The Weekend Wrap: Playing for pride and for Tyreke

It’s that point in the season where there is not a lot left to play for in Sacramento other than pride, but there is another factor that the Kings will be focusing on down the stretch and that will be helping Tyreke Evans secure the highly coveted Rookie of the Year Award. That was evident this evening as the Kings wrapped up a .500 week with a thumping of the Minnesota Timberwolves this evening in a game that was reminiscent of a Las Vegas Summer League game where defense was clearly optional.

Tyreke Evans took advantage of the lackluster effort by the Timberwolves to post an exceptional line of 29 points, nine rebounds, and 11 assists for the Kings as they won 114-100.  Coach Paul Westphal opted to take Tyreke out of the game at the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter over keeping him to get that extra rebound. A triple-double certainly would have looked nice in the boxscore and would have been his second this week (and in his short career), but Evans will have several opportunities to rack up those accolades in the future.

Earlier in the week the Kings squared off with the Portland Trailblazers twice and the Toronto Raptors. While they ran away from the Raptors to the tune of 113-90, it is painfully clear that the Portland Trailblazers have the Kings’ number. Portland moved to 3-0 against the Kings this season and 5-0 if you count the preseason. The Kings look at the Trailblazers progress since Brandon Roy won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2006-07 and hope that they can duplicate that ascent to playoff contender. Roy would be an excelling player for Tyreke to emulate. 

Other news and notes for the week: Wednesday’s game against Toronto was “Rally for Reke” night at Arco as several fans game to the game and adorned Tyreke for Rookie of the Year T-shirts and chanted on Sacramento’s newest hoop hero.

Spencer Hawes slowed down as soon as Jason Thompson came back and is still frustrating at times out there. He has failed to top double-digits in seven consecutive games. Meanwhile, Jason Thompson is flourishing in a bench role and has played very well. They may flip-flop in that role soon if Spencer doesn’t pick up his game again.

Francisco Garcia looks like he is back to full health and is shooting 58.0 percent and averaging 10.7 points over his last seven games. Beno Urih has also been on fire in that stretch, hitting 54.4 percent from the field and averaging 15.1 points during his last seven. Defenses are really keying on Tyreke Evans and life is good for the men playing the off guard position with him out there.

Each week Blake Ellington of bleedblackandpurple tells Kings fans what to watch for in our weekly collaboration between sites. Let’s see how those things turned out this week:

1. – Rebounding – It’s no coincidence that the Kings won both games in which they outrebounded their opponent this week and lost both games in which they were outrebounded. It has been a bit of a problem all season long and the Kings must crash the boards at all times and display a high level of energy if they hope to beat quality teams in this league. While the Kings did add big men in Carl Landry and Joey Dorsey, look for them to add another big in the offseason to help address some of these issues. Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson really hold the key in this area and need to develop further if the Kings really want to jump to the next level in 2010-2011.

2. Tyreke’s Shot – While Tyreke’s shot continues to be a work in progress, he had a much stronger week from the field and hit 29 of his 65 shots this week for 44.6 percent. He seems to have broken through the rookie wall after his 4-for-22 performance last week when it was painfully obvious that his legs weren’t under him. Tyreke will eventually get that jumper down and it will make him pretty much impossible to guard. It may actually be a blessing in disguise that he is so adept at taking to the hole over the jumper because many players become over reliant on the jumper and no longer drive to the hoop. A layup is easier than a 20-footer. Keep taking it strong Tyreke.

3. Keep up the tempo – The Kings did a good job of forcing the tempo in their two victories. It helps that those two wins came against Toronto and Minnesota, two teams notorious for their inability to guard the basket.