It’s hard to consistently battle the behemoths in the middle during an NBA game. Multiply that by the 82-game schedule and post players can get a little ornery when calls aren’t going their way. Sacramento’s 6’11, 270-pound center DeMarcus Cousins is such a player, and his gesticulations to officials led him to tie (with KD and Blake) the league lead with 16 technicals last season.
He set about working on a turnaround this season, and things started well. He even prevented his first coach this year (he’s had three, remember) from picking up a T early in the year after he had fouled out.
But his preseason goal to stay under five technicals this year has predictably failed. He has 11 at the time of this writing. That’s not the most in the league (the league-high is 14, shared by Markieff Morris and Russell Westbrook), but his behavior on the court led one Twitter user to call him out for complaining to the refs.
This happens all the time, as we’re sure most NBA players — and every All-Star, like DMC — has a timeline littered with haters bitching about something they did on the court.
But Boogie, much to the delight of the Twitterati, responded by asking him if he could abuse the fan for 48 minutes:
@EDHCal let me abuse u for 48 min and let's see how u handle it
— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) March 25, 2015
Our Old Man bitches about player’s bitching to the refs all the time. He’s a Spurs fan, like most men who grew up watching basketball in the 60s, 70s and 80s, but he doesn’t understand why the Spurs always argue a call, even when it’s clear they committed an infraction. His rationale is that no player has ever gotten a call overturned, so why do players continue to complain? It’s a fair point, even with reviewable plays within the last two minutes of closely contested games.
Cousins’ tweet helps explain his own quick-to-argue disposition. Men his size always get banged in the post, and his physical play leads to more of this than most players in an increasingly perimeter-oriented league. Shaq used to drag one or two guys on his back for layups and dunks, and the abuse he saw inside the restricted area often went uncalled. Refs are people too, and a player’s size and strength will often mitigate what might be a foul if the same infraction occurred against a smaller player.
Cousins’ constant complaints are a byproduct of his physical play, though. He should be aware of this discrepancy and seek to stem the tide of verbal abuse he can sometimes fling in a refs direction when he feels he’s getting unfairly treated.
Boogie’s getting better, but his response to the Twitter troll shows that he gets worn down by what he deems as mistreatment — whether it’s from the officials or opposing players.
We’re guessing the Twitter user, and anyone in their right mind, would do just about anything to avoid 48 minutes of Boogie abuse, though.
