Memphis Roar

If there was ever any doubt on which player would receive the NBA Rookie of the Year honor, the answer should be quite evident now.

Evans congratulated by Dorsey and teammates

Tyreke Evans, the Kings’ rookie point guard, has dazzled fans and opposing players alike this season with high-point performances and is equally impressive in assists and rebounds. Evans, who has sat out 5 games this season due to minor ankle, finger, and hip injuries, is averaging 20.4 points per game with a career high 34-point performance and two 32-point performances.  He is also averaging 5.4 assists per game on the season, with an assist average of 7 per game in the month of February in which he dished out a career high 13 assists against Detroit.  Evans also adds 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game to the stat sheet.

And, on average, he does all of this in 37.1 minutes per game.  Impressive, indeed.

One announcer would say, “That’s Ty-rrific!”

February has been a great month for Evans.  Of his 7 double-doubles on the season, 4 of them have come in February.  He started the month with a 32 point, 8 assist, 7 rebound, 2 steal, 1 block beastly performance, playing 39 minutes.  A week later, he went for 27 points, 7 assists, 10 rebounds, and 1 steal in 45 minutes.  More recently, he added 28 points, 13 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals in a home loss against Detroit.

The Kings, with a record of 20-39, have relied immensely on Evans in every game to provide a bevy of points, along with several game-winning shots that Evans has provided.

The Rookie of the Year contest was once considered a race between Evans and fellow rookie Brandon Jennings, but recently Jennings has been in a slump.  Now Stephen Curry is considered to be the greatest threat to Evans’ Rookie of the Year campaign.  Bleacher Report notes that the only area that Evans could improve upon is his 3-point shooting.  “The guy gets it done every night and is the most solid, well-balanced, and dominant point guard. In a class completely dominated by point guard play, Evans is far and away still the top dog.”

Evans also has the opportunity to be the fourth rookie to average 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in a rookie season, with the other three being LeBron James, Oscar Robertson, and Michael Jordan.  Evans is currently averaging 20.4/4.9/5.4.

*Make sure to visit the newly released site Stand with Tyreke.  This site is dedicated to Evans’ Rookie of the Year Campaign, and offers game highlights, interviews, and a section that goes more in depth about Evans’ personal life.  Fans can also sign an online petition endorsing Evans for Rookie of the Year.*

With Jason Thompson injured and out for up to two weeks, Joey Dorsey could be picking up more minutes with the Kings.  In his first game with the Kings, Dorsey only played for 2 minutes in which he pulled down 1 rebound.  After sitting out the following game, Dorsey was given 12 minutes in which he accounted for 1 steal, 3 rebounds, and 3 points.  It only took 12 minutes for Dorsey to impress coach Paul Westphal, who later said Dorsey is already the Kings’ best defender:

“One thing I would say is he’s our best defensive big man right now,” Westphal said. “I could say that after one quarter. He’s more alert to helping, he’s a physical presence, he likes physical play and that’s his thing… He obviously is not a highly skilled offensive player, but he’s got a pretty good feel for setting screens and offensive rebounding…He gives a lot on the defensive end of the floor, and offensively he’s somebody you don’t want to run a lot of plays for.”

Quick Hits

• Earl Barron continues to be a key player for the Iowa Energy.  In his most recent game, Barron scored a season high 28 points, outperforming his previous high score of 26 points from the previous night.  On February 26th, Barron had his most impressive game of the season with 26 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks, 1 steal, and 1 assist.

• After being called up to join the Oklahoma City Thunder, Antonio Anderson has yet to play any minutes for the team.