The Tyreke Evans Problem

[Scoot McGroot]

There is no problem... he will not be here next year... we just dont have space to resign him...

In theory, we have space. It's just that, if his brother is to believed at all, he has no interest in returning. And, barring a major change in philosophy, we have no spot for him to be successful.

[Pacers_Freak]

Agree there for sure. He is a lot like Lance was in that regard. If you let him have the ball in his hands, he will put up numbers. The problem is that it doesn't really fit in well with the Pacers' offense.

He and Lance are SOOOO similar in my opinion. Lance just made you laugh more.

Blaspheme!

Please turn your fan card in at the front door.

Lol. He was adored by the Pacer fans. He entertained on a nightly basis. But, go look at Lance's numbers from last year and Tyreke's from this year. Eerily similar.

[Wizop]

good article from JMichael

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2019/03/20/tyreke-evans-best-game-pacer-follows-sitdown-nate-mcmillan-vs-golden-state-warriors/3221497002/

[JermaineOYea]

He and Lance are SOOOO similar in my opinion. Lance just made you laugh more.

Blaspheme!

Please turn your fan card in at the front door.

Lol. He was adored by the Pacer fans. He entertained on a nightly basis. But, go look at Lance's numbers from last year and Tyreke's from this year. Eerily similar.

I know, brotha. I just live Lance like a brother. I had to get his back.

[JermaineOYea]

"Tyreke Evans admits it's been a roller coaster season"

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://clutchpoints.com/pacers-news-tyreke-evans-admits-its-been-a-roller-coaster-for-me-this-season/amp/&ved=2ahUKEwi3iKmBnJThAhUk_4MKHYANAkkQ0PADMAZ6BAgJEA0&usg=AOvVaw30rje3hWrRo_5O6HoP1WJe


The term "roller coaster" implies there's been some ups to go along with the downs. And the other downs, as well as the rest of the downs.

I think the analogy he's looking for here is that this season has been like the "Journey to the center of the Earth".

[boomershadow]

I've been one of Evans's biggest critics this year, but if he can put together a decent playoff series or two....and I do think he is capable of it....a lot will be forgiven in my eyes.

[Scoot McGroot]

I've been one of Evans's biggest critics this year, but if he can put together a decent playoff series or two....and I do think he is capable of it....a lot will be forgiven in my eyes.

Yup. If we get to the 2nd round, it will only have been with his production, in addition to a bunch of other guys really putting it together.

[pacers33granger]

I've been one of Evans's biggest critics this year, but if he can put together a decent playoff series or two....and I do think he is capable of it....a lot will be forgiven in my eyes.

I'm cautiously optimistic in his play lately, though we've been down this road a few times so far. But maybe it just took him nearly a full season to figure it out? Not holding my breath, but there has been some good signs the past few games.

It would help a lot for our offseason too if he figured it out and wanted to stick around (we'd have to want him to as well of course).

[Wizop]

It would help a lot for our offseason too if he figured it out and wanted to stick around (we'd have to want him to as well of course).

I'm sure Tyreke figured out how he liked to play years ago. we tried to put a square peg in a round hole.

say we resign DC, Wesley, and Tyreke and let CoJo go. with a healthy Vic, you start Vic and DC, and come off the bench with Tyreke and Wesley. I think that works.

if Wesley moves on, maybe McBuckets fills that 2nd unit 2 spot. a 3 man wing rotation of Vic, Bogie, and Doug should work.

now I'm assuming that Holiday and Sumner still won't be ready for more than 12 minutes each. nor will Alize or any wing we draft. but if Tyreke moves on, we'll probably have to find out if the kids can play.

[pacers33granger]

It would help a lot for our offseason too if he figured it out and wanted to stick around (we'd have to want him to as well of course).

I'm sure Tyreke figured out how he liked to play years ago. we tried to put a square peg in a round hole.

.

No doubt. But he was vocal early on about this being the first time his team has cared. He was a typical AAU guy, so he likely really has not played "the right way" ever.

I'm not optimistic about it, but hopeful.

[winter_mute_13]

I'm sure Tyreke figured out how he liked to play years ago. we tried to put a square peg in a round hole.

I agree. I think there was a Tyreke fan who warned us that Tyreke needed the ball in his hands to be effective. Essentially, he needed to be put in the point guard role.

I'm not the biggest Tyreke fan, but if Nate trusts him enough to let him control the offense full time, he could be the PG upgrade we were hoping for. It doesn't look likely at this point though - I mean, he's not even starting over CoJo, and DC is set to return. But there's a case to be made that the Turner-Sabonis-Bogdanovic-Matthews-Evans group is our most talented lineup right now.

[winter_mute_13]

Btw, 2 weeks ago I thought Tyreke's Pacers tenure was sealed, and not in a good way. Full credit to Tyreke and McMillan for not giving up, and finding a way to get him to contribute.

[Wizop]

I can make a case that the Tyreke problem is CoJo (or McMillan). It took us all year, but we've discovered that Tyreke's position on this team, this year, is 2nd unit point guard. we need to take the ball away from CoJo on the 2nd unit and let him be the shooting guard with Tyreke the point guard.

while for most of the year I was happy with CoJo and would have traded Tyreke for a wet noodle, I'd be quite happy if next year our 1st unit backcourt was DC and Victor, and our 2nd unit backcourt was Tyreke and Wesley. that's a win now solution.

[pacers33granger]

I can make a case that the Tyreke problem is CoJo (or McMillan). It took us all year, but we've discovered that Tyreke's position on this team, this year, is 2nd unit point guard. we need to take the ball away from CoJo on the 2nd unit and let him be the shooting guard with Tyreke the point guard.

while for most of the year I was happy with CoJo and would have traded Tyreke for a wet noodle, I'd be quite happy if next year our 1st unit backcourt was DC and Victor, and our 2nd unit backcourt was Tyreke and Wesley. that's a win now solution.

I'd be fine with that next year too as Holiday can play off the ball just fine. CoJo can't (nor can he effectively play on ball anyways). We still run into the issue with Tyreke that he's hit or miss even with the ball in his hands though.

[boomershadow]

We won't actually DO it, but I would be all in favor of CoJo falling out of the lineup completely when DC is healthy again, and just run the Holiday/Evans backcourt with the bench unit.

[Wizop]

We won't actually DO it, but I would be all in favor of CoJo falling out of the lineup completely when DC is healthy again, and just run the Holiday/Evans backcourt with the bench unit.

I don't think Holiday is ready to get big minutes particularly at the 2. for a shortened playoff rotation, I'm okay with a 3 man rotation at 2/3 of Matthews, Bojan, and Douggie. I see no reason Douggie can't play 2 with Bojan at 3, and 3 with Matthews at 2. DC and Tyreke would be the 1's, and we'd have another 3 man rotation at 4/5 with Turner, Young, and Sabonis. that's an 8 man playoff rotation. CoJo covers for injuries, foul trouble, and particular matchups.

[DoubleEagle4]

[Wizop]

this is a case of doing the same thing and expecting different results. Tyreke just can't put his head down and drive into the trees without looking to see if there is a pass to be made. he sometimes makes good passes which makes me think he's made up his mind whether to shoot or pass before he takes his first step. could be wrong,

[pacers33granger]

he sometimes makes good passes which makes me think he's made up his mind whether to shoot or pass before he takes his first step.

This is 100% his problem. He's just not a high IQ player and you can tell what he's going to do before he does it. It's also why he ends up traveling so much, because something happens that gets in the way of his predetermined move.

It's the difference between him and Lance with the Domas pick and roll. It works well enough with Tyreke because Domas is so good, but his passes are off more because he's decided to pass it once Domas sets the screen instead of reading the play.

[Jake0890]

The picture that DoubleEagle posted is one of the most damning thing I've seen about anyone on our team all season but also one of the least surprising.