Upon further review..having some time and reading through the posts.... Cousins IS on a non guaranteed vet minimum deal.. Im just sooooo..biased against him. The guy was always a Rocket Killer, and had SUCH a bad attitude. He was just about my most hated player outside of Draymond Green. ( nobody's in the same stratosphere as that jerk) Now, he's had multiple injuries that players don't return from. In an attempt to keep him healthy... We HAVE to strictly manage his minutes 20 - 25/GM ... Boogie must have a clearly defined role. He must not have delusions of grandeur from the court to the locker room. The Rockets MUST not let his presence prevent them from getting at least one other quality big. It DOES count towards keeping the Beard happy too I still think it's a real long shot that he plays more than a quarter of the season. But, Im a Rockets fan and I also have come to seriously believe in Stone. And, like everyone has said low risk, high reward. So, I'll root for DMC...opening my heart and mind..allowing him to win me over.. It would be a sight to behold if we can battle the Lakers straight up on the front line. So Go Houston Wrestling! Go Houston Rockets!!! Let's go get it!.
Goals for Demarcus Cousins 1. Be Healthy, Is he Laterally Quick on Defense 2. Get Minutes, Put Up Consistent 20 Points 10 Rebounds 4 Assists 3. Positive Attitude towards Teammates and Media 4. Rockets needed his Toughness because the Rockets got Bullied by Taller, Bigger Centers. P.J Tucker won't defend his teammates in a Fight. But Demarcus will if James Harden gets Injured by Draymond or anyone. Demarcus is ready to Knockout Draymond. Yes the Rockets need Demarcus. Rockets got Bullied throughout the Playoffs, Getting Nut punched by Dennis Schroeder over and over again. Referees allowing injuries to Rockets is Vengeful, Outright Disrespectful. Demarcus Cousins will help with toughness, Grit, Easy Baskets in the Post.
All true, but teams have been wrong before. This is a low risk deal. If he causes issues he can be cut, if he gets hurt he can get cut, if he's not good he can be cut. But on the slim chance that he can give us playmaking at the big spot and a variety to our scoring it's something you pull the trigger on. Also, I don't know if its true that no one else was interested. I think for Cousins this is a good team to come to. Two playmaking guards and a team that needs more punch and that could use 50-70% of what he used to be. Playing on the Lakers or Clippers or some other stacked team just gets him lost in the shuffle, here, I think they'll give him a serious look to see how much of himself he can be. One thing Cousins has going for him is if he's healthy, he's going to produce. He showed that on the Warriors. He's never ever been reliant on his athleticism. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a strong comeback year offensively. The biggest thing with him is that his defense is going to likely be bad. How the Rockets play around that or hide that I'm not sure. It's a lot like the Carmelo situation. Carmelo can still drop buckets, dudes as talented as Melo and Cousins could probably average 10ppg near 40 like Vince Carter if given the shots and opportunity. The issue is defense for a guy that's always been slow, will be slower, so what happens when he's switched on to Lillard? Schroder? Murray? Luka? Etc? Nothing pretty. Honestly the biggest challenge for him will be being a plus defensively. If he can do that people will be wondering about his extension. So yeah, personally wouldn't be surprised if he averaged 15/7. The last time he played he averaged 16/8. If this was a player that relied on his athleticism I'd agree, but this has always been a guy that is just skilled up. He knows how to get buckets. It's just coming down to if he can play without being a complete defensive minus. If he can I imagine Harden and Westbrook will enjoy feeding him the ball for easy assists. Honestly he's always been slow, could never jump very high, didn't play with a lot of explosiveness outside of a few plays here and there. At the end of the day, it's a super low risk move that could turn out well. It's not like the Rockets haven't found success reviving careers. They seem to do it yearly now. Dude is going to get a ton of easy buckets off Harden.
I still think Stone is on damage control. He knows he'll have a rebuild plan by the time it's still a 2nd round exit. True, Cousins is a big name but as you said a big name of the past, still talented but I am not sure his D is good. The FO has now signed some defensive minded, hustling guards. While Cousins and Wood have been more active on the O end. It is still an uneven roster if Russ stays who isn't really known for consistent Defense either. Too many of those players. The Offense has never been that much of a problem.
If your neighbor drops by with some pie do you start ranting how a home made pie isnt anything special and wouldnt be sold in stores? Dude...it's a vet min signing. Rox are in dire need of stretch big men so they dont have 6'6 Tucker trying to get boards and trying to protect the paint. Look at Rondo last year, people who said he got signed for vet min for a reason ended up with egg on their face.
I watched a lot of Rockets Clutch City Documentaries of Hakeem Olajuwon and Former Rockets. The one thing they always say, where is your Fight within You. The 90s Rockets Players are so close even today as 50 year old. They defended each other in fights against Players that try to hurt the Rockets. Vernon Maxwell wanted to Fight Charles Barkley for pushing Hakeem Olajuwon. Otis Thorpe is a Bodyguard for Hakeem and other Guards on the Team. Even Hakeem Olajuwon can knock out players. Otis Thorpe, Clyde Drexler, Vernon Maxwell, Mario Elie, Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, Carl Herrera. Kenny Smith for a New York guy, he is soft. Getting pushed around by Derek Harper. Sam Cassell came in and replaced Kenny Smith against Derek Harper and arm chopped his arms. That is toughness by a Rookie.
1. You don't even know what he hurt. It's an ACL. People come back from those good as new all of the time. 2. Just because you haven't seen these guys play doesn't mean that I haven't. 3. I wanted to keep RoCo too unfortunately they couldn't trade EGo. Covington is a really good but not great player. Wood is younger and has more upside. I bet you've never seen Wood play. 4. With Harden, RW wanting to be traded you're worried about the locker room? LMAO 5. You expect vet min guys to be complete players? LMAO 6. You must be a fan of the way the Texans do business.
Raphael Stone : "Fu$k Morey I’ll get you some shooters." I always thought Boogie would fit in nice - he’s going to have a ton of wide open shots. The 2 man game with Wood will be great in spurts. Awesome compliment when teams decide to take out James. Now there are tons of offensive options. This is a win/win - Boogie off the bench as the backup 5 and in tandem during crunch time could be just what the team needs. SOMEONE who can go get a bucket on his own. I dont expect a defensive stopper. I dont expect 25+ minutes a game, but I dont think that is what this team needs either. Raphael Stone is killing it so far. Straight up.
