THE QUESTION WAS ASKED IN THE TRIB TODAY: CAN JIMMER FREDETTE PLAY IN THE NBA? LET’S SEE:

He could be as good as Jeff Hornacek….White guy….6’4, could handle well enough to play point but was at his best as a shooter, As mediocre as Ex-Gonzaga guard Dan Dickau…White guy, great college scorer and shooter, hung around awhile in the NBA but never did much or go overseas like Euro sensation and ex-BYU swingman Travis Hansen.


43 Players in the NBA are listed at 6’2 or under, Jimmer’s listed height, though I have a feeling Jimmer will come in under 6’2 ...but whatever:


RAJON RONDO BOS 6’1
TONEY DOUGLAS NYK 6’1
CHRIS DUHON NYK 6’1 PG
NATE ROBINSON NYK 5’9
ALLEN IVERSON PHI 6’0
LOU WILLIAMS PHI 6’1
DANIEL GIBSON CLE 6’2
CHUCKY ATKINS DET 5’11
WILL BYNUM DET 6’0
TRAVIS DEINER IND 6’1
TJ FORD IND 6’0
EARL WATSON UND 6’1
BRANDON JENNINGS MIL 6’1
LUKE RIDNOUR MIL 6’2
MIKE BIBBY ATL 6’2
DJ AUGUSTIN CHA 6’0
RAYMOND FELTON CHA 6’1
MARIO CHALMERS MIA 6’1
RAFER ALSTON MIA 6’2
JAMEER NELSON ORL 6’0
JASON WILLIAMS ORL 6’1
EARL BOYKINS WAS 5’5
MIKE JAMES WAS 6’2
JOSE BAREA DAL 6’0
JASON TERRY DAL 6’2
AARON BROOKS HOU 6’0
KYLE LOWRY HOU 6’0
MIKE CONLEY MEM 6’1
DARREN COLLISON N.O. 6’1
CHRIS PAUL N.O. 6’0
GEORGE HILL SA 6’2
TONY PARKER SA 6’2
TY LAWSON DEN 5’11
ANTHONY CARTER DEN 6’2
JONNY FLYNN MIN 6’0
ANDRE MILLER PORT 6’2
KEVIN OLLIE OKC 6’2
SUNDIATTA GAINES UT 6’1
RONNIE PRICE UT 6’2
CJ WATSON GS 6’2
SEBASTIAN TELFAIR LAC 6’0
DEREK FISHER LAL 6’1
JORDAN FARMAR LAL 6’2

How will Jimmer fit? Not as a pure point and not as a quick guard, he’ll have to be a pure shooter who can pass enough to play some point, how many of those play in the NBA? I have catagorized these players as close as possible, though not perfectly to what kind of guard they are known best for. Where does Jimmer fit?

 

PURE PG:

Rondo, Duhon, Will Bynum, Earl Watson, Luke Ridnour, Jason Williams, Mike James, Andre Miller, Kevin Ollie,

QUICK OR FAST

Toney Douglas, Nate Robinson, Iverson, Lou Williams, Chucky Atkins, TJ Ford, Brandon Jennings, DJ Augustin, Mario Chalmers, Jameer Nelson,  Earl Boykins, Jose Barea, Aaron Brooks, Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley, Darren Collison, Tony Parker, Ty Lawson, Jonny Flynn, Sebastian Telfair, Jordan Farmar

SHOOTERS

Daniel Gibson, Travis Deiner, Tony Carter,

COMBO

Mike Bibby, Rafer Alston, Jason Terry, Chris Paul, George Hill, Sundiatta Gaines, Ronnie Price, CJ Watson, Derek Fisher, 

WHO IS MOST JIMMER LIKE

Luke Ridnour, Daniel Gibson, Derek Fisher, Travis Deiner, Tony Carter

CONCLUSION

Jimmer is potentially as good or better than some of these players. It will depend on how well he can pass and defend at the next level. he can shoot, but can he get his shot off against quicker, longer, more athletic defenders who will almost always be bigger and more athletic than him. If he can’t defend point guards in the NBA, who most times will be quicker, he can’t play either. He won’t be able to get to the rim like he does in the MWC in the NBA. Similar guards like Dan Dickau of Gonzaga, (I know white shooting guard reference) hung around in the NBA but couldn’t quite make the transition from college shooter to NBA point guard/ shooter. He’ll have to play the point in the NBA because teams won’t build the offense around a 6’2 shooter at the next level. Also keep in mind that the last BYU player to have a career of note in the NBA was Shawn Bradley, drafted in 1993 and the last to have a sustained career as a guard was Danny Ainge who played from 1981 to 1995 and is now 50 as President of Basketball Operations with the Celitcs….Uh that’s a long time and quite a few good players have come through BYU in that time and if they have played, those players have played in Europe. Not many have even tried making the NBA, opting to go directly overseas. Also keep in mind that unlike an Austin Collie in the NFL, there are only 2 rounds in the NBA and a very limited amount of players make it. This means if he is to make it, Jimmer would have to be very special in at least one area, specifically as a shooter, ala Kyle Korver. Korver is 6’7 to shoot over defenders and has an incredibly quick release. He could be a Jeff Hornacek type combo guard, but again Horny was 6’4, could handle the ball well enough to play point guard and was a shooting freak. Can Jimmer be that? I’d pack the bags and learn Greek if I were Fredette at the end of the day and there’s nothing wrong with that. 

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DIRK NOWITZKI HEADLINES
RESERVES FOR 2010 NBA ALL-STAR GAME

NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2010 – Dirk Nowitzki of the hometown Dallas Mavericks was named an NBA All-Star for the ninth time, as the NBA today announced the list of 14 players—including seven first-timers—that have been selected by the coaches as reserves for the 2010 All-Star Game. The 59th NBA All-Star Game will be played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, before an expected crowd of more than 80,000 – the largest group ever to witness a live basketball game – on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010.

Joining Nowitzki on the West squad are the Los Angeles Lakers’ Pau Gasol, the New Orleans Hornets’ Chris Paul, the Portland Trail Blazers’ Brandon Roy, and three first-timers—the Memphis Grizzlies’ Zach Randolph, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant and the Utah Jazz’s Deron Williams.

In the Eastern Conference, four first-time selections – the Atlanta Hawks’ Al Horford, the Boston Celtics’ Rajon Rondo, the Charlotte Bobcats’ Gerald Wallace and the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose – are joined by the Hawks’ Joe Johnson, the Celtics’ Paul Pierce and the Toronto Raptors’ Chris Bosh. Rose also was selected to play in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, which will be held in Dallas at American Airlines Center on Friday, Feb. 12.

The 14 players selected—seven each from the Eastern and Western Conferences—were chosen by the 30 NBA head coaches, who were asked to vote for seven players in their respective conferences—two guards, two forwards, one center and two players regardless of position. They were not permitted to vote for players from their own team.

Selected to start for the East—through the 2010 NBA All-Star Balloting Program presented by T-Mobile—were the Celtics’ Kevin Garnett, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James, the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard, the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade and the Philadelphia 76ers’ Allen Iverson. The Denver Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony, the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, the Phoenix Suns’ Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire, and the San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan will start for the West.

Should any player be unable to participate in the All-Star Game due to injury, NBA Commissioner David Stern will select the replacement.

The East and West All-Star coaches and coaching staffs will be determined by the best record in each conference through games played Jan. 31. Last year’s East and West coaches – Cleveland’s Mike Brown and the L.A. Lakers’ Phil Jackson—are not eligible to coach this year’s All-Star Game.

2010 EASTERN CONFERENCE ALL-STARS

No. Player (Team) Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate College/HS/Country All-Star Selections
4 Chris Bosh (Toronto) F/C 6-10 230 03/24/84 Georgia Tech 5
5 *Kevin Garnett (Boston) F 6-11 220 05/19/76 Farragut Academy (HS) 13
15 #Al Horford (Atlanta) F/C 6-10 245 06/03/86 Florida 1
12 *Dwight Howard (Orlando) C 6-11 265 12/08/85 SW Atlanta Christian Academy 4
3 *Allen Iverson (Philadelphia) G 6-0 165 06/07/75 Georgetown 11
23 *LeBron James (Cleveland) F 6-8 250 12/30/84 St. Vincent/St. Mary HS 6
2 Joe Johnson (Atlanta) G 6-7 235 06/29/81 Arkansas 4
34 Paul Pierce (Boston) F 6-7 235 10/13/77 Kansas 8
1 #Rajon Rondo (Boston) G 6-1 171 02/22/86 Kentucky 1
1 Derrick Rose (Chicago) G 6-3 190 10/04/88 Memphis 1
3 *Dwyane Wade (Miami) G 6-4 210 01/17/82 Marquette 6
3 #Gerald Wallace (Charlotte) F 6-7 215 07/23/82 Alabama 1

2010 WESTERN CONFERENCE ALL-STARS

No. Player (Team) Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate College/HS/Country All-Star Selections
15 *Carmelo Anthony (Denver) F 6-8 230 05/29/84 Syracuse 3
24 *Kobe Bryant (L.A. Lakers) G 6-6 205 08/23/78 Lower Merion HS 12
21 *Tim Duncan (San Antonio) F 6-11 260 04/25/76 Wake Forest 12
35 #Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City) F 6-9 230 09/29/88 Texas 1
16 Pau Gasol (L.A. Lakers) F 7-0 227 07/06/80 Barcelona, Spain 3
    13 *Steve Nash (Phoenix) G 6-3 178 02/07/74 Santa Clara 7
41 Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas) F 7-0 245 06/19/78 Wurzburg, Germany 9
3 Chris Paul (New Orleans) G 6-0 175 05/06/85 Wake Forest 3
50 #Zach Randolph (Memphis) F 6-9 260 07/16/81 Michigan State 1
7 Brandon Roy (Portland) G 6-6 211 07/23/84 Washington 3
1 *Amar’e Stoudemire (Phoenix) F/C 6-10 245 11/16/82 Cypress Creek HS 5
8 #Deron Williams (Utah) G 6-3 207 06/26/84 Illinois 1

*denotes starter
#denotes first-time selection