Demarcus Cousins - Kicked out of practice

[Beas]

http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/20 ... -practice/

"The DeMarcus Cousins trainwreck is taking place in Sac-Town to the surprise of, well, nobody. The Bee has the latest: “Kings rookie center DeMarcus Cousins was kicked out of Monday’s practice. Cousins slipped to fifth in June’s NBA draft because of questions about his maturity and attitude. He was fined earlier this season after a verbal dispute with the Kings’ strength and conditioning coach. ‘It was a necessary move in our continued attempt to help him develop,’ said Kings coach Paul Westphal of removing Cousins from practice. Westphal declined to explain why Cousins made it through only two-thirds of practice. ‘I’m not going to get into details,’ Westphal said. ‘He was asked to leave early.’ Cousins is struggling to find his place in the offense and to stay out of foul trouble.”

Not sure if this was posted about already, I had my doubts about taking Johnson over Cousins before but I think this is really reassuring. Looks like his attitude problems haven't changed yet.

[john2jer]

Now that would be an AWESOME personality to have around Beasley, Love, and Darko.

[wolfbourne]

This makes me a happy panda.

I wasn't on the Cousins bandwagon at all. Despite our needs to fill that position, no way did I think his talent/potential would be a positive/good fit for our reforming and developing team at the current time. I'd hate to think what issues and set backs he had the potential to cause our team.

[Tha Juice]

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1061554&start=270

It was touched on a little bit in Around the League thread

[cpfsf]

Now that would be an AWESOME personality to have around Beasley, Love, and Darko.

Don't forget Ricky Rubio.

[Krapinsky]

Hooray for other team's misfortunes!! I got to say though, with Love and Darko looking pretty stellar early on, I'm definitely not regretting passing on Cousins at this point.

I kind of think it goes beyond basketball. People with his behavioral issues generally don't seem to be successful.

[shangrila]

I was on the Cousins bandwagon. I thought his issues were overblown by the media, kind of like Beasley, and in interviews he reminded me a little of McCants. Not the most popular or sociable guy but not the spawn of Satan either.

Apparently I was wrong. Good to see our scouting guys were on top of this. I really think Cousins would have put us back a couple of years in the rebuilding process if we'd have picked him.

[cpfsf]

Hooray for other team's misfortunes!! I got to say though, with Love and Darko looking pretty stellar early on, I'm definitely not regretting passing on Cousins at this point.

I kind of think it goes beyond basketball. People with his behavioral issues generally don't seem to be successful.

I don't care about other teams misfortunes, I just really hate adrian wojowoski. Did he even say who we should draft, or is captain hindsight going to tell us in a few months?

[funkatron101]

I was never on the Cousins bandwagon and I hated his attitude about the Wolves, but I think he will be fine for the Kings.

[cpfsf]

I was on the Cousins bandwagon earlier. I warmed up to Johnson because he was a safe pick, he genuinely wanted to play in Minnesota, and also because I didn't want Rubio to have the impression that Minnesota was a giant mess as a result of Cousins acting like a child. I wouldn't rip on Kahn as long as he drafted Cousins or Johnson (although I really wanted Seraphin with our other pick).

[Calinks]

I still think Cousins is supremely talented and he has start bigman potential all over him. Hearing this though really disappoints me. I hate when people this gifted go around screwing things up and live up to the negative connotations that surround him. DeMarcus you have a chance to rise above all of this petty crap and prove your worth to millions. How do you eff around and get kicked out of a practice? Just so infuriating to see these guys screw up. Some seem to just be jackasses while others seem to need help (McCants/Eddie G.). I don't know man, it's just sad. Hope this is a wake up call but I wont be surprised if he acts up again.

[Busch Legion]

I still think Cousins is supremely talented and he has start bigman potential all over him. Hearing this though really disappoints me. I hate when people this gifted go around screwing things up and live up to the negative connotations that surround him. DeMarcus you have a chance to rise above all of this petty crap and prove your worth to millions. How do you eff around and get kicked out of a practice? Just so infuriating to see these guys screw up. Some seem to just be jackasses while others seem to need help (McCants/Eddie G.). I don't know man, it's just sad. Hope this is a wake up call but I wont be surprised if he acts up again.

Exactly. The only limitation is yourself. Attitude. Just unbelieveable.

[collin_k41]

I was on the DMC train. I guess my thinking was that the attitude concerns, etc. were outweighed by his tremendous potential. Skilled big men like him come around almost never. His high school vids of no look passes sealed my insatiable desire for us to draft him. I was disappointed come draft night, but the combination of Darko's early success and Demarcus making a fool out of himself make me feel pretty good about how it all panned out. Still, I'm pulling for DMC because I just can't stand to see players with unlimited potential throw it down the drain because of attitude or lack of desire. Hope he figures everything out.

[jade_hippo]

oh man, I had this guy pegged as Derrick Coleman 3.0. Years ago I fell head over heels for Eddy Curry, bigger stronger AND faster than everyone else at his position. He was the second coming of Shaq but he could hit FT's. Blew up in my face, turned into DC 2.0. These two are like twins, I can't wait for Cousins to get morbidly fat and the injuries to pile up.

[big3_8_19_21]

Video shows Curry back in high school. I didn't follow basketball back then (I was also 12 years old when Eddy Curry got drafted...huh...seems like forever ago). Anyway, sad to see where he's at now.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOowR59GxlQ[/youtube]

[Mattya]

I think rasheed Wallace might be a better comparison. He is a guy that will probably contribute good numbers, but gets lots of T's and has problems with teammates

[jade_hippo]

I remember the huge Thornwood/Dominguez game where they were matched up. Everyone throught Curry would destroy the other HS darling Tyson Chandler (who was supposed to be the next KG with the way he dominated defensively and his "guardlike" offensive skills) Game was an absolute flop. At least Chandler realized he wasn't a SF/SG and has become a decent player.

[Calinks]

Video shows Curry back in high school. I didn't follow basketball back then (I was also 12 years old when Eddy Curry got drafted...huh...seems like forever ago). Anyway, sad to see where he's at now.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOowR59GxlQ[/youtube]

Curry probably watches that and cries.

[Peezo]

I heard Wes left practice early too on Monday... but just because there were some kittens stuck high in a tree and he wanted to help get them down.

[Dewey]

Some players just never realize how fortunate they are to have the physical tools and skill, and what a privilage it "should" be to play in the NBA. It's like they never learned how to have fun and/or develop a stable social life.

He'll bounce back, but how many times will this come back to be an issue going forward? I was not on the DMC wagon, but I can't say I expected these issues either. I liked Wes just for the sake he was low risk and filled a shooting need. Fortunately, he has been a much better team player than I anticipated on both ends of the floor ... his offensive game will grow.