Old ESPN article on Evans..

[bajaden]

While doing a little research on Evans I stumbled across this article. I found it interesting, so I decided to post it..

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=oneil_dana&id=3934222


Some additional Info on Evans. In highschool he played both the shooting guard and the point guard positions. Thus he was considered a combo guard by most college recruiters. Coming out of highschool he was ranked as the number one recruit by Slam and Dime magazines. He was ranked number two in the country by Risemag.com and number three by Hoopscoop, ESPN.com, Scout.com, Hoopmaster.com, and sixth by Rivals.com

ESPN had him ranked as the number one shooting guard. Scouthoops.com had him ranked as the number two point guard, and Rivals.com had him ranked as the number three point guard. He was also the MVP of the McDonalds All America game in 2008.

Most of the info that I came across, and its way too much to post, is that no one had any doubt about his ability to get assists. It was his turnover rate that was the biggest concern. Also Calipari worked hard with him to make decisions quicker at the point position, along with cutting down on turnovers. Most people that have been around him in a professional manner including teammates all beleive that there's nothing he can't accomplish if he puts his mind to it.

I decided to come back and add this little excerpt from an article on Wade:


Player profile
Wade plays the shooting guard position, but is also capable of playing point guard. On offense, he has established himself as one of the quickest and most difficult players to guard in the NBA.[69] Wade is able to get to the free throw line consistently; he ranked first in free-throw attempts per 48 minutes in 2004–05 and again in the 2006–07 season. He has proven himself an unselfish player, averaging 6.7 assists per game throughout his career.[13] After winning the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in 2006, Wade developed a reputation as one of the premier clutch players in the NBA.[70] David Thorpe, an athletic trainer who runs a training center for NBA players in the offseason, also cites Wade's developing post up game as one of his strengths.[71] "Watching Wade operate on the left block is literally like watching old footage of MJ (Michael Jordan)," comments Thorpe.[71] Thorpe goes on to say that Wade's best moves from the post are his turnaround jump shot,[71] double pivot,[71] and what Thorpe terms as a "freeze fake",[72] a pump fake Wade uses to get his opponent to jump, so that he can then drive around him to the basket.[72] The main weakness cited in Wade's ability is his lack of three-point range; he has averaged .285 on three-point field goal attempts for his career.[13] He is best known for his ability to convert difficult lay-ups, even after hard mid-air collisions with larger defenders.[69] As crowd pleasing as his high-flying style of basketball may be, some have expressed concerns over the dangers of playing in this manner,[69] as Wade has already hurt his knees and wrists after mid-air collisions with larger players. Wade is also known for his defensive prowess, particularly his ability to block shots.[73][74]

I just detected a little similarity....

 

[6th]

Oh, very nice. Interesting info. Thanks, bajaden! I just keep getting more and more excited about this kid. I can't wait for the season to start. So excited that I'm ready for my 2 favorite chants.

GO KINGS!

BEAT LA!

 

[Arby's Roast Beef]

I wouldn't go that far as to call him Wade yet, but I did see some similarities out of draft day. Both have a machine like ability to get to the free throw line with their instinct, first step and athleticism, both have similar body frames, and both are stat stuffers--that's largely why Evans has such a huge upside.

But this really depends on the coaching staff. Wade's development really accelerated under Pat Riley's tutelage, and being surrounded by players who have won (such as Shaq) also kept his motivation up. Evans seems like he has a good head on his shoulders, but in order to translate any potential empty stats into winning games Westphal and Co. will need to eventually control shot selection/turnovers and not let them become bad habits. This will take time, maybe even longer than Wade's developmental curve.

 

[Gary]

Great article.. Especially the Wade part. I think Evans can turn into a Wade type player, (a "do it all" guard) but the sad thing about that is Wade is most effective playing the SG that handles the ball. Wade's effectiveness goes down quite a bit when playing PG. It worries me that Evans, and Martin might not be able to co-exist because of that.

One more thing that worries me a bit is both Evans and Martin have driving abilities. Martin is of course better at drawing fouls so will it clog the middle if both are looking at driving? I know there were issues with Carter and Jefferson in NJ although they play SG/SF respectively. But they had issues where their games didn't really mesh with each other because they were doing the same thing on the floor. We would probably be better off starting Garcia over Martin if Evans were the PG. Garcia has a mid range game that is IMO better than Martin. I wonder how they will be able to spread the floor if both guards are looking to go inside. I don't want them kicking it to our center for a 3pt shot (not that Hawes is a horrible 3pt shooter).

 

[bajaden]

I wouldn't go that far as to call him Wade yet, but I did see some similarities out of draft day. Both have a machine like ability to get to the free throw line with their instinct, first step and athleticism, both have similar body frames, and both are stat stuffers--that's largely why Evans has such a huge upside.

But this really depends on the coaching staff. Wade's development really accelerated under Pat Riley's tutelage, and being surrounded by players who have won (such as Shaq) also kept his motivation up. Evans seems like he has a good head on his shoulders, but in order to translate any potential empty stats into winning games Westphal and Co. will need to eventually control shot selection/turnovers and not let them become bad habits. This will take time, maybe even longer than Wade's developmental curve.

I agree with you, and by no means was I saying that Evans was the next Wade. My hope is that some day someone is saying that some player is the next Evans. But your right, there are too many invariables to make any kind of accurate comparison. Of course one could do the chicken and egg comparison. You know! Did Shaq make Wade a better player or did Wade make Shaq a better player. I just threw that in to get some bites..

By the way, if you go back and look at Wade's highschool career etc., its amazingly similar to Evans also. Both were considered combo guards coming out of highschool..

 

[Chupacabra]

I suppose i can see the basic similarities between Wade and Evans. They both attack the basket tenaciously. When Wade came into the NBA his jumper was very suspect, the further out he shot the more suspect much like Evans. I dont consider Wade to be a combo guard at all though. Hes the definition of a SG minus being 6'5+. Wade is much quicker and more athletic than Evans. Evans is significantly taller and longer than Wade. Wade is a top 5 player in the NBA, if Evans even comes close to that ill be quite happy.

 

[Prince_XY]

Based on Evans' talent, accomplishments, and work ethics, Evans will surely be a hell of a player like Wade. The only worry I have with Evans is the way the Kings will handle his development and the way some Rubio fans will continue to destroy him. I have a feeling that the pro-Rubio fans will perpetually doubt however way Evans proves them wrong and no matter what. He will reach his full potential when he is gone and no longer wearing the King's uniform.

It's just a feeling. I hope I can be proven wrong.

 

[One and Done]

I'll take a poor-man's D-Wade or a pre-knee injury Larry Hughes anyday. BUT I'd rather have them play the 2, as previously described by Gary.

However, this season, Tyreke will be running the point, which development-wise, should be beneficial in developing his passing/basketball IQ. Down the road, I envision the team trading Martin and pushing Tyreke to the 2, having a PG/SG setup similar to Miami and Portland where the 1 and 2 both handle the ball.

 

[6th]

Based on Evans' talent, accomplishments, and work ethics, Evans will surely be a hell of a player like Wade. The only worry I have with Evans is the way the Kings will handle his development and the way some Rubio fans will continue to destroy him. I have a feeling that the pro-Rubio fans will perpetually doubt however way Evans proves them wrong and no matter what. He will reach his full potential when he is gone and no longer wearing the King's uniform.

It's just a feeling. I hope I can be proven wrong.

Please!!!! Not all pro-Rubio fans are anti-Evans. Evans was my 2nd pick. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Tyreke Evans is a Sacramento King. Sacramento Kings fans (those who care about the TEAM 1st and foremost) will cheer for Evans as much as anyone.

Please don't keep this Rubio/Evans debate going. It is over. It is done. The fat lady already sang and left the building. It is time to say...

Go Evans! Go Kings!

 

[King Baller]

I have no worries about Tyreke

Also no worries about Tyreke and KMart playing together. Tyreke will draw the defense away from Kmart. I also think the sweet shooting 3's, Cisco and Noc will see plenty of open looks.

I suggest we not get to hung up on who can play what position and just be happy the Kings have added a very good ball player

For me its simple, Tyreke can help put the ball in the hoop and help prevent the other team from putting the ball in the hoop.

KB

PS I must say I like Rubio. I have a question for those of you that wish the Kings had picked him at 4. Why would he be able to solve the contract issues if his rights belonged to Sacto and not in Minny??? Would the Maloofs give him a personal loan???

 

[bajaden]

I have no worries about Tyreke

Also no worries about Tyreke and KMart playing together. Tyreke will draw the defense away from Kmart. I also think the sweet shooting 3's, Cisco and Noc will see plenty of open looks.

I suggest we not get to hung up on who can play what position and just be happy the Kings have added a very good ball player

For me its simple, Tyreke can help put the ball in the hoop and help prevent the other team from putting the ball in the hoop.

KB

PS I must say I like Rubio. I have a question for those of you that wish the Kings had picked him at 4. Why would he be able to solve the contract issues if his rights belonged to Sacto and not in Minny??? Would the Maloofs give him a personal loan???

There was a quote by Petrie before the draft, in which he said. The Kings will not draft any player where there is doubt about his ability to play in the NBA this year. Petrie, who has been known to talk for and hour and not give you any information, was very definite about this. So aside from the fact that they decided they prefered Evans over Rubio, they wern't going to draft Rubio anyway, based on Petrie's statement.

I also have no doubts, that had the Kings drafted Rubio, people would be questioning that decision based on his current contract problems. And they would probably criticizing The FO for not resolving all this before the draft.

 

[Kingsguy881]

One more thing that worries me a bit is both Evans and Martin have driving abilities. Martin is of course better at drawing fouls so will it clog the middle if both are looking at driving?

How do we know that? Have we seen them playing together to know who is better? Have we even SEEN Evans play in a regular season game?

I personally think Evans will be better at drawing fouls, because when Evans drives to the hoop he is looking to score, and he has the strong body to finish in traffic so he knows how to absorb contact and is not afraid of it. Martin drives to the hoop hoping he is going to get contact and he attempts to get a shot off, not necessarily score. Evans attempts to score after the contact because he is strong enough. Martin has to hope that the contact he gets doesn't throw off his ability to score using his athleticism. Strength > athleticism when you are talking about and 1's.

 

[AriesMar27]

interesting article on evans.... there was never a doubt that he wasnt a good player but playing out of position in college is a lot different than playing out of position in the nba. if evans in fact turns out to be more of a sg than a pg we will have a problem. because evans wasnt drafted 4th to come off the bench. though i guess if manu can do it so can evans. that would help us out a lot more in the end than forcing him to start at pg. we would probably win more games with him coming off the bench but i dont see that happening.

martin is a starter and evans will become a starter one day, thats not gonna work out unless evans can somehow learn to play sf. we would need a better front court to make up for the lack of size though.

dealing with the martin/evans sg situation isnt something that i look forward to because it will be a lot worse than the webber/peja situation since evans and martin play the same position.

 

[Kingsguy881]

I have no worries about Tyreke

Also no worries about Tyreke and KMart playing together. Tyreke will draw the defense away from Kmart. I also think the sweet shooting 3's, Cisco and Noc will see plenty of open looks.

I suggest we not get to hung up on who can play what position and just be happy the Kings have added a very good ball player

For me its simple, Tyreke can help put the ball in the hoop and help prevent the other team from putting the ball in the hoop.

KB

PS I must say I like Rubio. I have a question for those of you that wish the Kings had picked him at 4. Why would he be able to solve the contract issues if his rights belonged to Sacto and not in Minny??? Would the Maloofs give him a personal loan???

In a bigger market situation, Rubio would have been able to earn enough in endorsements not to have to worry about starving or paying off his buyout. New York would have been a dream destination for him, and probably Los Angeles too. Sacramento had good enough weather for his family, the location isn't that bad, the diversity is wonderful, and the ability to earn enough in endorsements especially with the Maloofs hyping him up would have been sufficient for he and his family to hang for 3 years.

I honestly think, due to personalities, that Evans was a better choice as far as drafting your own superstar and getting him to stay on your team for the long haul. He played college ball at Memphis, which is a city similar in size to Sac. He is quiet and introspective, yet vocal when he needs to be. Rubio on the other hand is living in Spain, probably partying enough and being a big enough celebrity that he would eventually want to be in a big city or market, one where he could be the local Elijah Woods. Just a thought.

 

[Kingsguy881]

interesting article on evans.... there was never any doubt that he is a good player and hopefully playing the pg position in college will help him transition to the in the nba. if evans in fact turns out to be more of a pg than a sg we will have a good situation. because evans wasnt drafted 4th to come off the bench. though i guess if manu can do it so can evans. that would help us out a lot more in the end if it works out the way the front office hopes. we would probably win more games with him reaching his potential and i hope to see that happening.

martin is a starter and evans will be a starter, thats hopefully gonna work out because evans can ball. we would need our front court to make up for the lack of experience though.

dealing with the martin/evans sg situation isnt something that i look forward to because I think that the front office knows what they are doing when they draft players for a certain position.

Let me fix that for you.

 

[AriesMar27]

How do we know that? Have we seen them playing together to know who is better? Have we even SEEN Evans play in a regular season game?

I personally think Evans will be better at drawing fouls, because when Evans drives to the hoop he is looking to score, and he has the strong body to finish in traffic so he knows how to absorb contact and is not afraid of it. Martin drives to the hoop hoping he is going to get contact and he attempts to get a shot off, not necessarily score. Evans attempts to score after the contact because he is strong enough. Martin has to hope that the contact he gets doesn't throw off his ability to score using his athleticism. Strength > athleticism when you are talking about and 1's.

martin is much better than evans at drawing fouls simply based on the fact that martin is better than 99% of the nba at drawing fouls he ranked 2nd in the nba in freethrow attempts behind dwight howard last season. he was 5th the season before that.... so basically you are saying that evans is better at drawing fouls than everyone who played in the nba last season. better than kobe, wade, lebron, howard, paul.... better than every player in the nba. evans was good in summer league... but when he is getting the rookie treatment and not getting calls he will be the one in foul trouble.

 

[nickmcclure]

For those wondering,
"Most of these kids, they think they poop ice cream. But kids come here because they want to be coached and they want to be challenged," Memphis coach John Calipari said.

was the best quote from the article.

 

[fnordius]

Why would [Rubio] be able to solve the contract issues if his rights belonged to Sacto and not in Minny??? Would the Maloofs give him a personal loan???

It's very much a moot point by now, assuming that Minny won't trade him, but, (a) he wanted to come to Sac, and seemed very motivated about doing so, whereas Minneapolis/St. Paul don't exactly have big hispanic populations or the sort of climate that he's accustomed to; and (b) slightly more money if he had been 4th pick rather than 5th. There might have been other considerations too, but since we weren't at the meetings between Rubio and the FO, that can only be a speculative topic.

 

[Kingsguy881]

martin is much better than evans at drawing fouls simply based on the fact that martin is better than 99% of the nba at drawing fouls he ranked 2nd in the nba in freethrow attempts behind dwight howard last season. he was 5th the season before that.... so basically you are saying that evans is better at drawing fouls than everyone who played in the nba last season. better than kobe, wade, lebron, howard, paul.... better than every player in the nba. evans was good in summer league... but when he is getting the rookie treatment and not getting calls he will be the one in foul trouble.

Martin will not have the ball anywhere near as much as he did last season. Second fiddle. And Evans will draw more quality fouls than Martin. So yeah, I think Evans is better.

 

[bajaden]

Another player that Evans has been compared to is Michael Ray Richardson. Who was a great player that unfortunately fell victim to drugs and ended up being banned for life from the NBA. For those of you that don't remember him, or were too young, here's a little blast from the past.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgdyWZqTM3U

 

[AriesMar27]

Martin will not have the ball anywhere near as much as he did last season. Second fiddle. And Evans will draw more quality fouls than Martin. So yeah, I think Evans is better.

then you are saying that evans is better at drawing fouls than 99% of the player in the nba? are you serious? are you seriously saying that a rookie playing out of position will be at least 2nd in the nba in freethrow attempts? had martin not missed so many games he probably wouldve led the league in fta...

i'm sure evans will become a good player one day but to assume that he will be top 2 in fta next season without ever seeing him play a single nba game is retarded.... thats like me saying that he will lead the league in assists. what would compel me to say something that stupid when i know it isnt true or remotely possible. it isnt impossible but i have a better chance of winning the lottery than evans being 2nd in the nba in freethrow attempts next season.....

you know somethings wrong when i am being the voice of reason.

 

[Kingsguy881]

then you are saying that evans is better at drawing fouls than 99% of the player in the nba? are you serious? are you seriously saying that a rookie playing out of position will be at least 2nd in the nba in freethrow attempts? had martin not missed so many games he probably wouldve led the league in fta...

i'm sure evans will become a good player one day but to assume that he will be top 2 in fta next season without ever seeing him play a single nba game is retarded.... thats like me saying that he will lead the league in assists. what would compel me to say something that stupid when i know it isnt true or remotely possible. it isnt impossible but i have a better chance of winning the lottery than evans being 2nd in the nba in freethrow attempts next season.....

you know somethings wrong when i am being the voice of reason.

So because Shaq lead the league in free throw attempts back in the day, it was because he was good at getting fouled? Because Howard led the league in fta last year, he was good at getting fouled? I'm not buying that. I don't put much stock in that. I put stock into the fact that when the game is on the line and IT IS IMPORTANT, who is going to do the best job with the ball in their hands.

Martin drew a lot of fouls last year, because he had the ball a lot and was pretty much the only player on the whole Kings team who took the onus on himself, when plays broke down, to try to create something, when there was a play that is. And he was the best player on the crappiest team in the league so thats where the opponent focused their defense.

A telling stat is his fg%. It was plain pathetic last year, which goes to show you that Martin forced WAY too much garbage up at the hoop last season. Shot for shot, Martin is darn near the top in scoring efficiency when he isn't asked to try to do those things. I will predict you one thing and I hope you hold me to it. Martin's fta will drop next year, and his fg% will rise. And I wonder why.......just wait and watch and you too will be clued in as to why.

edit

I love how you keep posting about how Evans will be playing out of position next year. Calipari said the same thing in that article, except he was saying that he was playing out of position at the sg spot. But hey, I bet you know better than one of the top college basketball coaches in the country.

edit

one last thing. Martin is not, I repeat, IS NOT better at drawing fouls than Kobe, Wade, LBJ, Melo.....the list goes on. He can get fouls for 3 quarters, but when the game is on the line 9 out of 10 times those players I mentioned will be getting and 1's and ft attempts and Martin will be getting shut down.

 

[AriesMar27]

ummm.... martin only shot 0.9 more shots per game this past year than last year. its basically a missed one shot difference between shooting 42% this past season and 45.6% the season before. his shoot % wasnt pathetic, he doesnt shoot enough shots to really see the difference. if he shot 20 attempts per game you wouldnt have such a huge drop in fg%.... martin forces shots but he didnt force any more this season than the year before. and when you only shoot the ball 16 time a game how can you really say that he forces it?

and yes, i will keep saying that evans will be playing out of position until he is playing sg. i just hope that you dont use it as an excuse if/when he isnt playing well as a pg. i dont want to ever see one of your posts use that as an excuse if evans plays poorly.

 

[Gary]

How do we know that? Have we seen them playing together to know who is better? Have we even SEEN Evans play in a regular season game?

I personally think Evans will be better at drawing fouls, because when Evans drives to the hoop he is looking to score, and he has the strong body to finish in traffic so he knows how to absorb contact and is not afraid of it. Martin drives to the hoop hoping he is going to get contact and he attempts to get a shot off, not necessarily score. Evans attempts to score after the contact because he is strong enough. Martin has to hope that the contact he gets doesn't throw off his ability to score using his athleticism. Strength > athleticism when you are talking about and 1's.

Because Martin has played in the NBA for a few years and he leads the league in getting to the line. And a little bird told me that Martin is better than Tyreke in that aspect.. That's how I know.. When Evans leads the league in FTs then I will rescind. But judging both of their games I will have to say Evans is a darn good iside scorer but there really isn't many players in the league that can draw a foul like Martin can. I don't think a rookie will come in and lead the league in FTs.. Just doesn't happen.

 

[Bricklayer]

ummm.... martin only shot 0.9 more shots per game this past year than last year. its basically a missed one shot difference between shooting 42% this past season and 45.6% the season before. his shoot % wasnt pathetic, he doesnt shoot enough shots to really see the difference. if he shot 20 attempts per game you wouldnt have such a huge drop in fg%.... martin forces shots but he didnt force any more this season than the year before. and when you only shoot the ball 16 time a game how can you really say that he forces it?

and yes, i will keep saying that evans will be playing out of position until he is playing sg. i just hope that you dont use it as an excuse if/when he isnt playing well as a pg. i dont want to ever see one of your posts use that as an excuse if evans plays poorly.

Evans gets fouled. Martin draws fouls. There is a difference. And the advantage goes to the guy who gets fouled because the opponent has no other way to stop them, rather than the guy who depends on jumping into people and flopping because he doesn't have the ability to beat his guy otherwise. Put another way, if an opponent does not foul Evans, Evans will score the hoop. That's why he gets fouled. He's going to score, and the opponent just whacks him out of desperation. Kevin on the other hand very often creates the entire foul situation rather than even trying to score the hoop. This is why when the whistles aren't being called on touch fouls, when the game gets tight and the refs decide to let 'em play, all of a sudden Kevin's free throw game dries up. Evans' is much less likely to, and especially at the point where little PGs simply have no chance to stop him physically without whacking him.

 

[Gary]

Martin will not have the ball anywhere near as much as he did last season. Second fiddle. And Evans will draw more quality fouls than Martin. So yeah, I think Evans is better.

Wow... Delusional if you think Evans will be leading the league in FTs next year... I would be willing to give you 3-1 odds that he wont even lead the Kings in FTs this year... Want to take that bet?

BTW, this is Martin's team, not Evans. Martin is the primary scorer and if Evans isn't trying to get Martin the ball then we have problems.. Both because Evans isn't realizing Martin is our scorer, and that Evans job as a PG will be to find open players and not hog the ball. He better bring more than his VSL game to the NBA or it's going to be a long and turnover prone season.

 

[Gary]

Evans gets fouled. Martin draws fouls. There is a difference. And the advantage goes to the guy who gets fouled because the opponent has no other way to stop them, rather than the guy who depends on jumping into people and flopping because he doesn't have the ability to beat his guy otherwise. Put another way, if an opponent does not foul Evans, Evans will score the hoop. That's why he gets fouled. He's going to score, and the opponent just whacks him out of desperation. Kevin on the other hand very often creates the entire foul situation rather than even trying to score the hoop. This is why when the whistles aren't being called on touch fouls, when the game gets tight and the refs decide to let 'em play, all of a sudden Kevin's free throw game dries up. Evans' is much less likely to, and especially at the point where little PGs simply have no chance to stop him physically without whacking him.

OK I know you don't like Martin and all but it's idiotic to say Evans is better at getting to the line than Martin is. That's just not true. That argument (at least right now before Evans has played ONE NBA game) is ludicrous.

And remember... The trick against guarding Evans if he is trying to be "the man" is to play a zone defense. If you know Evans then you know he cannot play against a zone because he's got no jumper. Every player has their weaknesses... So what will happen when they play a zone? Or what happens when a smaller/quicker negates his defensive presence? At least in Memphis they had small guards to play against the opponent when Evans was getting abused by the quicker guards.

 

[AriesMar27]

Evans gets fouled. Martin draws fouls. There is a difference. And the advantage goes to the guy who gets fouled because the opponent has no other way to stop them, rather than the guy who depends on jumping into people and flopping because he doesn't have the ability to beat his guy otherwise. Put another way, if an opponent does not foul Evans, Evans will score the hoop. That's why he gets fouled. He's going to score, and the opponent just whacks him out of desperation. Kevin on the other hand very often creates the entire foul situation rather than even trying to score the hoop. This is why when the whistles aren't being called on touch fouls, when the game gets tight and the refs decide to let 'em play, all of a sudden Kevin's free throw game dries up. Evans' is much less likely to, and especially at the point where little PGs simply have no chance to stop him physically without whacking him.

that just the different reasons for being fouled and i understand that much.... but even with all of that martin still manages to average more freethrow attempts per game than kobe and lebron. knowing that the only way to stop someone like evans is by fouling would be a deterrent from fouling someone like evans because he isnt much of a shooter. a pg could just dare him to shoot, just like they do with rondo. until he becomes a threat from the outside i dont see how he will get to the line all that often. they'd probably just take the risk of him taking a jumper or lay up.

evans isnt a freak athlete, he isnt going to pull a lebron and bang on an opposing center. as long as they try to alter his shot they'll get by without fouling him, just like they do with rondo.... though rondo is pretty athletic for a pg. evans isnt that athletic for someone his height from what i cant tell. him being a huge beast of a guard might get him fouled before he gets the shot off but he wont be getting to the line the way martin does...

 

[AriesMar27]

OK I know you don't like Martin and all but it's idiotic to say Evans is better at getting to the line than Martin is. That's just not true. That argument (at least right now before Evans has played ONE NBA game) is ludicrous.

And remember... The trick against guarding Evans if he is trying to be "the man" is to play a zone defense. If you know Evans then you know he cannot play against a zone because he's got no jumper. Every player has their weaknesses... So what will happen when they play a zone? Or what happens when a smaller/quicker negates his defensive presence? At least in Memphis they had small guards to play against the opponent when Evans was getting abused by the quicker guards.

its just me and you gary.... if it were up to kingsfans.com evans would be a first ballot hall of famer before he even plays his first preseason game.

 

[VF21]

its just me and you gary.... if it were up to kingsfans.com evans would be a first ballot hall of famer before he even plays his first preseason game.

Nope. Not true. I think Evans will be successful, I'm hopeful that he and Kev will make our backcourt truly exciting, and I'm looking forward to seeing him learn his craft.

I am not, however, delusional about him at this point in time. He's a draft pick - and he's going to have a lot of hard work ahead of him to live up to even half the expectations some people have put on him...

As far as Kevin Martin goes, there are just some people who will always find something about him not to like, which is fine but not necessarily what the organization, his teammates and other reputable sports analysts around the league have to say.

I don't have a link but from what I've heard, Coach Westphal is VERY high on Martin and was pretty specific about answering questions about Kevin and his game at the STH meeting held last night(?)... Hopefully some of those who were there will be able to fill in the gaps.