Reggie Evans: Yet Another Surprising Member of Brooklyn’s Bench Mob

When the Nets acquired Evans from the Clippers this offseason for a future 2nd-round draft pick, there weren't many high expectations for him. Well, he certainly has exceeded any that were set when he came to Brooklyn, regardless of their loftiness.

Reggie Evans grew up in the Florida Panhandle, an area of the US not known for basketball as much as it is known for being hardscrabble and rough-and-tumble. The city, Pensacola, where Evans was born and raised, is where the Nets backup power forward honed his hard-nosed game, modeled very much after the tough way he grew up there. Reggie has taken the lessons he learned on the neighborhood courts of his hometown around much of the United States: to Kansas for community college, Iowa for college, and Seattle, Denver, Toronto, Los Angeles, and now Brooklyn in the NBA. Certainly a far cry from where he matured both as a person and a basketball player, Pensacola.

Regardless of how far he has matriculated from his home city, Reggie has never given up what he learned as an adolescent, bringing his unique, no-prisoners mentality and style of game to wherever he has laced up his basketball sneakers. That tenacity has been welcomed with open arms by the Nets, and by Brooklyn in general, as Reggie's play helps the team in the court and mimics the mindset of the borough in total, widely known for its working-class attitude and tough-as-nails personality.

Admittedly, I didn't have much in the form of expectations for Reggie when the Nets acquired him via a sign-and-trade with the Clippers this offseason. I knew he was a great rebounder and defender, but also was aware of his offensive shortcomings, mostly by terribly-missed free throws on SportsCenter's Not Top-Ten countdowns every Friday. I also knew that, in addition to his lack of free throw accuracy prowess, Reggie wasn't a good finisher around the rim, as for whatever reason putting the biscuit in the basket was just too hard for him.

It's pretty fair to say that I, along with probably most Nets fans, have been truly blindsided with just how well he has played so far this season. Reggie has been putting up truly ridiculous rebounding numbers, grabbing 8.5 boards per game (average of 19.6 minutes played per game). On a more advanced statistical level, those numbers translate to Reggie boasting a crazy 25.4% total rebounding percentage (TRB%) and 35.2% defensive rebounding percentage (DRB%), which both rank as fourth-best in the entire NBA. I can't find a way to cross-reference Reggie's numbers with all-time DRB% and TRB% of all NBA players ever, but I'm sure it would rank among the highest recorded ever–if sustained for an entire season of course.

I also think it's fair to say that Billy King didn't expect Reggie to play this week so early into his tenure with the team, but, then again, the Nets' GM has probably been surprised by most of the team's bench, called the "Bench Mob" or "Brooklyn Zoo" by some. C.J. Watson, Jerry Stackhouse, Keith Bogans, And even Andray Blatche have all joined Evans in contributing very well for Brooklyn in their roles as reserves for Coach Avery Johnson and are clearly thriving in them. Each and every one of those players has helped the Nets greatly in at least one aspect of the game: for Watson, it's the fast-break and his stifling man defense; for Stackhouses, his corner threes of course; for Bogans, also his defense; for Blatche,  his inane ability to score, regardless of method or overall aesthetics; and for Reggie, obviously it's his defense and rebounding.

However, Reggie has that one intangible that can't possibly be taught, which those four other bench players don't seem to have: all-out effort, regardless of the physical cost. The reckless way he plays the game is incomparable on the Nets and most likely in the entire NBA as well and has enabled him to be the amazing defender and rebounder he is. Grabbing those boards might just be more of an indication of Evans' ridiculous effort and toughness, as opposed to simply his body frame and size.

Players that have those attributes, the ones Reggie has, are very rare and hard to come by. Certainly, the Nets haven't had one that plays to the extent Reggie does in as long as I have watched the team. Props for the move Billy King, and welcome to Brooklyn, Reggie. We hope you like it here because we like you here.