‘The Jimmer’ wants to move on from his inconsistent rookie campaign; looking to live up to his potential next season ….
Jimmer Fredette was expected to take the NBA by storm. He was the rookies, tipped by many star players including Kobe Bryant, to be one of the best power forwards coming into the league when he was selected as the 10th
overall pick by the Sacramento Kings in the 2011 NBA draft. Fredette was however unable to make much of an impression in his rookie season as he averaged only 7.6 points a game and one of the major reasons for his lack of productivity was inconsistency.
As a result of his on and off performances, Fredette’s playing time started decreasing as the season went on and late into the season, there were games of which he was no part of. The forward has been working hard over the summer
and believes that he has learned from his experiences.
"It was a great learning experience for me," Fredette said. "I had some good games and had some bad games, that's what happens with rookies. You go through those types of ups and downs. So, I'm excited to be more consistent this
year and be able to make a playoff push."
Another reason for his struggles was a short training camp and interaction time with his coaches at Sacramento. Coming into a rushed up schedule, Fredette found it very hard to adjust to the professional level of basketball and
having a coaching change early on didn’t help his cause either.
"The first year was a crazy year," Fredette said. "With the shortened season and not having a full training camp, it was tough. We had a coaching change the first week of games, so it was really really crazy," Fredette added. "The
season was shortened, so we were playing a lot of games in a week."
While he struggled to keep up with the fast paced schedule, a certain Isaiah Thomas, who was selected by the Kings as the last pick of the second round, grabbed the opportunity with both hands took over. Isaiah’s rise further highlighted
Fredette’s struggles. He however is now looking to put his rookie season behind him and look forward to the coming season.
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