It's a chicken or the egg thing with Boogie and the refs. Does he complain because he gets screwed, or does he get screwed because he complains?
The above was Boogie's 6th foul tonight, called in the final seconds of regulation. That's not a foul. At worst, it's mutual contact, as Whiteside had his forearm into Boogie.
Yeah, and I've found this is pretty obvious from the recent times I've actually watched him play.
People were so quick to bring up all the complaining Cousins did in that first BOS/SAC game last year. I watched that game, and even as a Celtics fan I actually felt bad for Cousins.
He was getting absolutely punked by the Celtics (especially Smart) almost every time he touched the ball, and every single time I was waiting for him to respond aggressively, and he just didn't He kept taking it, taking it, taking it - no calls.
You could see he was frustrated, but somehow he managed to keep quiet and he just kept playing. I remember watching the game thinking "he's a better man then me - I'd have lost it by now".
Later in the game he gets absolutely hacked by Smart, and finally he snaps - grabs Smart's jersey and throws him to the ground. I was honestly amazed he didn't react that way sooner the way things were going.
From what I recall DMC got the worst end of it when the official blew their whistle - I didn't think that was fair. The Celtics were basically hacking at him all day long, it was obvious that they were intentionally trying to frustrate him to put him off his game, yet the officials did nothing.
If the officials were calling all those little fouls we committed against Cousins like they are supposed to, then he'd be converting at the line, Boston's guys would be getting in foul trouble, and the Celtics would have been forced to try something else. Then Cousins would have no reason to be frustrated, and there likely would have been no altercation. But by allowing it to go on the officials make it obvious that they don't like Cousins and they are intentionally trying to push him so that he'll react - like they WANT him to look bad.
If we tried playing one of the NBA's Golden children (e.g. Lebron, Curry or Durant) that way the officials would be blowing their whistles as soon as we touch the guy.
This is why I think the criticism Cousins gets is sometimes unfair.
Don't get me wrong, I completely acknowledge that he has temper issues and that he is a tricky guy to work with emotionally - but that's been true of so many stars in the past. Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Dennis Rodman, Iverson, Rasheed Wallace, Kobe Bryant - so many of the all time greats have been known for their arrogance, for having a temper, and for having overpowering egos. But for the most part we overlook that as we admire their talent and their greatness.
Barkley for example was a massive troublemaker and never won a title in his career, but he never gets ignored when people are writing lists of the top 10 PF's ever to play the game. He's always put in that list with Garnett, Duncan, Malone, etc.
Yet when the conversation comes Cousins people do the opposite - they overlook his greatness and focus entirely on his attitude issues and his lack of team success.
When people talk about Paul Pierce, they always talk positive about his loyalty to his team - his willingness to stick with Boston through the good times and the bad, even during the rebuild years. But when somebody mentions Cousin's loyalty to the Kings people criticise him for it as if it's a character flaw - saying that him sticking around on a bad team only means he doesn't care about winning.
There are always double standards with the Cousins haters. I wish people would just acknowledge the fact that he's been the best center (and arguably the best big man, period) in the NBA for the past 2-3 years. I wish people would acknowledge that he's still only 25-26 years old, meaning he still has at least another 2-3 years of development before he reaches his prime. I wish people would acknowledge that it takes an incredible sense of pride and love for your city / fans to stick around a team through all the things this Sacramento team has been through.
I wish people would acknowledge all of those positive things about Cousins just as freely as they criticise him for his weaknesses.
I don't think any of the Cousins fans out there deny his flaws - they simply accept his flaws and his talents hand in hand. But the haters out there often completely refuse to acknowledge his greatness, they just focus entirely on the flaws.
