DeMarcus Cousins calls out Kings for effort, 'absolutely' most frustrated he's been
It all fell apart thanks to a bout of viral meningitis.
The Sacramento Kings were one of the best stories of the season's opening weeks, jumping out to a 9-6 mark and looking like a potential fringe playoff team on the shoulders of emerging MVP candidate DeMarcus Cousins.
Fast-forward 30-plus games and the Kings are a mess, having lost 10 of their last 11 and sinking to 17-31 overall. Cousins missed a long stretch with an illness, killing the team's momentum, highlighting its lack of top-end talent and costing head coach Mike Malone his job.
They haven't been the same since Malone's removal or Cousins' illness. The vibe has been bad and the play has been ugly, coming to a crescendo on Thursday in an embarrassing 101-78 home loss to the Dallas Mavericks. After the game, Cousins was heavily critical of the team's effort and appeared to send a message to the entire organization that things need to change.
"Absolutely," Cousins said when asked if this is the most frustrated he's been in Sacramento.
Cousins expanded on his frustration, from a series of tweets from Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee:
The same guys that were winning are the same guys in the locker room right now. Ain't nothing changed but the attitudes of the guys in this room. We're the same team. The same that everybody was praising in the beginning of the year, it's the same team, so yes we can do it.
...
If we play hard and we get our brains beat in I'm fine with that. But to come out and just lay down like we did tonight is inexcusable. I can't ... no.
While Cousins was clearly unimpressed with Malone's removal earlier in the season, he wasn't willing to use it as an excuse for the team's poor play. He also acknowledged that his leadership has waned, realizing that his body language has often been poor and his defensive effort lacking.
But Cousins is averaging 23.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.6 blocks with a terrific 24.8 player efficiency rating, and the team is outscoring opponents by five points per 100 possessions when he's on the floor. His play isn't the problem, even if his attitude may, at times, set a bad tone.