Part Rasheed Wallace, part Tim Duncan; DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins is being talked about by some as one of the 10 best players in the NBA, and that was before being selected for his first All-Star appearance.
The four-year pro is averaging 24 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block per game, to accompany a PER of 24.43, which is top 10 overall. This, all while carrying a franchise and possibly a city on his massive shoulders. Defensively, Boogie is far from the slouch that basketball talking heads will tell you; the Kings are 19.5/100 possessions better with Cousins on the court….that’s an insane ratio!
But then there’s this.
The problem with Cousins — and with a lot of athletes — is when he does something that confirms a negative perception of him, it goes viral regardless of any other information. Cousins has been labeled a coach killer, malcontent, loose cannon who will never reach his full potential…or worse.
While few take shots at his talent, Boogie’s detractors point to his team’s harrowing win loss record as proof he is a classic, “good stats on a bad team guy”, à la T’Wolves era Kevin Love. The Kings are an abysmal 120-243 in Cousins’ career— if Boogie is to ascend to the pantheon of NBA greats and the return the Kings franchise to their former luster of the early 2000s, he’ll need help. It’s a fact because his individual performance has been dazzling.
The chart below illustrates how Cousins stacks up against the other bigs in the league today.
|
Name |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
BPG |
FT% |
FG% |
MPG |
PER |
|
24 |
12 |
3 |
1 |
80% |
47% |
35 |
24.1 |
|
|
19 |
8 |
4 |
2 |
80% |
50% |
34 |
22.5 |
|
|
17 |
12 |
2 |
0 |
75% |
50% |
33 |
21.1 |
|
|
8 |
10 |
4 |
1 |
65% |
44% |
30 |
15.1 |
|
|
18 |
12 |
3 |
2 |
81% |
49% |
35 |
22.8 |
|
|
15 |
10 |
3 |
2 |
73% |
49% |
30 |
21.8 |
|
|
24 |
10 |
2 |
1 |
87% |
47% |
36 |
22.7 |
|
|
16 |
11 |
1 |
1 |
52% |
58% |
32 |
18.2 |
|
|
16 |
7 |
3 |
1 |
77% |
54% |
31 |
21.6 |
|
|
25 |
10 |
2 |
3 |
83% |
55% |
36 |
31.7 |
|
|
22 |
8 |
5 |
0 |
72% |
50% |
35 |
23.1 |
What jumps out is A) there are two sets of teammates on this list and B) everyone on the list is teamed up with an All-Star caliber player, sans Anthony Davis, who is wasting one of the best seasons ever on a .500 Pelicans team. What separates Cousins from the pack is at 6’11″ 270 lbs, he still has the handle and the jumper to be a threat from as deep as 22 feet, with unstoppable size in the post. He has the skills to do everything one could want out of their franchise center, but even King Arthur needed his knights.
Now don’t get me misconstrued— Cousins has earned some of the criticisms tossed his way since he walked off the University of Kentucky campus in 2010. He gets easily frustrated with the refs and teammates, which affects his play. He leads the league in fouls per game (4.2), has had multiple run-ins with coaches (Paul Westphal, Keith Smart) and even player turned commentator Sean Elliot and fellow Alabamian Charles Barkley. He also put the paws on both OJ Mayo and known pest Patrick Beverley. In his short career Boogie has cost himself over $300k in fines and has been suspended a total of six games.
Who says you can’t win with DeMarcus?
But you know what else he’s done? Increased his scoring, rebounding, assist rate and free throw percentage nearly every year in the league. He’s grabbed 33 double-doubles in the 40 games, second only to Pau Gasol, whose notched 35 in 51 games. And lest we forget he play a key role in Team USA winning gold at the FIBA Basketball World Cup last year and earning. the praise of Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski.
At 24 years old, there is no denying DeMarcus has earned the respect of his teammates, fans and coaches around the hoops world. He’s the face of a franchise that has endured a coaching carousel (hes had three this season alone, and we’re only at the All-Star break!), ugly power struggles via ownership changes and faced the very real possibility of relocation. With the exception of Mayor Kevin Johnson, Cousins has been the only true constant for the Sacramento Kings. He’s journeyed from rookie to vet and gone from a volatile to a more stabilizing piece for a franchise that has remained in flux for his entire career.
Cousins’ game isn’t always pretty; he isn’t a walking highlight reel like Blake Griffin or Anthony Davis, and he’ll be as revered as Tim Duncan, but he’s developed into a dominant force at the center position. He’s the last of a dying breed.