He didn't cry? First he threw s tantrum and stormed off the court like a grown baby. Then after the game all he did was cry about how "ridiculous" everything is. And yes his mouth piece fell out, because he spit it out. Btw I'm all for cousins, but come on.
No. NO Defense, then no improvement to our team. 5 points. Dame can do that. We need something this team CANT do....
T I agree with you. but everyone here is forgeting one major thing when comparing Rasheeds antics to DMC's... RASHEED WAS AN ELITE DEFENDER... DMC lets CJ dribble right by him without moving... DMC will not get us anywhere because he is an offensive powerhouse. That isnt our problem people, we are at the top of the league in scoring. Its our defense. Someone please show me how he will significantly improve our defense and I will shut up. Until then, I see us as averaging a record setting 130-40 some odd points a night. And our opponents averaging a few points more. 55 points is nothing people. He let Mason Plumlee go for 27 and 13? or 23 and 17? I forget, but either way he let Mason Plumlee have the best night of his career. Sorry, he would just compound our problems, not solve them.
Players throwing tantrums after being ejected for BS? that's unheard of! Players running in anger after a call they don't agree with? Iv'e seen plenty players do it, especially Lebron. I'm not saying he's not a childish thug, but this criticism is nitpicking when our current center is Meyers Leonard. And i thought Stotts crying to the refs about how he must be ejected for that nonsense was way more pathetic.
the best argument is that Dame/CJ must by necessity expend the majority of their energy on offense because we don't have a low post threat, thereby preventing them from putting forth effective perimeter defensive effort. With Cousins on the floor demanding defensive attention and taking significant pressure off of our guards, they would then have the latitude to play harder on the other side of the floor. Further, Cousins draws more fouls than any big except Davis. This leads to a) easier points (more rest and energy for defense), and; b) forcing the opposing team's best bigs off the floor (lower caliber bigs to defend).
Cousins isn't an elite defender, but he isn't the liability people are making him out to be. He can move, he is good at eating space and most metrics (82games.com, ESPN's real-plus-minus, basketball-reference.com's defensive rating) have him as a net positive player on that end of the court. Not elite, but good.
Bad defense will only last as long as Stotts is here. After that, we'll still have Cousins. The next coach, like most, will need more help on offense than defense.
Agreed that Cousins isn't an elite defender but he is solid enough that his incredible offensive potential make him a very solid net plus. Also, as mentioned above, he does enough other things that I believe would help the over all team from a balance stand point as well as getting other bigs in foul trouble.
Just saying, after two games against him in the past week, and all the histrionics and technical fouls, and the Moda center crowd booing him vociferously Every. Single. Time. he touched the ball...if we could get him without giving up Dame/CJ, I do it in a heartbeat, and none of the mouthpiece spitting or media feuding of general immaturity matters one iota to me. Elite is elite, and he is precisely that.
WHAAAATTT???? "His (mouth)piece fell off?" He fucking spit it out, at Meyers, plain as day. His mouthpiece "fell out" of his mouth. Haha. That's a good one.
So theoretically: If Dame and CJ had Cousins, maybe they wouldn't have to work so hard on offense, so they would be able to exert better effort on defense. If Cousins had Dame and CJ, maybe he wouldn't have to work so hard on offense, and he'd be able to exert better effort on defense. If Cousins is a defensive upgrade behind Dame and CJ (and let's face it, who isn't?), maybe they can be more aggressive on defense knowing someone has their back. Only one way to find out: Blackmail the Sacramento owner into trading us Cousins, without giving up Dame or CJ. Yeah. He's not coming here. Another pipe dream fades into the sunset....
If he was interested in re-signing long-term in Portland, I'd trade McCollum for him in a heartbeat. There's no way to get him without at least trading one of the Wonder Twins--they're in the playoff hunt, so they might as well just keep him and see what happens if the alternative is to trade him for a bag of balls.
My only thought about bringing Boogie into the mix is that he played like an adult for team USA and smiled all through the Olympics..seemed like a very good teammate....he needs a guy who can garner his respect and Dame is probably that guy...I've never seen Boogie high five other teams players except Portland...I think he wants to be here, which in itself is sometimes a game changer.....I don't want Bogut here though...just done with injury prone, older centers
Damn the way the officials call games against the Blazers, Cousins would be fouled out/kicked out of every game.
