http://grantland.com/features/sacramento-kings-rebuilding-strategy/ Nice piece by Zach Lowe on the state of the Kings. I wouldn't be surprised if Cousins ends up leaving when his contract is up. I don't think that franchise knows what direction they're going in (like the Nuggets or Twolves) and they get screwed because they play in the West. I also think he breaks Isiah Thomas down really well here.
the problem with Sacramento's outside the box thinking is the box they're outside of is a really really really really big box
Well on this site, at least, I would say that the reasoning behind that is shot selection. Boogie is Iverson in a big man's body, he just takes too many shots to be effective. Yes, he improved on it in this, his 4th year in the League...and he still shot under 50%. That's terrible for a big man. For a Center that shoots 70% from the free throw line, you want to see him getting to the line more as well. His effort on defense is also lacking, which is just something you see with young players. And for the people who say he was the only option for that team and thus saw quintuple teams, that may have been true several years ago. Last season, however, he had Isaiah Thomas and Rudy Gay taking shots from him and scoring 20 points per game, as well as a rookie in Mclemore who was getting adjusted to the NBA. He really is a good player, and there's no denying he has talent. But his decision-making and attitude make for a dangerous combination and I believe most fans would rather leave their franchise in the hands of a more steady player.
Again, he improved this past year. That doesn't mean that he's there, it means that he had a good year drawing fouls. I don't expect to see him go back to taking an inordinate amount of jump shots, but I also wouldn't be surprised.
Well I responded to you saying he should get to the line more with evidence that he is one of the top guys getting to the line.
Can you think of any other young post players that early in their career one year go to the line the fourth most in the league and then suddenly without injury stop going to the line? As long as Cousins remains healthy, he will go to the line a great deal over the next few seasons. Last year he really blossomed and even improved defensively.
I am surprised the author didn't touch on the fact that they took Stauskas this year and McLemore last year. They could have taken Noah Vonleh, a high ceiling player. However, Collison Stauskas McLemore Gay Cousins is a nice small ball lineup, but it would have been better with Thomas probing and dishing to the open guys. The fact that their GM won't disclose his mystery defensive stat basically inadvertently admits it was a stupid move. Thomas would have been a nice 6 man for the Rockets, but I guess we have Canaan...
1. He shot .496 last year. That's pretty much 50%. That's pretty good considering he mixes it up with jumpers too. Lamarcus Aldridge had seasons shooting under .500 and nobody complains about that. 2. His FTA per game was 5th among all players last season. That's behind Durant, Harden, Dwight, and Blake and ahead of Lebron and Melo. Not enough? That's in just 32 minutes per game as well. http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/free-throws/sort/avgFreeThrowsAttempted 3. If you say his effort on defense is lacking, it's obvious you haven't seen many games of him this season, if any. He's improved as a defender a lot this season and will continue to improve in future seasons. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...emarcus-cousins-as-the-best-center-in-the-nba
It also is never going to make the western Confrence playoffs Kings should of tried to work on a dragic trade sending the suns IT in a sign and trade
