John Clay's Sidelines

(AP photo)

The Boogie Train is picking up speed.

DeMarcus Cousins scored 28 points and grabbed 19 rebounds to lead Sacramento back from an 18-point second-quarter deficit to beat host New Orleans 100-92.

Cousins scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the second half alone as the Kings picked up their season-best third straight win. Cousins also had three blocked shots and an assist.

The former UK center picked up a technical foul in the second quarter, but kept on trucking.

“It’s happened to me before,” he said. “I complained, it didn’t help, and I basically ignored it and kept playing.”

“What was good during that time was he didn’t explode,” said Kings’ coach Keith Smart. “That’s growth.”

Cousins had 21 points and 20 rebounds in the Kings’ 114-106 win over Golden State on Saturday. For the month of February, he’s averaging 19 points and 15 rebounds. The Kings are now now 9-15.

It’s a far cry from earlier in the season when former Sacramento coach Paul Westphal instructed Cousins to stay home after the center allegedly asked to be traded. Westphal got the pink slip, Smart was named coach and things have improved for the second-year center. And his team.

Related links:

• Video: DeMarcus Cousins talks about coming back to Rupp
• DeMarcus Cousins does it again as Kings win
• Video: DeMarcus Cousins receives interesting voice mail

(H-L photo/Joseph Rey Au)

Big Blue Links for Monday:

• Kentucky women hit 14 three-pointers, reports Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader.
• Women get back to “Kentucky basketball” writes Guy Ramsey of Cat Scratches.
• Herald-Leader photo gallery from the UK win Sunday at Memorial Coliseum.
• Bennett trims his list, reports Zagsblog.
• Tony Parker information page, by Next Cats.
• Poythress wanted to put on a show, reports Mike Marsee of the Advocate-Messenger.
• Marquis Teague is managing great expectations, reports Eric Lindsey of CoachCal.com.
• Is Terrence Jones back? asks Glenn Logan of A Sea of Blue.
• DeMarcus Cousins scores 16 points and grabs 10 rebounds, reports the Sacramento Bee.
• Wizards get a taste of what might have been had they taken Ricky Rubio instead of John Wall, reports Michael Lee of the Washington Post.

ESPN columnist J.A. Adande says that former UK center DeMarcus Cousins needs to grow up on another NBA team.

An excerpt:

The Kings have learned the hard way that there’s a reason a player as talented as Cousins was still available to them with the No. 5 pick in the 2010 draft, and they’ve also learned that those reasons have a way of showing up.

And it usually means that when the players grow up, they will do so elsewhere, not with the team that drafted them. It’s why Michael Beasley dropped behind Derrick Rose in the 2008 draft even though Beasley was taller and the college player of the year, and then wound up in Minnesota two years later. It’s why the Clippers once got Lamar Odom at No. 4 in 1999, even though he wound up standing taller than Elton Brand, Steve Francis and Baron Davis a decade later.

When a player’s immaturity and/or irresponsibility is so deeply ingrained, it’s not something that gets resolved during the span of a rookie contract. The Kings have come to that conclusion only a week into Cousins’ second season. Better to realize it now than after it’s too late.

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(Sacramento Bee photo)

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The Sacramento Kings left have disciplined former UK center DeMarcus Cousins at home rather than take him on a road trip, saying that the second-year player has twice demanded to be traded.

Excerpt from the Sacramento Bee report:

Kings coach Paul Westphal said he told DeMarcus Cousins to stay home from tonight’s game after Cousins asked to be traded last night for the second time this season.

Cousins was among several Kings players who were visibly frustrated with the Kings’ recent three-game skid when addressing reporters following the 114-92 loss to the New York Knicks last night.

Westphal said Cousins later told Westphal he wanted to be traded. The Kings’ second-year center had already asked for a trade earlier this season, Westphal said.

Cousins’ agent, John Greig, told The Bee earlier today that it is “absolutely not true that DeMarcus or I demanded a trade. We need to find out what the position of the organization is. Nobody has talked to me and I would look forward to talking to the Maloofs.”

The Kings are playing at the New Orleans Hornets tonight.

After a loss to the Knicks, the Bee reported that “Respected veteran Chuck Hayes sat with his head in his hands, visibly disturbed by a lack of cohesiveness.”

Cousins was left back at Sacramento after a game last February because of a locker room incident.

Enes Kanter’s NBA debut consisted of snatching 11 rebounds in 21 minutes during the Utah Jazz’s 96-71 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center.

Kanter, who had not played in a real game in the United States since a high school game in 2010, made just one of seven shots from the floor. He did make three of four free throws and blocked a shot. He finished with five points.

Kanter was far from the only Jazz player to have a hard time finding the basket. Al Jefferson went two-for-16. C.J. Miles was 1-for-8. That added up to the Jazz’s second biggest opening game loss, in terms of margin, in franchise history.

Elsewhere, Rajon Rondo had 22 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds in Boston’s loss at Miami. DeMarcus Cousins scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but hit just seven of 18 shots, in Sacramento’s loss at Portland. Chuck Hayes also had 11 rebounds, but just four points, for the Kings. (Tyreke Evans had just four points and five turnovers.)

In a video on the official New York Knicks, rookie center Josh Harrellson explains where he got his twitter handle @BigJorts55. Not only does the former Kentucky center appear to be a sure-thing to make the Knicks roster, he may end up picking up quite a bit of playing time for a second-round pick.

Click here for the video.

Related links:

• What is Josh Harrellson, other than player Knicks weren’t counting on?
• New York Post: Meet your Knicks rookies
• Amare says Knicks to be in hunt for Heat

ESPN’s Ric Bucher reports that his sources say that the NBA age limit isn’t likely to change in the near future.

The current rule states that a player cannot enter the draft until he is 19, or out of high school for at least one year. The agreement reached over the weekend between the NBA and the players ending the lockout did not address the age limit issue. Instead, it has been placed with other “B-list” issues to be decided at a later date. A committee is expected to be formed to study the issue.

An excerpt:

While it has been widely held that the NBA would like to push the age limit to 20, sources familiar with the dialogue between the two sides now say it is expected to remain at 19 for at least the first two years of the new deal and possibly beyond that.

Continue reading ‘Sources say NBA age rule not expected to change’

LeBron James just tweeted: “Had a great time in Lexington! Thanks for the hospitality Big Blue Nation.”

And sent out this picture:

Click on the pic to see it full-size.

James played a little pick-up basketball with current and former Cats on Tuesday night.

Just because the NBA is in full-lockout mode, doesn’t mean there won’t be NBA 2K12.

Here’s the trailer.

Shaquille O’Neal is full of it.

In his new book, the erstwhile Shaq claims that President Obama ruined Rajon Rondo’s confidence by making a joke at the expense of the former Kentucky guard when Rondo was with the president at a fund-raiser.

Excerpt:

“In early March some of the guys went to the museum of Fine Arts for a fund-raiser and got to hang with President Barack Obama. Everyone was a little bit in awe. The President turns to Ray, points at Rondo, and says, “Hey, Ray, why don’t you teach this kid how to shoot?” Everyone starts laughing.

KG told me he saw the look on Rondo’s face and the kid was devastated, embarrassed. Dissed by the President, even though I’m sure Obama didn’t mean any harm. Rondo smiled and went along with all of it, but KG told me he could see it in his eyes. It bothered Rondo. It killed him.

The next day Rondo shot the ball horribly. He stopped taking shots after that. He’s so sensitive. I think it was a real jolt to hear the outside perception of a basketball fan who happens to be the President of the United States. It messed with his mind. I’m sure of it.”

The next day Rondo shot the ball horribly? Please. Rajon Rondo is a great basketball player. He is one of the best guards in the NBA. He is artistic, can create shots for his teammates. But Rondo is not a good shooter. Never has been. He’s a career 24.2 percent shooter from three-point range, and shot 23.3 percent last year.  I don’t think the president had much to do with that.

I’m starting to think maybe Kobe was right.