The Golden State Warriors will need DeMarcus Cousins on the court
By Tony Pesta
A major key to winning the 2018-19 NBA championship will be for the Golden State Warriors to keep DeMarcus Cousins on the court.
It’s almost time for the 2018-19 NBA Playoffs to begin. The Golden State Warriors have successfully secured homecourt advantage throughout the Western Conference. But, keeping DeMarcus Cousins on the court will be the key to winning a championship this year.
The five-time NBA All-Star has never played in the postseason before. Despite being in the league for eight years, Cousins has never managed to bring his team to the playoffs. This means it will be interesting to see how he performs in his first experience with the postseason.
The pressure will be even higher for Cousins as he is going to be playing on a championship contending team. Not many players go from out of the playoffs to title contention in a year’s span. Not to mention he is nursing a torn Achilles tendon.
His previous injury will be looming over the Warriors throughout the entire playoffs. Cousins is a key part of this team and losing him to injury would derail their chances at winning the title. His health is going to be very important.
Health problems aren’t the only thing that Golden State will have to worry about. Cousins is also prone to finding himself in foul trouble. He has been in the top five for total fouls multiple times in his career and is currently averaging 3.7 fouls per game.
Cousins has been fouling frequently because he has clearly lost some lateral quickness due to his injury. This is putting him in bad positions defensively and forcing him to foul. In the playoffs, it will be a nightmare for him to attempt to defend the pick and roll with his loss of speed.
There are many factors that could take Cousins out of the game. It will be the team’s responsibility to ensure they can keep him out on the court as long as possible.