Larry Brown Sports

DeMarcus Cousins delivered a blatant cheap shot to O.J. Mayo during the Dallas Mavericks’ win over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night. As you can see from the video above, Cousins and Mayo were fighting for position in the second quarter when DeMarcus clearly punched him in the groin intentionally. The two began jawing at one another during the next stoppage in play and were both issued a technical foul.

Cousins called the play “an accident” after the game, but Mayo wasn’t buying it at all.

“I told him, ‘Man, play basketball,’” Mayo said according to the Dallas Morning News. “’You’ve got a chance to be a good player, but when you do stuff like that, you’re like a garbage player. It’s not a sign of being great.’

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Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins is a player with the physical tools needed to become a star in the NBA, but he has yet to take significant strides in his third season as a pro. In fact, his numbers are down from last season and he says his mind is not in the right place.

In a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, Cousins scored only 8 points on 3-for-9 shooting and grabbed 8 rebounds. He has been in foul trouble numerous times this season and was ejected from a game last week. So what’s the problem? The big man doesn’t really know.

“I’ve been terrible,” Cousins told The Sacramento Bee. “We’re losing. I don’t feel like I made improvements from last year. I really don’t have any confidence at all. I’m just trying to think my way through it, but right now, I’m not finding anything.”

The good news is Cousins is only 22 years old. The bad news is Sacramento is losing a lot of games — again — and Cousins has not shown he is capable of overcoming adversity. Instead, he has needed a personal babysitter and displayed a tendency to feel sorry for himself. Until he can consistently play with confidence and try to establish himself as the leader of a poor team, I’m not sure Cousins can sustain any type of success at the NBA level.

H/T Pro Basketball Talk
Photo credit: Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

DeMarcus Cousins was ejected in the third quarter of the Sacramento Kings’ loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday night, but the center insists he was not at fault. After he was called for a foul on Utah’s Enes Kanter that he disagreed with, Cousins earned his first technical of the night by slapping the ball out of Kanter’s hands. The second technical came when he disagreed with a call and appeared to say something to referee Gary Zielinski, earning himself an ejection.

However, Cousins insisted on Monday that he “didn’t say a word” to Zielinski and it was actually the official who swore at him.

“The referee cursed at me,” the 22-year-old told The Sacramento Bee. “He told me to go (expletive) ask the other referee (about the first technical foul). I was going to say something back, kept my cool and walked away and still end up with a technical. So I still don’t understand.”

In fact, after watching the replay Cousins says he came to the conclusion that the ref T’ed him up simply because of his reputation.

“It’s DeMarcus Cousins, so let’s ‘T’ him up,” he said sarcastically.

Cousins has been known for having an attitude problem since he came into the league in 2010, and it was basically the main reason he was left off the Team USA basketball roster in London. As the tattoo he got represents, DeMarcus feels as though a lot of people don’t understand him. In a sense he’s right — officials more than likely have a quicker trigger with him because of his past. But it will take a lot more time and a lot less complaining to shake that reputation.

H/T SLAM Online
Photo credit: Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Team USA Basketball’s final roster has been set for the London Olympics, and Mike Krzyzewski and company will be bringing only one center along with them. With multiple injuries to big men like Dwight Howard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Chris Bosh and Anthony Davis, we wondered if someone like DeMarcus Cousins might have a shot at making a team that is looking thin up front. Cousins felt as though he would be a lock for the team if he made the Select Team, but he wound up being wrong. USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo explained why on Saturday.

“He needs to mature as a person (and) as a player if he’s going to have an outstanding NBA career,” Colangelo said according to USA TODAY. “Before there’s discussion about him being part of our program, he has a lot of building to do. … He has a lot of growing up to do.”

Cousins has always had a reputation of having an attitude issue, but he seemed to be having more fun in Sacramento this year. Apparently he has not done enough to prove to Colangelo that he has matured. Krzyzewski praised Cousins more when asked about the decision to leave him off the team, but you have to assume he agrees at least somewhat with Colangelo’s assessment. The fact that the only center Team USA is taking with them to London is Tyson Chandler says a lot about the coaching staff’s opinion of Cousins.

Photo credit: Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

As the London Olympics draw nearer, a lack of big bodies is becoming more of a pressing concern for Team USA. Dwight Howard is currently injured and Andrew Bynum has made it clear that he would rather rest up for next season than compete in the Olympics. Mike Krzyzweski and company are in need of front court help, and DeMarcus Cousins says he would be honored to provide it for them.

“I mean, who wouldn’t want to play for Team USA?” Cousins said according to the Sacramento Bee. “Go over there and represent your country. I would love to do it.”

Team USA chairman Jerry Colangelo says that the team for London will be chosen from the 16 remaining players who are healthy and willing and made the preliminary roster bac in January. Someone like Cousins could get an invite to Las Vegas for the Select Team — which competes against Team USA in practices and scrimmages — but Cousins is confident that if he goes to Vegas he’ll wind up on the team.

“I feel like if I did go play for the Select Team, I probably would get a spot (on the Olympic team),” he said with confidence. “Honestly … but we’ll see.”

The team needs centers, but typically the players who compete on the Select Team are considered for future Team USA rosters, not the upcoming team. Despite some character issues during his first NBA season, Cosins lightened up a bit this past season and was not an issue off the court. He also put up solid numbers as he averaged over 18 points and 11 rebounds per game. It’s unlikely at this point that Coach K and Colangelo would add him, but with Howard and Bynum out of the fold anything is possible.

Photo credit: Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

DeMarcus Cousins fouled out and had an off night in the Kings’ blowout loss to the Spurs on Wednesday. Cousins shot 9-21 and missed both his free throw attempts as the Kings were defeated 127-102. But who can really blame him? The poor guy was mourning the loss of his dog.

Cousins had the phrase “R.I.P. Roscoe” written on his shoes (seen above) in memory of his 18-week-old bulldog puppy who died last week from a bee sting.

“He just collapsed in his crate while I was on our last road trip,” Cousins told The Sacramento Bee. “We had an autopsy done and everything because we wanted to know what happened. The (veterinarian) said it was from a bee sting.”

Even though Cousins seems to be taking the loss pretty hard, he’s working quickly to push aside the bad memory — he said he’s going to get another puppy this week.

Photo Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

In a match-up between two of the NBA’s budding big men, Blake Griffin got the better of DeMarcus Cousins. And then some.

He didn’t bang home any ferocious dunks and had a meager night by his standards (14 points and 9 rebounds), but Griffin hit three straight jumpers in the closing moments to help the Clippers secure a 93-85 victory over the Kings on Thursday. He also managed to ruffle Cousins’ feathers in physical battle that Kings coach Keith Smart likened to a “football game.”

Cousins wasn’t able to do much on the offensive end, with foul trouble limiting him to only 18 minutes on the court. He was set off when he was whistled for his fifth foul after apparently making contact with the face of Griffin, a known flopper, on a reach-in. (Talk about a bad night of officiating for teams called the “Kings.”) Bottom line, it was a frustrating game for Cousins, who posted only eight points and three boards, and those frustrations boiled over after the game. It was classic DeMarcus:

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