The Golden State Warriors' system appears straightforward from the outside looking in. Elite-level ball movement amongst great shooters until they find the open man. According to DeMarcus Cousins, it is not that simple.
Often, a forgotten part of the Golden State Warriors dynasty is the greatest team they ever put on the floor in 2019. Coming off back-to-back championships, the team added Cousins to a rotation that already included Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala.
Despite playing alongside so many All-Stars, Cousins still averaged over 16 points per game one year removed from an Achilles tear. They absolutely would have won their fourth NBA title in five years if it were not for Cousins, Durant, and Thompson all going down with catastrophic injuries.
On Green's podcast, The Draymond Green Show, Cousins discussed joining the team and noted that "learning the system" was as much of a hurdle for the four-time All-Star as returning from injury.
"In that offense, people think it's just so free-flowing, but it takes a lot of IQ to play in that offense, and your IQ never turns off. It is not just an athletic type of system; it is a lot of thinking in between," said Cousins.
"Learning that on the fly, learning to play off the tendencies of Steph, the tendencies of Klay, and then ultimately K(evin) at the time, it was me trying to find my way into a well-oiled machine," Cousins added.
People often forget that when something looks as effortless as the Warriors' offense did during their dominant run, it means that a lot of work, focus, and dedication went into it.
"There were a lot of difficult times when sometimes I felt out of place, or the rhythm was off trying to figure out my own personal game within the offense," said Cousins.
Give Golden State credit for how free-flowing and seamless the system appeared. If you were not in the room, one might think it was as simple as plug-and-play, but that was certainly not the case. It took a roster of talented ball players, stipulating that they must have a high basketball IQ.
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