A Kings article on what the team needs going forward

[Erick Blasco]

The Sacramento Kings made just enough plays in their 86-81 win over the New Jersey Nets to offset their youthful mistakes. Let’s examine Sacramento’s roster to see what the Kings have now, and what they’ll need going forward.

 

Tyreke Evans—8-21 FG, 0-1 3FG, 4-5 FT, 4 AST, 5 TO, 3 STL, 20 PTS—is the point man of Sacramento’s attack, despite questions surrounding whether or not he’s a true point guard. The Kings mostly featured wing or high isolations or screen/rolls for him against the Nets, though they sometimes posted him 16 feet out along the baseline and allowed him to go one-on-one.

 

Evans has a terrific body and attacking mindset that favors him someday being a primetime scorer. He also has a tight crossover with either hand and an explosive first step that always left him a half step past his defender before that player could react.

 

Despite knocking down 5-9 jump shots, his form still needs tweaking. While it isn’t as pronounced as it was in the past, Evans still brings the ball above his head before he releases it. His touch is somewhat better as his release point is somewhat lower, but the catapult motion generated by his mechanics is still too great. One of his pull-up jumpers was an airball, and another pinballed between the front and back rim several times before dropping through.

 

Evans also has a bad habit of fading away on his jumpers when it isn’t necessary, causing his shots to fall short. In time this should be corrected if he cares enough to correct it, but it’s still a problem in the short term.

 

The biggest hole in Evans’ offensive arsenal is his lack of a short jumper. Inside 15 feet, Evans is either putting his head down and attacking the hoop no matter what, or he’s overpenetrating and making wild kick out passes back to the outside. Evans forced several drives this way resulting in missed layups through multiple defenders, offensive fouls, and stolen passes.

 

As a passer, Evans almost exclusively looks to drive and kick back to the perimeter. Not all of his passes are on target either. Several drives and kicks that found their intended targets were still made at the players legs or caused the player to break out of his natural movement. He also tends to overhandle and overpenetrate.

 

Because of Evans’ proliferation as a slasher, and his relatively flawed passing skills, he projects to somebody best served as a two-guard than a point guard, though he’ll need to learn to work more off the ball to make that switch.

 

Defensively, Evans applies more ball pressure than he has in the past, and he has great ball skills to intercept lazy dribbles and passes, but he still gets caught on screens, still fouls jump shooters, and is still flat-footed on defense, on one possession letting Anthony Morrow blow by him while hardly leaving his stance.

 

With all of Sacramento’s defensive difficulties this early season, and with Evans’ role as the face of the franchise, the onus is on him to stop being lazy on defense. If he doesn’t take defense seriously, why should anyone else?

 

http://www.sactownroyalty.com/2010/11/20/1826754/sacramento-kings-breakdown-rugged-kings-need-more-polish

[AboveLegit]

Was about to post a topic regarding Tyreke's struggles to start the season, but this article does a great job describing his weaknesses and flaws, nice job Erick.

 

Right now he's shooting 2-10 from the field against the Heat for 5 points. He just hasn't developed any consistency on either end of the court, and it's showing up on the statsheet. He's shooting under 40% from the field and under 30% from three. There's basically a decline in ever major statistical category from last year, other than turnovers per game...

[Nitro]

If memory serves me correctly, Evans is suffering from plantar faschiatis, right? If so, that's a tough injury to play through, especially for a perimeter player without much of a jumper. I expect him to get better as the season goes along, but at some point he'll need to develop a consistent jumper from at least midrange. Against the great defenses, he'll have to do more than simply bully his way to the rim or break people's ankles with that crossover. He should also really learn how to play in the post because he certainly has the strength to back down pretty much any SG he wants. And the whole idea that he is a PG is ridiculous...he's a SG, plain and simple. He's a very good playmaker at the two-guard position on the basis that he is so good at dribble penetration, but he doesn't have the IQ or passing ability to have to be doing heavy lifting in that department on a non-lottery team.

[Erick Blasco]

I'd like to see him form a short jumper or some floater he can unleash if a defender is simply waiting at the basket. All he tries to do is blast through guys or try some fancy nonsense at the hoop. A floater would help.

 

Yeah, Evans is dealing with plantar fasciitis (is there a more annoying word to spell without looking up? It's a common word in NBA circles---I've been using it to stick up for the 2006 Mavs for four years---and I still can't spell it right on first go), which is an awful injury to have for anybody, but his form still needs work. There's so little polish to Evans' game. I still love the guy's ability to finish at the basket. Players who can finish through contact either turn into special scorers who win playoff series against elite defenses...or Corey Maggette.