At the start of the 2014-15 NBA season, the Kings looked like they were going to have a pretty decent team this year. They were 5-1 and appeared ready to contend for a playoff spot.
That's not the case anymore. Sacramento is now 17-31 and has lost 10 of their last 11 games. Many of those losses haven't been competitive, either. So after losing to the Mavericks 101-78 last night, DeMarcus Cousins had some strong words for his Kings teammates. He told reporters that he needs them to play harder on a night in, night out basis.
"To come in and lay down like we did is unacceptable," he said. "Have some self respect. Act like you care. That's what it's coming down to…Just man up and play, man. Just play hard. If we play hard and we get our brains beat in, I'm fine with that. But to just come out and lay down like we did tonight is unacceptable."
To Cousins' credit, he was very calm and collected during his post-game interview, which made his words even stronger than they already were. So we'd expect Sacramento to come out and play with a lot more energy when they take on the Jazz on Saturday night.
[via Sportress of Blogitude]
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