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I know there's a draft thread up already, I just wanna talk about the player individually. I'm in the minority here who does not want Demarcus Cousins to don a Sacramento Kings uniform. I'd really like someone to explain all this "potential" and "upside" that Cousins supposedly had. All I see is an immature kid who has an attitude problem, much like Hawes. When I see him play I just see someone who gets by based on the fact that he is bigger than everyone else and can just outmuscle defenders. I really don't see any post moves either. If you take away the baseline, he struggles to score. People say he has a good jumper, I don't see it, nor would I wanna. His movements also look stiff and not very fluid and he needs to drop some pounds, his athleticism is not up to par in my eyes either. Varnado showed Sunday how Cousins will struggle in the NBA.

Huh? Hawes is immature and has a bad attitude? Did I miss something? What did Hawes do?

"All I see is an immature kid who has an attitude problem, much like Hawes. When I see him play I just see someone who gets by based on the fact that he is bigger than everyone else and can just outmuscle defenders."

Not totally accurate, in fact that's exactly what I saw in Derrick Favors in high school and sure enough, that's what he's been in college. Difference is Favors is 6'9" and maybe 230-240. If Cousins was playing that way, or will at the next level, at least he actually HAS the size and strength to do it. When you're 6'10-6'11" and 280 pounds it's no fluke that you're getting by on size and strength. Still, he does have much, much more than that. Going back to the high school highlights it's very clear you have quite a skilled and talented young man. He has some unbelievable court vision, hands, and a greater than common court awareness. Even if he does have some athletic limitations he should be able to get by and quite well. Varnado gave him a tough time but Varnado was also completely abused by Cousins in their prior meeting so I wouldn't jump to any conclusions if it were me.

Yes, there are concerns, but this is a case where quite possibly the potential>>>the concerns.

Even If we were only 1 spot away from getting Cousins I would offer Thompson or Hawes or Casspi or Greene to go with our pick in order make sure we get Cousins.

He is the guy for us. He's a petrie pick and yet he's physically capable of dominating at the NBA level. He's physical and yet extremely skilled he can post, dunk or people or put the ball on the floor and drive to the hoop, he's a decent shot blocker with the ability to get much better, and he's a great rebounder with a wide body and the natural instinct to get the boards.

I agree. He is the Tyreke Evans of the post (big, strong, dominating). I could see him being ROY next year on the Kings with 16/10 numbers. Perfect compliment to Carl Landry also.

longfellow44 wrote:Even If we were only 1 spot away from getting Cousins I would offer Thompson or Hawes or Casspi or Greene to go with our pick in order make sure we get Cousins.

He is the guy for us. He's a petrie pick and yet he's physically capable of dominating at the NBA level. He's physical and yet extremely skilled he can post, dunk or people or put the ball on the floor and drive to the hoop, he's a decent shot blocker with the ability to get much better, and he's a great rebounder with a wide body and the natural instinct to get the boards.

I admit I haven't seen him play and I'm going solely on scouting reports (some written over a year ago), but isn't one of his criticisms is that he has a limited post game with crappy footwork? He also seems lazy and I don't want another Brad Miller on this team ever again. Maybe Shareef can help with his footwork but I don't know.

The more I read about Aldrich, the more I like him. Has size, post game, defends well and rebounds.

Aldridge would be good if you want another "decent" player on the team. The Kings need a All Star caliper big man. Cousins could be that guy. High Risk/High Reward. In the end though I trust Petrie to do whats right. His last 3 moves have been pretty good....Evans, Casspi, Landry.

Shaq was bigger than everyone else and out-muscled defenders--doesn't mean he's a bad player. IMO the "bigger than everyone else" thing only really applies to high school kids. Once you get to the NCAA (and then the NBA) you're playing against the best of the best--which usually includes the biggest of the big. Think Lance Stephenson. In high school he used his size to dominate. Gets to the NCAA and .... not so easy.

I'd personally shy away from him because of the attitude problems.

1st team all american in college on his freshmen year = SPECIAL PLAYER IN THE NBA

but i don't think the kings have a chance on drafting cousins, the way it goes because of some wins while others team on a tanking rout, the kings will ends up 7 to 9 pick in this coming draft. cousins is lock top 4 pick. cousins best case scenario #2 pick overall, worse case scenario #4 pick overall.

i want cousins too, thats why i don't want to win(i believe kings will win 4 or 5 more games). kings already out in playoff contention. kings on rebuilding mode (only tyreke and landry are untouchable on this team). kings need top 3 pick talent in this coming draft. win some games wont help. tyreke evans needs young top caliber talent(2010 nba draft pick) to help him and landry. i visit every losing team forums like sixers, they want to tank too for higher chances to draft higher pick.



on cousins attitude and criticism read this

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball ... &type=lgns

Some people may have thought Cousins acted like a punk when he’d get face-to-face with an opponent or flail his arms after absorbing a flagrant foul. Monique Cousins saw it as a natural reaction any 17-year-old would have after taking a vicious shot.

“DeMarcus has had his front teeth knocked out four times,” she said. “Every team he plays, the scouting report says, ‘Foul Cousins until he loses his cool.’ Who else deals with a scouting report like that? Each game he gets pounded and pounded and hit and scratched.

“Ask yourself this: If five guys intentionally pounded on you for an entire game, how would you react?”

I want to build a team around Evans, Landry, and Udrih, and Cousins. IF I were petrie I would do what it takes to go get cousins. I think if you had to use Say one of the guys I listed before I still think this team would have a fantastic top 8 guys to play with and really you only want your rotation to stretch out to 9 at the max.

Udrih
Evans/Garcia
Casspi/Greene
Landry/Brockman
Cousin/Hawes

Thats a pretty nice team their. This is assuming we have to give up Thompson to move up and get Cousins. I'm sure there are teams out there willing to do that. I think that Warriors might Do it And i think Indy would certainly do it. Indy needs more total talent than anybody else.

king125 wrote:Aldridge would be good if you want another "decent" player on the team. The Kings need a All Star caliper big man. Cousins could be that guy. High Risk/High Reward. In the end though I trust Petrie to do whats right. His last 3 moves have been pretty good....Evans, Casspi, Landry.

What was Ben Wallace? Not your prototypical "All-star" big man, but a game changer on defense for sure. Aldrich can be that IMO. He's not just a weakside help guy, he's a legit stopper in the post and we need that more than "talent" right now. We have enough "talent" at this point and have the cap space/assets to attain an upgrade even if we don't get it through the draft. I'm usually all for talent over need but I think we are finally in a position where we can take the need and still possibly gain in the other area via other means if necessary. Another advantage with Aldrich is that he understands the game so he can come in right away and make an impact while still having legit upside.

I saw a recent comparison that actually scared me a little bit. Eddy Curry. Now I haven't made that comparison myself in fact from my point of view I think Cousins is going to be fantastic. But after seeing that comparison and then watching some footage of Cousins it has me a little worried because I think cousins could have the potential to be another eddy curry. I think that the kid has a ton of talent and could be dominant in the NBA but after seeing that Comparison I would hope that the kid shows more heart during the tournament and maybe a higher motor.

I think the thing that really killed Curry's career was his unwillingness to put the work in and he never seemed to have the desire to get better. I just hope that that is not the case with Cousins because I think Cousins could be a great big man in the NBA.

SacKingZZZ wrote:

king125 wrote:Aldridge would be good if you want another "decent" player on the team. The Kings need a All Star caliper big man. Cousins could be that guy. High Risk/High Reward. In the end though I trust Petrie to do whats right. His last 3 moves have been pretty good....Evans, Casspi, Landry.

What was Ben Wallace? Not your prototypical "All-star" big man, but a game changer on defense for sure. Aldrich can be that IMO. He's not just a weakside help guy, he's a legit stopper in the post and we need that more than "talent" right now. We have enough "talent" at this point and have the cap space/assets to attain an upgrade even if we don't get it through the draft. I'm usually all for talent over need but I think we are finally in a position where we can take the need and still possibly gain in the other area via other means if necessary. Another advantage with Aldrich is that he understands the game so he can come in right away and make an impact while still having legit upside.

I'm not used to agreeing with you. This is weird.

I would also say that Aldrich is plenty talented. Just because a guy's strengths are defensive, doesn't mean you're sacrificing talent. It just means you're actually focusing on defense. I know that's hard for a lot of us Kings fans to comprehend, but a great defensive player with average offense is just as valuable as a great offensive player with average defense--especially if we're talking about bigs. A real defensive anchor is so rare and so valuable.

mitchweber wrote:
I'm not used to agreeing with you. This is weird.

I would also say that Aldrich is plenty talented. Just because a guy's strengths are defensive, doesn't mean you're sacrificing talent. It just means you're actually focusing on defense. I know that's hard for a lot of us Kings fans to comprehend, but a great defensive player with average offense is just as valuable as a great offensive player with average defense--especially if we're talking about bigs. A real defensive anchor is so rare and so valuable.

The world must truly be coming to an end.

Totally agree with you and considering how huge the need for that "value" is right now more than ever it could actually be the difference between mattering sooner or not mattering at all. It's time to start building a team, not a collection of assets.

considering that they have been trying to bait Cousins into a fight with the recent rough play in the tourney, he's handled himself quite good.

I would love to have Cousins on our team... him and Tyreke could be a great duo!


PG - Udrih / Garcia
SG - Evans / Garcia / Greene
SF - Casspi / Greene
PF - Landry / Thompson / Greene
C - Cousins / Hawes / Thompson

size, strength and depth

Why do you all keep putting Casspi in the starting lineup?

cuad wrote:Why do you all keep putting Casspi in the starting lineup?

I hope Nocioni never starts... or plays for that matter.

Casspi and Donté are interchangable; both are high energy guys. I would rather Donté coming off the bench cos he is better scorer.

cuad wrote:Why do you all keep putting Casspi in the starting lineup?

Long term, I think he's the better option. He has clearly hit the rookie wall now, but you can't judge him based off of that. You have to base it off of his play in the long term. And in the long term, he is a better shooter than Donte (more consistent at least), which makes him a better option next to Tyreke.

It's a give and take. I've actually changed my mind on Cisco starting--at least as long as we have Beno starting. We need that ballhandler coming off the bench. So it's between Omri and Donte for me. That's certainly debatable, but it's certainly not a given that Donte is the starting SF of the future.

As far as Casspi starting goes it's simple he has the most potential to compliment the other guys in the starting lineup. Greene is also a good fit off the bench to be a defensive stopper and when strictly playing with the bench unit he should have the green light as far as scoring goes.

I have mixed feelings about who will better long term, Casspi or Donte. I really don't know what either guy's ceiling is. Will Casspi be a Prince or even Ginobli like player? I honestly don't know. Being that he is still 21, he will get better.

What about Greene? He has already proved he can work on doing other things, like being a strong defender. He also has a very good shot when his feet are set. If he can refine his offense, he has alot of pure talent, even on his drives. I think Greene has more raw potential than Casspi, but Casspi could still end up being the overall better player. Its hard to say since they have both been inconsistent this year.