Does DeMarcus Cousins Deserve An All-Star Berth?
DeMarcus Cousins may be putting up insane numbers at the center position, but does he really deserve All-Star status?
Usually, 24 points and 12.7 rebounds per game on 48.1 percent shooting from the floor would be enough to warrant consideration, let alone the fact that he has a 25.8 player efficiency rating, good for sixth in the entire NBA. Cousins has had a monster year being the number one option on offense for the Sacramento Kings, but it hasn’t exactly translated into overall team success.
At this point in the season, Cousins’ team sits at 16-26, which is outside of the Western Conference playoff race. The Kings do have plenty of talent on the team, including scoring wing Rudy Gay and young point guard Darren Collison. Ben McLemore has also had year of improvement after having been a bit of a disappointment as a rookie last season.
There’s no question this team can score the basketball, but the defense has been an issue all season long, and things don’t seem to be getting better. Previous coach Mike Malone was a defensive-minded coach, same with current interim coach Tyrone Corbin, who hasn’t seemed to have gotten through to the team, either.
Now, Cousins can’t be held responsible for everything that the team does. However, team success has to come into play when considering who should be an All-Star because at the end of the day, as the great Herm Edwards once said, you play to win the game, plain and simple.
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Not only has his team not competed at the highest level with the other powers in the Western Conference, but Cousins has still had his fair share of attitude problems this season, after having said before the year started that he was going to cut down on his total number of technical fouls.
Cousins’ shoving of Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart certainly wasn’t a bright spot on his resume, showing that he still has a little bit of a temper and still has a bit of maturing to do before he can really be looked at as a true franchise player.
It’s not that he doesn’t have the talent, because he does, but Cousins needs to continue to build on his leadership dynamics until he can kick these outbursts completely to the curb. No one likes to see a whining baby making millions of dollars.
When it comes to overall play and talent level, there may not be another big man in the league with as much upside as Cousins has because of his athletic ability and ball-handling. Yes, I said ball-handling.
Cousins’ control over his dribble pairs well with his exceptional mobility and allows him to push the ball up the court in transition and even face-up his man in the half court and blow by him on his way to the rim for a ferocious dunk. There just aren’t many centers in the game with that kind of skill set.
The only ones I can think of that have that kind of similar ability in the half court are Dwight Howard and Andre Drummond, and at times Al Horford, who has also put together a tremendous season for the Atlanta Hawks, but none of these players can do what Cousins does in terms of running the court while dribbling the basketball.
Cousins is a unique player who has been showcasing just how good he can be all season long. Has his team done the best? Well no, but Cousins also missed some games due to injury, and who knows, maybe his team would have a more competitive record had he not been hurt at all.
Cousins has done enough to warrant himself a trip to New York City. He’s been a dominant force 0n offense, and has played well enough on the defensive end to get by. Cousins deserves a bid into the All-Star game, and I think he will get one of those final spots, even though the West is filled with plenty of skilled forwards and centers.
*Statistics courtesy of Basketball-Reference.