Sports Guy & Kentucky Prospects
by Andy G on Feb 26, 2010 1:38 PM CST
48 comments
Just zipping through the Sports Guy's chat wrap, and noticed a couple of Kentucky/draft-related comments that relate to a couple of Wolves prospects.
Have you ever seen a prospect quite like me? I have an insane amount of talent. And yet I also have an insane personality. Where would you draft me? Where should I be drafted?
Bill Simmons (1:19 PM)The top-2 picks are John Wall and Evan Turner in some order. Wall has the inside track, but Turner is gaining on him and could make it a 50/50 thing with a monster March Madness (I think he's the next Wade, personally). So you're No. 3, DeMarcus. And yet, I wouldn't go near you. You frighten me. I would trade down or trade the pick. It's nothing personally. I just don't trust you to keep your head on your shoulders. I mean, not literally... but you know what I mean. I want to be the GM who trades for you for 20 cents on the dollar in 2018 after you're more mature.
John Wall (Kentucky)
People think DeMarcus Cousins is the only person with personality issues on our team. I know I'm too talented not to go number one, but you understand I'm a little off right?
Bill Simmons (1:21 PM)
Yes. Well aware. That's why Evan Turner is gaining on you. Well, that and the fact that Turner is practically averaging a triple-double every night.
----
I tend to agree with these answers by Simmons. These UK guys are not your Memphis Tigers of 2008, even if the coach and point guard make it an otherwise-logical comparison. They are immature, and anyone drafting Cousins OR Wall is going to have to deal with it. I would take Wall first overall, but Turner is gaining steam. It's not the slam dunk, no-brainer that I thought it would be, a while back. Turner might be the first pick, like Simmons says, with a big March.
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When your 19
and the best player on your team and the other team every single night of the week for your entire career, a certain perspective on life may be lacking. That’s what a good GM and coach in the pros can sort out. And his opponents often assist.
I don’t follow college ball in any detail, so the relative strengths and weaknesses are lost on me, but if he is a nutter and it truly is a red flag then surely other options exist.
Oh, and you just know we are going to have pick 3 after this, don’t you……
"I was trying to focus on breathing," Milicic said. "I was just focusing on breathing so I didn’t die."
I never get tired of putting up 200 on NBA Live...
…and yes, we will get the 3rd pick now.
Holy crap.
Can you imagine how depressing it would be to be locked out of the first two picks this year? Wait, of course you can, you know the Wolves. But seriously— can you IMAGINE how depressing it would be? Flargh. This is going to end badly, isn’t it?
If the Wolves are 2nd in the lottery, I don't think there will be a lot of complaining
It would be like 1993 (?) where Shaq went #1 and Mourning was the nice consolation prize. Guess who had the #3 pick and who they took….
As for Cousins, I just read an article about him with some supposed inside info. I don’t like passing along unsubstantiated items so I won’t here, but all I can say is STAY AWAY, not even worth a top 10. If the Wolves took him over Aldrich and the rumors are true and have an impact, the POBO will never recover. For those who follow other sports, I’ll just say the outcome could be similar to the Vikes drafting a certain DL about a decade ago w/o bothering to ask his college coach about his personality.
You've lost me, Rumblebee
Who did the Vikings draft in ’98?
"I was trying to focus on breathing," Milicic said. "I was just focusing on breathing so I didn’t die."
Underwood?
Ah. At first I thought you were talking about Randy Moss, and I was going to say that if Cousins is going to be as good as Moss, I’d take him in a heartbeat. But I processed it.
Also, being that you don’t want to pass along unsubstantiated info, could you at least give a link to the article you’re talking about? You’ve got me intrigued.
Dimitrius Underwood
Best part of his wikipedia article:
“After he escaped from a psychiatric care facility, he was released from the Dolphins in December 1999. He later signed a two-year contract with the Dallas Cowboys.”
More FYI than anything....
…but this site is now officially NBADraft.net free thanks to the made up rumor that Cousins is taking heavy medication to deal with a mental health problem. I also hear that NBADraft.net writer Aran Smith likes donkeys. Big hairy ones.
None of us know anything about Cousins. Even if he does have a problem, mental health issues are not taboo and they are treatable. NBADraft.net is a hack site and it is pathetic that they put this on the web. As if we needed yet another reason to hate anonymous sourcing.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
We know what's obvious on TV...
which is that Demarcus Cousins has a hard time controlling his emotions on the basketball court. That is a problem when the basketball court is his office. I have no idea if he has psychiatric problems — I just worry about his actual behavior. If it means he’s going to bust when he’s handed millions of dollars at the age of 20, I’d rather have it be on a team that’s not the Minnesota Timberwolves. He doesn’t have to be some sort of bad person for him to be a bad prospect due to his maturity and mental makeup. Ty Thomas had a bad attitude in Chicago and now he’s a Bobcat before his 4th season. Zach Randolph toured the NBA before he finally grew up near the age of 30. Ron Artest drank some Henn in the Bulls’ locker room, and has played for many other teams since.
Point being, if Cousins continues to behave like he’s been behaving, he won’t get off to a good start, and won’t stay with his first NBA team for very long. The odds of his behavior getting better, after his first owner CTC, are not good.
He’ll be on CBS at 11:00, and I look forward to seeing how he reacts to an always-hostile Tennessee crowd.
Let's forget about Cousins for a moment...
…some idiot writer just gave an anonymous tip about a teenager being heavily medicated. That point can’t be glossed over no matter how many on court bonehead plays the guy makes.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
Question for anyone
who paid more attention in legal classes than I did. Isn’t that considered slander or libel or something similar? If it really is false information put out there with the intent to hurt someone’s image, in this case monetarily as well, I can’t imagine you could get away with that so easily. On a site as heavily traveled (too bad…) as this one, you’d think these (nonsense) rumors would start to get noticed and the site would get some sort of warning. Or maybe I am missing a key piece for information to be considered one of the two and I am way off.
i was thinking something more along the lines..
…of an ass kicking or everyone turning the other way, but here’s hoping he sues that jackass too.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
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If everyone turned the other way
I’m sure Demarcus Cousins would be willing to dole out an ass kicking.
Please, please, let's be civil here
The only way to settle such disputes is in gentlemanly fashion. I present you, Zell Miller with the proper solution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuBnlNjZq24
"Never make predictions, especially about the future." Casey Stengel
or here
http://www.channels.com/episodes/show/2725993/SNL-on-GA-Senate-Race
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
Thinking of what Chambliss and his campaign did to Max Cleland
still makes me so sick.
"Never make predictions, especially about the future." Casey Stengel
I had a chance to meet Max Cleland..
…a few years ago and it was a very awkward experience. He could hardly contain his anger over what happened and you could tell it really tore him apart. He came off as one of those guys who just wasn’t ever going to get past what happened to him…and not the Vietnam stuff.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
Quick answer to the legal question
It’s very complicated and hard to prove slander, and not my area of expertise, so this information is worth exactly what you are paying for it.
One of the major reasons you don’t see law suits for slander is a process reason. We often see celebrities deny this or that scandalous rumor about them, and ask: if it’s untrue, why don’t they sue?
The reason is, if they sue, the other side gets to engage in discovery, which means essentially that they get access to your entire life. They get to ask questions under oath about almost anything; they get access to records, emails, etc. A lawsuit is incredibly invasive, and can be much more damaging than the original rumor.
In this case: if it’s true that he’s on medication, then there’s no case. Truth is an absolute defense. If it isn’t true, then who does he sue? The anonymous scout? The website writer, who printed merely that a scout said he heard yadda yadda. Passing on rumors….I don’t know that you could prove slander in this sort of case.
by Eric in Madison on Feb 27, 2010 10:36 AM CST up reply actions
That all makes a lot of sense
and if they taught that in school, I would have paid attention during that lecture. Thanks for the info and clarification!
I think..
and this is really stretching my knowledge and memory, but since he’s quoting a source who told him this, he would’ve had to have some reason to know that information wasn’t good. Assuming it isn’t true. Like Eric said, if he is on medication there isn’t anything he can do. Unless there’s some weird “invasion of privacy”-ish cause of action he can get him on, related to revealing confidential medical information. Which I don’t think exists. Or if it isn’t true, he could try to sue the source for libel, but getting a journalist to review a source is never an easy thing.
Cousins is a public figure
which means, in 1st Amendment terms, that any lawsuit brought by him in a situation like this would require that he show “actual malice” on the part of the publisher. Basically, that means knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for its truth. He would have had to make up the quote and the factual statement made in it.
Very few plaintiff’s attorneys will take these cases. They’re usually paid on a contingency fee, and they never win — so they don’t get paid. If Cousins wanted to sue every blog that said he was crazy or on medication, he’d probably have to do the legal work for himself.
I know...
…he’s got a few on-court red flags in terms of “woah, where did that reaction come from” and I know what you’re talking about.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
UK lost today...
but both guys looked good in the 2nd Half. Wall is just too fast and athletic for man-to-man defense. UK won’t see any of it, for the rest of the year. He’ll be an amazing pro.
Cousins played well on both ends, and kept his emotions under control. He defends the pick and roll pretty well for a player his size. Most of his baskets come off Wall penetration and rebounds.
So may I pose another
Question, devoid of gossip.
Does Cousins owe his draft hype to John Wall?
"I was trying to focus on breathing," Milicic said. "I was just focusing on breathing so I didn’t die."
by Auswolf on Feb 27, 2010 3:03 PM CST via mobile reply actions
No
He’s putting up numbers that are some of the best freshman bigs stats since Shaquille. It’s crazy.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
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by Stop-n-Pop on Feb 27, 2010 3:21 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
He has been amazingly productive.
With all of the talk about how much of a “risky” pick Cousins is because of he unspecified mental/emotional problems off the court; on the court he is probably the least “risky” pick in the draft.
He has a clear-cut NBA body with NBA level offensive skills and has produced at an astronomical level his freshman year in college (while demonstrating rapid improvement throughout the year.)
I would argue that he is a safer pick than Wall, whose productivity this year is vastly overrated. Don’t get me wrong, Wall is the #1 pick, but because of potential not because of where he is now.
If anything Cousins has been propping up Wall’s superstar status. Without Cousins that team would not be in serious contention for the Final Four.
Does this mean...
when we draft third we are going to have to take ANOTHER PF?
Draft Express
says 6’11"
Best Case: Taller Al Jefferson
Worst Case: Derrick Coleman on his Worst Days
Read it here
"I was trying to focus on breathing," Milicic said. "I was just focusing on breathing so I didn’t die."
It will be interesting to see...
…how tall and long he is. He looks like he has legit center size.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
Just reading the review
the length and span is there, but the issue may be his tendencies on defense. Hence the allusion to Al Jefferson.
If we pick at 3, is Cole Aldrich an option or the sort of guy you trade down for?
"I was trying to focus on breathing," Milicic said. "I was just focusing on breathing so I didn’t die."
Gotta wonder though
what kind of value we’d get. No one seems to be terribly excited about anything outside the top 2.
It certainly isn't hurting him
or is it… just imagine what he would do with plenty of minutes as the first fiddle. But I really think he benefits from the other team not being able to double on him. Most of it is him of course, but Wall certainly isn’t hurting his efficiency.
UK is definitely a nice team to play the part of the garbage man, and Cousins does it well. All of that dribble penetration, and action around the basket helps Cousins rack up points and rebounds.
It doesn’t mean he’s not a special player, but watching him play doesn’t exactly leave you feeling like he’s an all-time great. Nowhere near Shaquille O’Neal, even though his stats have caused that comparison.
No, he's nowhere near Shaq
Still, it isn’t just garbage. He has good hands and footwork for such a young big man, and nice touch around the basket.
by Eric in Madison on Feb 27, 2010 6:22 PM CST up reply actions
Cousins grew up playing PG...
This is his first year playing C. His future is incredible……..
Sorry...I have no idea who is DeMarcus Cousins
THUNDERDOME
'It's just noise coming out of an ugly scientist.' Michael Scott
You call yourself
a basketball fan! ;)
Mon Dieu!
"I was trying to focus on breathing," Milicic said. "I was just focusing on breathing so I didn’t die."
Don't worry
he’s a nobody nobody here has heard of at all.
"Never make predictions, especially about the future." Casey Stengel
Thanks rico
Nice to know my (modest) efforts aren’t going to waste :)
I gotta work on my rep though…
Last night I write ‘athleticness’ in a context that I assumed would clearly read as a joke and got jumped. Now I reference a recent classic train wreck thread with a classic CH tagline and get my Canis card revoked :)
'It's just noise coming out of an ugly scientist.' Michael Scott
Hoopus:
Where athleticness happens ;)
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
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