DeMarcus Cousins: Best Center In NBA?
Contrary to popular belief, the center position is not dead. There are All-NBA mainstays, Defensive Player of the Year award-winners and perennial All-Stars at this supposedly dying slot.
Then there’s DeMarcus Cousins.
Throughout his four-year NBA career, Cousins has been overlooked in every regard but the negative. Despite his elite quality of play, the only thing that people seem to care about is his body language.
Yet, the Sacramento Kings confidently build around him.
For as easily as he out-produces his fellow centers, he’s yet to be selected to the All-Star Game. For as dominant as he appears against the elite of the elite, he’s never made an All-NBA appearance.
No matter how well he plays, Cousins simply does not receive the respect he earns.
Since entering the league in 2010-11, Cousins has been one of the most productive and dominant players in the NBA. Not only is he a nightly double-double, but he’s a Top 10 scoring threat who controls the glass and makes an impact defensively.
All the general public is exposed to is a lowered brow and an angry glare.
To be fair, Cousins has never led his team to the playoffs and rarely receives opportunities to play on national television. Great players on bad teams never receive All-Star Game nods.
You know, besides the five players who were All-Stars in 2014 and didn’t lead their team to the playoffs. And the dozens upon dozens who came before them.
Double-standard? Or intentional exclusion?
Cousins has been both under-appreciated and disrespected over the past three seasons. The 24-year-old is dominating almost every team he faces, but because of his reputation, he’s yet to be rewarded.
No matter how hard the critics try to tell you otherwise, Cousins is in the conversation for being one of the best centers in the NBA.
Skills & Versatility: Offense
Beyond the statistics and the stunning absence of an All-Star Game appearance is an outstanding skill set. There’s also a rare combination of athletic tools that few centers in the NBA can match.
Whether he’s attacking from the perimeter, going to the post or working the pick-and-roll, the only person who can stop Cousins is Cousins.
It all starts with DMC’s massive build. At 6’11” and 270 pounds, he’s a powerful presence who routinely overwhelms opponents in the paint, on the glass and on the low block.
With a bruising 1980s style of play, he’s not afraid of contact. He’ll throw his body into an opponent on either end, and that’s part of the intimidation factor that exists when going up against a man of Cousins’ size and style.
What separates Cousins from the rest of the pack is his surprising agility and dynamic offensive skill set.
Perhaps Cousins’ most valuable strength is the uncanny ability to attack off of the bounce. While some centers can hit a mid-range jump shot as he’s capable of doing, not many can put the ball on the floor and dribble towards the basket.
Cousins is not only capable of doing it, but he routinely executes these plays to create scoring opportunities at the rim. This generally draws contact to send him to the line.
In 2013-14, Cousins led all centers in free throws made per game at 6.1 on 72.6 percent shooting. The next closest player was Dwight Howard with 4.9 at 54.7 percent.
No. 3 was an even more distant Nikola Pekovic at 3.4 on 74.7 percent shooting.
What this shows is an uncanny ability to not only get to the free throw line, but convert those opportunities at a respectable clip. This prevents a hack-a-Shaq approach and establishes Cousins as a player who draws contact because he simply can’t be stopped.
When he struggles to convert inside, he has no problem stepping out for a mid-range J.
Per Basketball-Reference.com, Cousins made 112 field goals from 16-to-23 feet on 42.3 percent shooting. That’s not only an efficient mark for a big man, but it’s a generally strong number on the association’s most inefficient shot.
If that’s not enough for you, Cousins averages 3.2 offensive rebounds per game for his career. He also averaged 2.9 assists per game in 2013-14, which was No. 3 behind just Joakim Noah and Marc Gasol.
With a complete offensive attack, Cousins’ budding defense becomes that much more impressive.
Skills & Versatility: Defense
On the defensive end of the floor, it’s hard to outright call DeMarcus Cousins an elite player. He hasn’t yet developed into that caliber defender, but he’s not as far from becoming one as it may seem.
A look at the raw numbers and the advanced metrics both tell that developing story.
In terms of the basic statistics, Cousins led all centers with 1.54 steals per game. That’s not only an impressive number, but it’s one that gives him a distant lead.
Andre Drummond was No. 2 with 1.25 steals per contest.
As a shot-blocker, Cousins cracked the Top 15 at his position with 1.28 blocks per game. It was a career-best mark that signaled yet another step in his two-way development.
According to NBA.com, Cousins held opponents to 51.1 percent shooting when he met them at the rim. That’s slightly below the general standard of 50.0 percent, but it’s a strong enough number to signal a rise in his commitment to defense.
When a player is 6’11” and 270 pounds, a commitment is all it takes to be effective. He’s big enough, strong enough, agile enough and simply powerful enough to turn effectiveness into being a genuinely elite interior foce.
Until then, he’s already one of the most balanced centers in recent NBA history.
All-Time Production
According to Basketball-Reference.com, only three players averaged at least 20.0 points and 11.0 rebounds during the 2013-14 season: LaMarcus Aldridge, DeMarcus Cousins and Kevin Love. Aldridge and Love were both All-NBA and All-Star Game selections.
Cousins was not.
Per Basketball-Reference.com, only one player averaged at least 20.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 block per game in 2013-14: Cousins.
Since Hakeem Olajuwon did it in 1994-95, only three players have averaged those numbers. Dwight Howard did it in 2011-12, Shawn Marion achieved the feat in 2005-06 and, of course, Cousins in 2013-14.
Both Howard and Marion were All-Stars during those respective seasons. Again, Cousins was not.
An absence of recognition is vital in this discussion. In the public eye, to be the best, you have to be recognized as the best, and that’s something that just hasn’t happened for DMC.
Thus, the easiest way to dispute Cousins’ greatness is to acknowledge his empty resume. The previously alluded to statistics say differently.
In 2013-14, Cousins led all centers with 22.7 points per game. The only other center with at least 20 points per contest was Jefferson at 21.8.
On the boards, Cousins was No. 4 at his position in total rebounds per game. He was No. 6 in defensive rebounds and No. 7 in offensive rebounds per contest.
As previously alluded to, Cousins also led all centers with 1.54 steals per game and ranked in the Top 15 at his position in blocks.
Regardless of how you cut it, Cousins is one of the most productive centers of the past 20 years. He may lose a step in areas that others have thrived, but he’s put it all together at 24 years old—and he still isn’t done improving.
Players such as Howard and Joakim Noah are presently superior forces on defense. Marc Gasol and Jefferson serve as offensive players who either more efficient or have a more polished skill set.
No center combines ability, athleticism and raw power as well as Cousins. The question is, can he continue to develop at this rate to usurp Howard as the No. 1 center in professional basketball?
In 2014-15, the Kings star will take that next step—if he hasn’t already.