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Cousins could be the rookie of the year with the enough playing time and I've never seen anyone do it from the bench, so I dont care if anyone says he'll still play the same minutes off the bench. Evans, Casspi, Greene, Landry, Thompson. Why start the old guy? I'd feel better if you just gave Thompson the minutes. I dont know what he's done to deserve the minimal PT he's gotten. He's 11 and 8 for his career and entering his 3rd season.

I think you do this because the Kings interior defense has been so bad with Cousins in and Dalembert out. I think this is a large part of why every game so far the Kings start off losing by double digits, when Dally comes in he's able to help with the D and things generally calm down. I also think that by not starting Cousins you're going to keep him a bit fresher and maybe with a few fewer fouls, so he can continue to be a presence in the 4th quarter.

Also FYI Sam isn't old, he's only 29 for god's sake.

I like it... having both Cousins and Landry on the floor to start games wont do us any good... we fall behind quickly. This is also good because Landry can now be the primary low post offense, while Dalembert is the primary on defense... and when Cousins and Thompson come in for either of those guys u get the same effect essentially. This will also make COusins learn the game better by watching and soaking every bit of info while sitting at the start of the matches.

I think it makes perfect sense. Cousins can't stay on the floor due to foul trouble and he's not as good a defender as Dalembert is right now. He's playing bench minutes as it is (20).

Interior defense has been our biggest weakness for ages and now we finally have someone who specializes in it. Why not use him? It's not like Cousins is filling that hole. Plus we're already doing offense-defense switches with Cousins-Dalembert, so I'm not sure how much this really changes things at the end of games.

And like someone said, Dalembert is 29. That's not old for an NBA player. Landry is 27. Udrih is 28. Nobody on our team is old.

And Thompson? He's still foul prone and Dalembert is still the superior defender and rebounder. We have plenty of offense with Evans, Udrih, Casspi, and Landry starting.

Westphal is doing the right thing. I don't think this will stunt Cousins' growth at all. He may even get more minutes on net playing against second units. If he guards less talented players, he'll get fewer fouls.

Yea, I think this will put Cousins in a better position to succeed and actually accelerate his growth. Cousins is fine with it and he's showing a good deal of maturity in realizing that it'll help him in the long run. Cousins knows he will be a starter someday, everybody and their mother knows that.

John Wall is going to win ROY anyway . I really think its fine tho for Cousins to watch more.

I think the right way would be to pair Cousins with a defender at PF or just go with Cousins and Sammy. Landry is 6th man material through and through, a 6th man of the year type though.

Cousins starting and getting into foul trouble is ****ing up the big-man rotations something awful. Every team needs stability, and Cousins is not helping himself either when he gets frustrated picking fouls up early. Off the bench, Cousins will be able to get 2 quick fouls and play through it, because most of the time, he'll be playing the majority of his minutes in the 2nd quarter to start off the game.

I think if Cousins improves, he'll get that starting spot back. Perhaps not from Dalembert; perhaps from Landry.

^^ Ehh, the big man rotations are going to be **** up regardless. Our main problem with our bigs is that even if Cousins gets in enough fouls to play only 20 minutes in a game, we don't have enough minutes for everybody.

Regardless, I have no problem with the decision and it doesn't seem Demarcus does either. I'd just rather have us bringing Landry off the bench.

Vets win now, rookies don't. I don't like it myself but I've been championing the cause to move some of the excess in the frontcourt sooner than later anyway. I want to see Cousins play at least 30 mpg. Even in games where he hasn't had a ton of foul trouble they've kept him to 25 or under, especially since Daly came back.

I want to see Cousins and Daly play together with Landry coming off the bench myself.

BrooklynBulls wrote:Cousins starting and getting into foul trouble is ****ing up the big-man rotations something awful. Every team needs stability, and Cousins is not helping himself either when he gets frustrated picking fouls up early. Off the bench, Cousins will be able to get 2 quick fouls and play through it, because most of the time, he'll be playing the majority of his minutes in the 2nd quarter to start off the game.

I think if Cousins improves, he'll get that starting spot back. Perhaps not from Dalembert; perhaps from Landry.

I don't think it's necessarily been Cousins' play that's putting him on the bench, more like the make up of the team and style of play. I'm honestly not sure Westphal has the tools to be able to use a player like Demarcus. Maybe he'll figure it out, I don't know, but Westphal wants to run and Cousins is obviously much better in the half court and when playing that way has looked downright dominant in crunch time already this year.

Bring Landry off the bench and watch where he ends up this summer......not in Sac. He does not want to be a 6th man nor should he be. He is a quality starter if he is teamed up with the right guy in the post. Sammy is the perfect pair with him (defense and rebounding) and they fit together a lot better. Now the game can start off slower with Sammy and his defense. Cousins can come in off the bench and destroy other teams bench big men. He will also stay out of foul trouble and be way more effective and be ready for the 4th quarter where he has proven to be very good.

I have watched every minute of every game this season and this is a great move. Sammy, Landry, Casspi, Tyreke, and Beno is a better first unit (at the moment) and Cisco, Cousins, and Jackson should be the first off the bench, followed by JT and Head.

Pretty bummed on whats happened with Donte but I think it is time to package JT, Donte, and our 2011 first (top 5 protected) and go get ourselves Danny Granger or Gerald Wallace.

king125 wrote:Pretty bummed on whats happened with Donte but I think it is time to package JT, Donte, and our 2011 first (top 5 protected) and go get ourselves Danny Granger or Gerald Wallace.

Yup, I think their career in Sacto is over.

"I thought it was a great idea," Cousins said Thursday after Kings practice. "I think it will really help the team … because I'm still learning. Coming in off the bench, I can how see how the game is, I can learn how aggressive to be and not be. I get the feel of the game a lot better."

Even Cousins thinks it's a good idea...nuff said!

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ADoaN17 wrote:

king125 wrote:Pretty bummed on whats happened with Donte but I think it is time to package JT, Donte, and our 2011 first (top 5 protected) and go get ourselves Danny Granger or Gerald Wallace.

Yup, I think their career in Sacto is over.

If that's all it took then a deal like that might make a lot of sense. I'm kind of torn on the matter. Obviously with Landry's contract status it makes it hard to move a player like JT but if the intent is to leave him stuck in the position of 4th big in the rotation he's got to go. I think he's already being forgotten about to an extent and his role on the team ain't gonna cut it in terms of maintaining any real trade value.

when can Landry get an extension? IMO he is a piece moving forward and needs to be extended. Then move JT and get some value out of it. We got Jackson and Whiteside on the depth chart.

vtime wrote:Cousins could be the rookie of the year with the enough playing time and I've never seen anyone do it from the bench, so I dont care if anyone says he'll still play the same minutes off the bench. Evans, Casspi, Greene, Landry, Thompson. Why start the old guy? I'd feel better if you just gave Thompson the minutes. I dont know what he's done to deserve the minimal PT he's gotten. He's 11 and 8 for his career and entering his 3rd season.

How will it stunt his growth when he will most likely get more minutes because of it? Come on now...

KingInExile wrote:

"I thought it was a great idea," Cousins said Thursday after Kings practice. "I think it will really help the team … because I'm still learning. Coming in off the bench, I can how see how the game is, I can learn how aggressive to be and not be. I get the feel of the game a lot better."

Even Cousins thinks it's a good idea...nuff said!

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yep! I don't think Cousins is ready.

PW said starting Daly was the plan all along but with the injury he had to bring back Daly slowly and now that he is healthy enough PW can implement the original plan of starting him. He also said he thinks it will help us not to get blown out early which has happened nearly every game and he also said he believes it will actually make more minutes for Cousins, since DMC usually picks up a couple cheap fouls right off the bat and then has to sit and then has a tendency to be tentative not to pick up another foul. So he believes this will allow Cousins to get a better feel for the refs by watching at first and also let him play for longer strecthes of time. It makes sense to me.

SacKingZZZ wrote: Obviously with Landry's contract status it makes it hard to move a player like JT but if the intent is to leave him stuck in the position of 4th big in the rotation he's got to go. I think he's already being forgotten about to an extent and his role on the team ain't gonna cut it in terms of maintaining any real trade value.

In yesterday's bad loss to the Cleveland LeGones, Philadelpia 'Ers coach Doug "Woozy" Collins chose to start Grandpa Tony Battie over Spencer "SH" Hawes in the second half. As a fan of both Sam and the 'Ers I couldn't fail to note the symmetry in the facts that the same day that I hear that Little Hatee will be starting for the Sacs, DC benches Haweful in favor of the ballin' equivalent of Grandpa Simpson.

That's unfair to Tony B., but you get my point.

On topic, Philadelphia is DESPERATE for a big, them suckers will take whatever you got, marketable or not. If they're breathin' they could be leavin'.