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Who would you rather have? DeMarcus Cousins or Enes Kanter?

Last year I though Cousins was the guy we needed from the draft, being aware of the supposed character issues he had. The numbers he put up at UK as a freshman were unbelievable. His body was huge and I thought he'd be much worth the gamble considering our team already had most of it's components in place (as of last year's draft) and wanted to dump Boozer. Aside from his FG% he put up good numbers this past year.

However, since we're essentially starting from scratch we need to do it the right way with winning mentality and nobody with character issues. I have sensitive criteria for bad character (no Kirilenko). Back when we were slated for #6 I started to like everything I heard about Kanter but then he moved up in where he was projected to go. But then so did we. At this point the only gambles we should make is on potential and certainly not character, attitude or passion.
 
PKM said:
I love Cousins, but I'd take Kanter. Watched them head-to-head and they have similar skill sets .. with Enes having better motor (by far), better athlete, better shot. They're about equal in the rebound department. Kanter has better handles too. I'm not saying Enes is a lot better (I kow it sounds like it), I'm just saying they are similar talents wih Enes having MUCH more 'want to.'
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I posted this on another thread before I saw this one:
A little while ago you posted that a Kentucky player said that he was comparing playing against Kanter and Cousins, he said that Kanter was better and it's "not even close." Do you remember that and if so, can you please post a link to the story?
 
mdalby said:
This years draft is said to be weak but when comparing the first center selected in the last two drafts, Cousins or Kanter, I would rather have Kanter. When we can get the top center in the draft and he is comparable or better than the center is a strong player draft year, I think we made out OK.

Size: Advantage Cousins (wingspan, reach)
Athleticism: Draw (maybe a little advantage Kanter)
Rebounding: Advantage Cousins
Jump Shot: Advantage Kanter
Defense: Draw?
Attitude/Teammate: Advantage Kanter
Conditioning: Advantage Kanter
Basketball IQ: Advantage Kanter
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THe only thing that matters Production:Cousins!

Kentucky-15pts 10rb 2blks

Rookie year(NBA) 14pts 9rb 1blk

So much about Cousins attitude but i've seen sacramento games were he just refused to let them lose and he put them on his back! thats what matters and until Kanter actually plays a game vs. anyone but high schoolers this is a weak discussion

Cousins will be an All-star and one of the best big men in the NBA

Kanter were hoping will be at least a good contributer
 
rocfan1 said:
THe only thing that matters Production:Cousins!

Kentucky-15pts 10rb 2blks

Rookie year(NBA) 14pts 9rb 1blk

So much about Cousins attitude but i've seen sacramento games were he just refused to let them lose and he put them on his back! thats what matters and until Kanter actually plays a game vs. anyone but high schoolers this is a weak discussion

Cousins will be an All-star and one of the best big men in the NBA

Kanter were hoping will be at least a good contributer
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This is a pretty ridiculous question considering Cousins has already played one year in the NBA. Certainly had a solid year, but not good enough you think he is going to be an all-star year after year. Kanter has not played in college or the NBA yet, but if you want to talk production he has dominated in all the tournaments he has played in. Also Kanter has much more competition for playing time in Utah especially if Okur is healthy than Cousins had with Sacramento.
 
Lets talk production i've won every streetball tournament that i've been in!lol point being that Kanter's competition is not close to what Cousins has faced period.

and yes Kanter will have alot of competition for playing time so I hope he'll show that hes worthy of minutes.
Cousins has some competition for playing time also with Dalembert,Thompson and Whiteside.
 
The Thriller said:
Cousins has the potential to be a top center in the NBA.

Unfortunately, Derrick Coleman had potential to be the best PF in the game too.

I wouldn't touch Cousins with a 10 foot pole. His cancerous attitude stinks
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I watched Derrick Coleman for 5 painful years in New Jersey (this is the days before NBA League Pass)

Coleman could get you 20 and 10 without breaking a sweat - I doubt Cousins will ever be able to do that.

When Cousins gets mad - he seems to lose focus. Coleman was the exact opposite. The time when you really had to worry about Derrick Coleman was when an opposing player tried to show him up or he thought a ref was picking on him. Then watch out - dunk, rebound, dunk, blocked shot, dunk, offensive rebound, dunk. He was unstoppable. Eventually, he'd calm down and then go back to three-quarters speed.

The end result will probably be the same though. Coleman was routinely the best player on the court night after night; but never won a thing because he always went up against players who wanted it more than he did.
 
No way to tell yet who I'd take. This question needs to be asked a year our two from now. That sac game late in the year was telling though, Cousins owned Favors. Of course Favors didn't see near the minutes Cousins did throughout the year and may have had some confidence problems from being traded around. I just hope next time Favors rises to the challenge. Oops, forgot this thread was about Kanter.
 
zross1 said:
No way to tell yet who I'd take. This question needs to be asked a year our two from now. That sac game late in the year was telling though, Cousins owned Favors. Of course Favors didn't see near the minutes Cousins did throughout the year and may have had some confidence problems from being traded around. I just hope next time Favors rises to the challenge. Oops, forgot this thread was about Kanter.
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If I remember that game correctly Favors didn't play a whole lot but I do remember Millsap and Cousins going at each other - Millsap would do a dribble drive move past Cousins for layup but than Cousins would come right back on the post with a nice spin move getting right by millsap. It was fun to watch those two, I'll have to watch that game again but i don't recall Favors getting owned by Cousins that much.
 
Cousins is certainly a talented player. Unfortunately, he is immature and might never reach his full potential. There is a difference between playing with a chip on your shoulder and being a complete immature douchebag. He is the latter at this stage in his career.
 
In terms of physical attributes, Cousins has the edge with his crazy wingspan and standing reach.

I didn't like the Kanter pick, but I would take Kanter over Cousins for his attitude. His head just is't right. Kanter seems to have a very good attitude.
 
A very young team is delicate.

We have like 3 guys that can't legally drink.

We're young!

The last thing we need are guys with egos, bad attitudes, work ethics, etc.

Cancer can spread.

Which is why I'm happy with the young talent we have. I hope Burks, Hayward's, Kanter's, Millsap's, work ethics can spread. I'm a little worried about his potential crappy attitude... But I'll hope for the best.

I really do believe this team has the potential to gel and win a lot together in the future.

We've just gotta stay away from resigning lazy bums (Kirilenko, Fess), trade away cancers before they become terminal (Boozer, Dwill), and be very careful in the player rotations (possible problem could be the Millsap/Favors/Kanter issue).
 
rocfan1 said:
Lets talk production i've won every streetball tournament that i've been in!lol point being that Kanter's competition is not close to what Cousins has faced period.

and yes Kanter will have alot of competition for playing time so I hope he'll show that hes worthy of minutes.
Cousins has some competition for playing time also with Dalembert,Thompson and Whiteside.
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Dalembert? Thompson? Whiteside?

are those equal to Jefferson, Favors, Millsap, Okur?
 
Hipporippo said:
I agree in principle. But, it is hard to say for certain since we had a full season of Cousins in college and now a whole NBA season. On all of the intangibles, I'd prefer Kanter. I THINK but do not KNOW that he will be better than Cousins. Regarding Cousins athleticism...this is just a matter of conditioning. If he were willing to get into the same shape as Kanter, he might be far more athletic.
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Cousins had a good year in college and a decent first year...when he played. But the guy is a head case. He had conflicts with coaches, teammates. I wouldn't go anywhere near that guy until/unless he matures. Kanter has already said all the right things. That he did everything he could to help KY basketball, kept working on his game and body and conditioning even when he couldn't play - that speaks VOLUMES!

I'm not comparing him to Blake Griifn, but look at what Griffin did in the year "off" that he had. He didn't just sit around; he worked on getting bigger and stronger because he couldn't play. Enes did the same. I can't say Enes will be a star; we don't know that. But I do think, at worst, he'll be a quality rotation player, although I'm hoping for a lot more. Jazz can potentially have the strongest 4-5 rotation in the league w/ Favors, Jefferson and Kanter. I want a CBA to get done becuase I'm excited to see everyone play. I just wish we could see a summer league team of Hayward, Burks, Favors and Kanter. That would be so much fun to watch!
 
To be fair to Cousins, he was a 20 year old rookie, one year plus removed from high school. Does his conditioning and attitude leave a lot to be desired? Sure. But adults, full-fledged adults, like Derrick Coleman and Andrei Kirilenko, just to name a few, are far more guilty, for lack of a better word, of squandering talent and ability. As adults, they chose year after year not to work hard to better their bodies and hone their craft and, barring some epiphany that alters AK's second half of his career, will leave behind a legacy of such.

Cousins is still very young and despite all his "issues," averaged 14.1 (albeit on 43% shooting which is insanely awful for a big) and 8.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks in 28.5 minutes a night.
That would be 17.8 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.2 spg and 1.0 bpg as a rookie if he played the same amount of time as Al Jefferson. Pretty darn solid. In short, I do acknowledge his flaws. I hope he does himself as well. But he's still very, very young.
 
On talent alone I'd easily take Cousins over Kanter, but ultimately I'd probably choose Kanter because Cousins' demeanor and attitude scares me too much. If I have a more veteran team I'd probably roll the dice with Cousins because he can be a true difference-maker, but with a young team still trying to mold itself and establish an identity, I think Cousins is too big a risk.
 
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