Allow me to start out Jimmer Fredette’s season review with this player comparison table. Time to play a little game I like to call “guess that player”!
If you guessed “the same guy”, you’re right! Player X is Jimmer Fredette in his most recent season before coming to New Orleans. Jimmer finished the 2013-14 NBA season doing some of the best shooting of his career, and with the departure of Anthony Morrow to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Pelicans brought him in largely to replace Morrow’s shooting off the bench. Unfortunately, things didn’t exactly go the way that the Pelicans or Jimmer planned, as the fourth year sharp shooter out of BYU suffered easily the worst shooting season of his career. Given his limited skill set outside of his perimeter shooting, these struggles translated to inconsistent minutes and the worst overall season of his career.
Instead of just listing out all of the ways in which Jimmer under performed, I decided to take a different approach. Below, I’ll look at some of the reasons why Jimmer may have failed to meet expectations as a Pelican, along with suggestions about how he can learn from them.
The Rationale
Small Sample Size
When I list “small sample size” as a good thing, I don’t necessarily mean that it was good to only have a small sample size of Jimmer. What I am trying to say is that the sample size for his statistical production this year was sufficiently small that it isn’t really possible to draw tons of definite conclusions about his ability overall. We can use his entire career and fairly easily point to his strengths and weaknesses, but given the type of player Jimmer is, doing so is more difficult with a sample size of only about 500 minutes played. Sure, Jimmer was atrocious from the 3-point line this season, but you know what? He was also lights out in roughly the same number of minutes last season. Don’t get me wrong, Fredette was unquestionably a below replacement level player this season, but he had some bad luck as well. As long as Jimmer stays confident and trusts his shot, the switch could easily flip back in the opposite direction next season.
Poor Usage
First, a table to show the relationship between Fredette’s 3-point attempt rate, 3-point percentage, usage rate, and player efficiency rating in each of his four NBA seasons:
As you can see, Fredette attempted far fewer 3-pointers as a percentage of his total shot attempts in 2014-15 than he did during any other season in his career. While there is likely some deflation to his first year PER due to the rookie learning curve, it appears as if Jimmer is at his best offensively when he is attempting close to 40% of his shots from the 3-point line. That number dipped significantly in 2014-15 with the Pelicans, and his efficiency dropped right along with it. There is certainly a case to be made that the Pelicans failed to put Fredette in the best position to succeed, but if Jimmer wants to be considered among the best shooters in the league, he has to improve upon his consistency.
Contested Shot/Shot Creation Performance
In the 2013-14 NBA season, Jimmer Fredette made 10 of his 16 attempts in which the defender was within 4 feet of him when he released his shot. This year, he made just 1 out of 10 such attempts. Fredette shot a far lower percentage on open three pointers as well, but over the long run, that is more bad luck than anything else, as we have seen throughout Jimmer’s career that he is capable of converting open looks. Additionally, Jimmer converted on 19 out of 41 attempts (46.3%) in the 2013-14 season with the the ball in his hands for at least two seconds before shooting (highly correlated to whether the shot was assisted or created by himself). In 2014-15, he made just 1 out of 12 (8.3%) such shots. A huge value add for Jimmer in 2013-14 was his ability to make long range shots without needing to be set up by teammates, something he simply could not do this season. As in the usage section above, this decline in success does not all fall on Fredette, as team offensive design must be taken into account as well. However, making contested shots and creating shots are real skills, and Fredette’s inability to do so this season undoubtedly hurt his chances at extended playing time.
Summary
Let’s face the facts here: Jimmer Fredette is, at best, a guy you bring in off the bench when you need to add shooting and floor-spacing to your offense. His career real plus-minus and adjusted plus-minus numbers on the defensive end indicate that he’ll always be a net negative on that end of the floor, and the eye test typically supports that. While Jimmer certainly is not as bad as his 2014-15 season with the Pelicans makes him seem, his weaknesses were especially exposed, and his inconsistency was put under the microscope. If Jimmer can improve his ability to come in cold off the bench and make shots at a reasonable clip, then he can have value as a situational player for quite a few NBA teams. If he only shoots well when given enough playing time for him get into a “rhythm”, though, he’ll struggle to find a roster spot because he has too many shortcomings in other aspects of his game, and will lose out to other more versatile players. More than anything else, proving that he can make shots consistently through stretches of sparse playing time may be the biggest key to Jimmer Fredette carving out a long-term place in the NBA.
48 responses to “New Orleans Pelicans Season in Review: Jimmer Fredette”
I’m gonna really miss Jimmer time next year
No one would call Jimmer a D juggernaut, but one should note that his -1.95 this year (390th) is nearly identical (within 7 spots) to a three other poor-defending Pels: Babbitt -1.86, Cole -1.86 and Gordon -1.87. All were an order of magnitude better than Ryno’s -3.78. Oddly, Jimmer’s O RPM was higher than Cole’s: -0.88 vs -1.27. No clear take-away other than the Pels have lots of areas in which to improve going forward.
I would suggest that had Jimmer got all those minutes that the pelicans waisted on Rivers and all those waisted 10 day contract players, Jimmer would of come around and produced some impressive numbers. The coaching staff did nothing to develop him or bring him along, Hence I give the coaching staff an F for coaching the whole team!
Jimmer was in jail all freaking season by a mediocre coach…Just hope he gets a legit chance with or without the Pels. Free Jimmer!
Jimmer fanboys say the same thing every year – “He never got a chance!” and/or “Coaching staff just wants to see him fail!”
Man, when will a coaching staff give the guy a chance??
Michael McNamara Jimmer’s PER average for the 2 yrs (that is, pre-Monty) was 15.3. Nate Wolters’s PER this yr was 4.67, Gal Mekel’s was 0.56 (94 & 96 out of 97 PGs); Norris Cole’s was 10.9. Even Eric Gordon’s was 12.8 — so there was reason to assume he could have helped Pels this year, and may be able to help someone next year, esp when you consider that even this yr his D-RPM was about the same as Gordon’s and Cole’s.
I would say the main things that did not help jimmer were:
1. Not put in a position to be of value, not only by his coach, but by his teammates as well, they barely played with jimmer, often ignoring him or making him a last resort, and even non shooters taking low % shots instead of passing to him
2. Weak bench inside defense, when a team can’t play defense as a whole, individual players will suffer, jimmer often looked worse than he should have at defense due to nobody being able to stop players that beat him off the dribble (which in the nba, almost everyone can beat you off the dribble, including jimmer) the difference is that when jimmer beats someone off the dribble, the help defense of the other team is usually there to stop him, unlike the pelicans inside defense without AD, which usually just let players drive in and score.
3. Not converting on good passes, jimmer showed a lot of PG ability this season when he was allowed to run it, and he often even impressed commentators with his passes, the problem however, is that his teammates would often convert at a very low %, out of 3 good passes they would usually convert on only one out of the 3, making it seem like jimmer had no impact at all.
4. Of course #4 would be the lack of trust by monty, even in blow out games he would refuse to play jimmer until the last minutes, not to mention all the players he brought in to replace him without even having to earn anything, just sign a 10-day contract and play him ahead of jimmer as if they suddenly earned the rotation spot that jimmer was working so hard to earn, only to play at a low level, just plain disrespectful, just imagine being jimmer in that situation, despite it all monty adressed that jimmer was still one of the hardest working players in his roster, often arriving to the gym before him.
It’s time to face reality. Jimmer simply isn’t good enough to be a meaningful contributor on a good team. Simple as that.
Most writers and fans know NOTHING about the abuse the kid has endured at the hands of Keith Smart . Mike Malone, Monty williams and a lot of his teammates—
Monty
williams besides being a very POOR coach is also a guy who ABUSES players .
Jimmer
Fredette FLAT out outplayed everyone in pre-season . Monty allowed him to
play 4 games without hindering him and yanking him in and out of
games . Fredette played GREAT and was scorching it it from
the field and 3Pt Range !!! Shooting 50% ….and throwing excellent
passes and playing solid D… . He was the story of the pre-season..Check the
papers..
then
MONTY PULLED THE PLUG ON HIM. No other way to say it .. If a
coach wanted to destroy a players confidence from that game on just
follow Monty Williams’ plan with Fredette.
1)
Take the ball out of his hands. Refuse to let him play PG despite his Stellar
play. Let the guy he FAR outplayed take his minutes…
2)
while he is playing the 2 Guard run NO plays for him. Stick him in the corner
make sure he rarely touches the ball.
3) Teammates who Freeze out Fredette (Evans and Andersen the 2 Worst) WILL
be rewarded NEVER chastised .
4) Cut his minutes in half. Play him for 6 secs. a game or 30 secs a game and
yank him.
5) Talk sideways about Fredette after he has a great game. Publicly Criticize
him.
6) Upon his first mistake take him out ..dont put him back in
7) If he starts playing Great (Spurs, Philly ,Hawks etc.) Hit him with
inexplicable DNP’s
8) Continually harp on what he is not great at (according to Williams
..Fredette is the ONLY player in the NBA who is not a GREAT defender.) Forget
the FACT that he is one of THE BEST SHOOTERS on the planet and a TEAM FIRST guy
(a RARE combination)
9
) Bring in scrub players for 10 day contracts and give ALL of Jimmer’ well
deserved minutes to them.
10
) NEVER NEVER allow Fredette to get a Rhythm either in a game or over the
season.
PRETEND
LIKE YOUR NOT DOING IT
Good
Job Monty
!!!
If
ANY OTHER player in the NBA was treated like this from LeBron to KD to Steph
they would not have much better results than Fredette.
Despite
the ABUSE : Jimmer Fredette at 47.2% has a higher 2pt% than:
Kyle
Lowry, Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, Brandon Knight , Kemba Walker. Micheal
carter Williams, Mike Conley, Demarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay, Kobe Bryant,
Tyreke Evans, Norris Cole, Luke Babbit, Jrue Holiday,
Given
that 90% of the shots that NBA teams take are 2 pointers…Why wouldnt you want
Jimmer Fredette on the court at least 20 minutes a game?YES He FLAT out outplayed everyone
and he was scorching it it from 3Pt Range !!! 50% ….and throwing
excellent passes . He was the story of the pre-season..Check the papers..
get over your man crush.. you’re comparing fredette to steph, lebron, and KD. are yu high?
I’m to let the insanity below stand so the author can be thoroughly embarrassed.
This is the NBA, not a busineaa designed to give one man opportunitie he has proven he does not deserve.
Get over it, find a site to spam.
If you want to reasonably discuss something, go right ahead.
Unbelievable. ….forget the numbers. Did anyone see him play this year ? There’s a reason he was here on a minimum deal. Unlike Morrow, Jimmer couldn’t produce when his name was called. He seems like a really nice guy, but his game …IMO has to many holes to consistently contribute to any NBA team.
DonDP man everything he said was dead on… three seasons ago through 39 games, playing 16 min a game, (but it was 16 min every game) fredette was fourth in the NBA in points per min… only players ahead of him were durant anthony and bryant…(bet u would think one was high to ever think that as well) my main question is, for the kings, why would a lottery pick be playing 16 min only if he’s in the top five in Points per min… sad thing is, his production wasn’t really what went down… getting those nightly consistent min was what evaporated… honestly, he has never gotten consistent min since… he will not ever get a chance to be himself… sad thing is, he doesnt want to be him self.. he just wants to play and seems ready to play however they will let him… it won’t happen tho.. he needs to go oversea’s and just go nuts…. it is a miracle curry ever graduated to the levels he did in this league.. i truly thought he would get stuffed to…. the difference is he went to a team who believed in him, and he’s a shade darker, and seems a bit tougher as far as his inner self than fredette….most players in todays game r gonna play with a white kid who needs the ball in his hands…. nash may have been the last we’ll see, and thats because he was pass first
name 1 thing jimmer can do better or just as good as steph.. I’ll wait
he can’t even do the only thing he’s suppose to be able to do.. shoot. and claimin no one wants to play jimmer because he’s white is the most pathetic thing yu jimmer riders bring up.. that is ridiculous.. I guess guys like parsons, korver, and Love only look white
DonDP
Fredette HAS BEEN ABUSED IN THE NBA.
You are COMPLETELY uninformed …You just Hate Fredette like SO many others Why? Fredette had THE highest 3 pt % in the NBA in the 2013-14 season ….better than Korver , Bellinini and Steph….Yhat is a FACT %47+ …..Steph is a Freak … Yet i believe if Fredette were given the same minutes he could be just as effective….Because until Fredette got to the Abusive Monty Williams he had improved his shooting % for 3 years in a row. …..Also he shoots Free Throws better than Steph..
Fredette has NEVER been given a fair shake…He has NBA All Star abilities but no one has given him a chance..
I don’t hate Fredette I hate ridiculous claims made by his fans like he can b as good as durant, lebron, and steph.. Or he doesn’t play cause he’s white. Anyone who believes this
is delusional
xmisael7 So, its everyone faults but Jimmer…lol…Same thing here…i would play in the NBA, but Monty, Dell, Mickey and Tom didnt like me (or know me for that reason…) Guess the NBA, coaches, GM, fans, teammates, neighbors and family are all against Jimmer and me…
If this guy had 1% skills upgrade for every fan he had, he would be MVP next season…just free him…lol
DonDP Dont waste your time explaining…just ask Jimmer fans where they get their stash…I would love to smoke some of that weed…
can’t be weed bro.. has to b sumtin much more lethal
Jason Calmes WOW….
DonDP THEEEE clueless DON!!!!
Nithenz DonDP Right on chooch!
totaludaymove Chooch…
Diggers Agreed… Except he doesn’t need developing…He just needs a consistent chance, and all of the trolling chooch, LOW IQ Jimmer haters can go pound salt…Also the guy above calls himself a moderator? Cmon man!!!
kiss the ring bish
Nithenz xmisael7 its easy to talk as if you knew when you’ve probably haven’t watched any of his games the past years, jimmer fans follow him on a game to game basis throughout the years, don’t pretend like you know more than such people with such a small sample size, your just talking based on ego and ignorance, this season he struggled from 3 indeed, but like i mentioned above there were many factors as to why, to top it off he barely had 3pt attempts to break any cold streak, he only averaged around 1 3pt attempt a game, you bring in a guy like jimmer for shooting and then barely even use him, nice logic, outside of 3pt% which is what everyone knocks him for outside of defense which i already mentioned above, he shot 48% from the 2pt range, and he was also a great facilitator but with no reward, simple as that, hes showed his potential multiple times in the league, however inconsistency of playing time and lack of trust by his coaches and teammates have never let him flourish, to a star? unlikely, but his future is still in the shadows until he gets a proper chance, all am saying is hes not a bust, people like you threat him like this, and blindly so.
fearthepelicans That is definitely not reality, hes showed his potential multiple times, this season didn’t even count, the sample size is too small, barely any attempts and proper usage, in the right system he can flourish, it makes no sense to say otherwise if you haven’t witnessed it, we can’t predict the future, he was great in sactown when he actually got a chance to play, just search for memphis game, clippers, knicks, etc etc.
DonDP And how would you know? the people that are making these statements have watched him since he joined the league, have you? how would you know if he can play or what hes been through if you haven’t followed him like other people? stop being arogant, if people are making these claims don’t you think theirs a reason? they wouldn’t blindly say so, thats just what you want to believe, anyhow i haven’t seen anyone saying he can be as good as durant etc, you misinterpret, most of them are simply giving credit where credit is due, am pretty sure nobody claims jimmer can be a star, we simply say he can certainly be something, hes just had a tough career, if you haven’t witnessed it, we don’t expect you to understand, so just don’t comment, either you’ve followed his career, or you haven’t, simple as that.
Jason Calmes and how would you know he has not proven he deserves such opportunity? have you followed his career like the people below? am 100% you haven’t, fans are passionate about it for a reason, if you haven’t followed we don’t expect you to understand, the author shouldn’t be emberassed about anything, it was a great post, what happens in the comments doesn’t have to be his responsibility, freedom of expression, thats why comments are there in the first place right?.
DonDP I never said ANYthing about white…Who’s delusional?
And Fredette DOES have the ability to score as well as anyone on the planet..
sosasura DonDP
Exactly..
4th in the NBA in Points Per Minute and FIRST in the NBA for Point Guards..Yet k “smart” wouldn’t let him play …kept hitting him w DNP’s ……on a LOSING team— w no chance to make the playoffs…
xmisael7 Jason Calmes I was watching him and advocating for Monty to play him. You were reasonable below. Please continue to be.
Freedom of expression applies to the government and certain public fora. It does not apply here, nor does it apply without qualification.
Comments are there for reasonable discussion, a few other things. Spreading garbage is not one. Tom has been banned because he was just a useless waste. I urge you to continue reasonable comments. EmGee may be wrong, but he’s at least trying to present something reasonable (just failing).
It is so obvious that Jimmer has great offensive talent. When he was on Sac Kings, his first coach played him, but most of the players were selfish and jealous (Cousins, IT, and Tyreke), and made sure Jimmer woud not have great success. Cousins even got the coach fired. ALL of his other coaches had no idea what to do with a short great shooting player who needed help learning NBA defense. So they took the easy way out and didn’t play him, even when he was developing. I remember my last in person game, Kings at Clippers, rookie Jimmer didn’t play 1st quarter, then in the 2nd quarter went 4 for 4. Well guess what, he didn’t play the 3rd quarter and hardly played the 4th. That’s when I realized Keith Smart was really Keith “Stupid”. Of course the game to remember is the one at Madison Square Garden. Jimmer doesn’t play the 1st quarter, and the Kings look so disinterested in playing the rest of the game, they were thoroughly losing and playing terrible. Jimmer in as point guard in the 2nd quarter, and singlehandedly and with great confidence shoots lights out and brings the “walking dead” Kings back to life. But then Stupid brings back IT to play the point, and Jimmer gets frozen out of the action. 3rd quarter, no Fredette! Finally gets back in, and is on fire. He and Gay are the only good Kings players that night, and the Kings finally win it in overtime. DON’T EVER SAY Jimmer can’t play in the NBA! He can carry a team if the coaches and his teammates believe in him.
KennethBrody Note well, readers, that this so-called fan of Jimmer has not mentioned this season or this team at all.
You, sir, are not a real fan. Period.
Jason Calmes KennethBrody Been watching basketball since The Big O, Ritchie Guerin, Bill vs Wilt, etc. Don’t tell me I’m not a real fan, you know nothing about me. Remember listening in the schoolyard on radio to Wilt’s 100 point game in Hershey, Pa. This year Jimmer was shafted, then yes, he didn’t play well, coach showed no confidence in him, had no idea how to use his strengths. Monty is gone, another poor coach. Earl the Pearl played no defense, but was a star, and when he played on a team that shared the ball selflessly and played TEAM DEFENSE, won a championship. Tyreke and Eric, sharing the ball, ha ha, that;s a good one. Jimmer open never got the ball, so it will lower your %. Jimmer forcing shots just to get some, it will lower your %. Coach jerking you around, it will lower your %. Pelicns were a very flawed team, no real offensive or defensive concept developed, just let Gordon hack away, Tyreke drive to nowhere, AD bail everybody out with his incredible ability. If you cannot recognize Jimmer’s great ability, YOU, sir, are not a real fan.
KennethBrody Jason Calmes Yes you nailed it
Williams made SURE Fredette never got a good look….He was out to prove himself right ( by Unfairly and Bizarrely playing Rivers and 4 other inferior guards in front of Fredette) by making sure Fredette never got comfortable on the court… Williams was pure NASTY and unprofessional he Abused his power and once again Real basketball fans are the only ones who see what is going on..
Jason Calmes xmisael7 YOU (and Kermit) are FAILING ..Do you always comment on thing you dont know about? :)…or is that the puppet typing?
DonDP you asked me to name what he does better ,
One year ago he shot the 3 better and FT’s better.
and this year he shot FT’s better.. You’re welcome.
Drivel from both of you, particularly the new guy. Seriously, you do the man a disservice with your posts.
Ok, you’re done, too.
Should have quit while ahead.
Great post Em Gee!!!!!!! Look what dellavenova (spelled his name wrong) is doing with the Cavs!!!!) is there any fool out there that doesn’t think jimmer is better than dellavenova!!! Come on!!!! Even Stevie wonder can see that!! The difference is playing with Lebron, who gets everyone involved, instead of playing with ball hogs like tyreke, Anderson, Gordon and a incompetent coach!!!!!
The guy was brought in to hit 3s.
He did not hit many.
He is gone.
Seems like a nice guy. I hope he finds a role somewhere.
What do all of Fredette’s NBA coaches have in common?
Was Jimmer not hitting his contested shots, or was he encouraged to draw contact and get to the line, instead of fading or stepping back and creating space. My guess is the former, as his FT rate was up quite a bit this year.
benbackstreet be careful, you’re using reason to evaluate my review of Mr. Fredette. Jimmer Nation knows nothing of this rationalism.
MasonGinsberg benbackstreet
I think Jimmerites don’t do Jimmer any favors with blind adoration. I truly the locals would have any easy time rooting for him if the JImmerites took a chill pill. He works hard for his talents and really wants to win.
You were spot on in breaking down his performance this season. It was down. His two point percentage was OK but really his offensive production suffered for likely to reasons.
1. Small sample sizes.
2. Poor usage.
Regarding the second, Jimmer is at his playing fast and taking the first open shot he saw. In the preseason, they let him do that for a couple of games. But in the regular season, that isn’t how the team was set up to play and Jimmer struggled.
I do think it wasn’t entirely fair that his minutes immediately went to Wolters or Gael especially when Jimmer did fairly well when he was given real minutes at the end of December. But such is life. Nobody has said this, but I think this partly Jimmer’s fault for insisting on a 1 year constract with no team option for a 2nd. With a team option for the 2nd, there is a stronger incentive to develop him. With a 1 year contract, he’s really just a good guy in the locker room and an extra body and 3 point shooter when they need him.
benbackstreet MasonGinsberg thanks. The crazy thing is that I thought I was being pretty nice w/ this review. Instead of simply listing all of the things that Jimmer didn’t do well, I examined why he may have struggled in certain areas. I guess I’m the fool for hoping the comments section wouldn’t disintegrate into madness.
man, people are putting the cape on to save Jimmer huh?