Uh, can you cite any examples at all? For instance, here's quite a few examples -- including many in the past 10 years -- that speak to the other side. https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2018/1...njury-golden-state-warriors-this-is-the-worst
100% from 3-Point Land. You can't guard that. 75-7 only because he won't play on Sundays and Thanos will need to take time off to do his Universe thing. But you never know...Harden may show up those 7 days so 82-0 may be a possibility
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. Whichever team defeats the Warriors is GOAT.
Morey must be kicking himself for signing max on CP for 4 years knowing the first year is guarantee gone to the warriors.
Disclaimer before saying this: I'd be much happier if Cousins were going anywhere else. It absolutely raises Golden State's ceiling, which was already absurdly high, and that possibility — even though it's far from a certainty — sucks. That said... the way folks are attempting to minimize the downside scenarios is incredible to me. This whole notion that "even if he's 75%, he's still way better than Looney/Bell/Zaza" is completely missing the point. First off, Achilles tears are brutal, especially for someone that big. But beyond that, the worst thing you can have in basketball is someone who doesn't accept his role. 2015-16 Dwight Howard was clearly a stronger, more talented player than 2015-16 Clint Capela, but the Rockets played better with the latter on the floor because of the fit. 2017-18 Carmelo Anthony was a more talented player than 2017-18 Jerami Grant, but the Thunder played better with Grant on the floor for similar reasons. Those are just two recent examples, but it's a dynamic that's played out throughout NBA history. An aging and/or injured "name star" that demands more touches than his play warrants (and Boogie will be trying to get a max deal for himself next summer) can sometimes be a net negative, particularly if those touches and shots come at the expense of elite options like Durant, Curry, Thompson, etc. With Looney and Bell types, they're happy to move their feet on defense, do the dirty work, defer to Durant/Curry on the offensive end, etc. For instance, Dwight averaged 17/13 last year... so he was clearly "better" on paper than Looney/Bell. But the Warriors reportedly weren't interested at all in him, despite Dwight wanting to go there. My guess is fit and their skepticism of his willingness to accept the role had a lot to do with it. Cousins is younger and better (when healthy), so they were probably more willing to take the gamble in this case... but it's not that the concerns over fit are out the window. There's also the potential locker-room impact if someone like Boogie complaining over touches, minutes, etc. By contrast, Javale McGee didn't raise any fuss at all, even after falling out of the rotation altogether in the WCF. There's value to that selflessness. And for all that's made of "well, GSW can just cut him if it doesn't work out," that's ignoring some downsides there as well. For starters, there's a lot of politics involved. It's also going to be a very fine line for Kerr to walk between holding Cousins accountable for his miscues in the regular season vs. the tantalizing upside of wanting to see if he "gets it" by the time it really matters in May. Not as easy as it sounds to just cut bait. But even if they were willing to, using the MLE on Cousins means it won't be used elsewhere. For example, Nick Young — for all the grief he gets — was their MLE signing a year ago, and he had some positive contributions in the WCF. They won't be able to make a similar perimeter depth signing this year. Signing Cousins is also likely to cost them Looney, who was absolutely a difference-maker at times in the playoffs. Don't get me wrong... I'm not happy that Boogie is there, and it may very well make them unbeatable. It raises their ceiling, and that sucks. But it's not at all a done deal, and the downside scenarios are legitimate.
I read that article but all those players were old or not that good to begin with. Cousins doesn’t rely on his athleticism to be good. He’s a bully and he can be a bully without jumping. He never had the crazy hops to begin with. I’ve some friends come back and play ball after 6 months and they didnt really look like they lost much. Granted they aren’t professionals, but he seemed recover really well considering he’s a 5’10” white guy and he can still dunk after surgery.
Bro what kind of p****** being allowed in this fourm man..... come on..... this is why we play the games. Rockets were 1 quarter away from being NBA champion.
Elton Brand, Wes Matthews, and Mo Taylor were all good to very good players (Brand a quasi-star of the same general body type and position) who suffered the injury in their 20s. Each was never remotely the same afterward. The "he wasn't that athletic before" is a fine line to walk, because going from an average athlete to a subpar one can be just as debilitating as going from a good athlete to an average one. Speaking broadly, of course.
Cousins has played 8 NBA seasons and has yet to play in a single playoff game. More than half of NBA teams make the playoffs every year. Even if he were fully healthy with zero injury concerns, I think top 10-20 player is a real stretch for someone with that large of a sample size who has not had any correlation to winning. And now, coming off the most devastating injury there is for an NBA player? Tap the brakes.
Too late to give up, we've already committed to an all-in. Might as well enjoy the regular season and hope Harden can win another MVP (very unlikely since media's probably suck Lebron's dick in LA)
Name me 20 players better than him? Only 24 players make all star team and he was one of them. I understand his stats never correlated to winning but his teams have been garbage until last year and he got hurt. He puts up top 10 player stats but since he hasn’t won anything I dropped him to top 20 He’s best Center in the nba.
Houston is going to matchup better with GSW due to this move. If CP3 is healthy it will be a coin flip on who would win a series. You have seen some of the more intelligent analyst come out scratching their heads on this move. Cousins is going to want the ball as he will be playing for a contract on a bad achilles. Let that sink in.
