Demarcus Cousins is still the biggest missed opportunity in the Ainge era.

[jaketwice]

DeMarcus Cousins disgusts me. I would rather lose for 20 years than have to root for someone I find so personally abhorrent.

[dreamgreen]

Yea he was huge for the Pelicans! Remind again what their record is with him?

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Yea he was huge for the Pelicans! Remind again what their record is with him?

Remind me what Boston's playoff record is with all their "high-character" guys?

[Eddie20]

Stevens has an equal say in personnel ( a mistake in my view), and I doubt he is interested in coaching problem players, or bigs who play mainly inside and protect the rim.  He likes bigs who can play on the perimeter. The last coach who was like that was the infamous Pitino, who was far less a success in Boston, mainly because the GM was not Ainge.

I was floored by Ainge's comment after the trade deadline that "rebounders detract from offense." Especially after he had said "our biggest need is a rim protector." Wow. That smacks of a conflict with his coach, who has said he never was able to recruit good big men at small Butler, so he had to win other ways.

I hope this doesn't mean Ainge would not trade for Bill Russell if he fell into his lap. 

"When you just add a rebounder, and he hurts your offense, it defeats the purpose"

that was the actual quote. Rebounders dont necessarily detract from the offense, but if you add a rebounder who hurts you more across the rest of the game than he brings you on the glass than it defeats the purpose.

Ainge might hate rebounding, but he is absolutely correct in this quote. If you bring someone in to grab rebounds but they cant defend the perimeter and stagnate the offense and clog the paint then that player is not a net positive.

In general, yes. However, there will be matchups where rebounding is such a mismatch that it takes on added importance.

Also, of course, none of that applies to Cousins, who ranges from good to elite as a scorer, rebounder, passer, outside shooter, and defender.

He's a malcontent ballstopper who struggles off-the-ball. He's also not a good defender. He's lazy as can be, gives inconsistent effort, and does not rotate well defensively.

Fantasy darling, chemistry killer.

[flybono]

The irony of it is we supposedly passed on him because Ainge and Stevens want high character players to promote good team chemistry, and the team chemistry has fallen off a cliff anyway in the playoffs.

High character ... you mean, like, Crowder and IT calling guys out? Smart flipping off a fan?

Let's face it: The majority of NBA players, like the majority of professional athletes, aren't "high character." Most of them are entitled, whiny, selfish egomaniacs; most of them celebrate a dunk like they just hit the winning shot of Game 7 of the Finals.

I don't like that behavior, and I don't want it celebrated in any way, but this isn't college; this isn't even the old NBA. In this brave new NBA, players are in charge, and they're going to do what they want, when they want. If the Celtics are going for the NBA's version of Butler U, they can certainly accomplish that, but it's a team that won't come close to winning a title.

Amen!

[flybono]

And its about winning basketball games not policing grown men after dark...............

[flybono]

Stevens has an equal say in personnel ( a mistake in my view), and I doubt he is interested in coaching problem players, or bigs who play mainly inside and protect the rim.  He likes bigs who can play on the perimeter. The last coach who was like that was the infamous Pitino, who was far less a success in Boston, mainly because the GM was not Ainge.

I was floored by Ainge's comment after the trade deadline that "rebounders detract from offense." Especially after he had said "our biggest need is a rim protector." Wow. That smacks of a conflict with his coach, who has said he never was able to recruit good big men at small Butler, so he had to win other ways.

I hope this doesn't mean Ainge would not trade for Bill Russell if he fell into his lap. 

"When you just add a rebounder, and he hurts your offense, it defeats the purpose"

that was the actual quote. Rebounders dont necessarily detract from the offense, but if you add a rebounder who hurts you more across the rest of the game than he brings you on the glass than it defeats the purpose.

Ainge might hate rebounding, but he is absolutely correct in this quote. If you bring someone in to grab rebounds but they cant defend the perimeter and stagnate the offense and clog the paint then that player is not a net positive.

In general, yes. However, there will be matchups where rebounding is such a mismatch that it takes on added importance.

Also, of course, none of that applies to Cousins, who ranges from good to elite as a scorer, rebounder, passer, outside shooter, and defender.

He's a malcontent ballstopper who struggles off-the-ball. He's also not a good defender. He's lazy as can be, gives inconsistent effort, and does not rotate well defensively.

Fantasy darling, chemistry killer.

I'll take him!

[Roy H.]

Stevens has an equal say in personnel ( a mistake in my view), and I doubt he is interested in coaching problem players, or bigs who play mainly inside and protect the rim.  He likes bigs who can play on the perimeter. The last coach who was like that was the infamous Pitino, who was far less a success in Boston, mainly because the GM was not Ainge.

I was floored by Ainge's comment after the trade deadline that "rebounders detract from offense." Especially after he had said "our biggest need is a rim protector." Wow. That smacks of a conflict with his coach, who has said he never was able to recruit good big men at small Butler, so he had to win other ways.

I hope this doesn't mean Ainge would not trade for Bill Russell if he fell into his lap. 

"When you just add a rebounder, and he hurts your offense, it defeats the purpose"

that was the actual quote. Rebounders dont necessarily detract from the offense, but if you add a rebounder who hurts you more across the rest of the game than he brings you on the glass than it defeats the purpose.

Ainge might hate rebounding, but he is absolutely correct in this quote. If you bring someone in to grab rebounds but they cant defend the perimeter and stagnate the offense and clog the paint then that player is not a net positive.

In general, yes. However, there will be matchups where rebounding is such a mismatch that it takes on added importance.

Also, of course, none of that applies to Cousins, who ranges from good to elite as a scorer, rebounder, passer, outside shooter, and defender.

He's a malcontent ballstopper who struggles off-the-ball. He's also not a good defender. He's lazy as can be, gives inconsistent effort, and does not rotate well defensively.

Fantasy darling, chemistry killer.

You must watch the Kings play, what, once or twice per year?

Calling Cousins a ball-stopper and a bad defender is absurd.

[moiso]

The last analysis I saw about the Pelicans that I read showed that the Pelicans were better with Cousins on the bench.

[Rosco917]

It's about character and team influences...collecting rings, not jerseys.

He's a great talent, but totally unstable.

[mr. dee]

Yea he was huge for the Pelicans! Remind again what their record is with him?

Remind me what Boston's playoff record is with all their "high-character" guys?

I'd rather have proven commodities over someone who have no winning track record.

[Birdman]

I take him!!! We wouldn't be down 0-2 if we had him

[Roy H.]

The last analysis I saw about the Pelicans that I read showed that the Pelicans were better with Cousins on the bench.

Nope.   According to basketball-reference, the Pels net offensive rating was better with him on the court, the rebounding was better, and the assists were higher.

[chambers]

Time will tell.

The likely outcome is that either DMC or AD leave NOLA.

[Eddie20]

Stevens has an equal say in personnel ( a mistake in my view), and I doubt he is interested in coaching problem players, or bigs who play mainly inside and protect the rim.  He likes bigs who can play on the perimeter. The last coach who was like that was the infamous Pitino, who was far less a success in Boston, mainly because the GM was not Ainge.

I was floored by Ainge's comment after the trade deadline that "rebounders detract from offense." Especially after he had said "our biggest need is a rim protector." Wow. That smacks of a conflict with his coach, who has said he never was able to recruit good big men at small Butler, so he had to win other ways.

I hope this doesn't mean Ainge would not trade for Bill Russell if he fell into his lap. 

"When you just add a rebounder, and he hurts your offense, it defeats the purpose"

that was the actual quote. Rebounders dont necessarily detract from the offense, but if you add a rebounder who hurts you more across the rest of the game than he brings you on the glass than it defeats the purpose.

Ainge might hate rebounding, but he is absolutely correct in this quote. If you bring someone in to grab rebounds but they cant defend the perimeter and stagnate the offense and clog the paint then that player is not a net positive.

In general, yes. However, there will be matchups where rebounding is such a mismatch that it takes on added importance.

Also, of course, none of that applies to Cousins, who ranges from good to elite as a scorer, rebounder, passer, outside shooter, and defender.

He's a malcontent ballstopper who struggles off-the-ball. He's also not a good defender. He's lazy as can be, gives inconsistent effort, and does not rotate well defensively.

Fantasy darling, chemistry killer.

You must watch the Kings play, what, once or twice per year?

Calling Cousins a ball-stopper and a bad defender is absurd.

You really think the ball doesn't stick in Cousins' hands? He holds the ball offensively and it's little wonder why no one ever seems to improve while playing with him. I'm hard pressed to think of a single player that improved when traded to the Kings.

Yes, he's a bad defender because he's lazy. He doesn't contest shooters, doesn't rotate, and rather be around the basket to collect boards then make the proper rotation.

http://i.imgur.com/vN77zdX.gifv

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/demarcus-cousins-is-slow-the-pelicans-are-fast-somethings-gotta-give/

Cousins is capable of playing fast. His Sacramento teams led the NBA in pace twice (including last season), and finished among the league’s top 10 in three other seasons. But the 26-year-old, who holds the ball longer than any NBA center, was in the midst of a career year playing in the Kings’ plodding, methodical offense, which ranks fourth slowest in pace.

It’s also worth watching whether New Orleans — a team that’s shown almost no commitment to offensive rebounding because of its emphasis on getting back defensively — will now ask its two great bigs to crash the glass more.

If it does, it will be imperative for Cousins to shed the poor hustle habits he displayed when frustrated. His temper tantrums and preoccupation with arguing his point to officials partially explain why the Kings have been an average defense following a made shot, but among the NBA’s worst at stopping opponents after they themselves have failed to score. The lack of hustle, where Cousins doesn’t even try to get back into a play, also sheds light on why Sacramento ranks last in defense after committing a turnover.