Perhaps the main problem with Tyreke as of now are the injuries he's playing through. During the summer if you remember, Tyreke was invited to try out for Team USA, but after spraining his ankle, wasn't able to and eventually was cut. He has sprained his ankle a few times since then (and not from wicked Derrick Rose crossovers), and has since changed his shoes to add more support.
More worrisome than the ankles however has been the fact that Tyreke has Plantar Fasciitis, a nagging foot injury that tends to get worse the more you do stuff like run and jump. Running and jumping is kind of a big deal for Tyreke and most NBA players. Last year, Joakim Noah had to miss 18 games due to a severe case, because often the only way to let the condition heal is to simply rest, a luxury not easily afforded in an 82 game season. Evans went to a foot specialist at the behest of his agent yesterday, and says he will continue to play through the pain, as he did in his college year in Memphis (he also said he didn't have it last year, so this has come and gone with him before).
Another problem with Evans right now (and again, I don't know how much to attribute these to injuries, Evans himself is not making excuses for his poor play) is that he has gone away from that which made him so great last year: attacking the basket with no regard for human life or the laws of physics.
Last year, Evans led the league in attempts (8.4) and makes (5.0, tied with LeBron) at the rim, an absolutely ridiculous statistic for a rookie guard. His most glaring weakness was his lack of a jumpshot, and defenses began to figure that out later on in the season as they packed the lane, and his scoring average dropped a bit for those last two months. Still, his assists went up during those months as he learned to find his wide open teammates at the three point line.
So Tyreke spent a large portion of the offseason working on his jumper. Coming from someone who watched all of Tyreke's games last year, it does look a lot better. Unfortunately its still nowhere near consistent enough do make defenses pay for packing the lane. Evans is now attacking the rim less and settling for jumpers more, averaging about three less attempts at the rim than last year. He hasn't fallen too much in love with his long jumper either, only averaging about one extra attempt combined from 16-23 feet and from Threes, while also shooting at a slightly higher percentage (slightly higher, but still not good).
The biggest jump in Evans shot selection has been in the midrange from within 10 feet, where he has seen his attempts go up despite shooting a worse percentage. He's also seeing two less FTA per game, due to the fact he hasn't been attacking the rim as much. Is this perhaps by design? A short term loss for a long term gain in order to improve Tyreke's midrange game? Or is it a factor of the injuries he's dealing with? It could be both for all we know, or even something else, like the fact that the Kings are dead last in 3P% and can't space the floor for him.
Still, it all boils down to one incontrovertible truth; as Tyreke Evans goes, so go the Kings.
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