DeMarcus Cousins is in his third year participating in USA Basketball mini-camps during the summer, but he entered the program with somewhat of a credibility deficit.
Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski treat USA Basketball beyond seriously, and they demand an extreme level of commitment and character from the players they allow to eventually be named to one of the rosters.
Cousins has had a consistent series of what we’ll call behavioral issues ever since coming into the league, and he hasn’t really shown any signs that any of it is truly in his permanent past. There are still on-court incidents, and those that extend into the stands; none of that can happen in international competition, and it simply won’t be tolerated on Colangelo’s watch.
By all accounts, Cousins has been nothing but a hard worker at USA camp this year and last, but those in charge are going to want to see a long-term pattern of positive behavior to convince them that adding him to the roster is going to be the right decision.
Somewhat ironically, the way Cousins has performed from a pure basketball standpoint is what may keep him off of this summer’s team that will compete for the FIBA World Cup. And upon learning that he may be beaten out for a spot by Mason Plumlee, he predictably wasn’t at all pleased.
From Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee:
At this point, Cousins’ friend Andrew Rogers joins us and displays tweets from ESPN and other news outlets indicating that Colangelo and Krzyzewski favored Plumlee over Cousins. My sources suggested that the competition among Cousins, Drummond and Plumlee remained wide open and that Friday’s scrimmage and ensuing exhibitions would be crucial. Yet when he saw the tweets, Cousins appeared visibly shaken.
Q: Have you heard anything about your chances?
A: Nothing. They don’t really tell us much. I saw Coach K in the elevator, but we just chatted.
Q: How disappointed would you be if you don’t make the team?
A: I would be crushed. Everyone knows how much I want to do this. This is my third year here (two with Select Team), and I don’t run from any challenge. I would be crushed, but I’m not a quitter. I would come back and try again.
This interview was conducted before Friday night’s scrimmage, where Plumlee outplayed Cousins on the defensive end of the floor. Team USA has plenty of offensive talent, but they need active bigs interested in focusing their efforts on defense — something that Cousins hasn’t proved consistently capable of this summer.
He did mention in the interview that he’s playing through a leg injury, which could be affecting his ability to play the game while giving maximum effort on both ends of the floor. And, it isn’t a foregone conclusion that Cousins will in fact be left off the roster. But if that’s the way the team decides to go this time around, Cousins will simply need to stay positive and continue to work hard within the USA Basketball system to prove he belongs — and eliminating the types of needless incidents he’s become known for during the upcoming NBA season probably would only help those chances.
[via Nets Daily]
