Ht/Wt: 6-5 / 205 lbs
Position: PG/SG
Team: Memphis
Class: Freshman

2009 Draft Profile - Tyreke Evans

When Tyreke Evans entered the 2009 NBA draft, it was about two seconds after he found out John Calipari was leaving the Memphis Tigers for Kentucky. I think he will make an excellent shooting guard for whoever drafts him. He has played a lot of point guard, both at Memphis and in high school, but as he fills out and matures, he seems like a shooting guard to me, but one that knows how to deliver a few dimes as well.

Tyreke is the youngest in his family and his older brothers made sure he understood the finer points of playing basketball. They grew up in Aston, Pennsylvania. Aston is situated fairly close to Philadelphia, just due South. He was raised by his brothers and knowing how advanced he was athletically, they formed and molded him into the player he is today.

When he was only six years old, his brothers duct-taped his right arm to his body, forcing him to dribble with his left hand. He learned a game of basketball Twister to improve his first step as well as playing in the rain and the snow. Having three older brothers to coach is a blessing, and we’re talking about talented players too, as his older brother Eric played point guard for Cheney State, another brother Julius was a playground star in nearby Chester and had the nickname of “Doc.”. Nobody calls you Doc, unless you have some serious game, because your friends won’t allow you give a name like that to yourself.

His oldest brother Reggie has coached him since he was four, and the three brothers call themselves “Team Tyreke” as they have met weekly for years to talk about the potential ascension of the youngest brother to the association.

Tyreke has strengths and weaknesses in his game, but I think once he gets to the NBA, he will complete his game. One thing he certainly has going for himself is size, the one thing you can’t be taught. He’s a solid 6’5 210 pounder, and has a 7’3 wingspan. He also possesses a lethal first step. When he would commit to the strong drive he was very hard to stop, but he was much better going to the hoop in the full court game then the half court. I think he needs or would be better off with a team that ran the ball, yet had a point guard that could shoot. Tyreke and Stephon Curry would be a great backcourt.

I also like his in between game, but he does seem to fade away on a lot of his shots. Fairly common, and not a big deal, but something he’ll need to work on. He’s one of the many players that is more of a scorer than a pure shooter. My feeling has always been if you can shoot 45% with that shot, how high is the ceiling going to be when we break it down in the pros.

His shot isn’t bad, but he tends to put it behind his head and it looks like it needs to be tweaked a little. On the plus side, he did shoot it with tremendous arc, so maybe we wait to see what his percentages look like, but I would start changing it now if I were him. I think that’s the one thing that would really elevate his game, he basically has everything else.

Defensively, he plays the passing lanes well and is very active on the weak side. This allows him to lie in wait for that cross court pass and pounce on it. I saw him do it time and time again at Memphis and when the ball was turned over, his reactions were extremely quick, and a lot of the time it would lead to a monster jam. He averaged 2.1 steals a game and he should have no problems guarding most NBA shooting guards. He’ll have trouble with the good ones, but everybody does.

Tyreke will probably be a 5 rebound a game guy in the pros, maybe not as a rookie, but certainly once he matures. He’s got a good nose for the ball and will go up there and fight for it. Last year for Memphis he averaged 5.4 boards per game, so 5 might be a low number for him.

Just to quantify why I think he is a shooting guard and not a point. He likes to score too much. Nothing wrong with that, and when Memphis switched him to point guard and they ran off all those wins, still didn’t make him a NBA point guard to me. He has the ability to move the ball and get assists, but what he really wants to do is score. Again nothing wrong with that if you are a shooting guard, but not what I want from a point guard. Look for Tyreke to go anywhere from 8-15 in the draft.
Draft Profile provided by Ed Ziti of SportsPolyMath.com

Tyreke Evans can be unstoppable with his strength, finishing ability, size, speed, and athleticism. He shoots a lot of Free Throws and shoots them at a high percentage. He has loads of athleticism and potential. Doesn’t have a lot of range but makes up for it with his ability to get in the paint and finish. With his 6’5 205 lbs frame he can overpower shorter and weaker guards at the point guard position. Also he can make great passes being able to see over the defender. He is still stuck between point guard and shooting guard. He should do fine anyway. He should make an immediate impact though and have scorer’s first mentality in his rookie season. He had a breakout freshman year leading Memphis to the Sweet 16 and earning a 33-4 record last year.
Draft Profile provided by TJ Schmitz

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Tyreke Evans Stats
Season	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	APG	RPG	BPG	SPG
2008-2009	37	29.0	17.1	45.5	27.4	71.1	3.9	5.4	0.8	2.1

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