A Royal Pain
Fansided

Take Your Best Shot: DeMarcus Cousins

By Tyler Watts

Mar 25, 2016; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) is fouled while shooting against the Phoenix Suns during the first quarter at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 25, 2016; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) is fouled while shooting against the Phoenix Suns during the first quarter at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

This article takes a look at the shot selection of DeMarcus Cousins to examine his most efficient shot to beat NBA defenders.  This is the final installment in our Take Your Best Shot series.

DeMarcus Cousins is the face of the Sacramento Kings franchise.  The 2-time All-Star and 2-time All-NBA player is a dominant offensive player.  His summer exploits this offseason included becoming a member of Team USA and winning a gold medal in Rio at the Olympic Games.  Below is a short highlight video of Cousins from last season, so you can reminisce about his game.

Let us now take a dive into his shooting to see if we can determine his best shot.

Cousins’ Best Shot

DeMarcus Cousins evolved his game last season.  For the first time in his career, Mister Cousins took 15.8% of his shot attempts from behind the 3 point line.  Before last season, that number was never greater than 2.1% for an entire season.   Cousins connected on an effective for a big man 33.3% of his 3’s last season.  It will be interesting to see moving forward if Cousins continues to shoot 3 pointers and if he can start hitting them at a higher percentage.  If he can reach 35% from 3 point land as a big man, Cousins could be a next to unstoppable offensive force.

More from A Royal Pain

When they say, “DeMarcus Cousins is a beast in the paint” they mean it.  Cousins has shot 37.4% of his shot from 0-2 feet from the basket for his career and connected on a massive 62.5% of those attempts.  That seems to be by far Cousins best shot for his career, but an interesting fact appeared last season.

Last season, Cousins shot less from in close and connected on a lower percentage.  He attempted 36.0% of his shots 0-2 feet from the basket last season and only connected on 59.5% of those attempts.  All stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.  59.5% from that distance is hovering around league average, but it will be interesting to monitor this going forward.  It would be reasonable to think that if he started shooting 3’s it would open up his inside game even more, but last season the exact opposite effect happened.  Will it become a trend this year or just a one-year outlier?  That is something I will be looking at closely this season.

Summary

Sacramento Kings star and Olympic Gold Medalist DeMarcus Cousins is a fantastic offensive player.  He added the 3 point shot to his arsenal last season.  His most effective and efficient shot comes 0-2 feet from the basket, though.   Cousins dominates the paint and excites not only Kings fans but all NBA fans with his offensive game.

I would love to see Cousins boost his 3 point percentage slightly this season to 35% and make himself just that much better on offense.  The big man can really give defenses headaches and fire up Kings’ nation with his offensive prowess.  Here is to you Mister Cousins, take the ball and dominate.

Home/Kings News