| Cousins, DeMarcus | Kentucky | 6'11" | 292 | C, PF | Frosh. | Here is the dilemma from a NBA Draft perspective on DeMarcus Cousins... He is the easily the most efficient player in college hoops with a gaudy .870 EFR. He would immediately solve rebounding, interior defense and low-post scoring issues for any NBA team. He is too big, too strong, and too agile for most defenders to handle. However, he acted like a problem child at Kentucky. Can you trust him to not stain your franchise with knucklehead tendencies. ...He gets technical fouls for talking back to referees. We've seen him throw a cheap elbow. ...If it were purely basketball... He is a big kid with an NBA body. His standing reach is 9'5"! He has a back-to-the-basket post game and he possesses quick hands. He WILL score anywhere close to the hoop. If you give him any space toward the baseline - it's over. He has excellent footwork and he uses his massive body to put defenders in bad positions. He uses up fakes to get his man off balance - and then he attacks. With his combo of size and his 'mean streak' - I truly believe that as a FRESHMAN - he was the biggest, baddest player in college basketball. …Not much of an outside shooter. ...Just a 62% free throw shooter. …Foul prone and throws away two turnovers for every one assist although my gut feeling is that he will improve in that area. His vision is actually pretty good. His weight also concerns me. At age 19 to be within ten lbs. of 300 is scary. What happens to this kid when he gets paid? Says Doug Gottlieb in defense of Cousins, "He became much more consistent with his effort and his mental focus as the year went on". ...That may be true but at the end of the day my gut feeling says, "let this guy be someone else's problem." |
Where do I expect Cousins to be taken? Somewhere around fourth or fifth.
Our best advice: In 2002 - the 5th pick was Nikoloz Tskitishvili. We said - "take Carlos Boozer".
Our worst advice: In 2003 - the 5th pick was Dwyane Wade. We said - "take Mike Sweetney".