Sacramento C and Team USA Select team member DeMarcus Cousins, per his norm, didn't hold back today as he addressed the recent critical comments of Team USA chairman Jerry Colangelo, who had said Cousins needed to mature and wasn't helping his cause in the national program. Cousins just told reporters that he pursued Colangelo this afternoon to discuss his comments. It was, according to Cousins, the first time they had ever conversed.
COUSINS
"I actually just had a conversation with him...I asked him, 'How was I being immature?' He never really gave me an answer. He said it was just his opinion, and I told him that I'm just trying to come out and play hard. I'm not trying to get into any of that. I have respect for every veteran in here, and at the end of the day I'm really just trying to play hard.
"We all know the odds are against (the Select team) in this camp. Everybody knows that to even have a chance we've got to play even harder than we normally do. And I told that I'm just out here trying to play hard.
On their conversation...
"I've never spoken to him. I just went out of my way to ask. I wanted to know. I kind of took offense to it, because I really came in here trying to play hard. For him to say that, it kind of puts a step back in how I'm trying to grow...I know it's my reptuation, so I come in with the odds against me.
On the first day of camp that was so physical with the National team in a scrimmage...
"The first day, none of us expected it to be like that. All of us were a little messed up in the head. But each day, all of us have gotten better, so you kind of get used to it, you kind of accept it and you kind of find a way around it and that's what all of us has done.
On whether it diminishes his desire to be a part of the program...
"I'm not going to say (it's diminished his desire to be a part of the Team USA program). I'm going to say it's not what I expected, but at the end of the day I'm learning and I'm having fun. I'm bonding with my teammates. I'm bonding with the veterans here. It's a fun experience.
On whether he wishes Colangelo would have shared his opinion privately as opposed to publicly...
"It definitely bothered me, because I know I came in here and I'm busting my a** just to give my team a chance to even compete with these guys. So for him to go out and say that, I mean it was kind of messed up. Like I said, he has a right to his opinion.
"(Colangelo) came back later on saying how I improved so much and I played well and all this and that. I honestly don't know where I stand, but I'm going to try to end the camp on a strong note and I'm going to continue to compete and play hard."
