Early look at Cousins shows big, talented, emotional young man

It’s safe no player in the 2010 NBA Draft attracted more attention than Kings’ first-round draft choice DeMarcus Cousins.

Granted, it’s early. Cousins’ professional career begins tonight with the Kings’ first preseason game tonight at Arco Arena against the Phoenix Suns.

However, so far, and again, it is so early, what I’ve seen from Cousins is a determined, fearless, highly-intense competitor on the floor and a big, soft, friendly, thoughtful teddy-bear type of young man off the court.

He’s emotional and it doesn’t take long for his feelings to reveal themselves externally. He’ll likely be one of the early tests for the NBA’s attempted cut down on players’ outwardly visible reactions to officials’ calls.

Does being an emotional young man and wearing said emotions on his sleeve make him a bad person? No, at the worst, potentially it might make him Rasheed Wallace Lite.

For whatever the value of initial impressions, perhaps Cousins should be Pooh Two, since Kings rookie point guard Eugene Jeter's grandmother already tagged him with the moniker.

Perhaps the pair can be Little Pooh and Big Pooh.

Preceding the draft, Cousins’ personality and demeanor were the objects of more direct hits than your local drinking establishment's dartboard.

Cousins, who turned 20 Aug. 13, was considered, even by his critics, to be the draft’s second-most talented player behind his Kentucky teammate John Wall, the overall No. 1 choice, selected by the Washington Wizards.

Yet, the size-desperate Kings were criticized across the board for selecting Cousins with the draft’s fifth choice overall.

On the court, Cousins has much as much to learn as he brings to the table. As with most young players, it’s important to consistently remember, he just turned 20 years old.

Back in the day, players had the luxury/reality of college years and experience. Cousins spent just one season at Kentucky. For perspective, check out your life at 20.

Imagine it being on stage for everyone to see. On second thought, personally, I'll pass on that concept.

Here's Cousins speaking with reporters following Monday’s practice. Cousins, listed at 6-foot-11, 270 pounds, chased a loose ball Sunday night at Arco. He ended up in the crowd.

“I really wanted to send out an apology,” Cousins said when asked about the incident. “I tried to dodge the kid and ended up mushing the lady in the face. I had to choose who I would rather hurt. I want to apologize to them. I felt bad for doing that.

The Sacramento Bee reported the pair’s names to be Erin Thurman and Tyner, her four-year son. They might want to call the Kings media relations staff to see if they can score a pair of tickets for a future game and perhaps even procure the chance to meet Cousins.

I'm guessing Tyner and Cousins would enjoy each other. Cousins possesses a wonderful sense of humor and clearly doesn’t take himself too seriously. I’m guessing Cousins likes and gets along well with kids.

“I’m trying to get the ball,” he said of the pursuit into the front row. “I thought I broke the lady’s neck. I was really scared that I’d hurt the lady’s neck. I guess that comes with courtside seats.”

That it does, but I’m guessing the pair would go for the same opportunity again.

Coach Paul Westphal complimented Cousins’ performance in the scrimmage and also said he’s done well in previous scrimmages.

Cousins said his major preseason goal is to find his role on the team.

DeMarcus, allow me to give you a little insight. Be a beast around the basket. Continue to display your wide array of skills and play hard.

Said one NBA executive who asked for anonymity, “Cousins is more than just a scorer and rebounder. He really can pass the ball and he seems like he likes to do it. In some ways, he’s similar to (Chris) Webber. I don’t think he can shoot the ball as well as Chris, and I don’t think he’s as long. But as far as the unselfish mentality, I think they are very similar.”

Cousins said Monday he’s excited about playing his first preseason game.

“I am looking forward to it,” he said of going against the Suns. “We’re tired of looking at each other’s faces, guarding the same players. It’ll be nice to get a change.”

Cousins and Jason Thompson likely will log many of the minutes at the center position. Samuel Dalembert, an off-season acquisition from Philadelphia for center Spencer Hawes and Andres Nocioni, will miss the game with a strained left adductor muscle.

The adductor is a group of muscles around the thigh and hip.

Connor Atchley, 6-foot-11, also likely will get playing time. Seven-foot rookie center-forward Hassan Whiteside is out for a few days with a strained left patellar tendon. Darnell Jackson, 6-9, of whom Westphal has spoken highly in recent days, also will not play because of a strained right hip flexor.

Westphal said Thompson will receive minutes this season at center, and particularly tonight.

“I think he will play some ‘five’ for us this year,” the coach said of the 6-foot-11 particularly (tonight) with Jackson and Dalembert both out. We’ll see him quite a bit.

“It might be kind of ugly if DeMarcus had to play 48 minutes, or 40 minutes or 30 minutes,” Westphal said with a laugh.

Rookies normally receive few breaks from referees with big, aggressive rookies receiving even fewer. It’s part of the learning process that Cousins already understands is coming. That doesn’t mean he’ll remember that in the heat of battle.

Westphal announced J.R. Giddens and Donald Sloan were waived. That leaves 17 players on the roster with the team currently looking to keep, “somewhere between 13 and 15,” according to the coach.

“I hope (Suns all-star point guard Steve) Nash doesn’t play as far as winning” the coach kidded. “I don’t even care who we play. We’re more in the mode of evaluating personnel.

“We want to do certain things against anybody we play. We want to take care of the ball. We want to get the ball inside. We want to play good defense and rebound and certainly, you play good defense, you have to have good transition defense, which you have to have every night.

That’ll be interesting to see how that holds up.”

It will be interesting to see how Cousins fares during his introduction to NBA battle.

2010 NBA draft day shows league gone wacko

On the draft day when news leaked the Portland Trail Blazers already had fired General Manager Kevin Pritchard, but he'd continue to conduct their day's dealings, it became totally real the NBA has Gone Wild, Mad and insane.

Wouldn't it have been comical if Pritchard decided to submit a wise-guy name for one of Portland's draft choices? What if he'd traded Brandon Roy to a team he might already have a hookup to join as their new General Manager? And could you blame Pritchard after the stunts owner Paul Allen has pulled with him?

Chicago and Miami traded players and draft choices to create cap room for perceived opportunities to make runs at a free-agency class expected to be highlighted by LeBron James, Amare Stoudamire, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, Carlos Boozer, Joe Johnson and possibly Dirk Nowitzky, to name a few.

It's funny to hear observers call the Bulls the winner of the draft and they made no picks.

Part of me wants to see James jack the entire league and stay with Cleveland to see what moves teams who have bet on the come then make.

James appears to be running things all over the league right now. David Stern is the Commissioner but James, should he decide to do so, could indirectly have teams jumping through imaginary hoops.

James seemingly could tell the Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks, Miami Heat and New Jersey Nets each that he'll join their team if they follow his plan.

Undoubtedly, James has the NBA in the palm of his talented hands. What he'll do in this power position remains the question.

Who would have believed one of the NBA's alleged bad boys - Rasheed Wallace - is expected to leave $13 million on the table and retire, just because he can?

Kentucky became the first school to have five players - John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson, Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton - drafted in the first round. Only Patterson attended Kentucky more than one season.

Orton, who did not start a game for John Calipari's Wildcats last season, was drafted by Orlando after averaging 3.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 13.4 minutes.

Teams have made moves to create salary cap moves to impress these so-called superstars, yet Wade is the lone player to have played an integral role on an NBA title winner. Stoudamire's defensive efforts for the Phoenix Suns during these recent playoffs told me there would be no way I'd give him maximum dollars.

Bosh's Toronto Raptors last season had a 40-42 record and its 105.9 points allowed per game tied New York for the third most points permitted behind Golden State's 112.4 and Minnesota's 107.8.

The New York Knicks are enlisting entertainment stars/celebrities to basically beg and plead James to come to the Big Apple. If the Knicks get James, do these stars get free season tickets? They certainly should.

The Sacramento Kings draft fifth and get the draft's most talented big man in DeMarcus Cousins, who was bypassed by three teams in part because of alleged red flags.

The Kings used the 33rd choice to draft Hasaan Whiteside, a terrific athlete, whose own reported issues caused him to drop like a rock in the draft. Whiteside already has spent time working Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon and plans to do so again before the 2010-11 season begins.

James says he's about winning and that will be his No. 1 consideration when time comes to select a team. We'll find that out if James takes less money than he could get to align with what seems the best situation.

Now this guy is one of the league's top two or three best players and he's purportedly setting himself to be in the best position to win multiple titles. James has yet to win one title and he's allegedly thinking about winning multiple championships.

Ideally, putting oneself in position to win a championship along with maximizing monetary options is what the concept of free agency is all about. However, there are no guarantees. Injuries can take the best laid plans wash them down a drain with immediacy.

Clearly, the league and sports in general have become something we've never seen before. Where sports will go in the future it is impossible to predict.

No longer will a Jerry West toil for the Los Angeles Lakers for more than a decade only for the thrill of winning one title.

No longer will David Robinson hoop with the San Antonio Spurs only to luck into a No. 1 pick of Tim Duncan and win an NBA championship.

For me, there's something quite sad about that. Then again, I've never even tweeted - yet - so what do I know.

To think, when I first snuck into the NBA draft, it was held via conference call in the league offices in a room around a big table with a couple of telephones. If I'm right, the New York Post's Peter Vecsey and I were the lone reporters in the room.

Now a team that doesn't make a draft choice is dubbed the winner.

Game 5 winner won't necessarily win NBA Finals

The winner of Game Five of the best-of-seven NBA Finals obviously will have two games remaining in which one victory makes it the 2010 champion.

However, a Game Five victory will be no guarantee of a series victory.

The Los Angeles Lakers certainly would gain a huge advantage with a victory and then returning home for Game Six and Seven, if necessary.

The Boston Celtics, armed with a 3-2 lead, would need just one victory in either of those two game in L.A., to win their second title in three seasons.

Yet, I believe it would not be impossible nor totally implausible for either team to win both games in Los Angeles, regardless of the situation. It's more inconceivable to believe people doubt the ability of either team to win a game.

Ultimately, when Game Six arrives, that singularly becomes the focus. There will be only the need to win that game and then it's a Game Seven for all the marbles.

Unquestionably, the Lakers would be glad to play that one at Staples Center, but there's no way the veteran Boston Celtics would fail to relish the opportunity to win that game on the road.

The defensively-oriented flavor both teams utilize almost promise close games that will be won in the final five minutes. That's the way it has been in six games, including two regular-season contests.

Which team can get the most solid performances from the most players? That's what will determine the outcome Sunday, Tuesday and possibly Thursday, if necessary.

If Glen (Big Baby) Davis, Nate Robinson and Tony Allen perform their roles to support the starters, the Celtics will be tough to beat. Conversely, should Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown chime in with timely contributions, that makes the Lakers a formidable opponent as well.

In that scenario, we've got a sweet game ahead.

Consider: Ray Allen has made eight three-point field-goals, each in Game Two. He's zero-for-14 in the other three games.

What if Kendrick Perkins and Rasheed Wallace each receive a technical and are suspended for the next game for receiving seven during the playoffs?

If the league is going to put those restraints on players, shouldn't a player with seven technicals during the playoffs immediately have to go sit down and then miss the next game? If the NBA is going to penalize, why wait until the next game?

For the record, if you can't play 28 games without getting seven technicals, you deserve some penalty.

Who is going to win Game Five? I have no idea and that's the way it should be.

Around the world in a boat alone? Why?

Call me a nut, but if you are 16 or 17 years old, shouldn't you have better things to do than try to sail alone around the world?

It's great Abby Sunderland was picked up safely Saturday by a French fishing vessel, but what the heck was she doing out there alone anyhow?

It doesn't seem as if sailing around the world with one or even two other people would be less of an achievement. I do understand her brother, Zac, also sailed around the world before her.

Then again, my idea of sailing is on the Circle Line around Manhattan or from Manhattan to Staten Island.

Kobe is the man, but Gasol is key to series

Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol likely is the NBA's largest enigma.

However, he's also a major key to how well the Lakers fare in these NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics.

Gasol may be the league's most offensively-skilled big man. He can score inside with either hand. He sees the floor well and passes well. Gasol makes 15-footers and can be a force on the offensive boards.

He's listed at 7-feet, 250 pounds and has nights when he's virtually unstoppable at the offensive end.

On this Lakers squad, it's his teammates who most often stop him by failing to deliver the ball. Granted, Gasol will have to work hard against Boston's defensively-oriented squad to get good position.

During two regular-season meetings, Gasol scored 11 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had four turnovers in 41 minutes of a 90-89 Lakers victory Jan. 31 in Boston. He had just nine field-goal attempts as Kobe Bryant took 20 shots, Andrew Bynum had 13 and Ron Artest got 12 shots.

Bryant (ankle injury) didn't play in an 87-86 loss Feb. 18 in Los Angeles. Gasol scored 22 on seven of 12 shooting and eight of eight from the line. Gasol needs to get in the vicinity of 15 field-goal attempts in order for the Lakers to be effective around the basket.

And it will take mere minutes, if not seconds, for Boston's Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins to lay wood on Gasol. Then Rasheed Wallace and Glen (Big Baby) Davis come off the bench with more physicality.

The Celtics will test Gasol with physical play, frankly, because that's the Spaniard's weakness. This is his opportunity to erase that tag forever. Can he do so? That's a question I can't answer.

I'll always remember Gasol, then with Memphis, signing a max contract then telling Commercial-Appeal beat writer Ron Tillery how the team needed to find someone to defend and rebound. I remember reading the quote and calling Tillery because I just knew the editing process had failed him.

I couldn't believe Gasol said that. Tillery, however, acknowledged those were Gasol's words.

And he said them immediately after signing a max contract. The dude is 7-feet, 250 and looking for someone else to defend and rebound. Something is wrong with that picture.

Basically Gasol said he didn't want to be the man, but getting paid as if he were 'the man' was all good. He can't be criticized for accepting the money offered, but he should have been spanked for shirking responsibility.

However, he lucked into the trade to the Lakers and now can ride side-saddle with Bryant.

Kobe Bean will do his thing and now it's up to Gasol to carry his weight against guys who look him eye-to-eye.

What to look for

The Celtics are the league's best at making scorers do work in crowds. No team surrenders fewer unchallenged shots.

Rajon Rondo scored 21 and 14 points, respectively, during the two regular-season games and also contributed 12 and 11 assists. He had five steals in Boston's 87-86 victory.

Boston's Tony Allen was not nearly as effective or active in the conference finals against Orlando as he was in the semifinals against Cleveland. He suffered from a right ankle injury and his ability to function normally will be a major key.

Allen may be the league's most athletic player to return from a major injury. Allen, you may remember tore two ligaments in his left knee in Jan 2007 dunking after a whistle in a game. You also may remember him dunking on top of Cleveland forward Antawn Jamison's cranium last month in the East's semifinals.

Watch Kevin Garnett jump to knock down shots after the whistle. One only can hope he never injures himself with that stupidity.

In Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, the Celtics have two of the game's best clutch shooters.

The Celtics are 9-2 in NBA Finals matchups against the L.A. Lakers. That stat won't mean a thing in this series.

The Lakers will back off Rondo and make the sometime reluctant shooter beat them from the perimeter. The Celtics will challenge Artest and everyone else not named Bryant beat them from the outside.

Question of the day

Is the Lakers-Celtics matchup the best rivalry in sports?

When you think you know, you don't

One thing about sports, is unlike Charles Barkley, we all really are experts.

One other thing about sports is the only place we are experts is in our minds.

Ultimately, Charles is right, at least about this one. We all know Charles weaves in facts amongst his hilarious takes on life, sports and basketball.

However, from the guys we used to pass on 205th st and Linden Blvd. every morning our way to Andrew Jackson High School to the allegedly big-time sportswriters toiling for the New York Times, New York Daily News, the old Long Island Press, the New York Post and Newsday, we all thought we knew why the New York Knicks, New York Mets, Yankees, Giants and Jets were doing what they were doing.

Nothing has changed. Those winos we passed daily waiting for the liquor stores to open didn't know any more or much less, for that matter, than the sportswriters. Everybody had theories, but no one truly knew or ever knows.

I can't speak for the so-called experts, but if they know so much, take it to Nevada and put that cheese where all the verbiage comes from.

I know I would if I felt that strongly. But you never know.

Many brainiacs believed the Boston Celtics would close out the Orlando Magic Friday night. However, many of those brainiacs, myself included, thought after the Celtics took that 3-0 series lead, they were going to win in four.

Moreover, how many of the brainiacs, myself included, would have guessed Nate Robinson would prove to be the Game Six spark offensively and defensively. Robinson clearly took Orlando's Jameer Nelson out of the game with his feisty, aggressive defense. All that while Robinson directed the Boston offense impeccably and scored 13 second-quarter points to enable the Celts to seize control.

By the way, what was that cheap-shot garbage Kevin Garnett did when he twice slammed his right forearm against the right wrist of Orlando's Dwight Howard with 8:09 left in the first quarter. Garnett got away with the first time before referee Mike Callahan whistled him after the second.

Garnett complained Howard was holding him. I've always been a proponent that when you're hooping and the referees won't help you, then you've got to do it yourself. Now, Garnett merely used his left hand to slap Howard's hand away once before twice violently slamming his right forearm.

So in a way I'm torn. You, especially at the professional level, have to keep people off you, pretty much by any means, necessary. However, that was Garnett's second foul early in the first quarter on a night when no one truly knew how long or how well either Rasheed Wallace and/or Glen (Big Baby) Davis could play.

The play occurred right in front of Callahan on the baseline. Whether he saw the entire situation only he knows. Yet, Callahan should have whistled Garnett for a flagrant foul because simply, it was flagrant.

Since this blog is in it's infancy, we'll be coming from different directions. It's like that when things are on the fly. We're going to start with a question or questions of the day. Feel free to reply in the comments section, but please bring the noise. Weakness is discouraged.

Who is the NBA's point guard and why?

NBA playoffs go from sour to sweet

For weeks there were complaints about the early rounds of NBA playoffs being non competitive with one sweep following another.

Never mind that few folks would have chosen the Phoenix Suns to beat, much less sweep the San Antonio Spurs. Or selected the Spurs to defeat the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, for that matter.

There are those observers, including myself, who believed the Miami Heat had a legitimate chance to surprise the Boston Celtics in the first round. Miami had ended the season playing well, while Boston had struggled throughout the season's second half.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have come and gone, but it was just a couple of weeks when that squad looked like the up-and-coming squad that had a chance to throw legitimate fear into the then shaky and injured defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.

However, NBA nuts like myself, now have the Celtics holding on to the cliff with every finger and nail as they attempt to hold off the rejuvenated Orlando Magic. The Magic appeared to have thrown in the towel during Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Celtics, meanwhile, were throwing blows with a smothering aggressive defense and a balanced solid offense that could attack from many angles. They were ahead 3-0 and had Game Four at the house.

Two defeats later, the Celtics can't be sure who among Glen (Big Baby) Davis, Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels will be healthy enough to play in Game Six at their gym. Even if they can play, how well can they play or will Davis and Daniels remember playing after suffering freak concussions during Game Five.

And each respective injury speaks to the unknowns attached to merely stepping onto the court. The Celtics began Game Five with a somewhat comfortable 3-1 lead over the Magic and walked off with a tenuous 3-2 advantage and 25% of their squad requiring serious medical attention and hopefully quick recuperation.

When Davis was hurt, he had not left his feet. Dwight Howard drove to the basket and was smacked across the wrist by Nate Robinson in an attempt to block his shot. (For the record, no foul was called.)

What goes up must come down and Howard's arms came down with his left elbow landing on the cheek and nose of Davis.

Perhaps had Robinson actually blocked the shot, Howard's elbow might have missed Davis. No one knows that, but we do know Davis looked like Joe Frazier against George Foreman after the big forward was struck.

Wallace goes to the basket and extends to make a layup and came down like a 54-year-old after reaching for a book off the top shelf of the library. His back was sore as heck and stiff and many of us can speak to that feeling.

Grissom suffered his concussion after when his head bumped into the body of Martin Gortat on a baseline double-team. How flukey is that?

Still unmentioned is how close Celtics center Kendrick Perkins came to being suspended after receiving two technical fouls. One technical was rescinded, but it didn't have to roll like that.

So here the Celtics are having wasted two opportunities to close out the Magic. The Beantown Boys have a shot Friday night at the crib before the world comes crashing down. The last thing they want is a seventh game in Orlando before a maniacal crowd and buoyed, confident Magic squad smelling blood.

Since I believe each game is it's own entity, I believe the Celtics are capable of shaking off three defeats and still winning a Game Seven.

However, that's not the way they are trying to get to the NBA Finals for the second time in three seasons.

Phil Jackson just the other day was speaking about how losing those two games in Phoenix put them into a situation they should embrace 'because that's the way it should be for a championship team.'

Wonder if he was thinking that when Jason Richardson banked in that game-tying three-pointer right in front of Phil's throne? I doubt it.