Thursday, November 12, 2015

Kings, Cousins have work to do, but should be fun



Man, I hope DeMarcus Cousins reads this. The Kings should e-mail it to his address. Tape a copy to his locker. Make sure his partner Andrew Rogers gets it to him.

It’s just some real for his butt to read.

It only was one game Wednesday night, between the Detroit Pistons and the Kings, but the pre-game tension was palpable.

In the end, talk that Cousins and Coach George Karl hate each other might be true, but didn’t make a difference. Cousins scored a game-high 33 points and dropped four of five three-point attempts. Rudy Gay had a breakout 19-point first half on the way to 26 points.

Add point guard Rajon Rondo’s 48-minute triple-double of 14 points, 11 rebound and 15 assist performance and there was a group of Kings that played its best defensive game of the season and led close from start to finish during a 101-92 victory

Many of the folks who comprised the announced crowd of 17,317 at Sleep Train Arena were anxious. Those folks unknowingly felt just like former Kings center Vlade Divac, who doubles as Vice President and General Manager.

“I’ve never felt better after one win,’ Divac said as he walked with fellow team executive Mike Bratz to the team’s locker room just after the breathe-easy victory.

For once, the team he played a major role in assembling performed admirably. The drama that accompanied his crew on the court and the fans into the Arena mattered not for a few minutes.

Certainly, it may soon matter again. Neither Karl nor Cousins spoke to the specifics that led the center to go off on his coach after Monday’s loss to San Antonio.

I’d really like to know how a cat plays his first game in a week following an injury, makes five of 20 field-goal attempts, gets 15 free-throw attempts and then REPORTEDLY cusses out the coach.

Say what? Much was made about it occurring in front of the team. Would it have been better if Cousins did behind closed doors in a room with Karl? No. He REPORTEDLY cussed out his coach. It’s not supposed to work like that in the NBA or any other business.

In no business, should an employee be permitted to cuss out one of his bosses. In my opinion, those bosses shouldn’t be allowed to cuss out an employee.

However, that’s not the real world. The NBA is a different version of the real world. Both sides have been known to release frustration upon each other. REPORTEDLY, Karl wanted to suspend Cousins for a couple of games and was not permitted to do. REPORTEDLY, Karl has attempted to trade Cousins. Yeah, if I ‘m Cousins, I’d forgive him for that, but never forget.

Personally, I believe the coach should have been allowed to suspend his player as long as the collective bargaining agreement permits.

The Kings didn’t refute reports that Cousins verbally boogied his way down cuss word alley against the coach. The Kings opted not to speak on it. Nevertheless, I’d like to know how it actually went down. To me, it seems like Cousins cussed out the entire team, not just Karl. Did any of the players say anything to his temporarily uncontrollable ass?

Did the organization punish this 25-year-old, who REPOREDLY has cussed out at least three prior coaches? It damn sure should have.

Yet, while watching the game, I noted I wouldn’t trade him. He could cuss me out everyday if that’s what floated his boat. But there would be repercussions.

We’d be the NBA’s best conditioned squad because the team is running suicides every time he pulled disrespectful behavior. But that’s only if no player actually steps to Cousins and socks his big ass in the eye.

He’s big as hell, but who knows if he actually can fight or even will fight? REPORTEDLY, he and former Kings forward Donte Greene threw hands, but I remain unconvinced. Homeboy may not have had a real fight since the fourth grade, for all I know.

Now these thoughts were with me before Cousins included me last night. A simple “What’s up, Dawg,” from me turned into him saying, “I ain’t your dawg”, or something like that. I didn’t hear exactly what he said so I asked him what he said. He repeated it, I believe, with a few cuss words included.

Cousins and I have cussed at each other before. Probably virtually every time we’ve spoken. One, because there’s no way his mouth could be a foul as mine. He’s too young to be on my level of cuss-ability. And yes, I made up that word, so what?

So he talks trash to me and I talk trash to him. No biggie. I wrote a story on him for the Sacramento News and Review after he signed his current contract. Per normal, I didn’t write the headline, “$64 million-dollar baby.”

Cousins’ big, sensitive ass, who I’m guessing did not read the entire story, soon thereafter told me he wasn’t (messing) with me anymore. Yeah, so what? I went more than year covering the Kings, seeing Olden Polynice every freakn day, and walking past each other. If someone doesn’t speak to me, I don’t speak to them.

Cousins and I also went more than a year without speaking. Life goes on. I see him at a Sac High game one night and he walks up to me, extends his hand for some dap and laughs. We dap up and I say, “Oh, so you are (messing) me now?” We laughed again and that was that.

Silly me, I thought we were good before he started talking garbage last night. He said some funny stuff as he often does and I said some funny stuff as I often do. Yes, most of it included cuss words and it was our customary conversation.

Cousins wants to be a hard guy, but he isn’t. Like many big dudes, he can try to punk you. Still, he hasn’t realized I’m un-punkable. (That’s right I made up another word). He’s not going to scare me with words. He’s not going to whup my ass, 1) because he’s not stupid and 2) I’d take that whuppin because my family would be set forever.

Cousins likely is unaware I’ve been dealing with Karl five years longer than the youngster has been alive. I’ve see Karl do things he may not even remember. I’ve seen Karl do things Cousins never could imagine. But just like Cousins is on the way to becoming a star (he’s not there yet), Karl, and his issues, is employed because he’s won 1,144 games.

Cousins said before the season he was going to the NBA’s best big men. He has that ability. All he needs is consistency. The league’s best produce nightly, AND they lead their respective teams to victory.

At 25, he’s not nearly a finished product and shouldn’t be. He’s not yet reached his prime. Yet, once he proclaimed that would be the best big, now it’s time to prove it. Part of that is leading. It’s a big part and Cousins needs to understand what that entails.

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