What if Cousins Had Been Ejected?

          Talk about upset.  In case you missed today's show, the ongoing theme was outrage over the blatant elbow Demarcus Cousins landed on the jaw of Jared Swopshire.  As mush as my co host Carlos tried to defend Cousins I'm pretty sure even he knew that forearm had malicious intent behind it.  Even CBS analyst Seth Davis tweeted after the exchange: "Cousins will be thrown out of the game for that. You watch."

         But as it turns out, Cousins wasn't tossed and went on to have a monster game.  As in an 18 points and 18 rebounds monster game.  He definitely was a key in an ugly game which saw 51 fouls called and five techincals.  Two of those technicals came withing the first 45 seconds of play.

         But the Cousins' play stands out due to the apparent intent to cause harm and also the referees prolonged deliberation at the replay monitors afterwards.  I thnk everyone at home who saw the play was certain Cousins was gone (those in attendance weren't privied to the replay).  But there he was, still on the court late in the second half putting the finishing touches on the game with a breakaway dunk.

         

        So what would've happened had he been ejected and you take away his numbers?
         I'd hate to it, but I don't think the outcome would've been much different.  Louisville didn't seem to have an answer for any of the Kentucky big men.  Sophomore Samardo Samuels struggled with Cousins and fellow freshman Daniel Orton equally. Both muscled, out-positioned and outplayed Samuels througout the game. 
         Samuels finished the game with nine points and nine boards, but he was also had four turnovers and countless point blank misses at the rim. 

        Coming into the game most UofL fans were concerned about John Wall having a big night.  But in the end UK exploited (among many other things) one of Louisville's more prominent weaknesses.  A lack of a legit low post scorer. 

         If Rick Pitino wants his team to compete with the other Big East teams and future UK teams, he'd better find a true post player who can free up Samuels and let him move to a more natural four position.  The UK game emphatically showed that neither Samuels or Jennings is polished enough to contend with big time competition yet.