What Happened to Jimmer? He Got Drafted by the Clueless, Dysfunctional Sacramento Kings, That's What
By Jason McIntyre
"So how often has Fredette been running the point? According to 82games.com, 37 percent of the Kings’ point guard minutes have gone to him. The problem? He’s been very bad during those minutes, averaging 4.6 assists per 48 minutes and 3.5 turnovers per 48. He commits most of his turnovers in pick-and-roll situations, where Fredette loses the ball 14.8 percent of the time. Fredette has been such an ineffective pick-and-roll ball handler because he doesn’t put much pressure on defenses when he uses ball screens."
Wait, you mean Fredette, 19 games into his NBA career, is supposed to be proficient picking-and-rolling with 21-year-old DeMarcus Cousins? You might as well have Fredette running the pick-and-roll with Washington’s Andray Blatche.
We knew Fredette didn’t play any defense in college, so his defensive struggles are nothing new (it’s not like anyone on that team plays defense). He’s only shooting 36 percent from the floor and 36 percent on 3-pointers, which shouldn’t be a surprise anyone, either. He’s definitely forcing shots, probably because he knows minutes are limited and everyone else is jacking bad shots, so why not me?
The Maloofs, desperate for a PR bump and hoping to sell some tickets, drafted Basketball’s Next Great White Hope with the idea of parlaying his popularity on an exciting team into keeping the Kings from moving to Anaheim. Too bad they already had a surfeit of shoot-first guards on their roster, and trying to turn Jimmer – a guy who was in range anytime he crossed halfcourt in college – into a point guard on a young team full of chuckers has been a disaster so far. Hopefully, Jimmer’s confidence won’t be crushed because I still think on the right team, he can be a valuable 15-20 minute a-night reserve who always has the green light.
So nothing happened to Jimmer. Except that he got drafted by the Kings.