Kings play by play announcer Grant Napear torches 'disgraceful' DeMarcus Cousins

[PhoSita]

He's really good, but he oughta be way better.

This I just don't agree with.  The man produces.  27 ppg, 11 rpg, 3 a, 1 stl, 1 block is fantastic.  Josh Smith never even cracked 20 ppg or 10 rpg.

A significant chunk of what he does on the floor is empty.  He does so much that he still absolutely makes the Kings better, but he should make them way better. 

Josh Smith and Rasheed Wallace are absolutely valid comparisons for DMC, he's just so big and so talented he still puts up star numbers even as he's wasting a lot of his ability.

[Snakehead]

He's really good, but he oughta be way better.

This I just don't agree with.  The man produces.  27 ppg, 11 rpg, 3 a, 1 stl, 1 block is fantastic.  Josh Smith never even cracked 20 ppg or 10 rpg.

A significant chunk of what he does on the floor is empty.  He does so much that he still absolutely makes the Kings better, but he should make them way better. 

Josh Smith and Rasheed Wallace are absolutely valid comparisons for DMC, he's just so big and so talented he still puts up star numbers even as he's wasting a lot of his ability.

It's empty because he doesn't win?  The stats have the team better with him.  He can't win games himself.  He can only be the best player he can be on the floor and the stats show that.  Two guys who didn't crack 20 ppg in their career are not on the same level.  I do think Cousins is comparable to Sheed in demeanor but he's just a better player.  Those two guys did not put up the numbers you are saying they did in this comparison so it's just not a good comparison.

Trust me, not saying he's perfect but when people don't give him credit for his production they really lose me.  Doesn't make sense.

[Monkhouse]

He's really good, but he oughta be way better.

This I just don't agree with.  The man produces.  27 ppg, 11 rpg, 3 a, 1 stl, 1 block is fantastic.  Josh Smith never even cracked 20 ppg or 10 rpg.

A significant chunk of what he does on the floor is empty.  He does so much that he still absolutely makes the Kings better, but he should make them way better. 

Josh Smith and Rasheed Wallace are absolutely valid comparisons for DMC, he's just so big and so talented he still puts up star numbers even as he's wasting a lot of his ability.

Always respect your opinion and your posts Phosita. But going to heavily disagree with you there.

I was one of the hugest supporters in bringing J-Smoove to Boston, but Josh Smith is nowhere near the same echelon as Cousins. (I know you meant in terms of a more elite version of Smith, but I don't think those two are even similar players.)

[moiso]

I just posted in the other Cousins thread, but the numbers clearly show that the Kings are a significantly better team when Cousins is in the game, then when he is not in the game, on both ends of the floor.  They score a lot more and give up a lot less.  They shoot significantly better as a team and they hold their opponents to a significantly small FG%. This is pretty much across the board in all stats (except turnovers, they are slightly worse offensively at that with Cousins).  I mean that is what should happen with your best player, but if Cousins is really that much of a problem, you would think it would show statistically and it does not.

Cousins is a very good player.  By far the best player on the Kings.  I don't see why it's surprising that the team plays much better when he's in the game.  He is still a drain on the entire organization, makes his coaches less credible among other players, etc.  But of course the team is going to play better when he's in the game.

[PhoSita]

Trust me, not saying he's perfect but when people don't give him credit for his production they really lose me.  Doesn't make sense.

We're getting into difficult-to-pin-down territory here, I know.

I'm not a person who is entirely results-oriented.  I never bought the notion that Kevin Love wasn't a really good player, for example, just because the T-Wolves never won more than they lost.  Kevin Love made a terrible team halfway respectable.

Cousins does much the same thing for the Kings.


That said, I do think that putting up an amazing box score and making a major impact on your team's success are separate things, though they are strongly correlated.

I'm not saying that when Cousins puts up 30 and 12 with 5 assists and 5 blocks that he didn't have a good game, or that the Kings would've been better without him.

At the same time, I don't think that looking at Cousins's box score numbers will tell you the whole story about what he's doing on the floor.  More on point, I don't think they can capture to what extent Cousins is doing as much as he COULD do to help his team win.

Call it the "Tim Duncan" factor, if you like.  Some guys don't just put up great box scores, they are also fantastic team players.  The very best players combine the transcendant talent of a star with the intangibles of the best role players.  They know what to do to help their team win, they're always willing to do it, and they have the talent to make it happen.

Cousins has always seemed to me like a guy who does a whole heck of a lot just on raw talent, because he's just so much bigger and better than most of the guys hes facing.  But he's an individual guy who makes his team better as a consequence of being really talented, not because he's a great team member.

In that respect, he reminds me of guys like Smoove and Sheed.  He's talented and he more or less just plays however he wants to play, regardless of the situation.  He's good enough that he still puts up All-Star numbers regardless.  He's a valuable player.  But that doesn't mean he isn't wasting his abilities. 

All of that informs my belief that, like Sheed (not so much Smoove, unfortunately), the best case scenario for Cousins will be to end up playing second fiddle to somebody better, smarter, and more disciplined than he is.

[Moranis]

I just posted in the other Cousins thread, but the numbers clearly show that the Kings are a significantly better team when Cousins is in the game, then when he is not in the game, on both ends of the floor.  They score a lot more and give up a lot less.  They shoot significantly better as a team and they hold their opponents to a significantly small FG%. This is pretty much across the board in all stats (except turnovers, they are slightly worse offensively at that with Cousins).  I mean that is what should happen with your best player, but if Cousins is really that much of a problem, you would think it would show statistically and it does not.

Cousins is a very good player.  By far the best player on the Kings.  I don't see why it's surprising that the team plays much better when he's in the game.  He is still a drain on the entire organization, makes his coaches less credible among other players, etc.  But of course the team is going to play better when he's in the game.

You mean the coach that was nearly fired twice and the only reason he wasn't was the team didn't want to pay two coaches.  You mean that coach. 

Cousins was very close with Mike Malone and had an ok relationship with Keith Smart.  Two guys shown the door before they should have been.  He also got along very well with Calipari (he had some issues, but both he and Cal talk very highly of each other and did at the time) and Coach K with USA basketball team.  This notion that Cousins can't get along with coaches is crazy.  He can't get along with George Karl, a lame duck coach that almost immediately after getting hired demanded Cousins get traded.  He also clashed with Westphal, though a lot of that was on Westphal.

[Monkhouse]

I just posted in the other Cousins thread, but the numbers clearly show that the Kings are a significantly better team when Cousins is in the game, then when he is not in the game, on both ends of the floor.  They score a lot more and give up a lot less.  They shoot significantly better as a team and they hold their opponents to a significantly small FG%. This is pretty much across the board in all stats (except turnovers, they are slightly worse offensively at that with Cousins).  I mean that is what should happen with your best player, but if Cousins is really that much of a problem, you would think it would show statistically and it does not.

Cousins is a very good player.  By far the best player on the Kings.  I don't see why it's surprising that the team plays much better when he's in the game.  He is still a drain on the entire organization, makes his coaches less credible among other players, etc.  But of course the team is going to play better when he's in the game.

I'm sorry, but Cousins has a right to be frustrated.

I agree Cousins has vented his frustration in the wrong way, but college basketball isn't about improving their demeanor or their personality... Its about making sure they get the best foundation possible in terms of making it in the NBA. So its up to the franchise to be able to rein Cousins in, and be able to get him to buy into the system with a positive mindset.

The Kings are an absolute joke. I have absolutely no problems repeating that sentence 1,000 times in a row.

The Kings just don't know how to run a basketball team, let alone a professional one.

In the Bill Simmons report, there was discussions about the head coach changes, and point guard changes.

"And you guys were playing great, I mean seriously... The west looked so loaded at the point. So then, you're gone, and all of the sudden Mike Malone is gone.. I mean, and they didn't even tell you? They didn't give you a heads up? How did that play out?"

"I mean... I mean.. basically... They let me know when it was happening.... When it was happening.. So basically... No."

I mean who does that?

Who fluctuates their statements?

Does anyone remember when everyone said DMC was untouchable? And now of all of the sudden, he isn't? No one is untouchable? Since when did this change? What made this become the national premise that suddenly a player who finally became an Allstar, and was hands down, a top 5 MVP candidate last year if he was able to get his team at least 7-10 more wins with a decent roster?

"Is it fair to say, because I'm watching this whole thing happen right now... You know like- I mean me and Jalen are a good fan of yours, and we're thinking about whether or not you're in the right situation. I mean it seems like you're tired of things changing, and you just want things to be stable as this table."

"Absolutely... I mean, its just hard to stay consistent with change all the time. I'm just looking for a stable environment, and with that being said, we can be on the same page, and take the steps together."

They have had SEVEN FREAKING POINT GUARDS!

5 different coaches? Disarray of terrible scouting/drafting positions? Consistently being in the lottery?

Hire George Karl after he deliberately tried to get rid of Boogie, and pretty much burned the bridge between the two of them, in terms of being able to have a good relationship player-to-coach?

I am not endorsing Cousin's behavior, because he does sometimes come off as pouty, and spoiled. But you have to understand, this is a guy who has consistently been HATED on, for NO FREAKING REASON!

People have counted him out. A reporter/analyst once said he would end up in jail. No one said he would ever make the NBA except to be the posterboy for bust.

I like Cousins. I really do. I like his firey personality, and I like the fact hes going to fight to prove he's right. That is the type of player whenever I play pick up games, I want on my team. I want someone who's going to grab the boards with ferocity, and someone who will stand up to a teammate who's been hit hard by a terrible moving screen. People call him uncontrollable, and stupid.

If anything, all of the interviews I've heard and seen especially on podcasts, Boogie comes off as a well outspoken and polite dude. He legit says how he feels, and doesn't beat around the bush. I don't understand why people keep giving DMC the reputation that he's getting without giving him the benefit of the doubt; until he's been on a different team.

Everyone brings up him being a coach killer. But Calipari has always voiced his pleasure of being his coach, and how much he loves his intensity/passion. Coach K even said one of the first players he was looking to put on his team was Cousins... As far as I'm concerned, if Cousins was such a headcase, and couldn't work with coaches, why would one of the most respected coaches in the history of basketball want him to represent the NATION?

The Kings are just a horrible team with a misfit roster. Yes the roster is better, but where's the defense? Who is the best defender after DMC/Rondo?

[Monkhouse]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXnui1u8sqQ

DMC featuring his hometown Mobile, Albama.

Does this guy look like the posterboy of violence? This guy seems more humble and mad down to earth than most people give him credit for. Yes he does get into technicals, and the negatives surely seep out. But this guy is someone who just NEEDS someone WHO believes in him. I believe the Celtics are the perfect organization for him. Brad Stevens/Ainge are the two that can definitely talk to him, and show him what it takes to be a Celtic.

[Ilikesports17]

In the YouTube video he comes across as a great kid. Woulnt put too much into that. A video can make anyone look like a good guy.

That being said. I love Cousins and I would trade Brk '16 and Marcus for him if Brk '16 is 3-6 If Brooklyn 16 is top 2 I still make the deal I just pull Smart from it.

[GetLucky]

Trust me, not saying he's perfect but when people don't give him credit for his production they really lose me.  Doesn't make sense.

We're getting into difficult-to-pin-down territory here, I know.

I'm not a person who is entirely results-oriented.  I never bought the notion that Kevin Love wasn't a really good player, for example, just because the T-Wolves never won more than they lost.  Kevin Love made a terrible team halfway respectable.

Cousins does much the same thing for the Kings.


That said, I do think that putting up an amazing box score and making a major impact on your team's success are separate things, though they are strongly correlated.

I'm not saying that when Cousins puts up 30 and 12 with 5 assists and 5 blocks that he didn't have a good game, or that the Kings would've been better without him.

At the same time, I don't think that looking at Cousins's box score numbers will tell you the whole story about what he's doing on the floor.  More on point, I don't think they can capture to what extent Cousins is doing as much as he COULD do to help his team win.

Call it the "Tim Duncan" factor, if you like.  Some guys don't just put up great box scores, they are also fantastic team players.  The very best players combine the transcendant talent of a star with the intangibles of the best role players.  They know what to do to help their team win, they're always willing to do it, and they have the talent to make it happen.

Cousins has always seemed to me like a guy who does a whole heck of a lot just on raw talent, because he's just so much bigger and better than most of the guys hes facing.  But he's an individual guy who makes his team better as a consequence of being really talented, not because he's a great team member.

In that respect, he reminds me of guys like Smoove and Sheed.  He's talented and he more or less just plays however he wants to play, regardless of the situation.  He's good enough that he still puts up All-Star numbers regardless.  He's a valuable player.  But that doesn't mean he isn't wasting his abilities. 

All of that informs my belief that, like Sheed (not so much Smoove, unfortunately), the best case scenario for Cousins will be to end up playing second fiddle to somebody better, smarter, and more disciplined than he is.

Good points, Pho, but I wonder how much of this is teachable. It obviously takes some players longer to mature than others, but would having 4 coaches, 3 owners, and multiple GMs in 6 years possibly hamper the intangible/innate basketball senses? I think so. Without a consistent message or system, Cousins has never been afforded the opportunity to "get it" and develop his subconscious mastery of a defensive system or offensive set. I think if you give him Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge, who will have a consistent, proven message for DMC year-to-year, Cousins will develop that fluidity and knowledge of potential defensive weak spots and offensive opportunities and capitalize on them accordingly.

[hwangjini_1]

I just posted in the other Cousins thread, but the numbers clearly show that the Kings are a significantly better team when Cousins is in the game, then when he is not in the game, on both ends of the floor.  They score a lot more and give up a lot less.  They shoot significantly better as a team and they hold their opponents to a significantly small FG%. This is pretty much across the board in all stats (except turnovers, they are slightly worse offensively at that with Cousins).  I mean that is what should happen with your best player, but if Cousins is really that much of a problem, you would think it would show statistically and it does not.

Cousins is a very good player.  By far the best player on the Kings.  I don't see why it's surprising that the team plays much better when he's in the game.  He is still a drain on the entire organization, makes his coaches less credible among other players, etc.  But of course the team is going to play better when he's in the game.

I'm sorry, but Cousins has a right to be frustrated.

I agree Cousins has vented his frustration in the wrong way, but college basketball isn't about improving their demeanor or their personality... Its about making sure they get the best foundation possible in terms of making it in the NBA. So its up to the franchise to be able to rein Cousins in, and be able to get him to buy into the system with a positive mindset.

The Kings are an absolute joke. I have absolutely no problems repeating that sentence 1,000 times in a row.

The Kings just don't know how to run a basketball team, let alone a professional one.

In the Bill Simmons report, there was discussions about the head coach changes, and point guard changes.

"And you guys were playing great, I mean seriously... The west looked so loaded at the point. So then, you're gone, and all of the sudden Mike Malone is gone.. I mean, and they didn't even tell you? They didn't give you a heads up? How did that play out?"

"I mean... I mean.. basically... They let me know when it was happening.... When it was happening.. So basically... No."

I mean who does that?

Who fluctuates their statements?

Does anyone remember when everyone said DMC was untouchable? And now of all of the sudden, he isn't? No one is untouchable? Since when did this change? What made this become the national premise that suddenly a player who finally became an Allstar, and was hands down, a top 5 MVP candidate last year if he was able to get his team at least 7-10 more wins with a decent roster?

"Is it fair to say, because I'm watching this whole thing happen right now... You know like- I mean me and Jalen are a good fan of yours, and we're thinking about whether or not you're in the right situation. I mean it seems like you're tired of things changing, and you just want things to be stable as this table."

"Absolutely... I mean, its just hard to stay consistent with change all the time. I'm just looking for a stable environment, and with that being said, we can be on the same page, and take the steps together."

They have had SEVEN FREAKING POINT GUARDS!

5 different coaches? Disarray of terrible scouting/drafting positions? Consistently being in the lottery?

Hire George Karl after he deliberately tried to get rid of Boogie, and pretty much burned the bridge between the two of them, in terms of being able to have a good relationship player-to-coach?

I am not endorsing Cousin's behavior, because he does sometimes come off as pouty, and spoiled. But you have to understand, this is a guy who has consistently been HATED on, for NO FREAKING REASON!

People have counted him out. A reporter/analyst once said he would end up in jail. No one said he would ever make the NBA except to be the posterboy for bust.

I like Cousins. I really do. I like his firey personality, and I like the fact hes going to fight to prove he's right. That is the type of player whenever I play pick up games, I want on my team. I want someone who's going to grab the boards with ferocity, and someone who will stand up to a teammate who's been hit hard by a terrible moving screen. People call him uncontrollable, and stupid.

If anything, all of the interviews I've heard and seen especially on podcasts, Boogie comes off as a well outspoken and polite dude. He legit says how he feels, and doesn't beat around the bush. I don't understand why people keep giving DMC the reputation that he's getting without giving him the benefit of the doubt; until he's been on a different team.

Everyone brings up him being a coach killer. But Calipari has always voiced his pleasure of being his coach, and how much he loves his intensity/passion. Coach K even said one of the first players he was looking to put on his team was Cousins... As far as I'm concerned, if Cousins was such a headcase, and couldn't work with coaches, why would one of the most respected coaches in the history of basketball want him to represent the NATION?

The Kings are just a horrible team with a misfit roster. Yes the roster is better, but where's the defense? Who is the best defender after DMC/Rondo?

for the bolded, as does every other single kings player who share with cousins the same disfunctional organization, owner, GM, coach situation. they all suffer through the same abysmal and toxic environment. cousins doesnt have his own personal GM who torments him while other players get treated better by the their other GM.

yet, do the other players respond the same way as cousins has responded since his arrival?

yes, sac is run by clownasses. yes, cousins has real personality problems. it is possible to have both exist in the same place at the same time. what a marriage. 

[SHAQATTACK]

If he does not want Boogie Cousins

That's fine.


I ll drive to Boston airport to pick him up myself .


Ya'll feel mighty low ......when he hangs banner #18 for the Boston Celtics


All I'm say n.

[Roy H.]

That said, I do think that putting up an amazing box score and making a major impact on your team's success are separate things, though they are strongly correlated.

Well, the newest stat that has been introduced to measure impact, RPM, ranks Cousins as 13th in the NBA in terms of impact.  Last year he was 9th.  The only other guys to be in the top-13 each year:  Curry, LBJ, Harden, Kawhi, Westbrook, CP3, Draymond Green.

[Roy H.]

I just posted in the other Cousins thread, but the numbers clearly show that the Kings are a significantly better team when Cousins is in the game, then when he is not in the game, on both ends of the floor.  They score a lot more and give up a lot less.  They shoot significantly better as a team and they hold their opponents to a significantly small FG%. This is pretty much across the board in all stats (except turnovers, they are slightly worse offensively at that with Cousins).  I mean that is what should happen with your best player, but if Cousins is really that much of a problem, you would think it would show statistically and it does not.

Cousins is a very good player.  By far the best player on the Kings.  I don't see why it's surprising that the team plays much better when he's in the game.  He is still a drain on the entire organization, makes his coaches less credible among other players, etc.  But of course the team is going to play better when he's in the game.

Your point is well-taken.

What you're over overlooking is that DMC doesn't just make his team better internally (on court, off court), but that the Kings also outscore other teams when he's playing.  For a team as talent-deprived and dysfunctional as the Kings, that is impressive.

[crimson_stallion]

Just watched this interview:

http://www.nba.com/2016/news/features/shaun_powell/03/15/should-boston-celtics-danny-ainge-trade-for-sacramento-kings-demarcus-cousins/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt16e

If you watch the third video from the top (interview) I actually feel bad for Cousins.  You can really see/hear the genuine depression when he is speaking. 

I just don't get the vibe of an arrogant player who thinks he is a god.  I get the vibe of a guy who is just so far past the point of frustration that he is reaching the point of feeling disheartened and utterly helpless.  Like he's just given up because he feels nothing he can do individually can change the disaster of an environment he is stuck in. 

I appreciate the fact that when the reporters try to bait him into saying bad things about the team (asking about people not playing hard enough, etc) he never bites - he never says a bad word about any of his teammates. 

Likewise when they try to bait him about trade rumors, he doesn't bite - doesn't express frustration or talk about wanting to leave.

Also interesting to hear him comment on his frustrations - saying that in the past there was only one frustration (losing) but that this year there are so many different frustrations within the organisation...and admitting that it is difficult to play with the same passion and desire when in such a disaster of a situation

The big one is the comment he made about "that suspension wasn't from the organisation, it was from the head coach". 

I'm sure people are going to comment with things like "he has terrible body language, etc" and that is true, but I seriously feel for him.  He comes across to me as a guy who really wants to be happy and wants his team to do well, but who just feels like he is in an impossible situation where everything is out of his hands and there is nothing he can do.

Interesting the comments he made about the team - that guys are playing as hard as they can, but they are playing with a lot of frustration. 

I feel like this guy is so desperate for a change of scenery that it's almost criminal.