Sacramento Kings: DeMarcus Cousins Is NBA’s Best Center
It wasn’t long ago that DeMarcus Cousins was thought of as an immature hothead that didn’t have much of a chance at fulfilling his potential because his attitude had a different agenda.
Fast forward to this season and one would see that version of Cousins has disappeared. In fact, Cousins has emerged as the NBA‘s most dominant center and is well on his way to becoming a realization of the player that many thought he could turn into.
This season, Cousins has been the focus of the Sacramento Kings‘ offense, and the strategy has proven to be quite effective. The Kings, despite being in the lottery last season, have started out 11-11 in one of the toughest conferences to ever take shape in the NBA.
The Kings’ success starts with Cousins’ improvement on both ends of the floor, averaging career highs in many statistics across the board. Improvements in his shooting, rebounding, playmaking and defense cannot be taken lightly.
| Season | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-15 | 15 | 15 | 32.0 | 8.4 | 16.4 | .512 | 6.7 | 8.3 | .806 | 3.1 | 9.5 | 12.6 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 23.5 |
| Career | 306 | 284 | 30.5 | 6.8 | 14.6 | .464 | 4.5 | 6.3 | .721 | 3.2 | 7.2 | 10.4 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 18.1 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/11/2014.
Cousins has been an offensive force this season, whether it be creating shots for himself or for his teammates. While 2.4 assists per game may not be a huge number, the statistic is significant for a big man that primarily plays in the low post and has stepped out of that area probably the least in his career so far.
Cousins has gotten much better at recognizing double teams and passing out of tough situations to find his open teammates on the perimeter. While his 3.7 turnovers per game aren’t exactly a bright spot for Cousins, he is still only 24 years old and is improving by the day.
Probably the most important statistics to note when talking about Cousins’ improvement are the hustle areas.
His rebounds, blocks and free throw attempts per game are all career highs, showing that he is becoming less concerned with the refs and the unnecessary things going on around him and more focused on what he can contribute and bring to the table.
I wouldn’t say that Cousins has been a lazy player during his time in the league, but keeping himself under control and staying positive definitely have not been strong points for the young big man.
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Cousins’ 23.5 points per game are impressive for a big man, and a lot of that has to do with his improved free throw shooting. Not many centers these days can shoot 80.6% from the charity stripe, but Cousins can make a team pay for trying to be physical with him.
Instead of flipping out and being immature about any contact, Cousins has been very good this season at focusing on what he can do at the line, not what he could do in a fight with another player. Once again, Cousins’ attitude change has been the most important positive so far in the young season.
Cousins’ selfishness seems to have not really disappeared, but manifested itself into positive effort and aggressiveness in the right situations.
So what has Cousins’ improved play done for the Kings’ overall performance? Well, his play has landed the Kings in the top five in the league in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage, and in the top 15 in offensive rating.
Cousins’ play has impacted the Kings so much because he gives the team a reliable low-post scorer to go to during the game and in crunch time situations. Cousins’ focus has also allowed him to start down the path of being a leader to the younger guys on the team, something that is much needed as this is still a very young basketball team.
With Cousins and Rudy Gay playing great offensive basketball, the future for the Kings looks bright. Yes, Cousins will need to continue to keep his attitude and technical fouls in check, but all signs this season point to him doing that and finishing the season as a true MVP candidate.
Cousins is one of the top five players in the league in terms of player efficiency rating, and I do not see him falling out of that standing anytime soon.
Cousins has been separating himself from the rest of the league’s centers because of his improved effort and overall size and athleticism. Very few centers in the NBA are on par with Cousins in terms of physical talents, and adding in the fact that Cousins is becoming more of a skilled player should put fear in anyone trying to go up against him.
Look out NBA, Cousins has quietly transformed into the league’s best center.
*Statistics Courtesy of Basketball-Reference.