As the slow grind of the WWE, errrr, I mean NFL season comes to a halt, we sports fans can finally look forward to the most entertaining 6 months in all of sports: the portion of the NBA season from All-Star Break 'till the Free Agency. I don't know about you, but I've heard enough complaining about Roger Goodell, listened to enough Belichick gargling, and watched enough one handed catches by Odell Beckham to last me until 2016. Good job NFL. Playing football games is now the second most entertaining thing you do.
So, let's talk NBA All Star Rosters, and why Boogie Cousins didn't really deserve to be on it. Yes, he averages something like 24pts and 14 rbs. Yes, those are very good numbers, and no there aren't many big men in the league putting up numbers like that. First of all, it's easy to score a lot of points when you're the #1, #2, and #3 option on your team ahead of #4, which is Rudy Gaye. Second of all, it's really easy to get a lot of rebounds when you miss a lot of layups. About once a week, I'll treat myself to some Sacramento sports talk radio to see what's up with Kings fans. This month I found out there are a lot of Kings fans who believe Boogie is the most dominant big man since Shaq. I would like to remind anybody who is thinking about comparing Boogie to Shaq, that Shaq once tore down an entire basketball hoop.
I would also like to present Exhibit A for reasons why Boogie is not an All-Star, with a reminder that this is not a clip from last season, in which Boogie's attitude problems were well chronicled. This is a clip from a few days ago, after Boogie was named as the alternate on the All-Star roster.
The owner of that video generously named it "Kings forget to play defense". The real title of that video should be "Boogie sucks wind behind the 3-pt line while watching Mareese Speights walk toward the easiest 2 points he will ever score". Simply put, ALL-STARS DON'T DO SHIT LIKE THIS!!!! Tim Duncan is 50 years old and has absolutely nothing to prove and you will never see him take a play off like Boogie took that one off.
I would now like to present Exhibit B. Yeah, that would make the Kings the 3rd worst team in the Western Conference. Not that being a bad team in the West is as bad as being a bad team in the East.. the Magic, Sixers, and Knicks are on some straight JV shit.. but you shouldn't get to be an All Star if your team is garbage compared to 80% of your conference, which the Kings still are.
Boogie Cousins is not an All Star, Exhibit C, and Exhibit D. Everyone agrees that the fan voting approach is flawed because it's an annual guarantee that the Chinese fans will vote in 1 or 2 players who just aren't on that level. This year, that guy was Kobe, and the basketball gods responded by tearing Kobe's rotator cuff and ending his season. When these things happen, and they do every year, the alternates picked usually go to the fanbase who cries the loudest for their guy who got snubbed. This year, Grant Napear Nation crapped their collective pants about Boogie's 24 and 14 not making the All Star Team, so Adam Silver quickly slid Boogie in there as a non-controversial pick for an alternate. I guarantee he woke up the next day and kicked himself for forgetting that he just filled a shooting guard spot with a power forward instead of putting THIS GUY on display.
Dame Lillard is a fuckin baller, and I'd way rather see him dunking on Pau Gasol than watch Boogie try to post up and crybaby his way to a boring double-double. Lillard might not put up John Wall numbers, but he is the baby Black Mamba. Unfortunately for him, he plays the deepest position in the league and for some reason people still think Chris Paul is the PGMVP. In any case, we get to see what Boogie does in the All Star game, then snooze our way through the remainder of what the Kings would call "the season" while Sactown fans try to talk themselves into a summer 2015 breakout for Nick Stauskas.
