Tag: DeMarcus Cousins (Page 3 of 4)

      Politically Correct Sports Terms

      June 1, 2010 /

      Living With Balls put together a list of politically correct sports terms which mainly focuses on football and baseball. I thought I’d add a few that relate to basketball.

      Project / Tremendous Upside

      A term used in football for a raw quarterback or a player being converted to another position. In basketball, it usually pertains to a player that has very little skill but has all the natural athletic ability to be a star. However, most of the time, projects do not pan out.

      The media might say something like: “Hasheem Thabeet is a project, but he’s 7′ 3″ and can play defense and rebound. It may take a while for him to contribute on the NBA level.”

      Translation: “This guy can’t play a lick, but he’s SEVEN-FOOT-THREE! Did I mention that he was 7′ 3″? He’s SEVEN-FOOT-THREE! The Grizzlies can coach him up, right?”

      Other example(s): Shawn Bradley, Hassan Whiteside, Darko Milicic, Kwame Brown, Robert Swift, Tyrus Thomas, Greg Oden, Anthony Randolph, Jordan Hill; anyone with more physical ability than actual skill

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      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, Humor, NBA

      John Hollinger’s Draft Rater is back

      May 21, 2010 /

      Last year, John Hollinger’s Draft Rater really liked Ty Lawson and Tyreke Evans, and that turned out well. The year before, it liked Michael Beasley over Derrick Rose, who wasn’t even listed as the top point guard in the draft. It also liked Kevin Love (score) and thought Anthony Randolph was way overrated (fail).

      In the past, Hollinger’s system has been pretty accurate, all things considered.

      The Draft Rater has yet to miss a lottery pick who became an All-Star in its top 12 collegians list — although that string may end in another year or two thanks to a miserable 2008 performance (Russell Westbrook and Brook Lopez both were overlooked that year). And if it’s blown a couple of picks, look at the actual draft and you’ll find even more mistakes by the pro teams themselves.

      On the other hand, the Draft Rater has picked out five All-Stars that the pros missed among the first 12 collegians — Carlos Boozer, Rajon Rondo, Danny Granger, Josh Howard, and David West. No misses, five additions. I like that ratio.

      It’s a good read, but to sum up, the Rater thinks DeMarcus Cousins is the top player in the draft, with Evan Turner and John Wall reasonably close behind. Questions about Cousins’ coachability will likely hinder his draft stock, but I think he’s going to be a great player. You don’t rebound like he does and not love the game. He just needs to get into a good, stable situation with a solid coach and grow up a little bit.

      It’s going to be interesting to watch how he progresses through the draft process. Do we hear stories about how he’s texting his friends during interviews with NBA teams? Does he dog it in certain workouts? If he acts like a pro over the next month, it could mean he’s picked #2 or #3 instead of #5 or #6.

      The Rater also predicts some duds; Cole Aldrich, Patrick Patterson, Ekpe Udoh, Ed Davis and Hassan Whiteside are the big names on that list.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Draft

      2010 NBA Consensus Mock Draft (5/19)

      May 19, 2010 /

      It’s early, but what the hell? The lottery is behind us, so let’s take a stab at our first consensus mock draft. I’ve pulled in the latest mocks from ESPN, DraftExpress, NBADraft.net and SI.com to come up with a consensus of the first 14 picks.

      If a player is picked by two or more sites, they’re the consensus, unless there’s a tie. In that case, I’ll make the pick. The same goes for when there are four different players listed.


      The first three picks seem settled already, though much can change in the next month. Wall-Turner-Favors makes a lot of sense, especially for the teams in question. John Wall seems to be a no-brainer for the Wizards. If they hold onto Arenas, he can play the two. I think they’ll eventually move Agent Zero and build around Wall.

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      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Draft

      Wizards win the lottery, right to draft John Wall

      May 18, 2010 /

      The Washington Wizards were the big winners tonight, as they bucked the odds and won the 2010 NBA Draft Lottery. The Wizards had a 10.3% chance of winning the top pick and leapfrogged four teams for the right to draft John Wall.

      And Wall will very likely be their pick. This is the perfect opportunity for the franchise to truly start over after the mess that Gilbert Arenas made last season. Look for the Wizards to try to trade Arenas this summer, though it will be tough to find a taker.

      The Wizards were represented by Irene Pollin, the widow of the Wizards former owner Abe Pollin, who died late last year.

      The Sixers also leapfrogged four teams to win the #2 overall pick. I’d expect Evan Turner would be the pick there, which means that Andre Iguodala could be available this summer. The Sixers will also take a long look at Derrick Favors and DeMarcus Cousins as talented big men don’t come along that often.

      The big loser? I’d have to go with the Nets and new owner Mikhail Prokhorov, who looked like his head was about to explode when he learned that his team was going to pick #3. I’d expect New Jersey to take whomever is available between Turner and Favors to play alongside Brook Lopez and Devin Harris.

      See the entire lottery results here.


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      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Draft, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Scout: DeMarcus Cousins is on “big-time meds”

      February 25, 2010 /

      Good find by SPORTSbyBROOKS, who quoted Aran Smith’s scouting report of Kentucky center DeMarcus Cousins. In the report, Smith relays a text he received from a scout about Cousins’ NBA prospects.

      “No way…mental issues…he is on bigtime meds i hear…not athletic enough for me talent wise also…but he has been great last month…”

      That same scout has since stated that he thinks Cousins will probably go “very high” in the draft, but says he wouldn’t touch him in the top five for fear of off court issues.

      Cousins has a well-earned reputation for being immature, and while talent-wise he’s the best big man in this draft, whether or not he’s able to channel his emotion will have a huge impact on what kind of professional career he will eventually have.

      I won’t speculate as to what the scout meant by “big-time meds,” but it’s clear that given his attitude and immaturity, Cousins is one of the biggest upside/downside guys in the draft. He literally could be a franchise-changer, both in a good way and in a bad way.

      In just 22 minutes of playing time, Cousins is averaging 16-10, 1.7 blocks and is shooting 55% from the field. He’s not great from the free throw line (64%), but he’s not Shaq-bad. He’s a dominant rebounder (think Paul Millsap) even though he’s not an elite athlete. If he can focus his energy on basketball and not get distracted by all the other garbage, then he has a chance to be a very good NBA player one day.

      It’s going to be interesting to see where he goes in the draft.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Basketball, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Draft, Rumors & Gossip

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