Sacramento Kings to start Samuel Dalembert over DeMarcus Cousins
The Sacramento Kings opened the season with a decent 3-2 record in their first five games, but are still showing their willingness to improve and turned their good start to a winning season.
Kings head coach Paul Westphal announced on Thursday 4 November that Samuel Dalembert will be the team’s starting centre, taking over DeMarcus Cousins, who started in their first five games
of the season.
According to Westphal, the decision wasn’t based on Cousins’s performance, and starting Dalembert was their original plan prior to the season, but the defensive-minded centre wasn’t in full
shape earlier this season.
"I am going to change the line and hopefully it will be the last time this year, " Westphal announced after their practice on Thursday. "I think he is the right fit to start with Carl Landry,
Beno Udrih, Omri Casspi, and Tyreke Evans. "This is something that we always envisioned doing, we just haven’t been able to do it until now."
The 29-year-old Dalembert, who missed their season-opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves, is expected to provide an additional force to the defence, which was the main reason why the
Kings acquired him during the off-season in a deal that sent Spencer Hawes and Andres Nocioni to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Cousins, on the other hand, accepted his new role because he believes that it will help him develop faster, and actually appeared to be relieved after he was informed about the development.
"I thought it was a great idea," said Cousins, who is averaging 13.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, but had foul troubles in their first five games this season. "I think it will really
help the team … because I'm still learning. Coming in off the bench, I can how see how the game is, I can learn how aggressive to be and not be. I get the feel of the game a lot better."
Coach Westphal also believes that the fifth-overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft will be more assertive because of the decreased pressure on his shoulders.
"This will really help DeMarcus," Westphal said. "The way he starts the game, he's so tentative, he picks up a couple fouls. I think it will help him be more aggressive, will help our team
defence, and I think it will stabilize us a bit."
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