Las Vegas Summer League 2010

The seven biggest stories of Las Vegas summer league
By Kevin Arnovitz

DeMarcus Cousins

Even those who came into summer league with conflicted feelings about the Sacramento Kings young center were taken aback by the polar extremes Cousins displayed during his six games in Las Vegas. In his first three games, Cousins unveiled a broad range of skills, far more than his reputation as a raw big man suggested. He drained face-up jumpers, handled the ball in transition, worked off the dribble against defenders from the top of the circle, gobbled up rebounds then flicked perfect outlet passes fifty feet downcourt, and gracefully played pick-and-roll basketball with his guards.

But we also saw Cousins' immaturity and petulant body language. He jawed incessantly at opposing centers like Greg Stiemsma and Ian Mahinmi, and nagged game officials with impunity. After shooting 45.8 percent over his first three games, Cousins went 9-for-45 from the field in his final three and also saw his rebounding totals sag. When the Kings' coaching staff gave him instructions during huddles, Cousins pouted and looked away.

Whether Cousins' falloff was a product of poor conditioning, irritability or just self-disgust, one thing is certain: Cousins has more talent than advertised -- and it's going to be more difficult to harness than most of us realized.

NBA summer league: Winners & losers - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

No mention of Monroe even though several lesser players are mentioned.

Glad we didn't pick that guy.

They don't mention the Pistons or Monroe because Joe D doesn't want to public ANY news about the pistons, no reports, no news, no rumors, no nothing..

lol

No mention of the Pistons as they were invisible just like Joe's FA and trade negotiations.

Meanwhile the guy we didn't trade up for was :

NBA.com: Kings' Cousins named Rookie of Month for July

Am I the only one who thinks it's stupid to give a "Rookie of the Month" award before the season starts? There's nothing at stake and coaches are trying out different things.

how about before the league was even over..... he got the award last night before the game in which he played pretty horrible.... something like 1-12 for 6 points and 5 TO's

pointless award given before the summer league was even over making it even more pointless.

That was totally unfair man..

Check out his numbers and you will see... he scores 33.3 % from the FG !!! lol..

John Wall was way much better than Cousins despite that Wall also scores witha low FG% but his numbers were better..

And Greg Monroe has great numbers too.. not so different to those who make Cousins the R.O.M.

How about the fact that no one mentions that Cousins got straight up $#!+ on THREE times in that game against Chicago. Lol, they weren't blue chippers doing it either, just typical summer leaguers

Yep it really goes back to winning two of the last three games of the season that got us in this pickle....if you are going to tank a few games to set you up for a good future, why not do it right and just end it on a bad note.... after all, the Wizards, Kings, Warriors, Wolves and Sixers did it.

was that the reason for his poor attitude too? reports I read said he was already ignoring the coaching and complaining to refs....

Why is it more times then not the guys with the most talent also have the worst muscle between the ears....

Me and my Cousins of course

Um, it's the divine balance. For example, a player like Dwight Howard can't have freakish size, strength, athleticism, a great attitude AND a jump shot. He'd be too good, and that would cause a rift in the space-time continuum.

It always balances out.

Monroe doesn't have the the leaping ability, but he has the attitude, intelligence and clever, quick thinking craftiness to his game. If he develops, he will be around for a loooong time. I see him sort of like a black Keven McHale, crafty... deadly crafty (with a knack for assists to boot).

A nice blurb on Monroe on BleacherReport as well:
NBA Summer League 2010: Top 10 Potential Sleepers To Watch | Bleacher Report

I'm happy with Greg. I would still have serious questions if we had Cousins. Not saying Monroe's better, but he's certainly less stress!