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SACRAMENTO -- Forget
DeMarcus Cousins. This is a fun little show he's got going, lighting his rookie season on fire in
plain view. But he is not the biggest problem for the stalled Kings. Cousins has already been kicked out of practice and fined in separate incidents, has already fouled his way to a reduced role of 23.3 minutes a game, has already been ripped by people around the league for an attitude some predict will keep him from stardom. None of it is surprising.
Tyreke Evans is the pressing issue.
His approach is great, unlike Cousins' attention-stealing immaturity, but his health is not. Neither is his shot. Evans spent an offseason breaking down and reconstructing his jumper, one of the few glaring holes in an arsenal filled with positives. But he's at 40.1 percent from the field after 16 games. His mindset is as scattershot as his shot.
"I'm frustrated because I know I can do better," Evans said. "It's just tough. I'm just trying to figure things out."
Evans has regressed from his
Rookie of the Year season in 2009-10, and so have the Kings. Without his health, without a roster change to reduce the offensive burden, with an increasing level of angst -- he could be like this all season.
"His attitude's great," coach
Paul Westphal said. "He's a team player all the way. He tries to do anything he can to help his team win. I think probably as much as anything -- and I don't know if he would admit this or not -- his body hasn't always responded the way he expected it to and it's made him a little hesitant. That's my best observation."
"He doesn't seem as consistently quick so far," Westphal said. "He's shown flashes. [Saturday against the
Bulls] particularly, the first half he looked like himself. But he's had more off games this year already than he probably had all of last year. I think he's probably questioning himself a little bit more.
