It caught my eye because I remember people raving about him when he was coming out college, and obviously, his accomplishments there haven't translated into a whole lot of success in the NBA so far. In fact, he's just been cut by the Spurs. An anonymous NBA assistant who has worked with him gave same rather blunt insight into what the problem might be:
"Jimmer thinks everybody is stupid," said an NBA assistant who worked with Fredette. "He thinks everybody needs to come and just turn over their offense and let him shoot it anytime he wants. That's not how the league works."
"His foot speed at that position isn't on par with those guys. That's a big deal," the NBA assistant said. "I think the big thing for Jimmer is not offensively but defensively."
"He won't adjust his game for it," he said. "He'll tell you, 'This is what I did at BYU.' Well, BYU, that's a long time ago."
The lack of tremendous athleticism is a hurdle, but it's not like we haven't seen players overcome the obstacle of being an average athlete, thanks to smarts and determination. It seems the biggest problem is attitude and ego. No one's just going to hand a team over to him to prove that he's not a bust; the fact that he's been a bust so far is not going to sell anyone on that idea, so it's not a strong pitch for him to make. It sounds like he's unwilling to make changes and adapt, to find his place and make his opportunities from there.
So, where to from here? To hear that anonymous coach tell it, it sounds like Fredette is pretty stubborn about the situation. I'm sure the opportunities will still be there for a little while longer, but it may be that he's one of those players that just doesn't "get it", and answers valid "what have you done lately?" questions with tales of achievements that are further and further in the past. Perhaps if he can get over that mindset, he'll latch on somewhere and start to shake that bust label. If not, I'd say he'll be heading overseas to a team that'll let him shoot to his heart's content.
