Ziller: Time for Kings to consider life after Cousins

[kingsboi]

Man. I really can't believe this! I hate this bs time and time again. The only thing that will help me feel better is if we get Thibs.

Look, we are not getting Thibs. This team will not fire and cannot afford to fire Karl this season just based on reputation alone. He signed three years, I don't know if he will be here for all those three years but he is here at least for this season. That being said, by the time it's the Kings turn yet again to pick a new head coach, I feel Thibs will be off the market.

 

[VF21]

An apology is nice and all but how long before Cousins lashes out again? We see this too much. Some things never change, no matter the circumstances.

Yeah, because Cousins is the first player to do anything like this.

Does the name Latrell Sprewell ring any bells? Now that was a player LASHING OUT. Cousins said a naughty word. On noes. How will the team survive?

Some of you just boggle my mind.

 

[Kings_on_the_RiSE]

Look, we are not getting Thibs. This team will not fire and cannot afford to fire Karl this season just based on reputation alone. He signed three years, I don't know if he will be here for all those three years but he is here at least for this season. That being said, by the time it's the Kings turn yet again to pick a new head coach, I feel Thibs will be off the market.

Please don't be a pessimist. We have to believe.

 

[kingsboi]

The Kings have one great advantage in this ordeal other teams and fans of other teams must account for, Cousins isn't a quitter.

I think more than anything, it's not that the fans want to rid themselves of Cousins. They want to rid themselves of Cousins antics, attitude problems, body language, etc. Losing takes a toll on players, no doubt...however, if the team is ever going to get to the playoffs or matter fact start winning games, you can't get yourself down like this. The train needs to keep moving forward, change some schemes up on both sides of the ball and stick with a rotation. Consistency is the best way to build chemistry.

 

[kingsboi]

Yeah, because Cousins is the first player to do anything like this.

Does the name Latrell Sprewell ring any bells? Now that was a player LASHING OUT. Cousins said a naughty word. On noes. How will the team survive?

Some of you just boggle my mind.

You boggle my mind by consistently backing up any negative this guy does. I suppose you are okay with him arguing every single play he doesn't get to go his way? Are you for him just casually trotting back on defense time and time and time again? Look...I'm not here arguing to trade Cousins. That's ridiculous. However, I think we as fans just want to see him turn the corner and become accountable, responsible and reliant. At this point in time, I can't say he has been.

 

[kingsboi]

Please don't be a pessimist. We have to believe.

Believe all you want...just don't let that cloud your judgement on what's really going on.

 

[CuzistanKing]

This, I think, is doom for Karl. It is the statement a guy makes when the person in charge told them "be cool, play ball, I will take care of it but it will take a little time".

I actually think it went more like, "I made Karl watch all the tape from Malone's games last year and he's going to do more of that going forward; now you need to show a sign of good faith and apologize for yelling at him in public." At least I really hope that's how it went...

 

[Kings_on_the_RiSE]

Believe all you want...just don't let that cloud your judgement on what's really going on.

I still think this can work out. The media blows everything out of proportion. Don't always buy into it. But IF it doesn't, I sure hope Thibs is the replacement.

 

[206Fan]

Are you freaking kidding me? I've heard players drop F bombs at their coaches. I've heard coaches drop F bombs on the bench during commercials. I've heard my best friend drop F bombs at Mavericks fans. It's not that unusual. At least Boogie did it in what he thought was a private setting.

I'm more concerned with whomever it was who leaked this information, who told takes outside the locker room. That is a betrayal of the team dynamic because the meeting wasn't open to the media. SOMEBODY BLABBED..and that somebody needs to be identified and eliminated. Not all laundry should be hung out in public.

Cousins did not say a naughty word.. reports are that he cursed out at George Karl. The previous thread was closed and people were calling it a ridiculous spin by the national media. It was the national media trying to stir things up, and Cousins would never do such a thing. Nor was Karl on the hot seat..... Now we find out that it was all true. No spins.

It was in a private setting..in front of his teammates and other staff.
No matter the setting, Cousins should NEVER curse out Karl. There's a respect level for your coach.

I'm not even talking about their track records. I'm talking about pure respect. You should never go after your head coach..ever.
Anyone who was ever played ball on any level, knows that this was a despicable thing for Cousins to do. Let's not even include the fact that they're professionals.

It's worrisome to say the least. The coach is the guy who is supposed to lead the team. How is he going to do that when his best player has very little to 0 respect for him? What message does this set to the rest of the team? Cousins is supposed to be our franchise guy.

 

[Kingster]

Cousins is frustrated and blows up is like telling me the weather is changing. What else is new?

Leaving aside Cousins' pluses and minuses, unless this team starts winning very quickly, as in the next 10 games or so, this season is lost (and that's not a tongue in cheek). By lost, I mean no chance for the playoffs. And another frustrating end to a season. And what does frustration portend for Cousins? See above. And if the season is lost, then as a ton of people have said over the last year, Cousins is going to want out of here. Then we're trading him. Period. So they better start winning immediately. Otherwise, it doesn't matter whether you want him here or not - he's gone.

 

[Henkel]

Were not going to move on from Cousins willingly. There's zero support for it from ownership, so this a non starter. The real danger has always been Cousins forcing his way out, which we will start hearing about by the trade deadline if we don't get this turned around quickly.

 

[KingsFaninSTK]

I am a huge Cousins fan and love watching him play but at some point you have to start thinking this isn't the Coaches fault. The Front Office has been a disaster and Cousins isn't helping.

 

[SacTownKid]

I am a huge Cousins fan and love watching him play but at some point you have to start thinking this isn't the Coaches fault. The Front Office has been a disaster and Cousins isn't helping.

Lets count the coaches. Westphal with an attitude not much different than now and a desire to play in much the same way they want to now. Same with Smart. And the rest are a bunch of get us a better draft pick selections. Oh, outside of that Malone guy of course. Just like Cousins having frustrations on the floor with little to no spacing, when a coach doesn't play to his strengths it's amazing how unsettled he is. He could or should be more professional, OK, I get that, but most of the "wrong" coaches all have certain things in common if you look at how they wanted to their team to play. It's almost like poking the bear at a certain point.

 

[dude12]

You don't see other franchise players in the league throwing a fit and not trying when things go down...they look themselves in the mirror and ask what can they do to turn this around? Cousins is so used to losing that even the slightest negative that comes towards the team, he folds and shows his true colors again. At a certain point you need to say to yourself...it's time to grow up and get over this hurdle with a level head.

Ha......no you see star players decide they are going to jump ship and join another franchise. Lebron...KLove.....Melo demanding trade......KG and Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.....should I keep blowing holes in your theory.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

The hard truth, is a team has little chance of becoming a contender,...if their franchise player and apparent "leader", has poor character. It sucks sometimes, but if they won't change, it is what it is

 

[dude12]

Are you freaking kidding me? I've heard players drop F bombs at their coaches. I've heard coaches drop F bombs on the bench during commercials. I've heard my best friend drop F bombs at Mavericks fans. It's not that unusual. At least Boogie did it in what he thought was a private setting.

I'm more concerned with whomever it was who leaked this information, who told takes outside the locker room. That is a betrayal of the team dynamic because the meeting wasn't open to the media. SOMEBODY BLABBED..and that somebody needs to be identified and eliminated. Not all laundry should be hung out in public.

This.....this leak BS was supposed to be in the past. Nothing is in context with these leaks.

 

[VF21]

The hard truth, is a team has little chance of becoming a contender,...if their franchise player and apparent "leader", has poor character. It sucks sometimes, but if they won't change, it is what it is

I absolutely refuse to buy into the "poor character" definition of DMC. I will point to one person in the past who was also tagged with a poor attitude ... his jersey hangs in the STA rafters.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

I absolutely refuse to buy into the "poor character" definition of DMC. I will point to one person in the past who was also tagged with a poor attitude ... his jersey hangs in the STA rafters.

No comparison there really. Nobody's perfect,...most have a lot of growing pains,...but at some point, yeah

 

[kingwin]

I think its time...I would trade cousins now and not because of cousins, but because vivek wants the kings to be the warriors.

 

[dude12]

I absolutely refuse to buy into the "poor character" definition of DMC. I will point to one person in the past who was also tagged with a poor attitude ... his jersey hangs in the STA rafters.

It's amazing how people forget that situation. The crap is right in front of their eyes. Cousins goes down with an injury and they are god-awful. You would figure that at some point, if he was such a loser, cancerous teammate.....the remaining team would go out and win to prove a point.

 

[rainmaker]

This.....this leak BS was supposed to be in the past. Nothing is in context with these leaks.

A leak is a problem, but once again we have a few here lashing out at the messengers instead of the underlying problem. Amusing after how many times we went thru it last year.

The problem is, Cuz vs Karl isn't going anywhere. Just heard Napear repeatedly say Cuz cursed out Karl. So the earlier reports had clear truth to them. Context means little. Anyone can read thru the lines and see it's Karl vs Cuz at the center of this.

Seems the best hope is that Vlade can patch things over until summer, then replace Karl. And if that's the best case scenario, that's a sad situation.

 

[kingsboi]

Ha......no you see star players decide they are going to jump ship and join another franchise. Lebron...KLove.....Melo demanding trade......KG and Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.....should I keep blowing holes in your theory.

KG, Allen were traded not because they didn't like their situations. Love & Melo did nothing for their teams as their primary players. I'm not really sure where you are trying to go with this here..

 

[VF21]

KG, Allen were traded not because they didn't like their situations. Love & Melo did nothing for their teams as their primary players. I'm not really sure where you are trying to go with this here..

Of course not. It doesn't follow your script.

 

[kingsboi]

Of course not. It doesn't follow your script.

Thanks for your insightful input.

 

[Blob]

I absolutely refuse to buy into the "poor character" definition of DMC. I will point to one person in the past who was also tagged with a poor attitude ... his jersey hangs in the STA rafters.

There's no debating he has a volatile temper which has gotten repeatedly in trouble with teammates, coaches and refs. Part of being a man is controlling your emotions in pressure situations and he is not all there yet. This is different than a generalized statement that he has "poor character" but does speak to his obvious need to mature. I have been saying for years he needs anger management counseling or a sports psychologist or learn how to meditate or whatever works for him to address the issue. Obviously there is an issue though at heart he is good guy.

Bottom line: You can be a passionate player without being abusive to your colleagues. I don't know if you caught it but last game he committed an obvious foul and yelled at the top of his lungs "F**K YOU MAN!" at the ref that earned him a T. It was a pretty egregious display of total lack of emotional control.

 

[kingsboi]

It's amazing how people forget that situation. The poopoo is right in front of their eyes. Cousins goes down with an injury and they are god-awful. You would figure that at some point, if he was such a loser, cancerous teammate.....the remaining team would go out and win to prove a point.

When one team is so dependent on one player and has been for the past four seasons....of course they are going to continue to lose games even if Cousins is a cancer.

 

[kingsboi]

There's no debating he has a volatile temper which has gotten repeatedly in trouble with teammates, coaches and refs. Part of being a man is controlling your emotions in pressure situations and he is not all there yet. This is different than a generalized statement that he has "poor character" but does speak to his obvious need to mature. I have been saying for years he needs anger management counseling or a sports psychologist or learn how to meditate or whatever works for him to address the issue. Obviously there is an issue though at heart he is good guy.

Bottom line: You can be a passionate player without being abusive to your colleagues. I don't know if you caught it but last game he committed an obvious foul and yelled at the top of his lungs "F**K YOU MAN!" at the ref that earned him a T. It was a pretty egregious display of total lack of emotional control.

Spot on. This would be a good investment on his part.

 

[VF21]

There's no debating he has a volatile temper which has gotten repeatedly in trouble with teammates, coaches and refs. Part of being a man is controlling your emotions in pressure situations and he is not all there yet. This is different than a generalized statement that he has "poor character" but does speak to his obvious need to mature. I have been saying for years he needs anger management counseling or a sports psychologist or learn how to meditate or whatever works for him to address the issue. Obviously there is an issue though at heart he is good guy.

Bottom line: You can be a passionate player without being abusive to your colleagues. I don't know if you caught it but last game he committed an obvious foul and yelled at the top of his lungs "F**K YOU MAN!" at the ref that earned him a T. It was a pretty egregious display of total lack of emotional control.

I do not think DMC is perfect or above reproach but I also do not think he's the devil incarnate. I think he's a passionate young man with an incredible talent who has been stuck on a losing team for way too long and it's taking its toll. Add in all the drama that has stirred around and I think some of his anger is well based

As far as the outburst against the official? Egregious is way too strong a word. I've heard a lot of players over the years make the same comments to the guys in stripes...and usually with the same result. Actions have consequences.

I do not think DMC was abusive to GK without cause, but that's my personal opinion.

 

[VF21]

Thanks for your insightful input.

Thanks for making it so easy for me.

 

[Blob]

I do not think DMC is perfect or above reproach but I also do not think he's the devil incarnate. I think he's a passionate young man with an incredible talent who has been stuck on a losing team for way too long and it's taking its toll. Add in all the drama that has stirred around and I think some of his anger is well based

As far as the outburst against the official? Egregious is way too strong a word. I've heard a lot of players over the years make the same comments to the guys in stripes...and usually with the same result. Actions have consequences.

I do not think DMC was abusive to GK without cause, but that's my personal opinion.

He is paid more than any player on the roster to be professional and a leader and when you curse out your coach or at best go on obscenity laced tirade you are NOT being a professional and you are NOT being a leader. He is being a destructive and divisive and his temper is getting the best of him.

Just hypothetically, what do you think Karl said or did or said to Boogie to deserve the abuse? If he was critical of his game, hypothetically, does that warrant Boogie dropping a series of F-bombs? I don't think so.