Can Boogie control himself in the playoffs?

I'm more concerned with whether he can play winning basketball in the playoffs than if he gets a tech or two.

In the playoffs, teams know every one of your tendencies and weaknesses. I have only watched him closely for 40 games or so and I know everything he is going to do before he does it. I imagine in the playoffs, his turnovers will go even higher. Technicals and him getting thrown out would be the least of my concerns.

We’re 11-9 having played GSW twice and have played absolutely dominant basketball in spurts lately. I don’t like how there’s no one on the the team that tells him to knock it off when he’s digging in and pickng arguments. I’d rather not get to game 60-65 and be jockeying for playoff position waiting to see if Cousins picks up #16 etc every game. However, people do need to jump off the hyperbole train and quit acting like Cousins is the sole reason we lose games at all.

I’ll point out a couple little things to counter the “losing basketball” commentary.

- Rebounds - Cousins’ ability to snatch down boards and not allow opposing players to knock the ball loose and crash the offensive glass

These aren’t empty stats. Cousins ability to snag them and secure them is arguably the best I’ve ever seen. He’s got exceptional hands for someone his size.

- Rim Protection and Hustle protesting his paint

Cousins has shown a knack for trailing and hustling back to catch up to easy layups this year. He’s also a very willing defender without fouling. His foul trouble comes mostly from his out of control offense, high PnR defense/offense, and loose balls. He’s very infrequently caught in the air and lunged into. His timing for contesting actual shots is actually damn good. There’s a reason we are getting killed on the perimeter and that’s partially due to the fact it’s hard to score down low. Cousins isn’t a bad “ball watcher” either. I’ve noticed AD is way more susceptible to leaving guys wide open at the 3 pt line. Cousins is typically not guarding the stretch big, but when he does he isn’t letting them tee off from deep.

- Free Throws - Good teams have to get to the stripe in the playoffs. Cousins and AD averaging nearly 17 FTA is truly maximizing what you could hope out of those two nightly considering how bigs are officiated

TL:DR - Cousins has winning intangibles as well

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Can Boogie control himself in the playoffs?

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Probably, unless Green manages to get under his skin

What bothers me about many of his technicals is the timng - two coming with 50 seconds left in games that we were winning. Makes no sense.

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L:DR - Cousins has winning intangibles as well

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Lol

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LMAO - literally nobody has ever said that. Talk about hyperbole

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Are you new here? Gyno and Lester did nothing but talk about how we can’t win when Cousins turns it over, regardless of whether he drops 35/15. Not hyperbole. Literally all Lester did for the first 10 games was bitch about Cousins and his turnovers. Way to deflect though. See we got “off his meds” Crewz this weekend instead of “let’s talk Hoops” Crewz.

I mean just think about if you were in a vacuum and just took over a franchise as GM and all you had on your roster was Demarcus Cousins and AD. How would you build around them personnel wise?

I think answering that question realistically, in broad terms of player archetypes, helps a person identify what this team needs, and what it currently lacks.

And sort of reminds us of the realistic expectations we should have with this team and Cousins. Because however you cut it, we just don't have the personnel to ever truly make ideal counter adjustments.

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To me the problem is Cousins needs to unlearn the creator role he was forced into with the Rondo injury. As corndeaux said teams are adjusting to him and that's exposing his mediocre (for a perimeter penetrator) handle. He needs to become part of the cutting and passing more like AD.

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Those are definitely things that we can adjust and clean up.

I didn't intend to signal we are incapable of making any adjustments, just that our personnel puts an upper limit on how much in some areas.

Good one. Great analysis.