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Cousins' early dominance helps Kings to surprising 5-1 start

Jennifer Stewart / USA Today Sports

DeMarcus Cousins has always been an immensely talented offensive player who poses a tough task for any defense. But the oft-mercurial and temperamental would-be star struggled to stay focused for long stretches in recent years, making him the most maligned 20-and-10 lock in the league.

Whether it was a summer spent with USA Basketball at the FIBA World Cup or the maturity that develops after four seasons in the league, Cousins looks like a different player to start 2014-15. It seems this is a new Boogie: mature leader, engaged defender, and, through the tiniest of samples, legitimate MVP candidate.

The most noticeable change with Cousins has been in his demeanor. Some scoffed at his self-imposed limit of five technical fouls for the season, but Cousins is calmer in his reactions and more measured in his treatment of referees, coaches and teammates.

To wit, on Friday night he got into a minor scuffle after fouling Miles Plumlee harder than it appeared he meant to, got whistled for a traveling call on a key possession, and then fouled out on a borderline illegal screen call in the final minutes of regulation. That was all in a span of minutes, but instead of the hot-headed Cousins causing trouble over seemingly unfair treatment, it was the 24-year-old acting as the calming presence on the Kings' bench, cooling down head coach Mike Malone and rallying teammates in the huddle.

The Kings would go on to defeat the phoenix Suns in double overtime without Cousins, but it's unlikely they would have gotten to overtime without his immense impact. Cousins scored 25 points with 18 rebounds in what`s become a ho-hum stat line for him, while also leading the team on the defensive end.

It may be the defense that's been most surprising with Cousins so far. He's always possessed the tools and body to be an effective defender, but a renewed and consistent engagement has him anchoring what's surprisingly the league's ninth-best defense when adjusting for pace and quality of opponents. The change in the team's performance with and without him is remarkable.

Of course, the bullying post scoring and impossible-to-box-out rebounding persists, too. Cousins is averaging 24.2 points and 11.8 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the floor - numbers made all the more impressive by the fact he's struggling some around the basket by his standards.

That 49.2 percent mark inside of eight feet is below the 54.7 percent league average, which is nearly identical to the benchmark Cousins has established for himself the past two seasons. As his interior field goal percentage regresses, Cousins's numbers should stand out even more. 

As it stands now, he is living at the free throw line. His average of 10.5 free throw attempts per game is second to only James Harden so far, and a rate that would have led the league a season ago.

He's posting all of these numbers in an astonishing 29.8 minutes. On a per-minute basis, Cousins is scoring more than any other qualified player in basketball with 29.2 points per-36 minutes. He's also fourth in rebounding with 14.3 boards per-36. And that free throw rate of 12.7 attempts per-36? Also tops in the league.

It's incredibly early to look at such things, but Cousins has been among the league's best players when considering advanced stats that attempt to sum up a player's contributions. He ranks second to James Harden in Estimated Wins Added and fourth in Win Shares. He's been very, very good.

Far more important than his individual numbers is that the Kings are unexpectedly 5-1 to start the year. That mark includes three road wins, including one in Denver on the second end of a back-to-back. 

An unpopular playoff pick entering the season, a lot still has to break right for the Kings to set their sights on such a goal. They could conceivably still need to go 43-33 to be in the conversation for the Western Conference's No. 8 seed, and that rate is probably above the team's true talent level given some of the question marks on the depth chart. 

Cousins taking the leap from very good to superstar significantly raises Sacramento's ceiling, though, and lessens the burden on things just falling into place for this team to succeed.

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