With the news of Brandon Davies', BYU's second-leading scorer and leading rebounder, dismissal from the team, the focus will immediately be on whether Jimmer Fredette can shoulder any more weight on this BYU team. He already leads the NCAA in points per game, bombarding teams from what is now referred to as "Jimmer range." He'll pull up from anywhere on the court, fading, off the dribble, around a screen, pretty much whenever he feels like it.
When you score as prolifically as him, and for a historically poor program like BYU, you are going to garner some national attention. And the Jimmer has been in the spotlight the entire year, sprinting up the draft boards and residing just outside the lottery currently. But heed my warning general managers: the one of you who drafts Jimmer will be throwing away a pick. Honestly, save it for the 7-foot European small forward whose name you can't pronounce. It will be a better investment.
Sometimes I just don't understand NBA scouts. The problem is that they watch ESPN analysts too much and fall in love with a player as much as the media does. That is why you hear all of them rationalizing how Jimmer's game can translate to the next game. Fear not, I am here to dispel a few of those myths.
Myth: Jimmer's shot and range will allow him to compete on the next level as an off-guard.
Reality: If you think that NBA coaches will draw up plays where Jimmer rolls off a screen and pulls from 30 feet, you have never watched an professional game before. He will hit the bench before the shot clangs off the rim. The other part of this is that NBA two-guards will D up Jimmer from that far. Nobody will slip under screens when he is out on the perimeter.
Myth: Jimmer is just like Steph Curry, he can learn to play point guard in the NBA and make the jump.
Reality: Jimmer and Steph have one thing in common: they became the darlings of the NCAA after impressive tournament appearances, each decided to return for another year and were the headline story of the year. That is where the comparisons end. Steph Curry was already an NBA-ready scorer after his sophomore year at Davidson. He returned for his junior year to explicitly work on his point guard abilities, hoping to prove to scouts that he could make it as a point guard in the NBA.
Jimmer returned for his junior year and has remained as one-dimensional as last year. As a point guard, Jimmer struggles to run an efficient offense. Yes, his teammates are abysmal, but Steph wasn't exactly surrounded with All-Americans at Davidson. Jimmer is close to Steph on his shooting abilities, but nowhere near him in creating his own shot or running an offense. Can we please stop insulting Steph Curry with this comparison now?
Myth: If Jimmer can't make it as a point guard, he can be a JJ Reddick type of player.
Reality: An even worse myth than the first one. First, Reddick is less one-dimensional than people think he is. Yes, in the past months, he's had two of the most embarrassing ankle-breaks that I can remember, but he had the good fortune of playing under one of the best college basketball coaches all-time, Coach K. Reddick is an incredibly smart player who makes few mistakes and does the little things as well as anyone in the league. Not to mention, being the number two all-time leading scorer in the ACC is significantly more impressive than anything on Jimmer's resume.
Jimmer also lacks the size and athleticism to play as an NBA two guard. I cannot imagine Jimmer trying to go by the likes of Aaron Afflalo or Wes Matthews, both better-than-average defensive guards, but still nowhere near the level of Kobe or Wade.
I want you all to take a second to recall the last player who unconsciously scored on a nightly basis, playing for a mid-major and people clamoring about how high he should be taken on draft night. Now who did you think of? If you selected the colossal bust, Adam Morrison, then you are thinking like I am. One dimensional players do not have a place in the NBA. What does that tell you about Jimmer?
Morrison was sidelined with a torn ACL his sophomore year then got traded to ride the pine for the L*kers. He's a bust, certainly, but i think things could have gone differently (and im sure thats what the scouts thought too), after all he's 6'8 not 6'2. I feel bad for him, he's got two rings though baby!!
ReplyDeleteHahaha @Hans, swooping in to defend Adam Morrison. Way to rep the Zags, baby!
ReplyDeleteI mostly agree with you Petey but disagree that one-dimensional players do not have a place in the NBA. If you do one thing really really well, that's usually enough. Exhibit A: Reggie Evans. Exhibit B: Jason Kapono. He's no lottery pick for sure, nor should he even be a first-rounder, but worse players than Jimmer get taken in the 2nd round every year.