Around the League: Week 7 12/7-12/13

[Shabazz]

Cousins:Sacramento::Barkley:Philadelphia

(Not as transcendent a talent, but a lot of similarities exist)

[Indy]

Cousins:Sacramento::Barkley:Philadelphia

(Not as transcendent a talent, but a lot of similarities exist)

I was thinking the same thing today, except I couldn't remember if Charles was a coach killer in Philly.

[JCSunsfan]

McD was just on with Gambo. The most significnat comment he made was that they are always looking to improve the team (normal GM-speak) but they are willing to put more of their assets in play to make a present and long term improvement to the team, to get to championship contention level.

IOW. They are in the market for a star player NOW and they are willing to part with at least some of their hoard of picks to get that player.

So. Look at who might be on the market and draw your own conclusions.

[Superbone]

Cousins:Sacramento::Barkley:Philadelphia

(Not as transcendent a talent, but a lot of similarities exist)

If Barkley:Suns::Cousins:Suns, then I'm interested. NBA Finals, here we come.

[Superbone]

So. Look at who might be on the market and draw your own conclusions.

Howard and Cousins seem to be the two being bandied about.

[Superbone]

Rumor has it Dwight Howard is not happy in Houston and could be traded to Miami for a package including Hassan Whiteside.

Is Howard ever happy? The guy seems to have "grass is greener on the other side" syndrome.

[JCSunsfan]

Cousins:Sacramento::Barkley:Philadelphia

(Not as transcendent a talent, but a lot of similarities exist)

If Barkley:Suns::Cousins:Suns, then I'm interested. NBA Finals, here we come.

The year prior to coming to the Suns Barkley averaged 23 pts. 11 rebs, shot .597 from the 2 and 55% overall. He also had 4 assists and 2 steals per game.

Cousins is averaging 25 pts and 11 rebounds, 3 assts, and 1 steal. But he is shooting 45% from the 2 and 42% overall. That is a very poor percentage for a f/c.

Its clear the Cousins would not improve the team like Barkley did and conceivably, he could make it worse if he took time away from more efficient big men like Leuer and Tele.

[Mori Chu]

I would trade anything we have for Cousins. He is a psychopath, but this current Suns roster has absolutely no chance of ever competing for a title, so you have to take a chance on a superstar like that. You have to hope that getting out of the toxic and chronically bad environment in Sacramento would have a positive effect on him.

[pickle]

I read a piece some time back (or maybe it was just a brief comment/twitter type thing) that says Cousins doesn't have personality issues per se; what he has is a trust issue. Basically if he buys into your program and trusts that you are making decisions with his welfare in mind, then he will go to bat for you and sacrifice himself. If he feels like you are just taking advantage of him, then he will just get on the court and get his.

I don't know anything about Cousins honestly, but in my infinite optimism let's say I'm willing to believe this version of the young man. Assuming this is the case, do we have the support system in place to earn his trust? Do we have a track record of sticking to a plan that we can actually show to him and convince him of? Do we have the personnel to make Cousins feel like his sacrifices are worth it? Honestly I can totally see him sitting in the post and passing out to a Leuer or Teletovic. It comes back to our two pgs. Can they learn to go through Cousins first on offense?

[JCSunsfan]

I don't have a problem with Cousins personality. My problem is the efficiency of his game. He has one of the better pass first pg's in the game right now feeding him and he is shooting under 45% as a center.

[Indy]

Love that floater

[Superbone]

Love that floater

Rajon Rondo, is that you?

[SDC]

Cousins:Sacramento::Barkley:Philadelphia

(Not as transcendent a talent, but a lot of similarities exist)

barkley made the playoffs in philly. and it was barkley who is demanding a trade out of philadelphia.

[SDC]

Cousins:Sacramento::Barkley:Philadelphia

(Not as transcendent a talent, but a lot of similarities exist)

I was thinking the same thing today, except I couldn't remember if Charles was a coach killer in Philly.

he supports his coaches http://articles.philly.com/1990-04-03/s ... ck-adelman

but hates the sixer owner (harold katz) http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1992-0 ... ley-sixers

[SDC]

maybe pairing cousins and bledsoe would work.

[pickle]

I don't have a problem with Cousins personality. My problem is the efficiency of his game. He has one of the better pass first pg's in the game right now feeding him and he is shooting under 45% as a center.

To me this all falls under the trust issue, and honestly it isn't a big drawback as far as I'm concerned. As a big man, Cousins loves to shoot it from the outside and much of the lower fg% comes from those 20+ footers. In fact I think Cousins is launching three to four three pointers a game this year as well.

Earlier in the season I saw one of their game broadcasts and Cousins was dribbling the ball after a rebound and this was not a case of him leading the break, he just felt like doing it, while Rondo was running ahead and clearly looking back all the way waiting for the pass. I think that has become better now that they are more familiar with each other and Cousins is willing to place some faith in his back court. As for the outside shooting, if his team can prove that they can shoot the ball consistently from the outside and that Cousins helps with rebounding and drawing defenders in the paint, I guess he can be convinced to do so. Alternatively, I could put him in the game next to Len, and have Cousins play the stretch four.

Either way, to me it's a matter of whether we as a franchise can earn Cousins' trust and show him the path to the promised land. If we can, I think we can deal with or take advantage of the perceived shortcomings in his game, certainly more so than we can with some of the other current stars on the roster.

[Ring_Wanted]

The problem is Cousins needs professional guidance so badly but the Suns don't have a strong personality at coach right now, nor a cast of vets who command respect and no nosense attitude. He'd eat Hornacek alive, doing whatever he wants on the court with bad shots, reckless dribbling and such and he'd fight the refs all the time. Just as he does in Sacramento.

But despite all that, if a talent like Cousins is available to Phoenix for whatever reason and a trade leaves you with a Bledsoe-Booker-Cousins core, you just have to do it. Next task would be finding a coach Cousins can respect and who know how to use him properly. That would give yourself a real shot at building something relevant for the next 5+ years. All easier said than done, but worth pursuing.

[pickle]

That's precisely my concern. I'm also okay on paper with that core. In fact I think we are very much aligned in the specific talent we are willing to move, for me it would be the Knight-TJ-Len package. If we can have our current two stretch fours and Bledsoe/Booker/Cousins, to go with Archie and Bogdanovic and whomever we pick up in next year's draft, I'll be much more confident in the future. And yes, I'm also very concerned with whether the coaching staff would be able to hold this group together.

[ShelC]

I don't have a problem with Cousins personality. My problem is the efficiency of his game. He has one of the better pass first pg's in the game right now feeding him and he is shooting under 45% as a center.

That's on Karl, who wants to play fast and spread the floor. This year, the Kings are first in the league in pace. 13-14 and through November last year, under Malone, the Kings were playing slower and through Cousins in the post and he was over 50%.

[Ring_Wanted]

Monster game by Rubio against the Knicks.

One point and two steals short of a quadruple double. 9-10-12-8 steals, plus just 1 TO.

Knicks won. Melo 20-15-9. Porzingis 7 blocks.