On Jimmer Fredette's DNP-CDs

Which one is it Ziller?

It just works harder on the floor. His teammates trust him more. He may or may not be more effective. A lot of it’s moments have came in garbage time, or against shit teams, gs, Toronto. But when a guy gives it his all every time you put him on the floor he should get the minutes. Let’s not forget were one of the 5 worst teams in the league.

To rephrase a comment I made in one of the every-post-is-about-Jimmer threads:

The hyperventilating extremes of opinions on Jimmer are based on a perfect storm of: much publicized/hyped rookie; narrow but exciting skill set (shoots the lights out); still raw rookie; not yet NBA ready; unusual (for the NBA) clean-cut religious background; overdone expectations.

Thanks for reminding us that he’s a rookie who has played only 21 NBA games. After his first DNP, people think he is suddenly on the trade block, in the coach’s doghouse, and ready to be cut or traded for a 2080 2nd round pick. Either that, or he is the real rookie of the year who just needs better coaching or playing time to show what he can really do. When really, he is just a rookie that has the potential to someday be a good NBA player. That usually takes a few years to find out though.

Jimmer needs to be more effective on the defensive end. He’ll get better, he has to or he’ll continue to get dnp’s. Look were the kings were probably gonna lose by 30 next game, so when jammer gets his next shot he needs to make the most of it.

We desperately needed to shorten our rotation, and Jimmer was playing matador defense, despite improving shooting. This is why Outlaw gets minutes: Smart seems to respond to guys who play hard, have a great attitude, and play both sides of the game. If any one of those factors is missing, their minutes drop and they don’t get the same looks.

It’s one thing if we are deep in the depth chart on a position, but until Jimmer begins expanding his game and stops looking so frenetic out there, we need to stick with confident, scrappy guys. Thus why IT is getting tons of time right now.

Brandon Knight and Kemba Walker – who I liked best – were sitting right there for the taking and Petrie made a horrible trade down so that we could get Salmons and still have the ability to draft Jimmer. The trade was viewed negatively at the time and that view has not changed since then (although Salmons has been decent the past 2 games). Jimmer is who he is – a shooter who is a major liability on the defensive end – and everyone knew this before the draft. Seems Petrie, undoubtedly under pressure from the Maloofs, went with the hype/flash over taking the better overall NBA player. Very bad mistake, IMO.

Unless Jimmer learns to play PG like Steve Nash (i.e. do just enough on the defensive end to get by and be super crafty on the offensive end), I don’t see how makes it as this level.

I think Sloan would come back to Utah in a new york minute if he knew they had a chance of getting Jimmer. Face it playing in Utah you have advantages, you get the calls and sloans offense with the pick and roll, its built for Jimmer. He’s done it a few times on the foor with cuz and the spacing the D gave up was obvious. Jimmer knows Utah is his ace in the hole. Sloan seems open to reconcile by an article i read yesterday.

IT shows every night, but i feel Jimmer is one of those players who needs a season and some change to get the Lay of the Land, and he will be just like Steph Curry……I just think he needs some time that’s all

has a belief system, can express why he does things, and seems to have a direction and goals for this team and its players. This is refreshing in the wake of the PW years. He seems to clearly set expectations for everyone and then hold them accountable. If Jimmer isn’t meeting the expectations that Smart has laid out for him then he needs to sit. That is how accountability becomes valued within a team. Also, there are different standards for different players, John Salmons is a proven “pro” and deserves a much longer leash than a rookie. Tyreke and Thornton and even IT are providing different things that Smart values over Jimmer’s shooting ability. Jimmer looks kind of ridiculous when he looks at the bench like a clueless 6th grade boy after making a mistake. This happens all the time, and is reason enough to bench him if it’s been addressed, is indicative of deeper maturity issues, and has not changed. Jimmer has potential, I enjoy watching him shoot the ball, and I watch youtube clips of his highlights at BYU and with the Kings more often than a grown man should…but he has to grow up and take responsibility for his career and realize that being “Jimmer” isn’t as important as doing anything and everything he can do to help his team on both ends of the floor, from the bench, and in the locker room. Shouldn’t be too hard to figure out, IT took Jimmer’s minutes by following this very formula. Here is hoping that Jimmer comes out this with a little more “f* you” and a little less “who / why me” attitude.

He seems to clearly set expectations for everyone and then hold them accountable

This is good so long as everyone is held to account.

Discussion of accountability only has relevance if it is uniformly applied with consistency to all player personnel. This is hardly the case for the Sacramento Kings. The Kings players (by and large) have been unquestionably selfish in their orientation until very recently. Let’s give Smart some modicum of credit for engendering a modest improvement in the level of narcisstic investment of the average King player. Jimmer is benched for his weaknesses while players who make repeated judgemental errors are lauded with additional player time…Salmons “sticky finger black hole planet swallowing shoot ahon”, Tyreke’s one versus 3 or 4 isolation fest, Marcus Thorton’s I have never seen a shot that I truly didn’t appreciate orientation to team offense, and let’s not forget that Demarcus Cousin’s gem when he launched a 3 point bomb from the corner because – well – that’s clearly his strength.

Please – accountability is an afterthought on the Kings – but is now being applied with zeal in the case of Jimmer Fredette? Bad management. However, it is a correctable mistake. But is it a mistake that coaching personal have any desire to remedy?

Realistically – Jimmer has limitations at this level of basketball. He isn’t a great defender. He is small. He isn’t a natural point guard (at least – not yet). He probably doesn’t deserve to start on the Kings this season and it remains to be seen whether he ever deserves to start on the Kings. But, he is a fanatastic shooter, he is crafty with the basketball, he can drive the lane and distribute under the right circumstances, and he can play passable defense when matched up appropriately. He deserves time on the court – he needs time on the court – he can help the Kings by being used properly on the court.

He is also interesting, charismatic, and good for business. Bad for business to bench him in this fashion. Short sighted. Yet, somehow predictable in terms of the vibe observed on the court. Odd.

And they want to preserve a healthy Jimmer that is shooting something like 60% on his threes from his last four games. They dont want to play him right now sonce he looks golden right now. It doesn’t make sense otherwise. Unless he got under somebody’s skin with the missed three point attempt at the closing seconds of Kings Jazz. The other posters that I have read are absolutely correct. It is ridiculous to punish Jimmer for poor defense when you had games where records were set for most points in the paint by an opposing team. It clearly says that the whole team plays bad D.

Jimmer is currently a SG. He hasn’t yet shown the leadership, decsion making ability, and floor awareness to be anything but a stopgap at the PG. Our rotation is pretty shallow at PG, but there are a plethora of Kings that can play SG. With MT out and Salmons playing badly, Jimmer got some burn at the SG; but in the last couple of games, his current abilities were irrelevant.

Give him a season to get used to the team and the NBA pace. He will learn the skills he needs to be an effective PG, he just doesn’t have much to contribute to the team right now.

People freaked when I mentioned jimmer was a “polarizing” figure. After reading the wide range of feelings from love to hate I think it’s safe to say it’s true

And yet Jimmer doesn’t simply because IT is so fucking small he can’t do shit at the 2. So basically because IT is undersized for even HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL, Jimmer is relegated to playing the 2, a position he doesn’t really know shit about.

Personally, I think Smart has done WONDERS for players like DMC and Evans (loving the way those two are playing lately), but the handling of Jimmer has just been a huge clustercuss.

I realize that Smart is a defensively minded coach, and that Jimmer FOR SURE needs to get his ass down and play some Smart defense (pun intended), but the fact of the matter is that you had a guy who was moving upward and making things happen and then you pull him? I know that basketball minded people aren’t necessarily known for their management prowess, but this is just human resource management 101: don’t kill someone’s confidence when they’re just starting to get it back.

In summation, I really think that they need to knock this shit off of forcing Jimmer to play the 2 and get him burn at the 1 and stop with the pussy footing with him in there and let him play his game.

There’s a lot of new season ticket holders thanks to Jimmer. For a guy that was shooting 65% from three over the previous 5 games it seems like the DNPs are extreme to say the least. Sure, he needs to improve his D, but Smart’s not even going to throw him out there for a last second shot at the end of a quarter, or anything? Seems like Smart runs the risk of jading Jimmer fans with DNPs and the Kings could potentially lose a significant amount of newfound attendance over that. Of course winning is more important than Jimmer, but if they stop winning and Jimmer’s still sitting…

Mark Price’s game is so much like Jimmers and he did pretty well in the NBA so did Steve Kerr and both were defensive liabilities. Last i looked the teams with the Top D hasn’t won any titles recently. Balanced Teams win championships in this era. The Mavs that defensive juggernaught are champs. NBA needs players like Jimmer to offset the knuckleheads that dominate the league. Even if he’s on the floor for 6 mins it validates that the league cares about its image. As for the one dementional game Jimmer has, Rodman just went into the hall for rebounding and Defense but not and offensive threat at the least. Curt Rambis was a starter on the Lakers for christ sake. His contrbution was minimal on the offensive end. There are numerous examples of one dimetional players in the NBA. Jason Kidd just learned how to hit a three 15 yrs into his career, but that did’nt stop his effectivness in other areas of the game. Jimmer was your starter while Thorton was hurt an IT came off the bench. Thorton’s back and the natural process would be Jimmer off the bench then IT. If Jimmer was such a liability on D, would’nt you think the reverse would happen. IT starts in thorton’s place and then Jimmer off the bench. It just seems like a benching to me, and if it is coach should man up and say so, because the way it went down seems a little funky.

Without question, I know that I tuned in with regularity to watch Jimmer’s defensive stops when he played for BYU – oh wait – I didn’t. I tuned in to watch him shoot the basketball.

Presumably, the Kings’ acquisition of Jimmer had a great deal to do with the excitement of his offensive production, his long range shooting stroke, and his overall marketability to an international audience.

So, if the argumentation suggests that it is the philosophical position of Smart that only players with defensive capability receive playing time on his squad then Smart’s position is directly at odds with management’s decision to acquire Fredette. A precarious position for Smart to say the least.

But, frankly I’m a lot incredulous that Smart’s philosophical position is that of a “defensive minded” coach when he originally stated that he “didn’t know what the team’s idenity was” followed closely by a desire to foster “a run and gun style of team”. Somewhat convenient that he has arrived at the “defense first” mentality that clearly leaves Fredette and nobody else on the team out of the rotation.

It’s a moot point. A portion of the fan base is irritated. Not a good move. However, realisticaly I would be satisfied if the team brings Fredette along slowly and he receives some playing time coming off the bench. I’ll pay money to see him be aggressive offensively and shooting the basketball as “instant offense” 6th or 7th man. “I’ll pay money” being the statement that brings about a change with this impasse.

The NBA is economics. Of course, it matters. It probably matters too much. Jimmer is a draw. I want to see him play. I don’t want to see him on the bench.

Look. Smart treats some players in one fashion and Jimmer in another. Usually, a double standard is underscored by a particular believe system or ideology. I don’t know what his belief system or ideology is. I do know that it is unhelpful for Jimmer’s development.

Smart is not the coach for Jimmer – that much is clear. So, he probably needs a change of venue. In the interim, he can get as much coaching as he can from the assistant coaches and trainers associated with the team – and take in what information is useful from Smart.

Ten minutes of playing time is better than 0 minutes. It does appear that the Kings don’t need Fredette at the moment. They are getting good play from Thomas and it appears that Smart isn’t interested in giving any time from Thorton or Tyreke to Fredette. So, Fredette is out of the loop. Not surprising.

He’ll just need to work hard on his game in the off season and get his agent to look around the league for a good coach/player fit and a team that needs his skill set. Right now his skill set is outside shooting. A J.J. Barea, Allen Iverson type of player who can shoot, is undersized, and has enough of handle to get to the basket. He could be more than this in time. Keep working.

Rooks only get burn in the NBA if they provide a missing attribute to the team or they are potential all-star talent. As for all-stars, DMC will be an all-star; Reke may become one. That’s pretty much it for the Kings roster.

IT has gotten time because he has the necessary attributes of a PG, a position that the Kings need, and he immediately changes the pace when he comes on the court, something the Kings were missing from their bench.

Jimmer has a good shot, a valuable attribute, but one that many other Kings players also have without the defensive weakness. Additionally, while he was a good college player, he has shown nothing that indicates he will be an all-star in the NBA.

Just because he doesn’t look like an all-star, doesn’t keep him from becoming a solid role player and having an excellent NBA career. He has the brains and talent to figure out how to use his best attributes, and disguise his weaknesses. That takes some time. I have confidence that he will figure it out, but he isn’t there yet.