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Jimmer Fredette Should Get More Playing Time

By Josh Wilson

Jan 18, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; New Orleans Pelicans guard Jimmer Fredette (32) drives to the basket against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Pelicans beat the Raptors 95-93. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 18, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; New Orleans Pelicans guard Jimmer Fredette (32) drives to the basket against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Pelicans beat the Raptors 95-93. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jimmer Fredette is a name long lost in his transition from college basketball to the NBA. As a leading member of the Brigham Young University basketball team, Jimmer constantly averaged well more than 20 points per game in his two last seasons of college ball.

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Fredette even had “Jimmer range,” named after him on ESPN’s SportsCenter. For most of us, our extent of hearing constantly of Jimmer ended after he was drafted.

After a decent first two seasons in the NBA for a young player with not many minutes, his production offensively really seemed to trail off.

SeasonTmMPFG%3P%FT%TRBASTSTLBLKTOVPTS
2011-12SAC18.6.386.361.8331.21.80.50.01.17.6
2012-13SAC14.0.421.417.8591.01.30.40.01.07.2
2013-14TOT10.6.471.476.9051.11.30.30.11.05.6
2013-14SAC11.3.475.493.8951.11.50.30.11.15.9
2013-14CHI7.0.448.3641.0000.90.40.00.00.54.0
2014-15NOP10.2.380.188.9560.81.20.30.00.73.6
Career13.7.412.381.8781.01.40.40.00.96.1

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/28/2015.

As we can see, last year especially, his numbers have really started to dip down into numbers produced by a long-time bench warmer. And that’s what he’s on his way to becoming, just a bench warmer in the NBA. To an extent, he’s already just that, with only seven minutes per game with the Chicago Bulls last year and then 10.2 with the New Orleans Pelicans this year.

Maybe though, this shortage of minutes is the reason Jimmer isn’t producing. He’s not getting enough minutes to prove himself, and prove that he is deserving of more.

In New Orleans, he has been overshadowed by Eric Gordon, who most often got the start at shooting guard.

Many have simply accepted it as fact that Gordon is the better guard. Perhaps it’s because he has more experience, or perhaps it’s simply because he is given more playing time by default.

Despite Jimmer’s low per game numbers, I still feel like he could be, and for the most part is a better guard than Gordon.

To compare them, let’s take the significantly more playing time that Gordon gets out of the equation.

Per 36 minutes, the two are actually quite comparable over the course of Gordon’s lengthy career and Fredette’s short few years in the league.

RkPlayerFGFG%3P%FT%TRBASTSTLTOVPTS
1Jimmer Fredette5.9.412.381.8782.73.71.02.516.2
2Eric Gordon6.1.437.383.8092.73.61.12.417.8

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/28/2015.

Per 36 minutes, it’s clear Fredette can be comparable to the Pelicans’ go-to shooting guard, but these are simply over their entire careers. Fredette did have a down year this year, and if we take that out of the equation, Fredette comes even closer to Gordon, and in some seasons, even outdid Gordon in assists per minute and points per minute.

In the 2013-14 season, Gordon was able to put up points at a pace of 0.48 points per minute. On the flipside, Fredette’s pace was 0.57 points per minute. Although Gordon did do better than Fredette this year, it still says something about how much Fredette can actually be worth to the Pelicans.

In past years, Fredette has assisted at a rate of .12 per minute (a pace in line with his college years), while Gordon was at just 0.10 per minute this year. Again, very close, but Fredette still gets the edge here.

With Gordon aging as he enters his eighth year in the league, maybe it would be best to transition him down to a bench position, and give Fredette a shot at starting. (Of course, if Fredette signs back with New Orleans). Gordon has also been known to get injured, something alarming as you want your guards to be as consistently available as possible.

Although Jimmer doesn’t have to come back to New Orleans as an unrestricted free agent this year, there hasn’t been any indication of him looking for work elsewhere so far.

With the Pelicans bringing in a new coach this year after firing Monty Williams, it could be a great year to try out a new starting shooting guard.

Next: Maybe Thibs Isn't The Right Fit For Pelicans

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