Cousins was ejected from Monday’s win over the Thunder.
DeMarcus Cousins didn’t expect the call to go his way once referees went to review his foul on Russell Westbrook in Monday’s win over Oklahoma City.
So when it was ruled that the New Orleans Pelicans big man would be assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected from the game, he wasn’t shocked.
For him, it was just another example of how calls seem to rarely go his way in those types of situations.
“I know I’m not (getting the benefit of the doubt), I’m DeMarcus,” Cousins said. “I expected the ejection. I knew it…. It’s crazy because they initially called the foul on him. It shows that I was only protecting the ball.”
Cousins grabbed a rebound with 5 minutes left in the third quarter and swung an elbow toward the head of Westbrook, resulting in the Thunder point guard immediately dropping to the floor.
NBA rules state that a Flagrant 2 foul should only be assessed when there is “unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent,” but Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry didn’t think Cousins intended to hurt anyone.
“First of all, there was no intent whatsoever there,” Gentry said. “To me, the referees made a decision and that’s what we’ve got to live by. I don’t have to agree with it…. I don’t think there was anything malicious about what he did at all.”
Cousins, who ended the night with 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists, said that big men are taught from a young age to use their elbows to create space and protect the ball after getting a rebound.
That’s all he was trying to do, he said.
“When you start playing the game of basketball as a big man, they tell you when you get a rebound to keep your elbows high and out to protect the ball from guards coming in to strip it,” Cousins said. “All I did was use my fundamentals and I got punished for it. We’ll see what happens from there.”
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Will Guillory can be reached at wguillory@nola.com or 504.258.5344. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WillGuillory. You can subscribe to our Pelicans Youtube channel here.
