have a tendecy to clash at some point. Lets face it, Webb has a good gig going right now. So does Barkley, although he's starting to wear a little thin. But why would these guys give up what they have to go back to an otherwise thankless job.

I agree that all Cousins needs is polish and to be in better shape. There are guys around the league that specialize in that sort of thing. There are clinic's like the aforementioned Pete Newell's camp. Its really up to him how good he wants to be.
 
Kingster

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#17
#17
They already have Shareef and Truck. Hakim or Walton would be nice.

That said, it's more important for Cousins to get in shape during the summer than work on his skill set. Getting in serious shape is the base of the pyramid. If he doesn't have that base, then everything else is for nought. Also, it would demonstrate a small degree of maturity for Cousins to do so. Getting in shape isn't the fun stuff; working on the nuances of a drop step is. Let's see what kind of discipline Cousins has this off-season to see if he really is going to work to get better.
 
Showtime

Showtime

Starter
#18
#18
FaStRmAn said:
There are plenty of big man coaches on the Kings. Shareef was a quality near allstar player whom Cousins could learn from. Truck Robinson is also a good defensive rebounding coach in the post. Hopefully experience along with the coaching from Shareef, Robinson, and Coachie will be enough to help Demarcus learn a few post go to moves. He is already being double teamed in the post, so now he needs to learn how to play the post and pass out of double teams. Starting as center will give him plenty of experience. It is up to Cousins to learn and improve his game under the rim.
Click to expand...
How are those guys going to teach him effective low post moves? Cousins is already more talented than any of their coaches who were players. He needs a guy who has done it with top talent to show the kid how to use his talents.
 
T

Tyndel

Bench
#19
#19
Cousins already has the talent and the moves what he needs to learn and likely will over time is which moves to use against which type of defender. Don't power up and through shotblockers don't try to outquick the faster big men and so on. He has shown from summer league on that he has all the moves a big man could want he just isn't picking the right ones to use on any given night.

Lots of people want him to pick one or two moves and stick to them. I don't feel like he will be restricted to that long. I think he is skilled enough a few years down the road he will be changing his go to move based on the type of defender and double teams he has against him. Infact I feel that Cousins will drag Whiteside along with him if they are practicing working closely together and Whiteside can learn from the other rook as they both work on the side of the game they need to moves and physical. Whiteside has shown he will work in the weight room and Cousins has the moves they can push each other. Thats why Whiteside should be getting garbage minutes and never set foot in the d league again.


Edit
Its in the Kings best interest to get them some chemistry on and off the floor because together they make one impressive big man rookie.
 
Last edited:
rainmaker

rainmaker

Hall of Famer
#20
#20
If you ask me, which no one did but I'll give my opinion anyway :D, Cousins needs to concentrate more on the psychological part of the game, and his body, than his overall skill. Cousins already has more all around talent then just about any center in the league, great footwork, an inside/outside game, above average passer and rebounder, and his defense is improving. He's a very quick learner. 2 months ago he was in foul trouble to the point that playing 30 mins wasn't an option, now he's finishing with 21/8/5, in 39 mins, and 2 fouls. Just an example of is learning curve.

He needs seasoning and experience. Two things you can't coach. This summer he needs to continue tranforming his body, and really increase his core/lower body strength. All great post players have a strong foundation, core and legs. Cousins is frequently off balance after making a great move, and that affects any on balance explosion towards to rim. So balance/stability/core/ and leg stregth is what I think he needs to work on most. That would actually help him to better use the talent he already had. He has post moves he isn't athletic enough to finish at this point.

But just as importantly, he needs to work on the mental aspect. He takes himself out of games with his fustration. I expect it to improve over time the way it does with most young players, but learning the mental approach from guys like Webb or Vlade would do wonders for him. The commitment, pre-game preperation, off season work ethic, nutrition, time spent watching film, etc., would all be extremely benificial for Cousins to learn from guys who have been successful, and been through it before.
 
bajaden

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#21
#21
rainmaker said:
If you ask me, which no one did but I'll give my opinion anyway :D, Cousins needs to concentrate more on the psychological part of the game, and his body, than his overall skill. Cousins already has more all around talent then just about any center in the league, great footwork, an inside/outside game, above average passer and rebounder, and his defense is improving. He's a very quick learner. 2 months ago he was in foul trouble to the point that playing 30 mins wasn't an option, now he's finishing with 21/8/5, in 39 mins, and 2 fouls. Just an example of is learning curve.

He needs seasoning and experience. Two things you can't coach. This summer he needs to continue tranforming his body, and really increase his core/lower body strength. All great post players have a strong foundation, core and legs. Cousins is frequently off balance after making a great move, and that affects any on balance explosion towards to rim. So balance/stability/core/ and leg stregth is what I think he needs to work on most. That would actually help him to better use the talent he already had. He has post moves he isn't athletic enough to finish at this point.

But just as importantly, he needs to work on the mental aspect. He takes himself out of games with his fustration. I expect it to improve over time the way it does with most young players, but learning the mental approach from guys like Webb or Vlade would do wonders for him. The commitment, pre-game preperation, off season work ethic, nutrition, time spent watching film, etc., would all be extremely benificial for Cousins to learn from guys who have been successful, and been through it before.
Click to expand...
I don't know why in the hell he should be having balance problems. He's wearing two of those balance braclets.
 
M

mac

All-Star
#23
#23
The problem with SAR and perhaps even CWebb is that they're of a different build from Cousins. Things like speed and explosiveness are going to be different, and that affects how the post moves are executed. SAR can teach Cousins to use quickness and a spin move, but he can't teach Cousins how to really back guys down and use his size. We could leave it to Cousins and big man camps and all, but I'm all for investing heavily in a promising talent. It's not my money anyway :D
 
Aenadin

Aenadin

Starter
#24
#24
Bigman Coaches

Offense:

Karl Malone (if he can teach cousins and reke how he and stock work that pick and roll.... imagine!)
Hakeem (The DREAM SHAKE... enough said)
Webber (Court vision, creativity)
Divac (passing)

Defense

Still hakeem can work on this two
ALONZO MOURNING
Dikembe mutombo
 
William Blake

William Blake

Bench
#25
#25
Question for the experts: can a guy at Cousins' age, with focused offseason training, become more athletic? I'm not talking about strength, that can sure be done, i'm talking about explosivness, ability to jump higher and things like that.
 
Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#26
#26
William Blake said:
Question for the experts: can a guy at Cousins' age, with focused offseason training, become more athletic? I'm not talking about strength, that can sure be done, i'm talking about explosivness, ability to jump higher and things like that.
Click to expand...
Somewhat, just by losing poundage. But can you take a non-leaper and turn him into a jumping jack through drills? No, that's in the genes.
 
M

mac

All-Star
#27
#27
Bricklayer said:
Somewhat, just by losing poundage. But can you take a non-leaper and turn him into a jumping jack through drills? No, that's in the genes.
Click to expand...
Well you can certainly increase hops through training programs, but Cousins can train all we want and he'll never have the kind of leaping ability that Dwight has. Meanwhile Dwight will never have the shooting touch that Cousins has.
 
T

Tyndel

Bench
#28
#28
Plyometrics it can add several inches jump and produce more quickness but I would assume he is already on some sort of training program with it in it.
 
M

mac

All-Star
#29
#29
Tyndel said:
Plyometrics it can add several inches jump and produce more quickness but I would assume he is already on some sort of training program with it in it.
Click to expand...
Well compared to the average human being of his size (if that even makes sense) he's probably already pretty athletic and can jump quite a bit. He's never going to be the most explosive jumper or even speedwise. He's got quick feet for his size, and he just needs that extra elevation to finish more consistently after the initial good move.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.