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Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Tyreke Evans wins NBA Rookie of the Year award
by Rob Small, published on April 29, 2010 at 1:34 PM
Storyline: RekeROY
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After a historic season averaging 20.1 points, 5.3 rebounds 5.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game, Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans will be named the 2009-10 NBA Rookie of the Year (ROY).
The 20-year-old Chester, Pa. native became the first Kings player to win a postseason award since Bobby Jackson won the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2003 and the fifth rookie in franchise history to win the ROY award.
Maurice Stokes of the Rochester Royals, Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas of the Cincinnati Royals and Phil Ford of the Kansas City Kings were the first four. Evans is the first of to win the award in the Sacramento era.
He also became the fourth rookie to average 20 points, five rebounds and five assists per game (20-5-5). The first three were Robertson, the Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James.
Robertson and Jordan became basketball hall of famers, and James is one of the top players in the NBA.
Evans became the second-straight Memphis University alum to win the award. Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls won last year's award.
He also beat the Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Brandon Jennings, who were contenders for the award.
Before Evans won the award, Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie explained what the ROY award would mean for him.
"I think it's certainly a validation of Tyreke's play over the course of the entire year," he said. "He certainly helped elevate our team and give it some great promise for the future going forward. Hopefully, his play at both ends of the court will be rewarded."
The Kings had the best chance at the No.1 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft but fell to the No.4 pick in the lottery, the worst-case scenario.
The Kings picked Evans after Blake Griffin was taken by the Los Angeles Clippers, Hasheem Thabeet was taken by the Memphis Grizzlies and James Harden was taken by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Griffin never played a game due to a knee injury, Thabeet became the highest drafted player to be sent to the National Basketball Developmental League and Harden became a role player for the Thunder.
Evans impressed in the Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 19.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and a steal per game for five games.
Evans earned the starting point guard job, replacing incumbent Beno Udrih. In the home opener, the Kings’ leading scorer, Kevin Martin, was injured.
The team learned after the next game that his wrist was broken and the injury forced him to miss the next 32 games.
During the very next game, Evans exploded for 32 points and seven assists in a 104-99 upset win over the Utah Jazz.
He won two Western Conference Rookie of the Month awards for October/November and December, leading the Kings to a 13-13 record since Martin's injury.
Evans has been the best player on the Kings and became a go-to player late in games. He scored the game-winning lay-up on Dec.19 in Milwaukee with less than a second remaining in the game.
Two nights later, he scored the last nine of 11 points of the game for the Kings and helped his team come back from a 35-point deficit in Chicago to defeat the Bulls 102-98. It was the second-largest comeback in NBA history.
The largest comeback occurred in 1996 when the Utah Jazz overcame a 36-point deficit against the Denver Nuggets.
On Jan. 9, Evans hit his second game-winner of the season to help beat the Nuggets.
Evans and with teammate Omri Casspi were the first Kings since Brad Miller and Peja Stojakovic in 2004 to participate in an All-Star event.
Both were selected to start for the Rookie team in the T-Mobil Rookie Challenge in Dallas. The Rookies beat the Sophomores for the first time in eight years by a score of 140-128.
Evans won the Most Valuable Player award for the game, posting 26 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals.
Evans also played with Team Sacramento in the Haier Shooting Stars competition with former King Chris Webber and former Sacramento Monarch and current New York Liberty forward Nicole Powell. Team Sacramento finished in third place.
After All-Star Weekend, the Kings traded Martin to the Rockets in a three-team trade with the New York Knicks for Carl Landry and Joey Dorsey, re-enforcing their belief in Evans as part of their future.
On March 10, on a night dedicated to him called Rally for RekeROY (Tyreke Evans for Rookie of the Year) Night, Evans earned his first career triple-double against the Toronto Raptors with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 113-90 win.
Only 17 other players recorded a triple-double this season, including Evans' teammate Beno Udrih.
"It was really exciting to see Tyreke have such a fitting night," Kings Head Coach Paul Westphal said after the game. "There are a lot of (good) rookies this year. For this year, it's not even close (for the rookie of the year award)."
In a poll of 173 NBA players conducted by "Sports Illustrated", Lakers teammates Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest were voted the two toughest defenders in the league.
On March 16, Evans was guarded by both of those players in different times of the game and played exceptionally well.
Evans had a near triple-double with 25 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in the 106-99 loss to the Lakers.
In his first match-up against Evans on Dec. 26, Bryant was already impressed by him.
"Tyreke Evans is going to be a hell of a player," he said after he first played against. "(The Kings start) with him, so he has a really bright future."
For most of the season, Evans was on pace to average 20-5-5. On April 12, he secured that milestone in the second-to-last game of the season by scoring 24 points in a 117-107 loss to the Houston Rockets, but it wasn't easy for him.
"That was the hardest basket I ever had to get in my life," he said after the game. "I was trying to get it done in the first half and get it over with. I never knew that I would come into the NBA and average 20-5-5.
"I watched the game a lot growing up, watching (Anfernee) "Penny" Hardaway. Now actually being here, seeing what it's like, it's just a dream come true."
Only two other players in the NBA finished with 20-5-5 this season – James and Bryant.
After the season was over, Evans was one of three players to receive an invite to Team USA Basketball's mini-camp for a chance to compete in the FIBA World Championships in Turkey this summer.
Evans was consistent from the start of the season and has become one of the players in the NBA, earning the respect of 16-year veteran point guard Jason Kidd.
"He has all the skills," the Dallas Mavericks point guard said. "He has the talent to take over the game in scoring and being able to find guys."
Although there was debate that Curry and Jennings were also deserving of the ROY award, the Kings rookie would be the one to receive his crown.
Read Martin McNeal's thoughts on the ROY award here.
Season Highs
Points: 34 Jan. 18 at Charlotte Bobcats
Rebounds: 11 rebounds (4 times) last March 16 vs, Los Angeles Lakers
Assists: 13 (twice) last March 31 at Minnesota
Steals: 4 (twice) last March 30 at Indiana
Blocks: 3 (3 times) last Jan.18 at Charlotte Bobcats
Statistical Rankings
Category: Rank, (Rank Among Rookies)
Points per game: 16th (1st)
Rebounds per game (among guards): 4th (1st)
Assists per game: 15th (2nd)
Steals per game: 16th (2nd)
Blocks per game (among guards): 15th (1st)
Awards/Accomplishments
Oct./Nov. 2009 NBA Rookie of the Month
Dec. 2009 NBA Rookie of the Month
2010 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge Most Valuable Player
2010 Haier Shooting Stars Participant
Fourth rookie to average 20 points, five rebounds and five assists per game
Team USA Basketball 2010 mini-camp invite
2009-10 NBA Rookie of the Year
Photo Credit: Jonathan Mendick
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Is this supposed to convince voters to support the arena 'deal'???
It won't...
If I write about the Sacramento River Cats am I trying to say the Cats need a new stadium? If I write about NBA draft prospects passing through Sac am I trying to convince people to watch college basketball? I plan on writing about both very soon but not for those reasons.
Go through the 31 articles I’ve written on SP and you find that I’ve written about the arena issue as many times as you’ve posted an article on this site. Zero.
This article is strictly about the Tyreke winning ROY and nothing else, no matter what you think.
I love writing about the Kings and the NBA and I was fortunate enough to be born in a city with a franchise.
I’m a student at Sac City College about to get my AA in journalism and transferring to Azusa Pacific in the fall to further my studies. I’m also a sports writer for the school’s paper Express and previously worked on the online version www.saccityexpress.com last semester.
For almost 4 months I worked beside SP staff and the interns and they’ve done nothing wrong in terms of journalism. They report the facts and they’re unbiased. Journalism is not pure investigative journalism into every hard hitting issue Sac has. There’s a lot more to Sac than that – sports teams, entertainment, community events, and more. They’re not KCRA or SacBee but they do a good job at what they do.
I came onto SacPress when my instructor gave me an assignment and told my classmates to post it on this site.
http://sacramentopress.com/headline/16755/Mayor_Johnson_Operation_Sellout_on_track
For my final project I chose to do a personality profile and I wanted to do it on Tyreke. I got permission from the Kings, went to a few practices and a game turned in my story and posted here.
http://sacramentopress.com/headline/19312/Kings_rookie_Evans_among_the_best_in_the_NBA
SP liked my story, and when the Kings wanted to start the Tyreke Evans ROY campaign with them, they asked me and I accepted, They also brought on Marty Mac to write recaps of the Kings game. So every article after January under the RekeROY storyline is for that campaign, nothing else.
SP is not a pawn for KJ, an arena plan or anything for that matter. They don’t praise one thing and shoot down all who oppose it. They do their jobs as journalists and run a respectable publication.
If you have anything to blame SP for their KJ coverage, blame that they’re 5 blocks away from City Hall, closer than any other media outlet in town. It’s literally a walk away and the fact that Kathleen goes to the press conference every Tuesday morning means that they care about covering events that involves the city’s mayor, no matter who that may be now or in the future.
So, bbbbmer, before you go judging an article based on something entirely off topic, get off the comment thread and write an article like many other community contributors on this site do and back it up.
You think that articles on the Kings and updates on the arena issue are meant to “convince voters to support the arena 'deal”?
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but what you wrote is baseless, false and, truthfully, unintelligent.
What you think of what I write is immaterial -- if you had read most of what I have written over the past ten years of commenting here and elsewhere (all available via google, honey) you probably wouldn't post such tripe about my comments...
Sac City, eh??? Yowsa...
But, ill-informed as your opinion may be, you're entitled to it... And when you're done with your 'world class' education at harvard on the highway, have fun at your next teabagger thingy or Kings gamey, having hocked your rent payment to pay for a ticket....
First off, Michael Morris, a good friend of mine from school, didn't respond to you. Being a member of the media, you get to go to games for free, meaning I spent $0 for anything there. Sac City, what you expected Sac State, UC Davis?
I said that SP isn't a pawn for KJ and you did. "I commend SP for its mission, but they need to be more careful about acting as the face of the mayor and his suckups by challenging the veracity and purpose of stories leaked or brought by them..."
http://sacramentopress.com/headline/25463/City_Council_unanimously_agrees_to_hire_consultant_for_audit
That is you, right?
You also commented on Mike's Kings story when it mentioned nothing about a supporting a new arena or how winning a game would help them get an arena. Just a Kings win. "One win ain't gonna get 'em that there arena."
http://sacramentopress.com/headline/24398/Kings_streaking_comes_to_an_end
That's you too, right? You seem to like to bring up the arena issue when the Kings are involved in a story. That's proven in Mike's story and your first comment above in this article. Am I wrong anywhere. Point it out.
What you call tripe is really truth and I don't need Google to look up the 669 comments you wrote on this site to prove my point.
I've read what you've wrote. You insult readers and writers who have a different opinion than you and take away from the article that was written. I don't care how many comments you have all over the Internet the past 10 years. It still adds up to no articles.
You haven't even proved that I'm wrong in what I say with anything other than what you write. Back it up, show some facts. Type in whatever you want after this. I'll read it, but I'm done talking.
My initial comment on this page had to do with all of the local hype about this one basketballer and its relationship to the arena 'deal'.
Then YOU hurled invective at ME.
But you failed to realize that as an old queen, I've faced ninnies like you all my life, and I spit back better than you offered, and that must just gall a Rhodes Scholar like you....
And in fact, I *never* hurl invective at another commenter first -- unless their comments are so stupid as to warrant some riposte.
But when some jerk faces me, I return with both barrels, and I'm rather good at it. And that just pisses people like you off to high heaven...
Fine with me....
And I stand by my initial assertion -- there seems to be a concerted effort to overhype all things basketball to prop up waning support for this 'three card monty' 'deal' that will, for a variety of reasons that you and yours probably can't fathom, cost taxpayers a load of cash at a time when there are so many other priorities at hand, like poverty, homelessness, healthcare, etc., all of which are on the chopping block locally because of an economic meltdown unseen since the Great Depression.
If basketball is your priority, so be it. It isn't mine, and it ought not be our community's to the tune of $4 billion this 'deal' is inevitably going to cost....
"...when some jerk faces me, I return with both barrels, and I'm rather good at it. And that just pisses people like you off to high heaven... "
Oh, you are soooo good at it, eh? Look at your comments again and their ratings. The Cheese stands alone!
Ignore him, nothing he says warrants a response.
The unfortunate consequence of long-winded negative banter is that it often drowns out the critical details and message within the primary text. Not only do I not remember, but I am reluctant to look back up there. Plain and simple, the negativity makes things ugly.
To be clear, I'll state my position regarding the arena issue that has been raised in these comments. Arco Arena has done a good job as a venue for events in the community for many years. A new arena built on the current railyard site is something I support. A public-private partnership is something I support. A bond to provide the public portion of development funds is unpopular, but it is something I support.
However, unless I'm writing specifically about an arena deal, I won't be writing about an arena deal. There's an old saying - if it's not on the page, it's not on the page. You can count on me not to be talking about what I'm not expressly talking about. That seems logical and simple enough.
Keep it civil, keep it clean, keep it as accurate and transparent as possible. Anything less than that should be flagged and deleted. I'm all for an insurgent mirror site with hot links to reference content elsewhere. Those committed to such a village voice should go ahead and create that. I'll contribute there regarding things I disagree with.
Returning to the point of this article, cheers to Tyreke, and GO KINGS!
You'd make a good republican.
I'll be at the presser and planning on attending the rally if there is one.
By the way, you still have the pics from the Rockets game? There's a guy who writes for SLAM Magazine who wants a picture of him that I took with your camera. Email me back about it.
If Americans spent as much time being involved in their communities as they do watching meaningless sports games our communities and country would be much better off.
Great story. Keep up the good work.
Note: It is easy to tell which kid played on the team that picked last.
Even though the RekeROY campaign is officially over, I hope you guys enjoy my future work here on SP. So to end the campaign on a good note I just posted a story about Reke getting his trophy at the press conference and the celebration rally that followed it.
Hope you like it as much as you did this one and thanks again everyone.
http://sacramentopress.com/headline/24689/Evans_receives_ROY_trophy_scenes_from_the_rally