Somehow, Mason Plumlee has entered the conversation of making Team USA over Demarcus Cousins. A growing majority is confused by the logic. Cousins is a 20 and 10 guy while Plumlee doesn't even start for his own team.
Working against Cousins is that Plumlee was a former Duke player and Coach K is the current coach. Bryan Colangelo who is in charge of current player personnel has been known to pick guys with squeaky clean reputations. Cousins has been clinically diagnosed as bipolar, and fairly or unfairly has earned the reputation as a malcontent and not giving a consistent effort, although he has improved upon this as he has seasoned as a player. He is among the leaders in technical fouls and has a few beefs going well on with players like Chris Paul.
Cousins is a better offensive talent than Plumlee. He is better at creating his own shot in the post, drawing double teams, hitting open jumpers, and a superior rebounder.
Plumlee supporters may have a case even with all of Cousins advantages. Plumlee knows his limitations so he is more likely to concede opportunities to superior teammates than Cousins. This could mean that Plumlee will not take statistically unfavorable mid range jumpers or try to make crazy passes that could lead to turnovers. Perhaps Plumlee supporters see him as more likely to give a consistent effort by playing without the ball in his hands or with limited playing time. Maybe Plumlee has been doing a better job of playing defense without the ball. Plumlee isn't a slouch defensively; he has even had game saving blocks against LeBron James.
Whichever Team USA chooses, they could open themselves up for criticism if they end up losing to Spain. Personally, I would go with Cousins whose deficiencies can be coached up although I'm not there behind the scenes.
No comments:
Post a Comment