Mo Evans, inconsistently consistent

by hawksdawgs on Sep 24, 2009 7:56 AM EDT

Maurice Evans is strikingly consistent. Every close to full season he plays, Mo grabs about the same amount of rebounds, shoots roughly the same percentage, averages about the same amount of points. It is striking because game to game, Mo can be Jeckyll and Hyde. Month to month he would go from playing a game to see how close he could come to hitting the front of the rim to draining corner threes like the magic number that they are.

It makes me go back and forth on whether Evans is underrated or overrated. Mostly because I would go back and forth between thinking he was horrible and awesome. Neither really being true. He is no "defensive stopper" which he was labeled on upon coming to Atlanta, but he is a perfectly adequate defender. He is no terrific finisher but enjoys a quick pace and can put back offensive rebounds for dunks with the best of them. He goes from automatic beyond the arc to Josh Smith with a quicker green light.

Sometimes I want to say we have a great role player, that we need to appreciate Mo Evans more. After all, he works hard, doesn't put up with poor effort from others, and does whatever he is asked. Where are the Mo Evans fan clubs?

Of course, the next night, I demand a single reason as to why Mo just played 18 minutes since I just watched him front rim jump shots and overexagerate (which I didn't think was possible) how good Dwyane Wade's first step is.

What I am trying to say is I am glad Evans has two first names. "Good Evans" will from here on will be Mo. Mo is the kind of guy you want to hang out with. "Bad Evans" will be Maurice. It sounds like parrot.

I guess what Mo/Maurice Evans is is a role player. He is a cog in the wheel. And the wheel needs cogs. So I am glad the Hawks have one I know will try to work every game. And who knows, maybe this season we will get to see an extended stay from Mo. We will call it a Mo Marathon on the way to Joe Johnson averaging less than 37 minutes a game.

Other player previews: Marvin Williams, Zaza Pachulia.

Tweet Comment 5 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Mo is just Marvin without the potential upside. Or to put it another way, Mo is a poor man’s Marvin. It’s nice to have Marvin Lite to back up Real Marvin but as we saw in the playoffs you don’t want to make a habit of starting the imitation.

by redwards95 on Sep 24, 2009 11:25 AM EDT reply actions

Cannot defend like Marvin

by dkrib on Sep 24, 2009 1:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Mo Evans best (Pre) season dunk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EMmPI3qIS4

Mo Evans dunk at 1.13. One of the best plays of the season..hmmm.pre season last year. Amazing !!!!

by dkrib on Sep 24, 2009 1:04 PM EDT reply actions

Mo’s problem is that, while he’s a very solid defensive 2, he’s below average when defending opposing 3s, which is where Woodson asks him to defend most of the time. When you consider exactly the type of guys who play SF in the East, you can’t reasonably expect that Mo Evans is going to be able to defend those guys.

On offense, he’s a good jumpshooter who doesn’t really get out of the corner very often. He’s decent around the basket, but he doesn’t get into that area very much. He’s nothing exceptional in terms of passing or ball handling, so his usage rate stays extremely low.

by Bronn on Sep 24, 2009 2:08 PM EDT reply actions