Twitter blew up for a couple of days after the following statement came out about Demarcus Cousins:
"SACRAMENTO, CALIF., Jan. 1, 2012 -- “Whenever a new season begins, in any sport, there is great hope that everything will progress in only a steady, upward direction. As we all know, it seldom happens like that in this life!
As coaches, we can only ask that our players do everything they can to improve themselves as individuals and teammates. If they do this with all their hearts, we live with the results.
Everything that happens on a team does not become known to the public. This is how it should be. However, when a player continually, aggressively, lets it be known that he is unwilling/unable to embrace traveling in the same direction as his team, it cannot be ignored indefinitely.
DeMarcus Cousins has demanded to be traded. In the best interest of our team as we go forward, he has been directed by me, with the support of management, to stay home from the New Orleans game tonight.”"
This was like blood in the water for anyone who ever had anything against the University of Kentucky, John Calipari, and Demarcus Cousins. There was so many things said about Demarcus, anything from, "he's a headcase", "I knew this would happen", to the infamous " I told you so".
To be honest, it was kinda hard to keep up with all the chest pounding sports writers (you know who you are) that were jumping all over the situation to prove themselves right.
Then came this statement today:
" SACRAMENTO, CALIF., Jan. 5, 2012 -- The Sacramento Kings today relieved Paul Westphal of his head coaching duties, according to President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie. Current Kings’ assistant coach Keith Smart will serve as head coach in tonight’s game versus the Milwaukee Bucks.
“I want to thank Paul for all of his effort on behalf of the Kings,” said Petrie. “Unfortunately, the overall performance level of the team has not approached what we felt was reasonable to expect. I wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
In two-plus seasons as head coach of the Kings, Westphal amassed a record of 51-120.
“I would like to thank the Maloof family for the incredible opportunity they gave me to participate in the attempt to bring the Sacramento Kings back to prominence,” said Westphal. “While the job is far from finished, I am proud of the strides we were able to make.
“Geoff Petrie and his staff have been nothing but honest and supportive throughout my time here. They are first class in every way and I wish them nothing but success. My hope is to see the fans of the Kings and the city of Sacramento rewarded with many years of great basketball.
“Finally, I want to thank my loyal staff and players for their efforts in attempting to climb out of the hole we shared. Nothing comes easy in the NBA and I know they will not rest in their efforts to rebuild this team.”"
It seems that Demarcus wasn't the ENTIRE problem for the Knigs. Of course, all you had to do was take a look at their record since the hiring of Westphal to understand why Westphal may have been throwing Demarcus under the bus. Maybe he was trying to save himself. Is this what I think happened? NO. Is Demarcus a headcase? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! Does he do or say things that should not be done or said? Yes. But, he is NOT what the so called sports writers try to portray him as. It was just an opportunity for them to say " see there, I told you that would happen", so they could appear to know what they are talking about.
However, since the issuing of this statement, there has been rumblings from those close to the Kings organization that it was Westphal's coaching (or lack there of) that got him canned with the Cousins situation being only a small part of the reason. Even a player on the team came out and said that it was so bad that a lot of the players didn't know the different types of offensive sets they were going to be running. Not to mention, there has been five players to ask for a trade since Paul became coach, not just Demarcus Cousins.
Did any of those "sports writers" mention any of that? I think you know the answer to that.
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