G League Rio Grande Valley Vipers

Rockets Assign Cousin, Recall Thabeet

Published on April 11, 2011 under NBA G League (G League)
Rio Grande Valley Vipers News Release


MCALLEN, TEXAS - The defending NBA Development League champion Rio Grande Valley Vipers announced Monday that their parent club, the Houston Rockets, has assigned center Marcus Cousin (6-11, 255, Houston) to the Vipers and recalled center Hasheem Thabeet (7-3, 263, UConn).

Cousin [COO-zon] earns his second GATORADE Call-Up of the season from the Austin Toros, signing a non-guaranteed deal with the Rockets.

In 46 games (45 starts) with the Toros, Cousin averaged 14.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. A Western Conference All-Star, Cousin was tied for sixth in the league with 19 double-doubles. Cousin's first GATORADE Call-Up came when he signed a 10-day contract with the Utah Jazz on March 9. In four games, Cousin scored four points with three rebounds and one block in 18 minutes. He hit 2-of-3 shots.

Cousin appeared in five games with the San Antonio Spurs in the 2010 NBA preseason, averaging 5.2 points and 4.2 rebounds in 15.8 minutes. He played in seven games for Mersin Buyuksehir Belediyesi in Turkey and 16 games for Altshuler Saham Galil Gilboa in Israel last season, combining to averaged 3.5 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.

After transferring from Seton Hall, Cousin played two seasons at Houston. He averaged 10.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks as a senior during the 2008-09 season.

Thabeet played in seven games (six starts) for the Vipers, including the playoffs, averaging 9.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.4 blocks. He recorded two double-doubles.

In 47 games off the bench in the NBA this season, Thabeet is averaging 1.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and 7.9 minutes. Since joining the Rockets in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies on February 24, Thabeet has played four minutes of two games, blocking one shot and missing his only field goal attempt while recording three fouls.

Thabeet becomes the 13th active Vipers-alum in the NBA, joining Mike Harris (Rockets), Jeff Adrien (Golden State Warriors), Mustafa Shakur (Washington Wizards), Ish Smith (Grizzlies), Garrett Temple (Charlotte Bobcats), Patrick Patterson (Rockets), Jermaine Taylor (Sacramento Kings), Joey Dorsey (Toronto Raptors), Shannon Brown (Los Angeles Lakers), C.J. Watson (Chicago Bulls), Aaron Brooks (Phoenix Suns) and Steve Novak (Spurs).

The Vipers roster stands at 11.

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. College

9 Jon Scheyer PG 6-5 190 Duke

10 Terrel Harris SG 6-5 190 Oklahoma State

11 Jerel McNeal PG 6-3 200 Marquette

15 Patrick Sullivan C 6-9 215 S.E. Louisiana

18 Matt Janning SG 6-4 198 Northeastern

19 Kelvin Lewis SG 6-4 195 Houston

21 Richard Roby SF 6-6 210 Colorado

32 Mouhammad Faye PF 6-10 210 SMU

34 Connor Atchley PF 6-10 225 Texas

41 Arinze Onuaku C 6-9 261 Syracuse

42 Marcus Cousin* C 6-11 255 Houston

*Houston Rockets-assignee

Head Coach Chris Finch (Franklin & Marshall)

Assistant Coaches Paul Mokeski (Kansas)

Jai Steadman (Nebraska)

Johan Roijakkers (ELE College)

Ath. Trainer/Strength & Conditioning Coach Joe Resendez (UT-Pan American)

Check out the Rio Grande Valley Vipers Statistics

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