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Hey guys, I was browsing the web, and found this post on nbadraft.net.

I figured, since some of us have been a little down on Evans this season (fans wanting him traded). I thought you guys might be interested in what other NBA fans are saying about REKE and his so called "sophomore slump." It's not a whole lot, but it's still good to read.

Did they just forget about him? Last year he had at least one topic every couple of days. This just crossed my mind because they were talking about him on ESPN radio saying teams have adjusted to and had a year to scout him. I haven't watched more than 2 of the kings games so i don't know what he's doing other then looking at his stats. Is this just a case of out with the old in with the new as far as what people talk about? Is he now woody and Blake is buzz light year?

http://www.nbadraft.net/forum/what-happened-tyreke-evans-bandwagon

Thoughts?

I'm still right here, proudly wearing my #13 jersey.

I fully expect him to get over this, work on his faults, and be winning back fans - in spades - over the next year.

It's because of:

(a) injuries
(b) possible conditioning issues
(c) the Kings' flawed offense

I'm confident that these three things are the major reasons why Evans doesn't look himself.

Since this is generally a "Tyreke Evans thread".. I'll just post this up here also. I thought this was pretty cool.. even though I'm not a huge Queen Latifah fan. lmao.

Queen Latifah Enlists Tyreke Evans To Quench Your Thirst

Sacramento Kings point guard, Tyreke Evans, has joined forces with Queen Latifah, co-owner of New York Spring Water, to endorse VBLAST! vitamin water and its sister product Aqua84. The 2010 NBA Rookie of the Year is set to be the first sports star to kick-off the company’s national campaign to showcase the new packaging that will appear on the shelves of 7-Eleven stores in early December of this year.

http://www.nationalblackguide.com/news/sports/450--queen-latifah-enlists-tyreke-evans-to-quench-your-thirst

Well he got alot of attention last year because he was a rookie and he was getting the team wins which people did not expect. But now he is is injured/not playing well and the team sucks.

I still think he should rest more so he can be explosive once more. He seems to shoot first instead of drive like he did last year.

"Sometimes when I lay the ball up, I don't want to come down because I feel like I'm going to twist my ankle," Evans said. "So I'm kind of thinking about it too much."

"When I go to the basket, I'm afraid to come down on the ankle. Some days it's better than others, but when it's sore, I start thinking about it, and it makes me hesitate."

"It is frustrating because in my mind I think I can go," Evans said. "I just watched some of the film of my layups, and I'm not getting the same lift that I used to last year.

"The foot, that's the only thing bothering me, pressure when I push off," Evans said. "I've just been fighting through it and just try not to think about it. Just go out there and play."

From these quotes, the plantar fasciitis is CLEARLY affecting his game. For those who says "LOLZ TYREKE REGRESSED! HE IS OVERRATED AND SUCKS!!1!" don't know what they are talking about.

I still hold my stance that Evans will return his normal self once he get the PROPER rest. As of right now, I don't think this will be a quick fix thing. Evans need to accept the fact that he NEEDS to sit out for a couple of weeks to regain his explosiveness & overall movement.

Yeah, he looked pretty good after 1 game and no practice, imagine what he'd look like with a good month off! 1 game off for an issue like this is a joke. The only way for him to get back to his normal self is REST.

It's in the shop with Plantar Faciitis.

When you're a rookie you're compared to rookies. Once you're rookie year is over you're compared to everyone else in the league. Combine that with a lot of people are tired of seeing the Kings lose that the patience has worn thin.

ICMTM wrote:When you're a rookie you're compared to rookies. Once you're rookie year is over you're compared to everyone else in the league. Combine that with a lot of people are tired of seeing the Kings lose that the patience has worn thin.

+1..... kid had a great rookie year which also made most fans expect him to have an even better 2nd yr.... his injuries and the awful season the kings have has contributed to that as well... he should really just rest and take it easy, i dont want him dealing with the pain up to next season...

Just like Tyreke, the bandwagon is rolling on a bad wheel right now.

It broke a wheel.

I watched every single KINGS game last year and the Reke we see right now is not th Reke ROY we saw last year, plain and simple because of the foot problem.

Pull up any highlight vid on youtube and you'll see he just doesn't have the same explosiveness and bounce in his step that he had last year. I mean, he was just abusing people so bad it wasn't funny.

KF10 wrote:

"Sometimes when I lay the ball up, I don't want to come down because I feel like I'm going to twist my ankle," Evans said. "So I'm kind of thinking about it too much."

"When I go to the basket, I'm afraid to come down on the ankle. Some days it's better than others, but when it's sore, I start thinking about it, and it makes me hesitate."

"It is frustrating because in my mind I think I can go," Evans said. "I just watched some of the film of my layups, and I'm not getting the same lift that I used to last year.

"The foot, that's the only thing bothering me, pressure when I push off," Evans said. "I've just been fighting through it and just try not to think about it. Just go out there and play."

From these quotes, the plantar fasciitis is CLEARLY affecting his game. For those who says "LOLZ TYREKE REGRESSED! HE IS OVERRATED AND SUCKS!!1!" don't know what they are talking about.

I still hold my stance that Evans will return his normal self once he get the PROPER rest. As of right now, I don't think this will be a quick fix thing. Evans need to accept the fact that he NEEDS to sit out for a couple of weeks to regain his explosiveness & overall movement.

/Thread

Early last year Tyreke and the Kings took teams by surprise.

Later teams figured out that the Kings had Martin/Garcia injured that the Kings had few vet 3 point threats to keep defenders honest.

Then Tyreke/Thompson/Hawes were seeing 4-5 defenders in the paint the rest of the year which makes baskets tough.

The Maloofs fell for the hype and traded Martin while injured instead of waiting for Martin to heal in the offseason and evaluate them together at 100%.

The trading of Hawes/Noci/Martin for Dalembert/Landry left this team with the same problem of having 4-5 defenders in the paint.

Tyereke when there is offensive balance again on the roster though a couple of trades and the draft, Tyreke will be able to attack the basket without 2 or 3 defenders waiting for him in the paint.

Tyreke is trying to do too much right now.

It will get better in the future for Tyreke.

Durant made the playoffs in his 3rd year so it could be possible next year with a couple tweaks and draft.

cdt3 wrote:Early last year Tyreke and the Kings took teams by surprise.

Later teams figured out that the Kings had Martin/Garcia injured that the Kings had few vet 3 point threats to keep defenders honest.

Then Tyreke/Thompson/Hawes were seeing 4-5 defenders in the paint the rest of the year which makes baskets tough.

The Maloofs fell for the hype and traded Martin while injured instead of waiting for Martin to heal in the offseason and evaluate them together at 100%.

The trading of Hawes/Noci/Martin for Dalembert/Landry left this team with the same problem of having 4-5 defenders in the paint.

Tyereke when there is offensive balance again on the roster though a couple of trades and the draft, Tyreke will be able to attack the basket without 2 or 3 defenders waiting for him in the paint.

Tyreke is trying to do too much right now.

It will get better in the future for Tyreke.

Precisely the point I was trying to make last year. Is it any coincidence that suddenly the Kings now have ZERO consistent outside shooting? And now we're SCRAMBLING to find somebody who can throw the ball in the ocean from deep. You don't give a guy only a handful of games coming off a season-long injury and expect that to be an adaquet barometer of how well he fits in with the team. And for all those who scoffed at this, CONGRATULATIONS! We are now officially WORSE than we ever were with Martin, injured or otherwise. Do you honestly think this team MAKES it to the 17 wins that Martin got us? (Much less the 25 of last year) Or, do we break the record for fewest wins in a season? After last night's performance, look through the entire rest of the schedule and name me ONE game where you can honestly say "that's a win. We're better than them".

Here we go again, as if Martin would help this team at all. News flash, the Kings didn't have consistent shooting with Martin either. We were complaining about the same freakin' thing last season. Martin's primary offensive skill is drawing contact and getting to the line. I don't know where the hell people get this idea that he's a Ray Allen type. Even if he is and is still with us, I doubt we would look any better than we do now. This team has issues way beyond outside shooting.

Not quite sure where it was in my post that I either stated or implied that he was a Ray Allen. If you would be so kind as to point that out for me, I would greatly appreciate it.

What I'm saying is, Kevin Martin is a shooter. He shoots very well. He scores very well. This you cannot deny.
The Kings currently have a shortage of shooters and consistent scorers. This you also cannot deny.

That being said, I have but one question. True or false? The Sacramento Kings became an improved team as a direct result of trading Kevin Martin.

SacTownKings4Life wrote:Not quite sure where it was in my post that I either stated or implied that he was a Ray Allen. If you would be so kind as to point that out for me, I would greatly appreciate it.

What I'm saying is, Kevin Martin is a shooter. He shoots very well. He scores very well. This you cannot deny.
The Kings currently have a shortage of shooters and consistent scorers. This you also cannot deny.

That being said, I have but one question. True or false? The Sacramento Kings became an improved team as a direct result of trading Kevin Martin.

And I'm saying Kevin Martin isn't a shooter (and that's what I meant by the "Ray Allen type"). He's decent at it (at least this season), but it's not his strength. Where he's elite at is getting to the line, and the last thing this team needs is another guy driving to the hoop and clogging the lane. To force him to be purely a shooter would be an injustice to him and what he does best.

To answer your question, my answer is TRUE. It it weren't for his early season injury and being traded later that year, we may have never have known what kind of talent Evans is. Also, the one thing a lot of people miss is the significant amount of cap space we gained for trading him away. His contract may have been good at the time he signed it, but when it became clear he wasn't going to fit with the team, that 10 million all of the sudden looked like a massive contract. He's also terrible on defense. Beno isn't any better I admit, but at least his offensive game better compliments Tyreke.

Wolfay wrote:And I'm saying Kevin Martin isn't a shooter (and that's what I meant by the "Ray Allen type"). He's decent at it (at least this season), but it's not his strength. Where he's elite at is getting to the line, and the last thing this team needs is another guy driving to the hoop and clogging the lane. To force him to be purely a shooter would be an injustice to him and what he does best.

Kevin Martin must be respected from beyond the arc. Can you name anybody on this team that MUST be respected beyond the arc? That's why defenses are able to collapse on Evans and Cousins in the lane.
And I'm honestly surprised that you're actually concerned with what does Martin justice. I really am.

Wolfay wrote:To answer your question, my answer is TRUE. It it weren't for his early season injury and being traded later that year, we may have never have known what kind of talent Evans is. Also, the one thing a lot of people miss is the significant amount of cap space we gained for trading him away. His contract may have been good at the time he signed it, but when it became clear he wasn't going to fit with the team, that 10 million all of the sudden looked like a massive contract. He's also terrible on defense. Beno isn't any better I admit, but at least his offensive game better compliments Tyreke.

Key words - MAY have. Not WOULD have. You don't know that definitively because it never happened. The fact of the matter is that we DID NOT ever get to see whether or not Martin and Evans could play together for the course of an entire season. 15-20 games in the middle of the season is NOT a comprehensive analysis of the cohesiveness of one particular player and a whole team, which was ALREADY struggling to begin with. That is what I have a problem with. What exactly was the rush to trade him? It's not as if our playoff hopes were on the line or anything, and we NEEDED a quick deal to get back on the "winning" track. We were going nowhere to begin with, and NOW we are just going there faster. If Martin was THE reason why the team was so bad (as you have always portrayed it to be), why have we FAILED to improve upon his departure? Seriously dude. You call 5-21 AND blowing a 5 point lead in under 20 seconds, in which they fouled 3 point shooters TWICE and then FAILED to foul on the final possession to prevent a clean 3, an IMPROVEMENT? What basketball are you watching?

And since you mentioned Martin driving the lane and getting to the line...
If Martin DOES drive the lane and get to the line in that 4th quarter (instead of Tyreke and Cousins forcing garbage into the lane, resulting in multiple bad shots and repeated turnovers) WE WIN THAT GAME. Point blank, end of discussion. And another thing - who on this team can shoot a free throw as well as Martin?