Pleasantly surprised. He can be hotheaded, but he continued the play like a professional. However, the refs better keep an eye out for this or we'll be seeing a lot more suspensions.
Cousins wouldn't have been suspended for the punch alone. the NBA are policing him for when he lunged towards the referee during a break.
Yeah I don't really see the punch. It was a foul for sure but that's about it. This was more of a message to Cousins to calm the F down.
Are there seriously people questioning whether or not it was a punch? What else would you call intentionally hitting someone with a closed fist?
I have no problem with people playing tough when they're going against each other, an elbow here, a shoulder there, a dirty punch when the ref is not watching, whatever. But for anyone to come in here and characterize as TOUGH or REAL an attempt at a punch towards a player who you're not defending who's running with speed right past you is bull****. That's not toughness, that's the most cowardly girl scout move you can pull. One game suspension is WEAK. This was not a basketball foul or a tough basketball play. Plus, I still insist that he intentionally tried to injure Howard's knee on that play. Then he went after the referees for a move which wasn't flagrant or harsh, but according to the rules is a foul. Cousins is a great player with a bright future. I'm sure he'll always have problems with his attitude, and I don't think that will necessarily stop him from being successful. However, it's clear that he does not understand what it means to be tough in a way that serves the purpose of winning a basketball game. At the moment, he is still occasionally acting like a high schooler with what always seems to be players half his size.
