OKLAHOMA CITY The route from Memphis, Tenn., to Oklahoma City is a simple and relatively short one Interstate 40 West for some 500 miles.
Tyreke Evans' road from the University of Memphis to NBA prominence, on the other hand, might be longer and substantially more complicated.
The Kings' rookie guard and resident reason for in-house optimism certainly was an impact player in Wednesday night's 102-89, season-opening loss to the Thunder, but not quite in the way his new bosses had envisioned.
The comfort level was gone, along with the swagger. "Two-Easy," as Evans has been known since dominating the prep ranks in Chester, Pa., and later in his spectacular solo season at Memphis, had the hardest of times in his pro debut.
He had company almost every time at the rim, as rising star Russell Westbrook pestered with his length. Evans hurt his cause by uncharacteristically missing the few layups that went uncontested. The contrast of his counterpart emphasized Evans' struggles even more, as Westbrook was electric in every way with 14 points, a career-high 13 assists and just two turnovers.
And after the Kings turned in a here-we-go-again defensive disaster of an opening quarter in which they allowed the Thunder to hit 16 of 24shots and lead 39-22, Evans eventually fell into an old habit from his Tigers days that is understandable but not feasible: He tried to do it by himself.
The line read as such: 10 points, 5-of-16 shooting, two assists, three turnovers one to forget. For him and his new teammates.
"He has a lot of pressure on him," said Kings third-year center Spencer Hawes, who had eight points and six rebounds in 35 minutes off the bench.
"He's not used to having guys around him who can make plays and to help shoulder that whole load. As we get more comfortable with him and he gets more comfortable with us, he'll let a little bit of that pressure off and we'll help him out, and he'll realize he doesn't have to do it all."
Evans had the right idea going in. He looked to create for his teammates early, but the Kings hit 7 of 19 shots in the first quarter Evans was 1 of 4 and never got closer than 12 points. Also, the push to improve in the assist-to-turnover category got off to a horrific start as the Kings finished with 13 and 12, respectively.
"If I would've finished my layups, everything would've been better," Evans said.
"I just tried to start it off like that and then get myself involved, because that's what a point guard has to do."
Evans' pass-first mentality combined with an absence of scorers not named Kevin Martin was an impossible equation, yet one these Kings could be asked to routinely solve. Martin – who has raved about Evans' ability to take defensive pressure off him – had his way offensively with 24 of his 27 points at halftime (14 of 14 from the line). Yet he was 1 of 9 from the field in the second half and had no free-throw attempts.
Kings coach Paul Westphal lamented the enormous step backward in the realm of defensive field-goal percentage (51.3 percent overall; 63.4 percent at halftime as the Thunder led 68-51) and rebounding (42-36 Thunder). Westphal, who admitted his surprise at the most disjointed of opening acts, said he is more concerned about the team defensively than offensively.
The Thunder, meanwhile, looked like a young team on the rise.
Third-year small forward Kevin Durant had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and forward Jeff Green had an efficient 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting. But center Nenad Krstic, with 11 first-quarter points on 4-of-5 shooting, helped dig the hole out of which the Kings never escaped.
"I like these guys," Westphal said. "They're going to get better. All we ever want to do is get better. And after that game, it should be pretty easy to see some improvement."
(c) 2009, The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.).
Visit The Sacramento Bee online at http://www.sacbee.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Tyreke Evans' road from the University of Memphis to NBA prominence, on the other hand, might be longer and substantially more complicated.
The Kings' rookie guard and resident reason for in-house optimism certainly was an impact player in Wednesday night's 102-89, season-opening loss to the Thunder, but not quite in the way his new bosses had envisioned.
The comfort level was gone, along with the swagger. "Two-Easy," as Evans has been known since dominating the prep ranks in Chester, Pa., and later in his spectacular solo season at Memphis, had the hardest of times in his pro debut.
He had company almost every time at the rim, as rising star Russell Westbrook pestered with his length. Evans hurt his cause by uncharacteristically missing the few layups that went uncontested. The contrast of his counterpart emphasized Evans' struggles even more, as Westbrook was electric in every way with 14 points, a career-high 13 assists and just two turnovers.
And after the Kings turned in a here-we-go-again defensive disaster of an opening quarter in which they allowed the Thunder to hit 16 of 24shots and lead 39-22, Evans eventually fell into an old habit from his Tigers days that is understandable but not feasible: He tried to do it by himself.
The line read as such: 10 points, 5-of-16 shooting, two assists, three turnovers one to forget. For him and his new teammates.
"He has a lot of pressure on him," said Kings third-year center Spencer Hawes, who had eight points and six rebounds in 35 minutes off the bench.
"He's not used to having guys around him who can make plays and to help shoulder that whole load. As we get more comfortable with him and he gets more comfortable with us, he'll let a little bit of that pressure off and we'll help him out, and he'll realize he doesn't have to do it all."
Evans had the right idea going in. He looked to create for his teammates early, but the Kings hit 7 of 19 shots in the first quarter Evans was 1 of 4 and never got closer than 12 points. Also, the push to improve in the assist-to-turnover category got off to a horrific start as the Kings finished with 13 and 12, respectively.
"If I would've finished my layups, everything would've been better," Evans said.
"I just tried to start it off like that and then get myself involved, because that's what a point guard has to do."
Evans' pass-first mentality combined with an absence of scorers not named Kevin Martin was an impossible equation, yet one these Kings could be asked to routinely solve. Martin – who has raved about Evans' ability to take defensive pressure off him – had his way offensively with 24 of his 27 points at halftime (14 of 14 from the line). Yet he was 1 of 9 from the field in the second half and had no free-throw attempts.
Kings coach Paul Westphal lamented the enormous step backward in the realm of defensive field-goal percentage (51.3 percent overall; 63.4 percent at halftime as the Thunder led 68-51) and rebounding (42-36 Thunder). Westphal, who admitted his surprise at the most disjointed of opening acts, said he is more concerned about the team defensively than offensively.
The Thunder, meanwhile, looked like a young team on the rise.
Third-year small forward Kevin Durant had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and forward Jeff Green had an efficient 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting. But center Nenad Krstic, with 11 first-quarter points on 4-of-5 shooting, helped dig the hole out of which the Kings never escaped.
"I like these guys," Westphal said. "They're going to get better. All we ever want to do is get better. And after that game, it should be pretty easy to see some improvement."
(c) 2009, The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.).
Visit The Sacramento Bee online at http://www.sacbee.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
