Post by Rog on Jan 1, 2018 20:02:19 GMT
The 103rd nominee for the NBN Hall of Fame was a guy who came in with immense potential and expectation, but failed to meet any of it. That doesn't mean he wasn't amazing at what he did, it just means he wasn't the all encompassing star that everyone thought he'd be. Was he good enough to be a Hall of Famer, or just not quite? Lets take a look.
Career Stats
34.6 MPG, 17.5 PPG, 12.2 RPG, 3.0 APG, 2.5 BPG, 1.1 SPG, 2.8 TOPG on 44% from the field, 77.5% from the line, and 32.6% from three
Best Season
Mavericks(2016) - 23.6 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.6 BPG, 1.2 SPG, 3.5 TOPG on 44.2% from the field, 77.5% from the line, and 21.8% from three
Career Highs
Points: 53
Rebounds: 27
Assists: 12
Steals: 6
Blocks: 11
Achievements
Championships: 0
Player of the Game: 122
Player of the Week: 0
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 676
Triple Doubles: 4
Awards
2013 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2013 - Rookie of the Year
2013 - All-Rookie Team
2014 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2019 - All-Star Game Participant
2019 - All-League Third Team
2020 - All-Star Game Participant
2020 - All-League Third Team
2024 - All-Star Game Participant
2025 - All-Star Game Participant
Career Leaderboard Rankings
Rebounds - 25th
Blocks - 28th
Arguments For Induction
- Demarcus Cousins is pretty well awarded, playing in four All-Star Games, named to two All-League Third teams, and winning a rookie of year in one of the more impressive rookie seasons in recent memory.
- Most of all, Cousins was a great defender, despite a complete and total lack of awards. He carried an 'A+' or 'A' rating his entire career. And his career number of 2.5 BPG is brought down by an early career where he didn't quite block shots at a high clip. From his sixth season on he was a 3 BPG guy for seven seasons. He even had a season where he averaged 4.1 BPG. He also averaged 1.1 steals per game for his career, dude could ball on the defensive end.
- Cousins was also a fantastic rebounder, though wildly inconsistent. He averaged 12.2 rebounds for his career, and was 25th All-Time in rebounds. Again, from his sixth season and on he was a 12 rebound guy for eight seasons. He even went over 13 a game for six seasons of his career, inlcuding one season where he randomly averaged 15.1 per game.
- While not his strongest suit in the end, Cousins came into the league a crazy good scorer for a post player and maintained that for a while. His first five seasons were among the best offensive seasons for a center in league history. We're talking 22-23 points per game on 45% from the field. He did fall off some, his next two seasons he was 17.5+ on similar percentages. After that he was a 15 points, 13 rebound, 3 block guy.
- Overall, you look at Cousins at you see a guy with two halves of a career, both with their own really good parts. First you had the scoring tirade, a guy who could give you 22 points, 12 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 1 steal and shot the ball pretty well. Those destructive first days were also met with not a lot of success. He transformed into 15 point, 13 rebound 3 block, 1 steal guy that still scored well, but also brought a ton of intensity on the defensive side. While not awarded heavily, Cousins ability to morph into what his team needed after the crazy start just shows how utterly talented he was. That is a Hall of Famer if you ask me.
Arguments Against Induction
- I've come to the point with these write ups that its hard for me to write the arguments for and qualify it with "despite not having a lot of awards" like I have to here, but its the truth he just doesn't have a lot of awards and that is a huge problem for anyone trying to prove they were elite, if you weren't top 3 among your contemporaries enough, how can you claim to be a Hal of Famer?
- Like Zeller, Cousins was a good player but seriously feels like a role player for the majority of his season. Sure if he could have held up the first five seasons of his career and developed the blocked shots, maybe you have a case but he didn't keep that up, and the player he became with the 15 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks guy is dime a dozen and is absolutely positively not a Hall of Famer. Period.
- There are actual flaws in Cousins game too. He put up those big numbers on a team like the Mavericks who had exactly no success while Cousins was there. Then he moved to an actual team of talent and turned into a true role player. Plus his turnovers were absolutely horrendous. His near even assist to turnover ratio is only saved because he was a center who averaged 3 assists per game, which is a crazy good number. But averaging nearly 3 turnovers is absolutely horrendous.
- Overall, I feel like I am repeating the same tropes here over and over again, but he was a role player and role players don't make the Hall of Fame. His lack of awards and his lack of truly dominant statistics over a long period of time just make the case against him pretty easily.
Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully.
***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25***
Career Stats
34.6 MPG, 17.5 PPG, 12.2 RPG, 3.0 APG, 2.5 BPG, 1.1 SPG, 2.8 TOPG on 44% from the field, 77.5% from the line, and 32.6% from three
Best Season
Mavericks(2016) - 23.6 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.6 BPG, 1.2 SPG, 3.5 TOPG on 44.2% from the field, 77.5% from the line, and 21.8% from three
Career Highs
Points: 53
Rebounds: 27
Assists: 12
Steals: 6
Blocks: 11
Achievements
Championships: 0
Player of the Game: 122
Player of the Week: 0
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 676
Triple Doubles: 4
Awards
2013 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2013 - Rookie of the Year
2013 - All-Rookie Team
2014 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2019 - All-Star Game Participant
2019 - All-League Third Team
2020 - All-Star Game Participant
2020 - All-League Third Team
2024 - All-Star Game Participant
2025 - All-Star Game Participant
Career Leaderboard Rankings
Rebounds - 25th
Blocks - 28th
Arguments For Induction
- Demarcus Cousins is pretty well awarded, playing in four All-Star Games, named to two All-League Third teams, and winning a rookie of year in one of the more impressive rookie seasons in recent memory.
- Most of all, Cousins was a great defender, despite a complete and total lack of awards. He carried an 'A+' or 'A' rating his entire career. And his career number of 2.5 BPG is brought down by an early career where he didn't quite block shots at a high clip. From his sixth season on he was a 3 BPG guy for seven seasons. He even had a season where he averaged 4.1 BPG. He also averaged 1.1 steals per game for his career, dude could ball on the defensive end.
- Cousins was also a fantastic rebounder, though wildly inconsistent. He averaged 12.2 rebounds for his career, and was 25th All-Time in rebounds. Again, from his sixth season and on he was a 12 rebound guy for eight seasons. He even went over 13 a game for six seasons of his career, inlcuding one season where he randomly averaged 15.1 per game.
- While not his strongest suit in the end, Cousins came into the league a crazy good scorer for a post player and maintained that for a while. His first five seasons were among the best offensive seasons for a center in league history. We're talking 22-23 points per game on 45% from the field. He did fall off some, his next two seasons he was 17.5+ on similar percentages. After that he was a 15 points, 13 rebound, 3 block guy.
- Overall, you look at Cousins at you see a guy with two halves of a career, both with their own really good parts. First you had the scoring tirade, a guy who could give you 22 points, 12 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 1 steal and shot the ball pretty well. Those destructive first days were also met with not a lot of success. He transformed into 15 point, 13 rebound 3 block, 1 steal guy that still scored well, but also brought a ton of intensity on the defensive side. While not awarded heavily, Cousins ability to morph into what his team needed after the crazy start just shows how utterly talented he was. That is a Hall of Famer if you ask me.
Arguments Against Induction
- I've come to the point with these write ups that its hard for me to write the arguments for and qualify it with "despite not having a lot of awards" like I have to here, but its the truth he just doesn't have a lot of awards and that is a huge problem for anyone trying to prove they were elite, if you weren't top 3 among your contemporaries enough, how can you claim to be a Hal of Famer?
- Like Zeller, Cousins was a good player but seriously feels like a role player for the majority of his season. Sure if he could have held up the first five seasons of his career and developed the blocked shots, maybe you have a case but he didn't keep that up, and the player he became with the 15 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks guy is dime a dozen and is absolutely positively not a Hall of Famer. Period.
- There are actual flaws in Cousins game too. He put up those big numbers on a team like the Mavericks who had exactly no success while Cousins was there. Then he moved to an actual team of talent and turned into a true role player. Plus his turnovers were absolutely horrendous. His near even assist to turnover ratio is only saved because he was a center who averaged 3 assists per game, which is a crazy good number. But averaging nearly 3 turnovers is absolutely horrendous.
- Overall, I feel like I am repeating the same tropes here over and over again, but he was a role player and role players don't make the Hall of Fame. His lack of awards and his lack of truly dominant statistics over a long period of time just make the case against him pretty easily.
Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully.
***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25***
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