National Honor Society

“And throw that diamond sign, boy you know I’ma shine..."

Talib Kweli

Today Tyreke Evans was awarded the 2009-10 Rookie of the Year trophy. I’ve been covering his games for a few years, and he has matured both as a person and point guard.

Success

When you work hard for something your entire life, it becomes easier over time. The progression is natural like a child growing into adulthood. Earlier this season it looked as if Brandon Jennings would walk away with the accolades, and down the stretch Stephen Curry looked as if he would carry the honor, however it was Evans that has been constant throughout.

In speaking with my friend Devin via twitter, I was reminded that this is an individual prize, and while the Milwaukee Bucks have the better record, and now everyone knows to fear the deer...the ultimate team recognition is a championship.

I interviewed Hugo after a Wizards game, and upon leaving the visitor’s locker room, I asked Caron Butler about Tyreke. He simply explained, “man, we played against the Rookie of the Year tonight...no question...”

With Blake Griffin returning for the 2010-11 campaign along with this summer’s upcoming draft class, featuring Wall, and Turner...things could be just as interesting or better in the coming months.

Photo: Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

True Story

"I'm going through it...mom dukes too..."

Jay-Z - This Can't Be Life

There is a phrase that I heed whenever times are more difficult than usual...and it simply states that life's not fair.

Get Familiar

Basketball is my catharsis, and while I don't participate on an organized team anymore, attending games, and writing about it, helps fill the void from not playing. It is now within certain athletes that I can see myself, which allows for a vicarious euphoria that I once had as a shooting guard.

All-Star Weekend is currently taking place in Texas, and while last night's so-called dunk contest failed to entertain, the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge proved what I had been told a few weeks ago in a conversation with Caron Butler after a Wizards win over the Kings.

Sacramento's Tyreke Evans walked into this weekend's setting a heavy favorite for Rookie of the Year honors, and by halftime on Friday, he had closed the door on any doubts about his basketball prowess. The last thing I want to do is crown him, and make predictions...however the things he is able to do on the court is greater than his follow neophytes.

I covered Evans during his prep days at American Christian and while I liked his strength, and IQ, I didn't think his jump shot or play to the crowd style was the makings for an elite player. Let this serve as an official record that I was wrong. He's matured, and his time in this league is now. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon...I just feel that I didn't appreciate him as much as I should have...nevertheless I do now, and I stand corrected.

I started to notice a change last season during his freshman campaign in Memphis...however I saw him play numerous times, and I think it was the accessibility to him that pulled the wool over my eyes. The same scenario played itself out when I watched Kobe Bryant go from Philadelphia's main line, to the Los Angeles Lakers. I knew he was good, and I respected his talent...but I had no idea that he would become the best guard in the world.

These are interesting times for me, as I move ahead with things going on in my life...and running parallel to that are my responsibilities as a journalist...documenting the happenings of others.

Hugo earned the MVP award leading the first year players to a 140-128 win over the sophomores...and he did it with the same heart, flair, and toughness that he always had as a child growing up on the painful, unforgiving, basketball courts of Chester, Pennsylvania.

Game recognizes game, and Evans is looking very familiar.

Photo: Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

By Any Means Necessary...

"The King with the crown..."

Rev Run - Down with the King

Last weekend I covered the Sacramento Kings for HOOP Magazine...Friday night in Philadelphia, and Saturday in the nation's capital.

Home Team

I arrived at the Wachovia Center around 5:40PM...so I could be early enough to introduce myself to Jason Thompson. Instead of hanging my coat in the press room, I decided to go straight to the court. Thompson, Tyreke Evans, and Francisco Garcia were warming up, while Paul Westphal sat quietly in a court side seat.

As the fans began to file in, and fill the lower level, you could feel the joy and admiration for the two local guys Thompson and Evans, as I saw a lot of purple jerseys mixed within the Sixers red, white, and blue. After JT finished his pre game shoot around...he spoke with his parents, a few well wishers, and then I approached him as he walked towards the locker room.

Most athletes don't enjoy talking to the media, so I simply asked him if he had to a little time to chat, to which he did, giving me some great insight. After the the 98-86 loss I knew that he wouldn't have too many minutes for follow up questions so I told him and 'Reke that I'd see them the following day in DC.

On Monday I finished my story, and below is what I didn't include...here is the score on our conversation:

AXG: What's it like to come back here and play in front of your family and friends?

JT: I grew up in this area...it's my high school area, and everyone comes out to see me play, and it means a lot...it shows where I come from and how I came up, and now all the hard work is paying off.

AXG: What does it mean to have another guy from this area on the team?

JT: Aw man it's good, I mean it kind of feels comfortable because we're home. We've played out here, we've played against guys in this area a lot, so we're kind of used to it.

AXG: What was your biggest adjustment coming from college into the pros?

JT: I'm from a small school and I had worked out with a lot of NBA guys in the summer and then going to Tim Grover's in Chicago helped me out a lot. There's obviously a difference going from the east coast to the west coast...it's a little bit slower out west, but Sacramento is a nice small city, not too many distractions, so things are going well.

AXG: When did you realize you could turn pro?

JT: Late in my junior year I started getting scouts at my games looking at me and they liked how I progressed since my freshman year, and then I had a really good senior year against a lot of guys who were supposed to be lottery picks, and here I am now.

AXG: Can you talk about Draft night '08?

JT: It's one of the best feelings I had other than graduation, and it was great...it was a dream come true.

AXG: Who did you watch growing up?

JT: Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, I just followed a lot of guys especially Julius Erving you know growing up a Sixers fan.

AXG: If it wasn't for basketball, what would you do?

JT: I have my [communications] degree, so hopefully after 10+ years in the league I want to be a TV analyst...broadcaster, so I hope to work for ESPN or NBA TV.

AXG: Your family was at the game last night, how did your parents prepare you for the NBA?

JT: They put the ball in my hands from day one. I played a lot of sports...baseball, football, soccer, all those types of sports and then once I was in 6th/7th grade I just focused on basketball, and started doing AAU with travel teams, and they provided the money and support with camps and all that stuff, and it helped me with the skills that I have used in my career.

AXG: How tall were you in the 7th grade?

JT: I was about 5'7". Growing up, in grade school I was a big man, and then my peers started getting taller than me, so I was a guard...shooting guard, and then I had an 8 or 9-inch growth spurt in high school, and I became a center.

Photo: Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

Then and Now

"Colleges gettin' at 'em, with all type of scholarships..."

Common - U, Black Maybe

Last night the Lakers played in the unfriendly confines of Arco Arena...for me the game had a Pennsylvania flavor to it, bringing a smile to my mind's eye.

Opportunity

The rookie of the year race started out a few months ago as a lock for Blake Griffin...however after an injury sidelined him before the season...the field opened up for Brandon Jennings, and most recently Tyreke Evans.

After a loss on Christmas day...Kobe Bryant couldn't wait to play against the Kings. His wish was granted, as the game went into 2 overtimes before getting the 112-103 victory. There are a few interesting things from this game...Bryant played without any feeling in his right arm from the 3rd-quarter on...even though he was able to keep playing...and Evans, continued to show that he is no ordinary rookie stepping up to the challenge of attacking, and guarding Bryant.

Three years ago Tyreke was in high school, playing in the Kobe Bryant Classic with American Christian versus a tough Academy of the New Church squad...and while Evans didn't do anything spectacular...he earned MVP honors with 33 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks.

I interviewed him directly after and it's good to see that nothing has changed, as he continues to play with a business never personal style:

AG: Talk about the other marquee name in this tournament Elena Delle Donne.

Evans: This is big, and I’ve seen Delle Donne play one other time, and she’s tough...she’s taller than me, and she’s big and she can shoot the jumper. I think she’s going to be a great WNBA player.

AG: Can you tell me what playing in the Kobe Classic means to you?

Evans: Kobe is a great player to watch, there’s a lot you can learn from him. He’s an incredible player, everything you want, the pull-up [jump shot]...the fade away...he has it all! Growing up I’ve watched a lot of players and I try to learn their signature moves, as a matter of fact I watched Kobe get 46 last night [against Toronto]! My favorite player is Tracy McGrady, but right now...I want to give it to LeBron [James], but I’m going to give it to Kobe. LeBron might not want to hear that, he’s my man, but Kobe is incredible.

AG: You're a senior, talk to me about the next level, and playing in college.

Evans: I’ve been watching a lot of college ball, and I think this is the year of the freshman, and I hope that all of them can make it to the NBA.

Photos: Anthony Gilbert/AXG, Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

Change

Doty and Delle Donne

End of an era

Post game

MVP

"Guess who's back...since this a new era, got a fresh new hat..."

Jay-Z - The Prelude

A year ago, I interviewed 3 high school student athletes...Caroline Doty, Elena Delle Donne, and Tyreke Evans, as they were the top tier of the national senior class, and I was sincerely impressed by their cool, and resolve. High School hoops has become just as big as the college and professional game, and for these teens to handle the media and hype the way they did...made me think of how "ready" they were for the next level.

Freshman Year

The saying goes, what a difference a year makes, and in the case of Elena Delle Donne, that statement rings true, as she was the number 1 female basketball player in the class '08. Last year this time she was headed to UCONN with her best friend Caroline Doty...however once it was time to enroll, she walked away from the scholarship (after 2 days), and the game...she instead stayed home and entered her 1st year of college at the University of Delaware.

This morning ESPN featured Delle Donne on their program Outside the Lines. Last February I spoke with her, Doty, and Evans, as the latter are contributing heavily to their collegiate basketball programs, UCONN and Memphis respectively.

I attended the 2008 Kobe Bryant Classic and I wrote the following back in February '08:

The big names are naturally the top 2 players in girls and boys basketball, in Elena Delle Donne from Ursuline Academy, and Tyreke Evans of American Christian. Speaking of numbers, Delle Donne wears 11, while Evans wears the number 1…irony at its best. (Evans says he wears 1 because he had aspirations to be the top player in the nation growing up)

I am one of the few people that have not had the pleasure of seeing either player in person and if the phrase as advertised means anything to you, then it definitely applies to them.
Elena Delle Donne, can do it all. At 6’5” the future UCONN Husky can dribble, pass, and shoot, including from 3-point land. She is refined and polished, giving the home Germanton Academy, and Caroline Doty (future teammate at UCONN, DNP-out for the season) all they could handle with 33 points, 13-19 FG, 3-7 3PT, 4-5 FT, 13 rebounds, 2 blocks and MVP honors. Ursuline Academy outlasted Germantown Academy 57-44.

In the boys match-up, the already packed house prepared to see Tyreke Evans and American Christian, against the gritty Academy of the New Church squad.

Tyreke Evans didn’t play as the cliché sounds…like a man amongst boys, in the unreleased Nike Zoom LeBron V, no less, he showed great guard play, a quick first step, and a dribble that looked at times as if he has the ball on a string. His teammate junior guard Lamont Jones (remember that name) also impressed, stepping up as team leader in the 2 half of the game.

American Christian struggled for 3 quarters, with inconsistent play, as they seemed to play down to the competition and not to their max potential…either that, or ANC was much better than people gave them credit for.

In the end Evans took over on two consecutive drives to the basket, giving American Christian a 71 -69 lead with 90 seconds to go in the 4th...with good ball control, and the right amount of made free-throws, American Christian pulled it out 78 – 71 over ANC.
Evans received MVP honors with 33 points, 9-23 FG, 1-6 3 PT, 14-17 FT, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks.

GAME TIME: Talk about basketball in regard to being and playing as the best player in the country:

Elena Delle Donne: “It can take a toll on your body. You can go 7 days and play 14 games. It can take a toll on your body and mentally. You just have to prepare for that, and being on a good team, colleges are around all the time looking at you, so its tough, but its also great because you get to compete against the best players in the country and really see how you stack up and what you need to work on. And being number 1 is a compliment, but it also makes me work harder for the people that have never seen me play before.”

Caroline Doty on Elena Delle Donne: “I was cheering for her today...you can ask my teammates...they were looking at me, like I was crazy. I’m just so excited, and I’m so happy that she decided to come to Connecticut! It’s going to be so awesome, she [Delle Donne] has so much fun on the court and the next time I play I’m going to have as much fun, and playing on the same team at UCONN, it will be even more special. She is such a great player, and she can handle anything, and she is so unselfish, and she makes me and everyone a better player. She knows exactly what to do, and when to do it. I’ve been fortunate to play with her since I was 11, so next year we are going to have so much fun!”

Tyreke Evans on Elena Delle Donne: “This is big, and I’ve seen Delle Donne play one other time, and she’s tough...she’s taller than me, and she’s big and she can shoot the jumper. I think she’s going to be a great WNBA player.”

The 2 top prep players in the nation lead their teams to victory, walked away with MVP awards, and scored 33 points each…just another day in the gym, and next year the saga will continue.

I wrote that the saga will continue...I just didn't expect it to be like this, but at the end of the day Elena Delle Donne is doing what is best for her in staying close to home and playing volleyball for the Blue Hens, so I tip my cap to her for staying true to herself...as we can all learn from her.

Peace.

The Most Known Unknown.