There are 2 aspects of Tyreke's game that we should focus on - playmaking and scoring. Let me first talk about playmaking. By playmaking, I'm referring to running a proper offense that in one way or another creates high% shots for other guys. Now, I think it should first be noted that Tyreke is not a natural playmaker, and I don't think anyone has ever claimed that he is. What supporters of Tyreke at PG have said is that ultimately he should be able to run an offense at an average level, and his ability to score should allow him to create high% shots for other guys because of the attention that he commands, and these two things together with Cousins and a good supporting cast should be able to get us deep into the playoffs. Having said that, it should also be noted that playmaking isn't something you can really work on in the offseason, and Tyreke has essentially only been receiving proper instruction on this end after Smart took over. With that in mind, I feel that Tyreke has progressed at an acceptable level since Smart took over in terms of his playmaking and running the offense. It's far from a finished product, but in less than half a season it's an acceptable level of progress.
The real concern I think, is his ability to score. It is no secret that teams dare Tyreke to beat them from the outside. It is also no secret that to this point Tyreke has yet to face that challenge successfully. His outside shooting I feel, is the real area where he simply hasn't progressed. The funny thing is, I don't think lack of effort is the reason behind it. Most of us watched Tyreke's first few games this season and last - last season's summer league and this season against the Lakers - and thought (at least I did) "Oooo watch out league, Tyreke's got a jumpshot". The problem is that improved form and balance somehow has not carried on in throughout both this season and last season. I don't know whether it's because of conditioning or habit, but Tyreke reverts to fading away after the first few games in the season. Some people find that his form is a lot better now when he's spot shooting, but I look at the results, and the results show that Tyreke Evans still cannot shoot from the perimeter to save his life.
As a result, teams can just pack the paint and limit Evans' effectiveness. If he had that jumpshot down, we would be winning a lot more games, not because of any improvement in playmaking but by the sheer fact that he would be very difficult for teams to guard. Which would result in the Kobe syndrome - teams can either choose to let Tyreke get his points and ensure the rest of the team doesn't get involved, or give him a lot of attention, which will result in easy shots and little defensive pressure for the rest of the team. Either way, we would be better off. Without the jumpshot on the other hand, Tyreke cannot get his points without taking a lot of shots, and he also can't set guys up as much because he isn't drawing a lot of double teams. It doesn't help that our wings can't hit a 3 to save their life either whenever Tyreke does draw in the defense and kick the ball out. Which is why we need some REAL 3 POINT SHOOTERS!! Why can't we get a Dorell Wright, or a Daequan Cook, or a friggin Matt Bonner!! Why do we have John Salmons and a Garcia that can't shoot???
For a player to seemingly improve from a previous year, he has to add enough to his game to counter the additional pressure that defenses give him. The league knows Tyreke now, and they know how to guard him. Until he gets his jumpshot down, he's going to be a one-trick pony for us on offense(a pretty damn good one, but a one-trick pony nonetheless).
There are many other things you can talk about, like running a pick and roll, being more focused throughout the game etc. Sadly, Tyreke and Cousins don't exactly have reps as being the hardest working guys on the team, unlike your other superstars like Wade, Kobe etc. But there's no point complaining about such things - we can only hope that sooner rather than later it'll click for them. Running the pick and roll also requires the bigs to get better at executing it as well.
We can complain and compare our "stars" as much as we want with other, established stars. Sometimes though, it may simply be that Derrick Rose is a better player than Tyreke. That doesn't mean Tyreke isn't good though. Hey, Kobe is a better player than Paul Pierce, but the Celts still beat the Lakers in the finals didn't they? In fact, last year's finals would be a great example for this. Wade and LBJ are/were easily regarded as better players than Dirk, yet the Mavs won! You don't always need to have the best players, you need a few superstars and a good supporting cast and system. I think that even if Tyreke is only 80% as good as Derrick Rose or Durant, he'll still be good enough for us to go deep in the playoffs. Cousins on the other hand, has the potential to be a top 2 or 3 center in the league.
I understand that being our franchise players, DMC and Tyreke are expected to do a lot. Sometimes though, we have to take a step back and see that they already are, and it's the rest of the team that isn't doing ****.
