These Guys Are Young: Tyreke Evans

The NBA is the most up close and personal professional sports league around.  No helmets and pads covering the players.  No hats.  Just shorts, uniforms, shoes and, in Stephen Jackson's case, a tremendous amount of McDavid or Nike body armour.  These guys look so smart out on the court doing things we can only dream of doing on a Nerf hoop.  But then there are stories you read which make you realize that a lot of these guys are still very, very young.

This recent story (thanks to TrueHoop) in the Sac Bee about 21 year old Tyreke Evans is proof.  Here's last years Rookie of the Year (Steph Curry was a close 2nd) just eating a crap load of fast food.  Then his mom Bonita and grandma Alice come stay with him over the Holiday Season making him home cooked soul food meals and he procedes to lose weight and get faster on the court, as confirmed by Coach Westphal.

Which brings up this obvious question: Shouldn't these teams invest more in nutrition?  A smart Owner/GM would probably hire a nutritionist and a cook onto their training staff to make sure that these huge investments are being taken care of.  Many of them wouldn't listen (unless it's Steve Nash telling Jared Dudley what to eat) but if you get 5 good meals a week into your guys when the alternative is them going out after practice and hitting up Arby's I think it's probably worth it.  Maybe over time their diets and attitudes towards their fuel change and the team performs better.  You're talking about at least +1 win a year.  I'm not about to search the internets for how much each win is worth to an organization but it's got to be more than what you pay to have a nutrionist or cook on payroll.  And if I were to guess/google, I bet that Mark Cuban has a whole friging craft services company at the becon call of any Maverick player.

Of course, I eat like crap so who am I to say anything.

Oh yeah, here's Tyreke's car chase last Memorial Day during his rookie season.  It sure is fun having little immature kids as the focal point of your organization (contrast to: Steph Curry).

Kings on National TV?

And what a game it was! The Kings used a genius Dollar Beer promotion to ALMOST sell out ARCO Arena in their National TV victory over the semi-hapless Wizards. It was good to see Omri Casspi on the screen. I've heard about his game but haven't yet seen it in person (no, I don't have League Pass. But Maybe I'll get it from Santa).



Also, Tyreke Evans is a stud! The uber-rookie picked Gil-Zero's pocket on the game saving drive. Methinks that Westphal can sense that the force is strong in this one:



In other news concerning a team that is actually sucking, I no longer like Derrick Rose. I would like to direct your attention to his recent photo shoot in GQ Magazine:

"Captain Marvel" Michael Jordan's 9th NBA Game

The NBA Offseason is nearly as much fun as the regular season. There are so many narratives on The Draft, Vegas Summer League (Orlando's is boring), Free Agents, luxury taxes and coaching changes that NBA writers use more brain cells writing over the Summer months than they do after a mid-January Friday Night lineup. And even with 2010 implications, this off season has not disappointed/pulled a Josh Hamilton.

THE Draft (yes, the NBA draft.........the NFL draft is a damn exercise contest) is the ultimate examination of Next. Those organizations who seccumb to the tempt of Euro in search of TheNextDirk or TheNextParker-Ginobili and actually draft someone who will contribute are those who are rewarded. All GM's have made/are making millions, but there are only a select few who get to stay around and continue to cash the checks of future contracts. At least half of a GM's measure of success comes down to the two guys they draft every year. It is in THE Draft that organizations don't have to worry about spending too much of the owner's money and it is simply up to them to make the best pick possible. You flop and take Nikoloz Tskitishvili with the 5th pick and you may (eventually) be fired.

As a Golden State Warriors fan, I am currently holding the no-brainer Steph Curry pick in positive light. His Twitter account is really boring but I don't expect much from guys who play ball at the liberal arts institution of Davidson and can shoot lights out. I expect Curry to be milk-toast. Golden State GM's "Don" Riley will probably get a passing report card on the Draft this season.

But let's move higher up the draft board and ask which picks can make an immediate impact in '09/'10 by gettin' all NEXT wit it. Blake Griffin will get plenty of run with the Clips and should be a valued fantasy player until he re-injures his shoulder in February. Rickey Rubio may dazzle us on ESPN & YouTube highlights (no nationally televised games for Minny) but we're all pretty sure that the scruffy little Spaniard will make just as many mistakes as converted no-look dimes on Kurt Rambis' squad. Tyreke Evans could be the real deal for Sactown as he overpowers other PG's in The Association but I'm pretty sure he's going to have plenty of growing pains managing his posse of hangers on. "Dude, let me be your Manager of Late Night Par-Tay!"

Do you want to see a clip of someone who had no problems at all as a rookie in 1984?



Makes you kind of sick, doesn't it. Someone who's THAT GOOD in their 9th game as an NBA pro. It just make you realize that statements such as "Anthony Randolph is totally awesome and the Savior of our Franchise!" are drowning in message board homer shortsightedness without any connection to what a "can't miss" rookie really is.

Side thought: I love how Enberg keeps trying to brand MJ wtih the "Captain Marvel" moniker. Fcuking Hilarious.