Weaknesses: Cousins’ lack of maturity and mental focus is evident in his negative body language and lack of composure … He tends to lose his head, looking disinterested or frustrated if things don’t go his way. Also does not appear receptive to coaching, tuning out his coaches when they attempt to give him advice on the bench …  The big question is whether it’s merely a lack of maturity due to age or something deeper … To his credit he made it through the entire season without any suspensions or ejections. However, there were a few times (flagrant fouls) where he may have deserved to be … Free throw shooting, while showing solid form, goes through bouts of inconsistency due to lack of focus.(appears to decrease as games progress) … Occasionally forces the issue when its not there, and tries things that are out of his range … His lateral movement could be a liability when guarding more agile players that can put the ball on the floor … He lacks explosiveness, sometimes looking like he has weights on his feet, which could hurt him offensively as well as when facing up against more versatile big men in the NBA … Lack of great explosiveness also decreases his shot blocking to some extent … Tends to not hustle back on defense and disappear when his head is not in it … Weight could be an issue if he does not learn to become disciplined about diet and off court habits … Will basketball be his primary focus, or living life in the fast lane that accompanies it?

Overall: A true talent. You won’t find many guys that are as tall, strong and lengthy that have the touch, skills and footwork DeMarcus Cousins has … Cousins should be able to be an impact pro from day one potentially putting up 15 and 10 in his rookie season. As a freshman, he was easily the most dominant bigman in the country … NBA teams will love his offensive presence in the post, along with his rebounding and shot blocking abilities … If NBA coaches can find a way to help him focus, he has a chance to be an excellent pro …

Jonathan Wasserman 3/29/10

Strengths: An extremely strong player, his body is well developed and has a remarkable wingspan to boot … At this level, once he catches the ball on the block there is not much the defense can do because he is so big … He has very soft hands, helping him catch passes in traffic, as well as convert on difficult shots around the hoop … For a player his size, he has good coordination and balance … He never rushes his moves and is always under control … At times his post moves may not look pretty, but you can’t argue with the results … He has confidence in his ball handling and is not shy about pushing the ball in transition …Although his shot is a bit flat , his form is decent and he is more than capable of stepping out beyond the arc and knocking shots down …

Weaknesses: The biggest concern with him right now is the lack of explosiveness … He is very effective at the current level because he simply outmuscles opponents, but once he faces bigger defenders, his athleticism (or lack thereof) will be exposed further. His post game is predicated on brute force, but he has not really shown many reliable back-to-the-basket moves … His motor might also be an issue as he gets winded fairly quickly, but it could just be the lack of conditioning … He has stretches where he completely disappears, at times he doesn’t even try to make an effort to run down the floor … He does not add much in rebounding department, as he lacks desire to attack the glass…

YouTube Clip – 10/6/2008