January 28, 2010
Jonathan Givony
You’d be hard pressed to find a freshman who has dominated his opponents from a statistical standpoint the way DeMarcus Cousins has for Kentucky so far this season.
#1 in PER (actually ranking #1 in the last 8 years in that category), Points per-40 minutes pace adjusted, rebounds per-40p, field goals made and second in free throw attempts, Cousins has answered his many critics by going out and producing in unbelievable fashion.
A man amongst boys at the college level, Cousins’ combination of size, length and strength is simply unparalleled at this level of competition. There are only a handful of players that can even match up with him from a physical standpoint, and outside of a couple of ho-hum performances against the strongest big men he’s faced (UConn and North Carolina), he’s completely destroyed the slew of largely mediocre post players he’s been forced to deal with.
Watching him on film, it’s not difficult to see why. Cousins can establish position deep in the post pretty much whenever he wants at the college level with his huge frame, huge and extremely soft hands, and incredible wingspan-- making him the perfect target to lob the ball inside the paint to. He’s the type of guy who wants the ball in his hands and shows a real hunger to score as much as possible, which is a big part of the reason why he’s currently ranked as the #1 per-minute scorer in college basketball.
Once he gets the ball where he wants it, Cousins is more than skilled enough to know what to do with it, showing quick feet, terrific footwork, excellent body control and fantastic touch to finish off plays. Often-times you’ll see him creating his own shot by spinning off his man abruptly in impressive fashion, and then just using his terrific length to convert easily at the basket. Although he isn’t the most explosive guy you’ll find in terms of his ability to play above the rim, this aspect of his game can probably be improved as well (although only to a degree) by shedding the 10-15 pounds of baby fat he’s still sporting.
More than just a brute force in the lane, Cousins sports some intriguing perimeter skills as well, showing better ball-handling skills and jump-shooting ability than you would typically expect from a player his size. The problem is that he tends to over-do this aspect of his game from time to time, forcing up bad shots and making a couple of questionable decisions pretty much every game. To his credit, he’s gotten much better about this as his freshman season moves along.
Cousins’ free throw shooting is another area he’s made strides in as the season moves on, as he seems to be showing better focus here than he did earlier in the year. He gets to the charity stripe at a simply outrageous rate of 12-times per-40 minutes pace adjusted, and converts 66% of his attempts once there.
