Remember Cousins is 19 - there is a process

Kings fans are crazy.

That seems to be a statement out of the blue. It is not.

After covering this team daily for about 13 or 14 years for the Sacramento Bee newspaper through the worst and the best of times, I thought I knew how crazy Kings fans were.

However, I didn't.

Actually, I didn't even have a clue.

And since I've come to recognize a truer level of insanity that drives Kings fans, it's important to continue to bring doses of reality to those who follow this squad.

That's where Friday evening's Vegas Summer League performance by DeMarcus Cousins becomes applicable.

I know Kings fans come in all sizes and ages. Over the years, I've met Kings fans in many places.

Supermarkets, schools, churches (and I rarely, I mean, rarely attend) and liquor stores in other states. I've met you guys and ladies on planes and answering the door at my house.

I've met Kings fans on Maui and in Tokyo. So I thought I had a decent fix on Kings fans. Wednesday, I found out differently.

Recently, I've become aware of websites called SactownRoyalty.com and CowbellKingdom.com. They are virtual hangout for Kings fans to chat, inform and become informed for many things Kings.

I used to receive goo-gobs of e-mails at the Bee when covering the Kings and I tried to reply to as many as I could.

In addition to merely replying because folks had cared enough to take the time to get with me, I found reading the e-mails provided story ideas of which I'd never have imagined.

So, Wednesday, I ended up on Sactown Royalty after Wednesday's Kings summer-league game. Beyond my amazement, it seems as if more than 1,000 comments came into the site during the game.

One thousand comments during a freaking summer-league game as the fever of Kings fans about Cousins and Hasaan Whiteside and Tyreke Evans intensifies daily. Incredible!

I'm unsure how one can fully concentrate on watching a basketball game on TV and chat online, but clearly it can be done.

But back to the matter of The Big Potential; aka the Big Po'; aka the Big Sweetness - Cousins had set the Vegas Summer League on its butt during Sacramento's first three games.

Cousins' assortment of skills and talents are ridiculous. He's got tremendous court vision; varied passing deliveries; a feathery soft shooting touch and deft footwork. Combine that big booty and those broad shoulders with huge, strong hands and Cousins, who turns 20 August 13, often makes this NBA stuff appear so easy.

Yet, what Cousins doesn't have - experience - is a process that cannot be accelerated. Neither Bill Russell nor Wilt Chamberlain could accelerate it. That goes for Nate Thurmond, Willis Reed and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

So Friday evening's zero-for-10 first half against the Toronto Raptors was part of the process. It was a lesson in humility that came precisely at the necessary time for Cousins and his new legion of followers.

Cousins probably had a little bit of the big-head syndrome after his early domination of the VSL and needed a little bit of a reality check.

To me, it's akin to understanding, in part, why LeBron James keeps the big head. With more than half the world jocking his mercurial talents, it would be more surprising if he didn't believe all the hype that has come his way.

Cousins struggled against Toronto and he'll struggle again and again. That's what sports and life are about.

We all have bad days. Some of us have bad weeks, months and years, but it's our abilities to shake off those struggles that test our resolve.

Cousins took a major - and necessary - step in the second half against Toronto when he went five for eight.

Moreover, he got his first professional triple-double - points, rebounds and fouls.

One more point. Trainer David Thorpe recently was critical of Cousins' willingness to respond verbally to opponents conversations.

I don't know where Thorpe grew up hooping, but talking and handling talking is part of the game. I wonder if Thorpe was critical of Boston great Larry Bird responding to verbiage that came his way.

Some people talk trash while playing the game. Some don't. People use various ways to deal with it, but part of the process is learning which method is most effective. Cousins must learn which is best for him.

Kings fans, enjoy the process. Preliminary indications are it will be special.

Don't fall for okey-doke

One of the more interesting phenomena during any sports series is how so-called experts (we prefer observers) react to one game. Most become waver masters.

Certainly, see Boston in the NBA Finals after watching Cleveland blow out the Celtics at home in Game Three of the Eastern Conference semifinals should be a lesson to us all.

Those needing more history should think back or look up the 1984 Lakers-Celtics Finals matchup. Larry Bird's Celtics were spanked 137-104 in Game Three in Los Angeles and the Birdman said his team played like sissies. The Celtics won Game Four 129-125 in overtime and went on to win the series in seven games.

Don't get it twisted. We'd rather be with the Los Angeles Lakers, in this instance, ahead 1-0 in this best-of-seven series with the homecourt advantage.

Simply put, every game won is a huge feather in the Kangol. You need four to win.

Yet, the Boston Celtics will be ecstatic if they can heist Game Two Sunday and go home for Games Three, Four and Five with the series tied 1-1.

That, quietly, was their realistic goal when they came to L.A.

Surely, winning both games would have been greatness personified. However, that was such an unlikely occurrence, realism suggested getting one for the Green would be all good.

The Celtics have made their way to this point by handling what is in front of them. Sunday, the only remainders of Game One will be motivation from how they lost and increased intensity because of necessity.

Boston would rather drink spoiled milk than go east trailing 0-2. That is a larger deficit for Boston than a 2-0 advantage for the Lakers, if possible.

That deficit eliminates any margin of error for the Celtics, not to mention giving the Lakers three shots to win their third game and return to L.A. for two games, needing just one to win.

Game One was viewed as ugly by many observers, Lakers coach Phil Jackson included.

Well, wait until Game Two. It promises to be uglier.

Boston will play with a sense of urgency bordering on desperation. Every movement on each end of the court will be challenged. Every thing that can be gotten away with will be used.

It'll be the two old-head squads playing on Sunday morning at the park and only the strong will survive. That will be strength of mind as well as physical.

Boston appears to need a rejuvenated Kevin Garnett. As he moves about the court, the question is whether he's physically capable of using his quickness and length even in the neighborhood of where he once could play.

Garnett's movements appeared unsteady during the season's second half and it could be the length of playoffs have taken away leg strength. There are movements he can make without thought, but many more he cannot.

In many ways, the limited mobility of Garnett and Laker center Andrew Bynum appear similar. They can be productive still, but fluidity in their current physical states is only a dream.

The Celtics more likely will get amped production from Ray Allen, who received at least two bogus foul calls from the uptight and inconsistent officiating crew of Joe DeRosa, Derrick Stafford and Joey Crawford.

Allen still has the NBA's prettiest jumpers and lethal as well. Boston coach Doc Rivers preaches playing together and Allen suffers most when the Celtics fall short.

As poorly as Boston played, Rivers was accurate when noted there were opportunities for the Celtics to get into the game.

If those openings arise again, both teams could head east tied at the hip with a great, albeit ugly season awaiting us all.

Gasol leads Lakers not named Kobe

Pau Gasol's 23 points, 14 rebounds (eight offensive), three assists and three blocks during a game-high 47 minutes helped provide a base for Lakers coach Phil Jackson.

Gasol produced without having the ball pounded into him. Ron Artest, Derek Fisher and Bynum did the same as Jordan Farmar, Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown off the bench.

The Lakers ultimately put the outcome in the ice box in the middle of the fourth with Bryant on the bench.