The Official Jimmerphilia Thread

[Commando]

At first glance the signature on the side of those hats looks like it says "Live Coug"

[MarkGrace]

When Adam Morrison was an NBA rookie, he averaged 14.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists (per 36 minutes), made 37.6 percent of his field goals and hit 33.7 percent of his 3s. His team won 40 percent of its games and went 7-16 in games he started.
This season, rookie Jimmer Fredette is averaging 14.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists (per 36 minutes), makes 38.3 percent of his shots and hits 37.4 percent of his 3s. His team is winning 35 percent of its games and has gone 1-5 in games he's started. He has lost most of his rotation minutes to a 5-9 player who was the last pick of the NBA draft.

Morrison had a rookie PER of 7.9, and Fredette is at 11.0. Morrison was the worst defensive player on a team, the Charlotte Bobcats, that ranked 18th in defensive efficiency while Fredette is the worst defensive player on a team, the Sacramento Kings, ranked 28th in defensive efficiency.

Hard to figure out who's worse, right?

Both were lottery picks after becoming legendary players in college with memorable NCAA tournament games. Each seemed poised to become similarly successful in the NBA. Sadly, Morrison is already out of the league after just a few seasons, something for Fredette and his legion of fans to understand is a real-world possibility for Jimmer.

Morrison was the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month in November 2006 and showed some promise. Yet too often he didn't look like a player who could help his team win. He was barely productive and rarely efficient, and after a knee injury sidelined him for his second season, his NBA career was basically over. Traded to the Lakers, he sat and watched his team win a title, but never again came close to being a rotation player. He plays in Turkey now.

In the NBA, a career can disappear just that quickly. Fredette, in my eyes, is in a similar danger zone. But he can turn his career around.

Here's how:


Step 1: Recognize the problem
If Fredette makes some changes, he can move into the "surefire NBA player" category. He can be a brilliant 3-point shooter, something Morrison never was. That already gives Fredette a leg up on Morrison in that he can be elite in one area, whereas Morrison never proved to be great (or perhaps even good) at anything.

When Fredette's feet are set, he can shoot about as well as anyone. I don't mind when he shoots from deep after a single dribble to create space when using a screen, provided his movement is either sideways or towards the hoop.

His problem, though, much like it is for most NBA players, is when he tries to shoot 3s after a dead sprint up the floor, or when he's curling up from a screen after running in the complete opposite direction from his basket. Those shots are extremely hard to make even 20 percent of the time, whereas his catch-and-shoot numbers might be close to a 50/50 proposition.

He's taking a lot of those difficult kinds of shots, just as he did in college -- shots that I've never seen anyone in the NBA make consistently. I love his confidence, but no one can applaud his tendency to take shots with lots of time on the clock that he can't make often.


Step 2: Change shot selection
If Fredette can employ smarter and more disciplined shot selection, he will become a far more valuable player, especially next to playmakers -- at this stage in his career, it's better to play off the actions of others since he's such a good catch-and-shoot guy.

I'm OK with him using fakes or just quick attacks after making the catch on one of the actions I described, but seeing him clank most of those shots is not OK. It hurts his overall game and it hurts the Kings' offense. In fact, every time he makes one of those crazy 3s and gets the TV announcers excited (understandably so), I know the Sacramento opponents hope it just gets him to want to shoot more of the same.


Step 3: Find balance
For Fredette to be more than just a designated 3-point threat, he needs to learn how to make shots in the midrange game. So the next step is to work on jumping straight up and then coming straight down, landing on two feet with balance.

His shot is pure, so eliminating his fades both left and right will help that shot go down. Otherwise, those attempts are more like heaves, which is why he's making just 33 percent of his shots from 10 to 15 feet. He's all over the place on some of his jumpers, sometimes because he has to contort his body to get the shot off.

There's no need to hunt these midrange shots. With his deep stroke, he should be able to use shot fakes to attack defenders. If he does not have a clear shooting angle, he should look to move the ball.


Step 4: Look for easier opportunities
Fredette is even worse on shots from 3 to 9 feet, though he's not alone in finding those shots tough to make. Derrick Rose, last season's MVP, made just 40 percent in that range a year ago, which is proof that those shots are difficult but still much better than Fredette's current 29 percent.

Fredette takes what I call "hopers" -- he throws the ball up and hopes it goes in or hopes he gets a foul call. He's better off trying to get one more step to the rim (where he's making 60 percent of his layups) or just continuing to dribble through the key and out the other side, looking for an open man.

This will help him be a much more efficient offensive player, someone valuable enough to play for long stretches thanks to his talent on the offensive end. If it turns out that he can indeed create more shots at the rim (and continue to make them at a good clip), then he looks more like a starter.

Morrison never developed anything after his poor rookie season, by far his best year. The injury and trade were huge obstacles to overcome, and the unforgiving league eroded his confidence substantially.

This is something to think about as you watch the best players in the Final Four -- young athletes soaked in self-belief. The NBA is full of those guys, but a slight crack in confidence can prove to be fatal to a player's career.

This leads me to one final step I'd like to see Fredette take.


Step 5: Lock in on defense
Too often I see Fredette play defense with no spirit, no attitude. He's often in a decent position to make a play but doesn't have the mentality to do so. Defense is all about fundamentals and fight, and it's the combination of the two that can elevate a player's defensive presence even if he lacks height and length. A good defender has to be willing to risk a foul when he is guarding someone or helping on someone other than his man.

Fredette plays as if he's still at BYU, where his getting in foul trouble could cost his team a game. But he's not in college and he's not getting much playing time on the Kings regardless of how many fouls he has.

Sometimes when a player's offensive game is in neutral, playing defense with passion and toughness can jump-start his offense. At the very least it will catch coach Keith Smart's attention, as well as that of his teammates.

With a month left in the season, if Fredette concentrates on making a difference on defense by not being afraid to make hard fouls or pick up three or four fouls in just a few minutes of play (provided they come from effort and physicality), he will force his coaches to consider him as someone who is capable of change.


Conclusion
If Fredette works on these five steps, he'll make more progress than Morrison ever made. And we haven't even discussed all the improvement Fredette can make as a passer, pick-and-roll player, shot creator and scorer.

Every year as I go to NBA games and watch players move through their pregame shooting workouts, I'm struck by the number of guys who don't realize how brief their NBA career is destined to be without a change in their game. Waiting for the perfect environment works only when the player's game is ready to shine once in that improved situation (see Jeremy Lin).

As many former lottery players can attest to, being a star in the NCAA tournament might be the last great basketball they will ever play. Fredette can melt away like Morrison or he can fight his way back to relevance and then begin the even more arduous trek toward becoming the star player many fans hoped he would be.

As a teacher, I cannot endorse the saying that "there is no failure except in no longer trying." Morrison tried hard, but he just kept trying to do the same thing.

I'd recommend Fredette stare into the mirror and swallow the truth that thus far he has failed at the NBA level. Period. I'd want him scared that he might be the next "Ammo."

I know Fredette has put in a crazy number of hours working on his craft to reach the NBA -- therefore, knowing he still has so much further to go should not be intimidating to him. As an NBA player, I'd expect him to live in the film room, spend more time with assistant coaches and put in the hours on the practice floor. If he fails, it shouldn't be for lack of recognition of what was wrong and then lack of effort to address those problems.

He has the time to be a different player before camp opens next season. He can't do anything about what team he's on, but he can be a better player than he is today, and even better the day after that. He needs only to look at Morrison's career to give him all the motivation he needs.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/Rookies-120330/nba-rookie-watch-jimmer-fredette-make-it

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story...edette-make-it

If it doesn't work out for Jimmer in the NBA, I would love to have him on my Rec team. We don't play defense so that wouldn't be an issue to me.

[SteelBlue]

14 in the first half vs T-wolves tonight.

[Indy Coug]

Jimmer missed a couple of late threes which kept him from setting a career high (current high is 20), so he only had 19 vs the T-Wolves.

[WashingtonCoug]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story...edette-make-it

Good article. In watching Jimmer play defense this year, I've sometimes wondered if getting to the NBA was good enough for him. Somebody needs to kick his butt in gear, because half the time he doesn't even try to fake like he's playing defense. Sure he hustles on the offensive side, but his defense is atrocious. It doesn't help that he doesn't have anyone else on the team that takes the role of good on ball defender... or any kind of defense either.

[SteelBlue]

Jimmer missed a couple of late threes which kept him from setting a career high (current high is 20), so he only had 19 vs the T-Wolves.

Missed 5 threes yesterday, making it 8 misses in a row from three over 2 games. Ended yesterday 0/6.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Can I get some translation help from nikuman (or someone)? The bottom part says "Big in Japan", but the top part has me a little stumped. Big Jimner something... this English something....

[Art Vandelay]

Jimmer's minutes and number of shots have gone up recently . His shooting percentage and defense have gone down, or at least a push on his matador D.

[Indy Coug]

Jimmer with the half-court oop

[YOUTUBE]eFusIuY8lbI[/YOUTUBE]

[myboynoah]

Can I get some translation help from nikuman (or someone)? The bottom part says "Big in Japan", but the top part has me a little stumped. Big Jimner something... this English something....

I'll try.

"Presenting big Jimner, this hero is #1. In Japan, he is big!"

Instead of "big" one might say "amazing," "formidable," "huge," etc., but I think we get the picture.

Who is Leuven?

[Surfah]

I'll try.

"Presenting big Jimner, this hero is #1. In Japan, he is big!"

Instead of "big" one might say "amazing," "formidable," "huge," etc., but I think we get the picture.

Who is Leuven?

http://provocationutah.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/provo-guerrilla-artist-strikes-again/

[Indy Coug]

Good analysis

http://www.cowbellkingdom.com/2012/05/03/2011-12-sacramento-kings-in-review-jimmer-fredette/

[LA Ute]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7116977/nba-player-rankings-1

[TripletDaddy]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/71...yer-rankings-1

Nice link to Lebron James.