In the Spotlight: Tyreke Evans (updated)

Tyreke Evans

Position: Point Guard / 2 Guard

Ht: 6-4, Wt: 195

Hometown: Aston, PA

College: Memphis
Class: Freshman

Age: 10/19/89

Strengths

• Possesses incredible ball handling skills… Great cross over dribble which he’s equally comfortable going left or right with.
• Has the ability to freeze his defender with a hard dribble, that he uses to get space for a pull up jumper (if the D sags back) or blow past the defense (if they tighten up).
• Demonstrates good body control when he gets into the lane.
• Plays with an attacking style, consistently penetrating to the basket and putting pressure on the opposition.
• Has a scorer’s mentality, always looking to keep pouring it on. He’s capable of going off for big scoring numbers.
• Excels when he’s in transition, primarily leading the break, but he’s effective filling the wing as well.
• Very long arms, active hands defensively.

Weaknesses

• Lacks the athletic ability to get above the rim, or elevate on his jump shot. Tyreke does not have the leaping ability which he’ll need as his game looks to advance to higher levels.
• Needs to repair his shooting form. It’s ugly, inconsistent and he has a slow release. Tyreke also tends to drift back rather than rising straight up on his jumper.
• Has to improve playing off the ball. Tyreke is at his best when he is isolated one-on-one, but he really struggles moving without the ball and finding other ways to score / be effective.
• Laid back demeanor – not the assertive type: i.e. get after the loose balls, give your buddy up to take the charge, etc.
• Has a tendency to over-dribble when he wants to get to the basket.
• Needs to get better defensively. He has to get more committed on the defensive side of the ball and improve his foot speed. His on the ball defense is sub par right now.
• Shot selection is questionable – as he continues to mature he’ll improve the balance between when to create for others vs. when to look for his own shot.

Overall

Tyreke is blessed with a ton of skills. He is very advanced with the ball in his hands, he has a wide array of moves, tremendous penetration ability and he knows how to get to the bucket. He’s a natural scorer with a mentality to keep pouring it on, with the capability to go off for big scoring numbers.

With all of his talent and skills, I’d like to see Tyreke be more active on the court… crashing the glass, locking up his defender, pursuing loose balls etc.

Tyreke is also not extremely athletic. He can get to the basket, but he doesn’t elevate at an NBA level. He can use his long arms to get in the passing lanes, but he lacks the lateral quickness to keep his man in front of him. He can get past his defender with his dribbling abilities / moves, but he won’t be blazing past any defenders with his speed.