It's funny how Kings fans and Warrior fans alike get so defensive about their prospective rookies and attempt to discredit what the other team's rookie does.
From listening to the radio shows and reading this board, I'm sensing a lot of insecurity on the part of Kings fans in that they try to unfairly discredit Stephen Curry and somehow feel that Tyreke is getting slighted (when clearly he is not)
Sometimes I wonder if some Kings fans ever bother to actually watch other teams play (except for when they play the Kings of course). Whether Kings fans like it or not, Steph Curry is going to be a great player.
Will Steph Curry be rookie of the year? Nope.
Will Steph Curry be better than Tyreke? Probably not
I'd put the odds at 70-30 that Tyreke Evans turns out to be the better player of the two......but I think they are both going to be great players (albeit different types of players).
Clearly Tyreke is the better of the two at getting to the basket and finishing near the basket. Tyreke is a special player in that regard. Curry is better than people think and way better than a lot of people thought off the dribble, but he is no where near Tyreke and that's mainly due to the fact that Tyreke is a complete freak-of-nature in that department and almost un-guardable.
You only need one hand to count the number of players in the league that are better at getting to the basket than Tyreke and that is scary for opposing teams in the future considering he is a rookie, 20 years old, and still doesn't have a reliable jump shot (which means teams sag off right now).
Tyreke is also the better defender right now and will continue to be in the future in large part to his strength and great anticipation on the defensive end. Steph Curry is again a lot better defender than people thought he would be and also has great anticipation but he just doesn't have the size or strength to ever be an elite defender like Tyreke will be.
Tyreke will also continue to be the better rebounder due to his size, strength, and toughness (willingness to mix it up to grab a board)
There are two areas where Steph Curry is better than Tyreke right now and he will continue to be in the future.
One is obvious in outside shooting. While I expect Tyreke to improve and probably become a good (hopefully great) shooter with time....he will never be Steph Curry in terms of shooting touch or range. I don't think anybody would argue this.
The other area where Steph Curry is better and I believe will continue to be better in the future is PASSING. A lot of Kings fans don't want to admit this but Stephen Curry is the better passer. He has better court vision than Tyreke, he makes better passes, and most importantly he is more willing to pass the ball. If you watch several Warriors games it's pretty obvious that Stephen Curry is actually a gifted passer. Often times it's not even so much the number of assists that he gets but just some of the incredible passes he makes that only true point guards with great vision can make. I think Curry surprised everybody in that regard in that he has true point guard passing ability. Again watch the games and you will see for yourself.
Now I know people are thinking......"but Swaze Curry and Tyreke have the same assist numbers". That's only partially true and there is a lot more to it than that.
Over his last 20 Games Steph Curry is averaging:
41.2 Minutes
20.2 pts
7.3 Assists
1.6 steals
First of all so much for the notion that he plays 48 Minutes every night. While he has played 5 games of 48 minutes during that stretch of games....he has also had several games in the 30 mpg range.
You have to remember during the first few months of the season, Steph Curry was not receiving heavy or consistent minutes and more importantly Monta Ellis was the primary ball handled.
Over the last 20+ games, Curry has become the primary ball handler and sure enough his assists have risen accordingly to the 7+ during that time frame.
While it is true that Curry plays in a uptempo Don Nelson offense.....it's also equally important that during the last 20 games, 3/5 of Golden State's starting lineup has been composed of NBA D-League Players.
To average 7+ assists when the majority of the guys you are passing to are D-Leaguers is very impressive. No team has been hit harder by injuries than Golden State and I have to believe that if you gave Steph Curry legitimate NBA talent in that starting lineup he'd be averaging around 9 assists since he became the primary ball handler.
So the real numbers indicate that Curry is the better passer and like I said before if you watch a game it's pretty obvious that Curry is a much better passer than Tyreke Evans.
I actually think the biggest question with Evans is going to be his passing ability and thus ability to make teammates better. It's pretty much a given that Tyreke will develop a solid jumper.....almost all of the great ones do and he works too hard for him not to become at least a pretty good shooter.
Passing is different though. While his assist numbers will increase, the big question is how much and more importantly will it increase in key moments of the game. You can only learn passing to an extent. A lot of it is instinctual and you either have it or you don't. You're pretty much born with "court vision" and the ability to see/feel players come open ahead of time or without actually looking at them.
Lebron has always had that gift and it was talked about when he came into the league. The same goes to a slightly lesser extent with Dwayne Wade. Jordan always had it and Phil always knew he did, it just took a while to get him to trust his teammates.
The question with Tyreke is does he have better court vision in terms of passing than he is letting on? Hopefully the answer is yes and then it's just a matter of getting him to use it and trust his teammates.