DeMarcus Cousins Wins Western Conference Player of the Week, and Deserves It
By Rafe Wong
DeMarcus Cousins has won the Western Conference Player of the Week, and he has definitely deserved it.
It was only just last week where it seemed things were spiraling out of control for the Sacramento Kings. The team at the time had a record of 1-7, frustration between players and coaches were starting to rise, and the question whether franchise player DeMarcus Cousins even wanted to stay in Sacramento was starting to haunt the heads of fans.
Fortunately, due to a team meeting set up by Kings GM Vlade Divac, it seems the problems that were happening at the time are squashed for now.
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Since then, the Kings have started to win games, and most of the credit responsible for the Kings recent success has been the dominance of the Kings big man. Last week, in four games, Cousins has averaged 32.5 points, 11 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per contest, and has lead the Kings to a 3-1 record during that time.
There is no question that Cousins is the major component for the Sacramento Kings. This season alone, in games where Cousins was sidelined with an achilles injury, the Kings have been 0-4, and in games where he has played they have been 4-3.
Also with the addition of Cousins monster stats, he has also made his teammates better as well. Examples of this have been Rajon Rondo and Rudy Gay.
During the Kings current winning streak, Rondo has benefitted from Cousins presence by averaging 14.7 points, 14.3 assists, and 9.3 rebounds a game (two triple-doubles during this span), as well as Rudy Gay averaging 26 points a game while shooting .600 from the floor (in two games).
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In games without Cousins, Rondo has averaged 10 points, 7.5 assists, and 7.3 rebounds a game, while Gay has averaged 16.3 points a game while shooting .371 from the floor.
Overall, Cousins absolutely deserved the honors to be last week’s Western Conference Player of the Week. With the dominance that he displayed on both ends of the court, plus making his teammates more efficient have resulted in the Kings winning three straight. Possibly rejuvenating their nightmarish start to the season.
For the Kings’ sake, hopefully Cousins continues to display his dominance throughout the league. In order for the Kings to achieve their goal of making the postseason in the Spring of 2016, I believe that it is going to take Cousins having a monster year in order to accomplish it.
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The Kings next five games will be on the road, and the next one being against an competitive Atlanta Hawks team. For the Kings to remain in their winning ways, it’s going to take another monster week for Cousins to perform.