DeMarcus Cousins - Point Center (Scoring) 17/18

DeMarcus Cousins. 4x NBA All-Star. 2x All-NBA Second Team. 2x USA Basketball Gold Medalist (2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain, 2016 Olympics in Rio). In 1972, Kareem Adbul-Jabbar became the 9th player in NBA history to post 40 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists in a single game. On January 23, 2018, DeMarcus Cousins joined that hyper exclusive club, becoming it’s tenth member with his 44 points, 24 rebounds, and 10 assists in a win over the Chicago Bulls. In his first full season with New Orleans, he was posting career best numbers across the board: 25.2 points per game (good for 9th in the league as of the all-star break), 12.9 rebounds (3rd in the league), 5.4 assists per (20th in the league, and the only non-guards besides LeBron James, Ben Simmons, Draymond Green, Nikola Jokic, and Kevin Durant to appear in the top 20), 1.6 steals per game (9th in the league), 1.6 blocks per game (7th best), with a Player Efficiency Rating of 22.8 (a top 20 rating). The minutes (36.2 per game), rebounds, assists, and steals were all career bests. While it’s such a shame that DeMarcus is down and out this season because of an injury, we should all take the time to recognize what a mightily magnificent season he was having. You know, NBA teams knew better than to blame a loss against the New Orleans Pelicans on the sunshine, or the moonlight, or even the good times. Any organization with eyes would know that being beat by the Pels could be attributed to only one of two things: Anthony Davis and/or DeMarcus Cousins. Basically, I’m saying if you took an L to the Pels, you should blame it on the Boogie. I mean, this is how dominant DeMarcus was this year: top 10 in points, rebounds, steals, and blocks in the league, with a top 20 ranking in assists and PER to boot. As a center. And with his ever expanding range, he had already made 104 3 pointers this season (in 48 games). Compare that to his career best of 131 makes through 72 games last season. What is it exactly that makes Cousins a cold blooded killer on the court? His versatility is very much how he brings value to New Orleans, yes, but it’s very much the variety with which he can attack too. From his fearsome physicality, to the finesse with which he finishes, to the foul-drawingly fantastic footwork, Boogie forces his way through the foundation of the defensive gameplan and gives other teams fits. Here now is a video on what a nightmare he was on the offensive end, and how he scared the other teams with his scoring.