New Jersey Public Basketball Court

Retrospective, Tyreke Evans

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--- When I realized a series of articles on the NCAA freshmen in the season 2008/09 and the draft that followed, Tyreke Evans was one of the most interesting cases to study. Barely out of a short year in NCAA, I found myself facing a very talented player possessing qualities scoring in penetration that made it one of the best slashers in the NBA before they even put a shoe on the floors of the professional league, but whose profile background hybrid, not to say bastard, made it difficult to use effectively in a team environment.

--- A year later, Evans can contemplate the award of Rookie of the Year from the sofa and listen to people repeating loop that He has just completed his first NBA season with those figures strongly reminiscent of Lebron James on his arrival in the big league (20.1 pts, 5.3 rebs, 5.8 ASTS for Evans and 20.9 pts, 5, 5 rebs, 5.9 ASTS for Rookie James). The King of Sacramento was even allowed to show a better success rate for shoots that former King of Cleveland (45.8% against 41.7%).

--- What has gone? The young band he suddenly lost the problems that he knew by putting his bags on the tarmac in California?

--- A little background is necessary. That what could be told as he left his NCAA single season and after having declared candidate for the NBA Draft :

" was quickly forgotten when his slow start, relocated leader in late December (he served until 2), Memphis has not lost a match until March Madness (defeat against Missouri and his passing game dream). Its percentage then resumed catastrophic colors. Much more comfortable ball in hand, as his phenomenal dribbling allows him to make as many inroads into the racket he wants, then pass the baton to his physical NBA end to end action near the circle. It is this ability to come in the paint to score his enormous talent resides. With a great instinct for scoring, a body control foolproof, a very good size and hands operational at will, Evans is already part of the very closed circle of players able to dig a path to the basket like butter.

But you can imagine, if the name of the attack machine Memphis is not suspended from all lips, is that there are a few lines on his CV that appear in red. Defects arising directly from its qualities and talent, Tyreke Evans has a tendency to dribble any longer than is good for the game and forcing its attacks (that's when you're young and talented, sometimes you tend to ignore its limitations. Do not look with that look askance, I saw you fill your plate like a madman during a buffet and not p have to finish it then).

Also, Evans is not exactly a playmaker. His incredible ability to create their own opportunities and charisma allows him to create for others and he serves s without complaining but his tendency to "over-dribble" mired just the team he led . Then it does not necessarily exercise discretion in its choice, which, combined with his tendency to hold the ball long, make a player willing to lose a lot of balls (like Tom Thumb hysterical). "

--- The problem of Tyreke Evans was not his talent or his attitude or his physique (which at 1.96 m, safe and sufficient speed allows him to cash the item 1 as the position 2 with equal success), nor even his young age (his phenomenal ability to score penetration was already a player ready to contribute immediately in the NBA) but his game sitting between two chairs that do not really suitable for the post leadership or the second back.

--- I who in my mock draft had pushed beyond the eighth place while saying it was an insult to his talent, I had explained this issue at precisely the eighth draft choice, the New York Knicks :

" But first, I dir e something on one of these exceptional leaders: I do not trust Tyreke Evans. scorer Former University of Memphis has an amazing talent that impresses everyone. Besides, I love his potential. But I do not want in my team as than it will materialize.

It is gold and already one of the best in the league pierce the defenses and convert into points incursions, and it would not surprise me to see him surpass 15 points per game from his rookie year and never go below that bar until the close of his career. But now, it will bring nothing good to a team, except perhaps those who base their game on the one-cons-one. His propensity to hog the ball for long minutes, his lack of enthusiasm to play his teammates and his inability to be successful without being the sole owner of the swells are that his presence on the ground short-circuits the whole game its team if he is indeed the sole custodian or makes it completely unproductive if it is not. "

--- Let . Scorer in the soul This was first tried to position 2 by his coach at the university, John Calipari, and the experiment was quickly cut short . Bad shooter, free game without the ball and also lost when it does not inflate a member of the Ingalls family in an episode of The Simpsons, Evans become useless when a player is kept away from the orange ball.

--- As leader and first with the ball, the one we nicknamed T-Rex or the "wire-cutting butter" had become the implacable scorer waited, as if his talent had again invaded his veins . But it was the group who had paid the price. Ball in hand, Evans was an offensive threat inextinguishable insurance to take at least a dozen points in the waltzing, but his tendency to get his own chance before trying to play his teammates, his playmaking weak science and propensity to keep the ball too long cut off the legs of the group and its partners.

--- Tyreke Evans was the assurance of having the scoring each night with a very average percentage correct when he says the fate of the ball but a collective reduced to its simplest expression, and a player almost anonymous if you do not let him have his paws on the leather the most part. M'VOYAIS the problem? It's embarrassing to the leader but also annoying to make him a leader by nature who needs the ball. Its ability to produce has never been questioned but its impact on the performance of his team, though. That's why I turn my tongue a dozen times in my mouth before the draft.

--- Subsequently, after the draft and selecting Evans by Sacramento I doubted the ability of the rookie to be the leader that the Kings needed despite the interesting combo slasher / shooter that constituted the pair Evans / Kevin Martin. This fear proved to be rather unfounded since Kevin Martin was transferred in mid-season against one (excellent) sixth man, Carl Landry due to incompatibility with the rookie. Indeed, with two backs on the field (items 1 and 2), the game could not of California to develop, thus killing the same time the idea of combining these two players. Younger, more efficient and less fragile, Tyreke Evans has been preferred to Kevin Martin to carry the fate of the franchise. This team was not big enough for two shooting guard of that caliber and it was the former Taulier who had to leave his place to the young coup.

--- But if Sacto had got so far is that Evans had already amply demonstrated what metal it was made. Which brings us back to my original question: why is it that a player drafted in fourth place, saw a Further down in the days preceding the draft and whose profile in the dilemma was a headache for all coaches, he could release a season of that ilk and cause the departure of franchise player?

--- In fact, at that time, Paul Westphal, the coach of Sacramento, had already solved the puzzle "Tyreke Evans, the player who could not be deprived of the ball and could not be a leader. The new guru purple Cali has indeed put his hand on how to use the qualities of his rookie superstar without having to undergo its faults too. Evans has been positioned at station 2 and it was found that a good portion of the attacks of Kings, he was given the ball early in possession with the instruction (explicit or implied) to do what he can do the best: their way to the circle to score (and this little game, there are not many who are stronger than him). On the other possessions when the rookie did not find attractive enough gap in the opposing defense, the ball was delivered into the hands of a true point guard, Beno Udrih here. Thus, Sacto alternated between bouts of Evans and a classic offensive game involving other players.

--- Relieved of responsibility usually hung on the shoulders of a playmaker, the spirit freed from the need to run the team, Evans was able to focus on what he can do, attack the circle. As you ask a shooter to shoot, we asked the rookie to score, period. Permissions in good and due form signed by the prominent coach in the palm of his hand, the former Memphis freshman got drunk penetrations which he alone has the secret and what are the opposing defenses who woke up with a hangover (20.1 pts / game).

--- Note that this strategy is its relevance to the effectiveness of the game penetration Tyreke Evans and the fact that he's not shy to use his teammate when his drive them open a good position. It is difficult to imagine entrusting half possessions to train a player still in the game too cocky as Nate Robinson and JR Smith for example. No. 13 of Sacto uses him quite well from his half-white card, scoring whenever he can and grateful when he can not. As his drive and his ability to dig a hole in the defenses are a level that the opponents are always rushed in one way or another, each of his attempts at a good percentage end up a basket or an assist (5.8 per game stockton).

--- The Kings so lucky to have a smart coach. But they have also been fortunate to have been a leader in the workforce whose profile is compatible with the game "slashing, ball Often In The Hands and No shoot" the No. 4 draft pick in 2009. Beno Udrih full effect rather well the game of his teammate, first filling the gaps his partner with his point guard skills of a correct size and ability to shoot, allowing the latter to prevent the opposing defense does folds on itself and makes it much harder for Evans his penetration game. Most importantly, Udrih is a leader who does not need to have the ball continuously with his fingers and who can let it do its taf in the hands of Evans on a good portion of the possessions and timer without experiencing bad moods. Better yet, Slovenian, its ride quality and remote address offer excellent base puncture Evans when it is clear the ball.

--- With these two, Sacramento has found a nice balance on their back line. Tyreke Evans pulled out a season All-Star in his rookie year, Beno Udrih recorded the best year of his career (12.9 pts 49.3% with excellent success, with 37.7% at 3 and 4 pts, 7 assists) and openness of the capital of California is even starting to become unattractive. Things are pinned for everyone, especially for Evans, I want to say. For indeed, it is now officially seen as an elite scorer capable of produce the highest level, it is anchored in this league as such and that his talent can not be doubted, it will never be for him to adapt to a workforce in place, but the leaders to adjust workforce according to their profile. But with a game as lopsided as his, I'm not sure he would have been the same if he had not fallen into a team comprising a leader like Beno Udrih and coach who has combined these two players . I think it would most likely follow in the footsteps of Randy Foye, Jamal Crawford or of a Jerryd Bayless rather than Brandon Roy or "not evil" Monta Ellis as is currently the case. The Right Place At The Right time some would say.

--- end on a small note about the future of our rookie of the year. His conversion to the position of shooting guard is expected soon to be final since it seems to show serious progress on his shot (note the evolution of the mechanics of shooting: before / currently ). It will take a bit before seeing the dividends of that growth spread over a floor but when this new string to his bow is fully operational, it will make the job much more difficult for his defense live considerably hone the effectiveness of its drive (as the defender in question may no longer be content to focus solely on this type of action) and make it a player will not even watch the ball in hand. I just hope he does not forsake his playing percussion in favor of this new faculty (more conducive to idleness as the drive) as Rasheed Wallace had turned away from his game back to the basket. But I walk away.

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