Tyreke Evans:All Star or Franchise player?

[c-webb1s#1]

I really do not want go off here, but I have to say I am quite dismayed at the season Tyreke has been having. It's quite apparent we have way too many shooter who cant shoot and others who need the ball to be effective. Tyreke being one of if not the most guilty of this.

Or maybe im just crazy

If he wants this to be his team then he has got to show it! He more of a ghost in this game than Mel Gibson was in the Patriot!

 

[Spok22]

I'm actually pretty happy with his season so far. His outside shot is finally falling on a somewhat consistent basis and he is showing flashes of brilliance in his defense, passing, and driving ability. All he really needs now is consistency and like you said he has to want to lead the team. I don't know if he will ever be that guy, but if he does become that guy and Demarcus puts it all together, I really think this team could turn into something special.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

Searches for the "None Of The Above" option...At this point he's just a talented but inconsistent player, nothing more. Until he can start putting together stretches of multiple good games, all-star and certainly franchise player talk is out of the question. This have one or two really good games then pull a disappearing act for three or fours games stuff just isn't cutting it. Even good teams can struggle when their best players struggle but a team like the Kings have no margin for error. They simply cannot be a competitive team unless Tyreke gets it together.

 

[jcwkings]

if he had the mentality of a chris paul or kobe, paul pierce, kevin garnett or dwyane wade i would vote franchise, pretty much convinced its not in him though. Cousins does seem to have that, so i think our future rests on the development of Cousins, with Tyreke playing off of him.

 

[Italics]

now how is THIS not a troll thread? Them options...

 

[IfAt1st]

Tyreke is quite clearly not either at this stage.

And unfortunately, there is less and less reason to believe he'll turn into either as this season goes on and he gets more and more inconsistent.

He's way too easy to shut down in the halfcourt to be an impact player on offense.
Any solid individual or team defense completely flummuxes him.
His passing hasn't gotten significantly better since he started over 2 years ago. His decision making hasn't gotten significantly better. His outside shot hasn't either, and he's passing up wide open 3ptrs when he isn't airballing them.
He gets caught on pick-and-rolls like flypaper, doesn't get back on defense too often, has multiple-minute stretches where he stands still on the court, matadors & gambles for steals too much, and loses his man on defense too often.

Most damning is his mental approach - from watching him for over 2 years, I simply don't think he has the mental makeup to be a star in this league. That's just my opinion, from watching Tyreke's reactions and remembering how his mom had to come to town to kick him in the *** and make him get out of his funk last year (which he admitted was not physical at the time).

He can be a good perimeter defender when the mood strikes him, and he rebounds well, and he's got a great half-court buzzer beating skill.
I think he's a better team player than people give him credit for, and because he handles the ball so much, he could easily have 3 more assists per game if the other guys could shoot.

The guy can drive like a beast against transitional D, to be sure - but if that is his only superior skill, combined with multiple other below-average skills which blunt the effectiveness of his other above-average skills, I don't see him as getting near to what he has been projected by most. At least that's what it looks like to me currently.

 

[KingsCitizen]

1.) Someone needs to teach Reke not to jump to early going to rim so he doesn't get his lay-up blocked.
2.) The coach should set plays for Reke posting down low like Lebron is doing this season. What's the point of having the biggest and strongest point guard in the league when he's out in the perimeter setting plays for others who can't even shoot.
3.) And Smart better be smart enough to teach DMC and Reke implement pick and roll to perfection. That's should be the bread and butter play of this team and not the Jimmer-IT backcourt being feasted all night by every other teams.

 

[Henkel]

I'm confident he has some all-star seasons in his future. To take that next step he has to develop a better mid range game, which we have seen flashes of, and be more focused and consistent on defense. He's not that far off.

This team is poorly constructed. More then half our roster is still trying to find their place in the league. With a roster like that they were set up for failure, which in the early stages of a rebuild when you're going after picks is fine, but not a this point. I'm not laying all of Evans short comings on his teammates or coaches, but this organization hasn't done him any favors.

 

[mac]

I'm confident he has some all-star seasons in his future. To take that next step he has to develop a better mid range game, which we have seen flashes of, and be more focused and consistent on defense. He's not that far off.

This team is poorly constructed. More then half our roster is still trying to find their place in the league. With a roster like that they were set up for failure, which in the early stages of a rebuild when you're going after picks is fine, but not a this point. I'm not laying all of Evans short comings on his teammates or coaches, but this organization hasn't done him any favors.

Spot on. It's still way too early to give up on Tyreke, and perhaps a lot of us have to seriously re-consider whether he will turn out to be the star player that we thought he could be. Let's just see what happens and be patient. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have 3rd year MVPs on their team.

 

[OptimusRhyme]

Searches for the "None Of The Above" option...At this point he's just a talented but inconsistent player, nothing more. Until he can start putting together stretches of multiple good games, all-star and certainly franchise player talk is out of the question. This have one or two really good games then pull a disappearing act for three or fours games stuff just isn't cutting it. Even good teams can struggle when their best players struggle but a team like the Kings have no margin for error. They simply cannot be a competitive team unless Tyreke gets it together.

this

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

Hootie Evans

 

[Rookie]

Tyreke is quite clearly not either at this stage.

And unfortunately, there is less and less reason to believe he'll turn into either as this season goes on and he gets more and more inconsistent.

He's way too easy to shut down in the halfcourt to be an impact player on offense.
Any solid individual or team defense completely flummuxes him.
His passing hasn't gotten significantly better since he started over 2 years ago. His decision making hasn't gotten significantly better. His outside shot hasn't either, and he's passing up wide open 3ptrs when he isn't airballing them.
He gets caught on pick-and-rolls like flypaper, doesn't get back on defense too often, has multiple-minute stretches where he stands still on the court, matadors & gambles for steals too much, and loses his man on defense too often.

Most damning is his mental approach - from watching him for over 2 years, I simply don't think he has the mental makeup to be a star in this league. That's just my opinion, from watching Tyreke's reactions and remembering how his mom had to come to town to kick him in the *** and make him get out of his funk last year (which he admitted was not physical at the time).

He can be a good perimeter defender when the mood strikes him, and he rebounds well, and he's got a great half-court buzzer beating skill.
I think he's a better team player than people give him credit for, and because he handles the ball so much, he could easily have 3 more assists per game if the other guys could shoot.

The guy can drive like a beast against transitional D, to be sure - but if that is his only superior skill, combined with multiple other below-average skills which blunt the effectiveness of his other above-average skills, I don't see him as getting near to what he has been projected by most. At least that's what it looks like to me currently.

I'm feeling the same way. I just hope he can turn things around and prove me wrong.

 

[upinsmoke]

I hope he proves me wrong as well but i have to call it like i see it. I have to question his work ethic franchise players eat sleep and live hoop and i just dont see it with Reke, he appears tired late in games and takes TERRIBLE shots.

 

[Kingster]

I'm dissapointed. All offseason long we heard the report about Tyreke working on his game, getting a shooting coach, blah, blah, blah, blah blah. But I don't see it manifest on the court, with improvements to his game. If it's there, it's incredibly minute to the point where you have to get out the magnifying glass. Look, there is either one of two possibilities: 1) He did work his A$$ off in the offseason (ala Kobe Bryant) and all that work didn't do much good, or 2) he did not work his A$$ off in the offseason and we're seeing the results. Either one of the possibilities don't make me feel warm and fuzzy about him. My hunch is that he's both not working out hard enough and not working out intelligently enough in the offseason to see a transformation in his game. This is third year. We should see a pretty big jump up in his game. Westbrook did it. Why can't Tyreke?

 

[Section 101]

I'm dissapointed. All offseason long we heard the report about Tyreke working on his game, getting a shooting coach, blah, blah, blah, blah blah. But I don't see it manifest on the court, with improvements to his game. If it's there, it's incredibly minute to the point where you have to get out the magnifying glass. Look, there is either one of two possibilities: 1) He did work his A$$ off in the offseason (ala Kobe Bryant) and all that work didn't do much good, or 2) he did not work his A$$ off in the offseason and we're seeing the results. Either one of the possibilities don't make me feel warm and fuzzy about him. My hunch is that he's both not working out hard enough and not working out intelligently enough in the offseason to see a transformation in his game. This is third year. We should see a pretty big jump up in his game. Westbrook did it. Why can't Tyreke?

This is why good form on a shot is important. The better your form the better chance you will make shots when tired or for longer stretches. The problem with bad form is it takes more energy to get the shot to go in. As players get tired either in game or for playing x games in Y nights their energy drops and shots stop falling.

Smart is finally trying to teach Evans how to be a PG. I don't think anyone really ever has tried to teach him the right way to do things. In high school it was his brothers where Evans could just dominate physically. He wasn't being taught how to play on a team. It was go get yours. The same thing happened at Memphis. He was given the ball and told to go do your thing. And guess what? The same thing happened the past 2 years under Westfail.

 

[upinsmoke]

He's going to be disappointed by nba standards come contract time.

 

[Glenn]

Smart is finally trying to teach Evans how to be a PG. I don't think anyone really ever has tried to teach him the right way to do things. In high school it was his brothers where Evans could just dominate physically. He wasn't being taught how to play on a team. It was go get yours. The same thing happened at Memphis. He was given the ball and told to go do your thing. And guess what? The same thing happened the past 2 years under Westfail.

And this is why Tyreke plays the way he does. No one has asked anything different of him.

He was given the ball and the team won at a higher rate than if he was used differently. Trouble is that he is now in the NBA. Although I am sure people will scream and yell that I am wrong, I have seen a change in his game since Smart took over. I am not clever enough to define it except I will simply say he seems to fit better on the team. Perhaps the team is learning to work with him as I think that is the other part of the equation. In any case, Tyreke (or the team) are heading in the right direction whatever that might be. It sure won't be to turn him into a standard PG as we'd have to start out by chopping off 4" in height.

 

[JB_kings]

I would like to see how many assists a game he loses from open shooters missing shots they should make and fumble fingered or ground bound big men who have trouble finishing at the rim.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

I would like to see how many assists a game he loses from open shooters missing shots they should make and fumble fingered or ground bound big men who have trouble finishing at the rim.

Indeed...poor handles by teammates and poor ball movement/shot selection is his, and our team's, biggest enemy.

 

[Kingster]

This is why good form on a shot is important. The better your form the better chance you will make shots when tired or for longer stretches. The problem with bad form is it takes more energy to get the shot to go in. As players get tired either in game or for playing x games in Y nights their energy drops and shots stop falling.

Smart is finally trying to teach Evans how to be a PG. I don't think anyone really ever has tried to teach him the right way to do things. In high school it was his brothers where Evans could just dominate physically. He wasn't being taught how to play on a team. It was go get yours. The same thing happened at Memphis. He was given the ball and told to go do your thing. And guess what? The same thing happened the past 2 years under Westfail.

I totally agree about the issue of form and fatigue. I just hope that Smart can have some major positive influence in the off-season regiment of Tyreke and who is coaching him then, because that to me is much more important than the regular season.

 

[rhythmless]

I'm actually pretty happy with his season so far. His outside shot is finally falling on a somewhat consistent basis and he is showing flashes of brilliance in his defense, passing, and driving ability. All he really needs now is consistency and like you said he has to want to lead the team. I don't know if he will ever be that guy, but if he does become that guy and Demarcus puts it all together, I really think this team could turn into something special.

His fg% is about the same as last year. I still see him fading away.

 

[gunks]

Too soon to give up on Reke. He hasnt had any coaching his first 2 years in the league. We should revist this thread at the end of the year though.

Also, I voted "allstar" not franchise player. I think thats his best case, and have thought that since he came into the league. The dude just doesnt have the skills/athleticism necessary to be a franchise player. He could still develop into a great, unique allstar, but I dont think he'll ever break into that superstar tier of player.

 

[Section 101]

Too soon to give up on Reke. He hasnt had any coaching his first 2 years in the league. We should revist this thread at the end of the year though.

Also, I voted "allstar" not franchise player. I think thats his best case, and have thought that since he came into the league. The dude just doesnt have the skills/athleticism necessary to be a franchise player. He could still develop into a great, unique allstar, but I dont think he'll ever break into that superstar tier of player.

At this point he won't be an all star. Too many other all star guards he would have to pass.

 

[zo0mmike]

Borderline All Star. I don't see the fire and the mentality of a perennial all star, let alone a franchise player. No question he is talented, however, talent alone does nothing.

He's still young and has shown flashes of brilliance with lots of room to improve in the bbiq department. He just somehow needs to bring that killer instinct every game. But for now, I'm just happy to see him make an all star team and would be pleasantly surprise if he becomes something more.

 

[Gary]

lol none of the above. Evans is not even close to being an all star at this point.

 

[Prince_XY]

There is no doubt Evans has the talent to become an all star, but at this point I doubt if he will be a franchise player. He seems lacking the leadership quality of a franchise player and he also seems like he does not want to be one. His silent demeanor and lack of emotion inside the court is uninspiring. There is no fire in his game.

I hope his ceiling is not just that of "Mr. dribble, dribble, dribble" (Salmons).

 

[mac]

lol none of the above. Evans is not even close to being an all star at this point.

I assume the OP meant potential-wise. I don't think anyone here will argue that Evans is having an all star season this year

 

[The_Jamal]

So, the Kings have a top 3 team/defense behind Tyreke like Rose did? How about a top 5 player like Durant to play off of? You simply can't make comparisons between Reke as basketball is a TEAM game. The Bulls and Thunder have around 9-10 guys who could easily be starters on 15 other teams in the NBA. Those guys have actual supporting casts around them while Tyreke has a 21 yr old C and a streaky scorer in Thornton.

I know people want to place all the blame on Reke and Boogie for why we aren't playing well, but the fact remains that we simply won't start winning until we put a strong supporting cast behind those 2 guys.

 

[The_Jamal]

Also, I'd like to hear how many guys in the NBA are asked to play all these roles for a team:

#1 option
Main ball handler/distributor
Guard the other team's best Perimeter player
Be the vocal leader of the team at 22 years old

 

[Hadlowe]

Also, I'd like to hear how many guys in the NBA are asked to play all these roles for a team:

#1 option
Main ball handler/distributor
Guard the other team's best Perimeter player
Be the vocal leader of the team at 22 years old

Monta Ellis and Derek Rose come to mind, which isn't bad company.

I'm still not convinced that Tyreke is, or should be, the #1 option at this point. His offensive game is fairly one dimension. Granted, he's great at that dimension, but it leads to predictability and a smart defensive team, a la Blazers, or even a smart defensive player, a la Tony Allen, can shut him down. If Smart can work out plays to let him catch on a cut to the rim consistently, he will start looking like an all-star.

And, yes, his jumpshot is better, but it's still not great. Another year or two there and he will be fine.