I think you've made some valid points, with fears that are shared by fans on the PelicansReport forum. Unfortunately, Tyreke Evans is a polarizing topic around here, even though he's no longer in a Kings uniform.
Tyreke Evans watch
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I think you've made some valid points, with fears that are shared by fans on the PelicansReport forum. Unfortunately, Tyreke Evans is a polarizing topic around here, even though he's no longer in a Kings uniform.
And Evans has always liked playing the Jazz.
Hoovtrain
All-Star
Good for Tyreke. Still wish we had him.
http://www.nba.com/pelicans/#/story/blog/healthy-tyreke-evans-making-strides-reserve-role-111913
http://www.nba.com/pelicans/#/story/blog/healthy-tyreke-evans-making-strides-reserve-role-111913
Sure, why not?
Evans appears to have figured it out: 7.3-ppg(.324) 4.1-rpg 3.1-apg 0.6-spg in his first seven games, 15.7-ppg(.478) 4.8-rpg, 4.3-apg, 1.9-spg since.
And, for all of the talk about him being injured "again," and having to deal with chronic ankle problems (which, for the record, I am not disputing, because he obviously does have them), he has not yet missed a game.
Agent23
Starter
He was out of shape the first 7 games from not being able to practice during the preseason due to his injury. Has been a beast since he got into shape and with Ryan Anderson coming back.
I watched the game too. Offensively was great but I got two major takeaways from this game and others.
1. He doesn't box out. Ever. Gave Shumpert and Smith two easy offensive boards coming all the way from the corner.
2. His team defense/ off ball defense is atrocious. Seriously it rivals James Harden's! Lots of head scratching rotations, leaving his man open to help for no reason. On-ball is a different story altogether, other than occasional problems dealing with screens.
He's definitely improved in moving the ball and setting guys up, but it doesn't look like he's added anything to his game offensively in terms of shooting or floaters etc.
Chubbs
Starter
The thing is, even if Evans never gets any better, he'd still be the best guard on the kings roster. Easily.
I'm guilty of nit picking his game, cause we all always felt he could be better. But you can't teach what he can do naturally. Malone would have him playing both guard positions, guarding the opposing teams best guards, etc. instead, we have john salmons and a horribly raw mclemore.
FO thought tanking this year would be better than going forward with tyreke. Short term, we are much worse minus tyreke. It'll become even more painfully evident once we hit the road and the games start coming a lot faster. I Have to believe this was by design cause I can't believe any rational mind thought we'd be better short term minus tyreke. It's a gamble. Is player X (to replace tyreke) going to be found in the draft and be even better and younger and cheaper? Right now the lack of talent is profound outside cousins. And there's not much they can do about it. Landing Williams was a major get, but he's a project. His shot looks broken. Tyreke wasn't a project, not from day 1. His skills allow him to play with anyone anywhere anytime. Can't say the same for Ben.
The franchise took a clear step back at a time when their young star is coming into his own. I feel bad cousins lost the only player with his skill level to play with.
Well I do agree with you. I wouldn't be watching 90% of the Pelicans games if I wasn't a fan of Tyreke. At the same time, I try to be objective in watching a player, and I judge Evans based on what I think he could be but so far hasn't been - an all star level player. He just makes so many mental mistakes in a game which could be so easily corrected, but god knows what the coaches he's played for actually do instead of coaching. Put him (or any player for that matter) on the Spurs for a week and you'd get a much more effective player just from having him do simple things like box out, staying on his man etc.
Back to the Knicks game - it was good to see Evans get his layups to fall. He's been missing a high % of them and shooting rather abysmally overall. I'm still patiently waiting and hoping that he takes that next step to become an all-star, but at this point I do wonder at times how dedicated he is to working on his game, because I haven't seen him add anything new to his game, nor have I seen significant improvement in his jumpshot. His brothers and their business might be a bad distraction for him during the offseason.
Evans with his worst game in nearly a month, ending a streak of ten games with 10+ points. He did contribute 4 reb, 4 ast and a steal, but only 8 points, on 1-9 shooting. 
I'll have to disagree. His awareness of team mates has improved a lot, and he's setting them up for many many good shots. Where he looks the same if not worse is his inability and unwillingness to hit or even attempt an outside shot. He gets his way when teams are dumb and don't clog the paint against him. When they do he ends up becoming rather ineffective. He's also been missing a lot of his attempts around the rim that he usually makes. Against the Mavs he went 1-9, which was made of one miss on an open 3 pointer, a bad shot with the clock running down (patented fade away airball) from about 18 ft, and 1-7 right at the rim, with his one make being on a Vince Carter goaltend. Suffice to say I'm not sure he's actually added anything to his game in terms of his skillset, and I find that really, really disappointing. But he has definitely improved moving the ball. You just have to watch the games to see it - he's getting Morrow and Andersen a lot of open looks and running pick and rolls with Davis/Smith pretty well too.
I mentioned in an earlier post that his layups haven't been falling. Just went over to check his shotchart and %s - he converted 55% around the rim in 3 years with us, with one very bad year of 47% his second season. So far this year he's at 49%.
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Gary
All-Star
Hope he's OK. I watched the footage and he was down for quite some time before being helped off the floor. It didn't even look like he put any pressure on it at all. This could be one of those sprains that the forum was talking about a year or so ago (where we are all telling our stories of severe ankle sprains). I had a severe sprain that made it to where I couldn't play baseball for entire season.
Well, with an injured Anthony Davis and an injured Tyreke Evans, I think it's safe to say that I'm going to be watching a lot fewer Pelicans games in the immediate future.
That's kinda what a number of the Pelican fans were saying, too. That and the use of the "t" word.
Glenn
Hall of Famer
No doubt. I wondered out loud if there isn't some kind of surgery to strengthen his ankle ligaments. He's got a long term problem. I'll do a little reading.
Edit: Well that was easy. Yes, ligaments can be tightened and even a tendon graft can be used if necessary. My guess is that Tyreke might lose a year of playing but the end result hopefully would be good. As it is, he will simply sprain and re-sprain. Kings fans have already seen that.
Chubbs
Starter
With ya. My fantasy team also mourns their loss.
Section 101
All-Star
Out 1-2 weeks. That means he may not play when they come on the 23rd.
Well, that's a lot better than the original speculation.
You know, something in my gut told me that he was going to play tonight.
Now, IANAD, and I've never had an ankle injury, but I've always gotten the sense that, when you have a chronic injury like Evans has, it probably becomes injured more frequently, but it also, conversely, recovers more quickly, the more it happens. And Evans obviously benefited from New Orleans having five days off between games.
And, quiet as it's kept, for as injury-prone as Evans is (and, let's face it, he is), he still has yet to actually miss a game this season. Twelve points off the bench, at the half.
Now, IANAD, and I've never had an ankle injury, but I've always gotten the sense that, when you have a chronic injury like Evans has, it probably becomes injured more frequently, but it also, conversely, recovers more quickly, the more it happens. And Evans obviously benefited from New Orleans having five days off between games.
And, quiet as it's kept, for as injury-prone as Evans is (and, let's face it, he is), he still has yet to actually miss a game this season. Twelve points off the bench, at the half.
Much less impactful in the second half, so you wonder how much adrenaline had to do with his play in the first half, but he still finished the game with 14pts, on 4/7 shooting, 7reb, 3ast and 2stl... not bad for someone who wasn't expected to play for another week, at least.
Evans was fouled going to the basket, at the end of the half, versus Memphis, and rolled his ankle on the way down. He did, in fact, take (and hit) both free throws, so he's eligible to return in the second half, but I believe that he's questionable to return.
At some point, this is going to become a serious issue for discussion. Just how many times can you roll/damage/sprain/strain an ankle before the tendons turn to overcooked spaghetti?
