[Woj Tweet] Houston and Portland working teams hard to get #3 or #4 pick

With his poor conditioning, I think the odds are more in favor of him being a more injured and heavier Oden than Shaq. He needs tough coaches like Popovich or Larry Brown. A player's coach will give him too much rope to hang himself.

 

To me, I would go for Cousins if only because I think he's the only top player who may drop. So while he's a huge risk at #2 or #3, he's potential steal at #6-8. The latter seems more attainable as a trade up.

Yes, I know the whole Eddie Griffin debacle is still fresh on most fans' minds. But I do trust Morey's player scouting a lot more than CD. So if the Rockets draft him, I would have faith.

At #2 though, I do want Turner or Favors.

 

It's very hard for me to get interested in a player who's dumb enough to come to these events with 16%+ body fat. Want a comparison? Jordan Hill showed up with 6% body fat (and was projected to go #5! Morey stole him, ha ha). Over 10% difference, which is huge, literally and figuratively. I'll pass on Cousins.

2009 measurements: http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre...age=&year=2009&sort2=DESC&draft=0&pos=0&sort=

2010 measurements: http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre...age=&year=2010&sort2=DESC&draft=0&pos=0&sort=

 

Plus he was a jerk in the combine interviews. He actually does have an attitude problem, for no reason! . There were a couple of times where he started to open up, but then he would go right back to the one word answers. I hate to say it, but Barkley was right!

 

Attitude to go with laziness. Not a Morey pick.

 

If anyone can turn a psychological exam into a mathematical equation it would be Morey, but I remain skeptical on that point.

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I don't follow the college game, so I'm not familiar with these players, but any guy with attitude problems is not someone I want the Rockets to burn a 3rd or 4th round pick on.

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I'm one of the few people that is not sold on Turner. He often gets compared to Brandon Roy, but three things he doesn't have that Roy does are Strength, Explosiveness(something Roy is seriously underrated in) and 3-point range ... Both 3-point range and Strength, he can get better at, but he'll never have the same explosion as Brandon Roy ... which makes me doubt his productivity compared to Roy's in the NBA. I still think he'll probably be an All-Star one day, but just not as good as Roy IMO.
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I still think Cousins is the true 2nd best player in this Draft based on potential. The chances of him reaching his potential though, will depend on what team drafts him. If he goes to a young team, with no veterans it will be tough for him to reach that potential, given the maturity levels. But if a team with veterans like Houston is able to get him , where he can learn how to be a professional from players like Yao, Scola, Hayes, etc. and tough big man coach like Jack Sikma as well as possible work outs with Hakeem.. I could see him reaching that enormous potential.

But with that said If we pursued a high pick like the 2nd pick which is currently being shopped by Philly, I would want that pick for its value other teams have for it, than to draft a player at that position, and see how much we could get out of it, like in my Trade Proposal I posted in the other thread.
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Like I posted above, I don't think Cousins attitude will come into play with a veteran team like the Rockets. Specially having professionals big guys working with him constantly like Yao, Scola, Hayes, etc. and a couple of workouts with Hakeem as well. Basically surround this "kid" with the right people, and he can be something special.

--RB

 

Favors isn't the one with attitude problems, that's Cousins.

NBAdraft.net said this about Favors...

Not a personality, but rather allows his game to do the talking ... Excellent student and quick learner.

 

Cousins seems more like a young kid rather than a jerk.

Probably a moot point anyway since it's hard to move up for a top 5 pick, but Morey has acquired at least one guy with apparently questionable attitude who weigh more than they should. And Ron Artest helped getting the Rockets to the 2nd round.

 

Ok, maybe i was a little harsh calling him a jerk. Don't get me wrong, his potential is through the roof. That attitude just scares me.

 

Sure, but so many kids that age manage to work themselves into shape to go to the combine. Budinger showed up with 10% body fat, not great, and had one of the highest verticals measured there, 38.5". This cat didn't do the drills. Potential? Yeah, but a lot to worry you, and we're talking about the #2 pick in the scenario. I want someone with a motor that won't quit, not one with an iffy carburetor.

 

You really can't compare a top 5 prospect not showing up to do the drills to a player who was projected as a late 1st early second round draft pick showing up to do them...

--RB

 

Cousins was 270 lbs during the season. He gained 25 lbs . All the other top 5 prospects showed up in peak condition. Only 2 guys weighed more than their college weight, and it was muscle. Eddy Curry was drafted 4th and he kept being lazy.

How about Shaq with 12.2% body fat as a #1 prospect? He struggles with weight issues. He comes ready for the draft or the playoffs. He does the work.

 

He told his coach to F*** off during a game. They covered it the following day on ESPN.

 

You and I agree on Turner and Cousins. But at #2, I do prefer someone more stable. And I'd feel more comfortable with Turner becoming Roy 2.0 than any star center Cousins can become. I think the key point would be whether Turner can coexist with Kevin Martin as a SF. If he's too small, then I think Morey would swap the pick with a #3 or #4 for Cousins or Favors.

Odd that we have the exact OPPOSITE reaction to all the Cousins problems. I find it awesome. I've long loved Cousins for his potential, and the more crap he does, the further he'll fall.

To me, the biggest problem with picking #14 is that you really just lose out on the players with superstar potential. If one of them can drop within our grasp, I don't see how that's a bad thing. I'd rather have Cousins' 10% all-star potential vs Whiteside's 50% Joey Prizbilla potential. The Rockets don't need more good role players.

 

Hollinger ranks Cousins #1.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draf...?columnist=hollinger_john&page=PERDiem-100521

There's no Durant in this year's crop, but there is one prospect who rates as an A-list talent, a freshman from the University of Kentucky named …

DeMarcus Cousins.

You were expecting somebody else?

Cousins has the fifth-highest rating in the Draft Rater's nine seasons evaluated. (The Draft Rater goes back to 2002, as college data from before that year are too spotty to use.)

Based on that, the outlook for Cousins is quite positive. Of the eight previous players from 2002 to 2008 to rate 15.0 or higher, four became superstars: Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul. Of the other four, three have been very productive starters -- Rudy Gay, Luol Deng and Drew Gooden -- and one became, well, Mike Conley. We had another three last year, and from that trio, one was awesome (Tyreke Evans), one was good (Ty Lawson) and one didn't play a game (Blake Griffin).

Cousins won't be the first pick because of questions about his character and coachability, and those are legitimate concerns. But there's no doubting his elite talent level.

 

How in the world does the West Virginia game make Cousins not a hard working player?

 

What attitude in the interviews?

He answered the questions... just because he doesn't answer to write the journalists stories for them doesn't mean he's got attitude.

See.. I hope everyone continues to put the guy down and he drops to make him attainable for us... just like they did Chase.

 

Might just be trying to secure Aminu, Monroe, or Motiejunas in case teams reach...