Coach K gives Cousins 'A+' for his performance vs. Mexico, says he believed in him 'right from training camp'

Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski had some high praise for backup center DeMarcus Cousins following Saturday's blowout victory over Mexico.

"I think it's just a matter of him continuing to get in better shape," Cousins told USA Today. "And so (they need) to look for him (offensively). And I think they see him more now. I think his defense has really improved. He tried to take three charges today, (and) played Ayon pretty well without getting help so (Mexico) couldn't get a three off of him."

"He'd get an A-plus form me today, let's put it that way."

Cousins didn't miss a single shot on Saturday, connecting on all five of his field-goal attempts en route to 11 points scored. He also grabbed seven rebounds, an assist and a pair of blocks.

"That's a couple games in a row where he has been a force for us," Krzyzewski said. "He's a different player than Anthony Davis, and that's kind of what we were hoping we would continue to move forward with, and DeMarcus is coming through for us."

The lone blemish, however, came on defense. Although Cousins wasn't single-handedly responsible, his Mexican counterpart Gustavo Ayon scored a game-high 25 points on 11-of-19 shooting. But, then again, Cousins was a plus-14 while Ayon was minus-23, and the U.S. easily came away with the victory.

Krzyzewski also noted that Cousins' place on Team USA wasn't as up in the air as others suggested. "We have believed in DeMarcus right from training camp," Coach K said, via USA Today. "All the reports about him not making the team and all that were all not right. We felt that he would be the perfect guy with or in place of Anthony at times, but more in the place of Anthony."