Not every good player likes to be coached.
But it seems Tyreke Evans isn't one of them.
I caught up with Evans' high school coach Tony Bergeron. I also chatted with his college coach, John Calipari.
Both sounded as if they'd listened to a lot of Paul Westphal media sessions.
Westphal said a lot that one of Evans' best qualities was his ability to accept coaching and correct parts of his game as they were pointed out to him.
Calipari recalled an early chat he had with Evans when he was in high school. He didn't give Evans the "You're a wonderful player" recruiting pitch.
"The first time I saw him I said to him you don't play hard enough," Calipari said. "You're going through the motions."
It's hard to believe having seen Evans play now, but back then Calipari said Evans settled for fadeaway jumpers anytime he was bumped.
He told Evans he needed to power through contact and finish at the rim.
Calipari said he saw Evans play 10 days later and he'd implemented everything that was mentioned.
Calipari was proud of the growth of Evans game, noting he'd learned to post up smaller guards and how to play pick-and-roll basketball better since his one season at Memphis.
But he wasn't sure Evans would be able to make the jump to the NBA after one season of college basketball initially.
"Early in his freshman year I'm looking at my staff and saying 'He's not getting out of here in a year,'" Calipari said.
That changed by February of 2009. Evans had been shifted to point guard and had rallied the team with his play.
"I told my staff 'I think we're going to need another point guard,'" he recalled.
Bergeron said he's a strict disciplinarian and it's not uncommon for players to miss a start for not following team rules.
But over two seasons at American Christian School, Bergeron said he didn't bench Evans once.
"That's pretty hard to do under me," Bergeron said.
Bergeron said he knew early on Evans was a special player when he was injured. He'd sprained an ankle and had to miss a prestigious tournament.
Rather than sulk, it was Evans handing out water to teammates during a timeout.
"He is a very selfless player and person who would just as soon as let his teammates get all of the attention," Bergeron said. "And he's had a mic in his face since he was 14 so he's savvy with all that now."
*There was a bit of (new) news out of today's press conference. Evans will be in Las Vegas on Monday to sign paperwork to join Team USA for workouts in July. The team will be in Las Vegas for those sessions.
Evans is one of the new additions to the roster. And if free agents such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh skip the entire summer of competition and not risk injury before joining a new team, Evans has a chance to impress and work his way onto the roster for the World Championships.
But the most important thing about the experience might be simply seeing how other elite NBA players work. Remember how LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony raved about seeing the preparation Kobe Bryant put into the Olympics?
James came back and won the MVP and Anthony helped Denver reach the Western Conference Finals.
You have to believe being around the likes of Deron Williams or Chris Paul would only give Evans a chance to add more to his game.
*The Kings announced a special season ticket offer in honor of Evans winning Rookie of the Year.
If you purchase a minimum of two season tickets for the 2010-11 season a special 13-day season ticket offer, you will receive 13 free parking passes and the opportunity to attend an exclusive lunch with Evans next season.
Every 13th purchaser up to 130 orders will be invited to attend the lunch with Evans. The special expires at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, May 11.
*In case you missed the Tweetphoto I posted earlier, below are the final results for the ROY voting:
Rookie, Team 1st 2nd 3rd Total
Tyreke Evans, Sacramento 67 50 6 491
Stephen Curry, Golden State 43 50 26 391
Brandon Jennings, Milwaukee 12 22 78 204
Darren Collison, New Orleans 1 1 9 17
Jonny Flynn, Minnesota - - 2 2
Taj Gibson. Chicago - - 2 2
--Jason Jones
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