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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12134320p-13005396c.html
Rising to the occasion
Stints in Greece, Italy and Russia made Maurice Evans long for the NBA.
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Early on, Maurice Evans relied on artificial lifts to find his rarified air. Some cinderblocks, a block of wood, anything to get that extra elevation to reach the rim in his front-yard role of Michael Jordan.
Then one day, he didn't need the launching pads anymore. He had developed his own hops, with muscled calves, increased speed and improved timing. And the shaved head for the M.J. look.
http://ads.sacbee.com/RealMedia/ads...l/64313865323634663431663263626230?_RM_EMPTY_ Now an ascending member of the Kings, it took Evans a virtual leap across the globe to land in the NBA. He jumped from tiny Wichita (Kan.) Collegiate High School to his hometown university to the University of Texas.
He gambled early on the NBA and lost, failing to be drafted, only to emerge as a star in Europe, where Greek fans sang his praises.
Now he's landed, on both feet, in Sacramento.
Evans has provided hustle from a bench that had been of major concern not too long ago. He also offers entertainment value because the 6-foot-5 swingman can get up. He can thrill, and it's been enough for even the most seasoned and fundamental coach on the Kings' bench to appreciate.
"He can really jump," Pete Carril said. "The fans are excited. It's like watching Casablanca 50 times. You need to see something else."
Evans is that something else.
His play has helped soften the loss of Bobby Jackson. His play was enough that the Kings could trade Doug Christie for Cuttino Mobley and are confident that should Mobley depart as a free agent this summer, Evans could step in.
And his play is never boring, reminding some of 1970s and 1980s sky walker David Thompson. When the soaring Evans was fouled hard against Utah recently, he landed with the thud of a cantaloupe dropped from the rafters.
At the time of impact, his head bounced off the Arco Arena floor and blood trickled from the top of his head. Evans' parents, Cathy and George Evans, flew out of their Wichita seats.
Mom hit the floor on her knees praying. Dad clutched her as if bracing for a tornado.
"I've seen him dunk so many times, but I've never seen him get hurt," Cathy said. "It scared us. I had a headache all the next day."
Evans required 12 stitches. He had to be driven home to his nearby apartment by Kings security chief Joe Nolan, feeling like a punch-drunk boxer who never saw the 12th round. Two huge bandages covered a wound that looked as if someone had pried loose a hatchet from the side of a tree.
Days later, Evans gave more blood. In dunking so ferociously against Portland, the ball scraped off his face as it screamed through the net, gashing his lip.
"We tell him that he needs a Band-Aid sponsor," teammate Kevin Martin said. "That shows how high he can jump and how powerful and explosive he is."
Once, when doing a reverse dunk in Greece, the ball went through the net so fast and fiercely that it bounced off his head and back up through the net. Talk about a cursed skill.
"Didn't even get the points because the referees didn't think it went through," Evans said. "Some dunks can be crazy as heck."
Evans' odyssey started in his front yard on a poor battered rim. His rise came at the weary expense of his father. A 6-3 junior-college star in Kansas 30 years ago, George Evans would work 12-hour days as a plumber and come home ready to lean on the kid who desperately wanted to get over his target to reach the iron.
George won the early battles. Then the tide turned. Then Dad had to duck.
"He was dunking on me in front of friends," George said.
Said Cathy: "One day, George came into the house and said, 'Babe, I can't handle him anymore. He's too good now.' "
On his way to becoming a national recruit, Evans would fetch the keys to the gym from his high school coach, who would leave them under the front mat. He was named the Kansas 3A Player of the Year after leading his team to a state championship. As a senior, he averaged 19.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists and was named the overall State Player of the Year.
Recruiting mail poured in and filled four shoe boxes in his bedroom. His father would work extra shifts to fund all-star camps, re-piping someone's house in an hour's notice.
Evans pulled a shocker when he announced he would become a Shocker, a member of the Wichita State program. He spurned offers from Kansas in a state where kids grow up lusting for a chance to be a Jayhawk.
Evans wanted to stay close to home. So close, in fact, that his parents could walk the three blocks from their front door to the Wichita State gym. That he elected to go to the mid-major program while getting tugged by programs across the land prompted an NCAA investigation into possible recruiting violations. None were found.
Though he scored 22.6 points during his sophomore season in 1998-99, it was a tumultuous winter. He left the team for two games because of what he deemed a mounting mutiny. Evans and teammates said the coaches were demeaning and the practices were unusually brutal and long.
He transferred to Texas following the season.
Wichita State conducted an internal investigation to avoid NCAA penalties, and the school reprimanded the coaches for exceeding NCAA practice hours.
Evans led the Longhorns in scoring in 2000-01 with 15.6 points per game and then took the calculated risk of declaring for the NBA draft following his junior season. He was led to believe, through his agent, that he would be a first-round pick. The Kings were among the teams that brought him in for a workout.
Then the worst-case scenario played out. No calls. He wasn't drafted.
"I was embarrassed," Evans said. "I was absolutely stunned, shocked."
Within weeks, he was in Minnesota, trying out for the Timberwolves. He played 10 games his first season and was released.
His father would remind that if he couldn't find his way in hoops, there was always room for another plumber in Wichita. Evans wanted no part of that. He headed overseas, with tours with Olympiakos in Greece in 2002, to Benetton Treviso in Italy for the 2003 season and a very brief finale in Russia last summer.
Evans said he discovered the world, new cultures, new languages and solidified his game. He was MVP of the Italian All-Star Game and the Export Player of the Year, given to non-European talent. He was hailed as a celebrity at every stop. His parents often joined him, stunned at the reception he received.
"People have loved him everywhere he's played," Cathy Evans said. "He couldn't walk down the streets in some places without people gathering in groups. Fans would sing his name."
Fans could also turn on you, he found. In Athens, Evans recalled how a soccer mob pushed over a bus of players after a loss. In basketball arenas, lighters, coins and bottles were regularly hurled when things didn't go right.
"They also spit," Evans said. "It can be wild. People smoke in the arenas and everything."
"Americans are supposed to be the star player in Europe," said Kings teammate Darius Songaila, who competed against Evans two years ago overseas. "I remember fans loved Maurice, though. And teams hated playing him. The scouting report was to keep him off the boards."
Rising to the occasion
Stints in Greece, Italy and Russia made Maurice Evans long for the NBA.
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Early on, Maurice Evans relied on artificial lifts to find his rarified air. Some cinderblocks, a block of wood, anything to get that extra elevation to reach the rim in his front-yard role of Michael Jordan.
Then one day, he didn't need the launching pads anymore. He had developed his own hops, with muscled calves, increased speed and improved timing. And the shaved head for the M.J. look.
http://ads.sacbee.com/RealMedia/ads...l/64313865323634663431663263626230?_RM_EMPTY_ Now an ascending member of the Kings, it took Evans a virtual leap across the globe to land in the NBA. He jumped from tiny Wichita (Kan.) Collegiate High School to his hometown university to the University of Texas.
He gambled early on the NBA and lost, failing to be drafted, only to emerge as a star in Europe, where Greek fans sang his praises.
Now he's landed, on both feet, in Sacramento.
Evans has provided hustle from a bench that had been of major concern not too long ago. He also offers entertainment value because the 6-foot-5 swingman can get up. He can thrill, and it's been enough for even the most seasoned and fundamental coach on the Kings' bench to appreciate.
"He can really jump," Pete Carril said. "The fans are excited. It's like watching Casablanca 50 times. You need to see something else."
Evans is that something else.
His play has helped soften the loss of Bobby Jackson. His play was enough that the Kings could trade Doug Christie for Cuttino Mobley and are confident that should Mobley depart as a free agent this summer, Evans could step in.
And his play is never boring, reminding some of 1970s and 1980s sky walker David Thompson. When the soaring Evans was fouled hard against Utah recently, he landed with the thud of a cantaloupe dropped from the rafters.
At the time of impact, his head bounced off the Arco Arena floor and blood trickled from the top of his head. Evans' parents, Cathy and George Evans, flew out of their Wichita seats.
Mom hit the floor on her knees praying. Dad clutched her as if bracing for a tornado.
"I've seen him dunk so many times, but I've never seen him get hurt," Cathy said. "It scared us. I had a headache all the next day."
Evans required 12 stitches. He had to be driven home to his nearby apartment by Kings security chief Joe Nolan, feeling like a punch-drunk boxer who never saw the 12th round. Two huge bandages covered a wound that looked as if someone had pried loose a hatchet from the side of a tree.
Days later, Evans gave more blood. In dunking so ferociously against Portland, the ball scraped off his face as it screamed through the net, gashing his lip.
"We tell him that he needs a Band-Aid sponsor," teammate Kevin Martin said. "That shows how high he can jump and how powerful and explosive he is."
Once, when doing a reverse dunk in Greece, the ball went through the net so fast and fiercely that it bounced off his head and back up through the net. Talk about a cursed skill.
"Didn't even get the points because the referees didn't think it went through," Evans said. "Some dunks can be crazy as heck."
Evans' odyssey started in his front yard on a poor battered rim. His rise came at the weary expense of his father. A 6-3 junior-college star in Kansas 30 years ago, George Evans would work 12-hour days as a plumber and come home ready to lean on the kid who desperately wanted to get over his target to reach the iron.
George won the early battles. Then the tide turned. Then Dad had to duck.
"He was dunking on me in front of friends," George said.
Said Cathy: "One day, George came into the house and said, 'Babe, I can't handle him anymore. He's too good now.' "
On his way to becoming a national recruit, Evans would fetch the keys to the gym from his high school coach, who would leave them under the front mat. He was named the Kansas 3A Player of the Year after leading his team to a state championship. As a senior, he averaged 19.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists and was named the overall State Player of the Year.
Recruiting mail poured in and filled four shoe boxes in his bedroom. His father would work extra shifts to fund all-star camps, re-piping someone's house in an hour's notice.
Evans pulled a shocker when he announced he would become a Shocker, a member of the Wichita State program. He spurned offers from Kansas in a state where kids grow up lusting for a chance to be a Jayhawk.
Evans wanted to stay close to home. So close, in fact, that his parents could walk the three blocks from their front door to the Wichita State gym. That he elected to go to the mid-major program while getting tugged by programs across the land prompted an NCAA investigation into possible recruiting violations. None were found.
Though he scored 22.6 points during his sophomore season in 1998-99, it was a tumultuous winter. He left the team for two games because of what he deemed a mounting mutiny. Evans and teammates said the coaches were demeaning and the practices were unusually brutal and long.
He transferred to Texas following the season.
Wichita State conducted an internal investigation to avoid NCAA penalties, and the school reprimanded the coaches for exceeding NCAA practice hours.
Evans led the Longhorns in scoring in 2000-01 with 15.6 points per game and then took the calculated risk of declaring for the NBA draft following his junior season. He was led to believe, through his agent, that he would be a first-round pick. The Kings were among the teams that brought him in for a workout.
Then the worst-case scenario played out. No calls. He wasn't drafted.
"I was embarrassed," Evans said. "I was absolutely stunned, shocked."
Within weeks, he was in Minnesota, trying out for the Timberwolves. He played 10 games his first season and was released.
His father would remind that if he couldn't find his way in hoops, there was always room for another plumber in Wichita. Evans wanted no part of that. He headed overseas, with tours with Olympiakos in Greece in 2002, to Benetton Treviso in Italy for the 2003 season and a very brief finale in Russia last summer.
Evans said he discovered the world, new cultures, new languages and solidified his game. He was MVP of the Italian All-Star Game and the Export Player of the Year, given to non-European talent. He was hailed as a celebrity at every stop. His parents often joined him, stunned at the reception he received.
"People have loved him everywhere he's played," Cathy Evans said. "He couldn't walk down the streets in some places without people gathering in groups. Fans would sing his name."
Fans could also turn on you, he found. In Athens, Evans recalled how a soccer mob pushed over a bus of players after a loss. In basketball arenas, lighters, coins and bottles were regularly hurled when things didn't go right.
"They also spit," Evans said. "It can be wild. People smoke in the arenas and everything."
"Americans are supposed to be the star player in Europe," said Kings teammate Darius Songaila, who competed against Evans two years ago overseas. "I remember fans loved Maurice, though. And teams hated playing him. The scouting report was to keep him off the boards."
