Who knows? He's now just a 22 year old NBA rookie - who was nations leading scorer and NCAA player of the year last season. Maybe we should at least see if Jimmer has talent to be a Kings backcourt starter, but probably not in his first year. Maybe we should see if he can be a valuable reserve, play some D, before we put a tag on his face. Check back in around 2 or 3 years to see how he's progressing and hopefully he has a great rookie season - like Tyreke did.
He will be very successful if given minutes by coaching staff. Tyreke seems to get hurt alot probably because of his physical play so Jimmer should be able to step in and show what he can do. I've been frustrated with our long range shooting so this will hopefully change things. I don't think his D is going to be as much a liability as people make it out to be. Remember Mark Price, Mike Bibby, and Steve Nash. All slow and smallish guards who can't jump but are all great shooters. They all stretched the defense big time.
no... keep him humble, its tyreke
I think it HAS to be THE TEAM, and not just one individual that brings everything together...this cannot and WILL NOT be a 'power of one'...it will be the POWER OF ALL!!
If you mean on ads, promotion, photo ops, air time, etc. then yes they will promote Jimmer along with Cousins and Evans as the face of the Kings. Of course that won't change the out come of games but it will be in your face. Right now it doesn't have anything to do with skills.
I don't know if he will be the 'new face of the franchise'...but I think he'll help out ALOT! Check this out, I think it's our duty as Kings fans to watch and learn 'How To Jimmer'
The face of the franchise is rarely referencing a PR position. Its the "vs. _____ ______ and the Sacramento Kings" guy.
And the last time an NCAA scoring leader became anybody's face of the franchise was the 60s. here's a list of them all:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NCAA_Division_I_men's_basketball_season_scoring_leaders
In the semi-modern era (1980+) only Xavier McDaniel, Hersey Hawkins, and Glenn Robinson went on to become significant scorers in the NBA. Only Robinson since 1990...well, until Curry came along. Kurt Thomas made himself into a good defensive roleplayer. Then everybody else stank the place up, some infamously like Adma Morrison or Bo Kimble, most never even getting the cup of coffee. Its just not a good predivtor of NBA success.
But remember, although Fredette is a rookie, he's older than both Cousins and Evans. He's the most mature of the three.
The face of the franchise is rarely referencing a PR position. Its the "vs. _____ ______ and the Sacramento Kings" guy.
And the last time an NCAA scoring leader became anybody's face of the franchise was the 60s. here's a list of them all:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NCAA_Division_I_men's_basketball_season_scoring_leaders
In the semi-modern era (1980+) only Xavier McDaniel, Hersey Hawkins, and Glenn Robinson went on to become significant scorers in the NBA. Only Robinson since 1990...well, until Curry came along. Kurt Thomas made himself into a good defensive roleplayer. Then everybody else stank the place up, some infamously like Adma Morrison or Bo Kimble, most never even getting the cup of coffee. Its just not a good predivtor of NBA success.
I'm glad you laid it out there, because I got killed for even suggesting there may be a little chink in his armor. I hope he does well and I may be wrong, but I'm having a hard time accepting the guarantees that he'll be great offensively. If the scouts didn't have any questions, he would have been a top 3 pick. And it's not just the defense. If you are dominant on the offensive end they'll still take you and just find a way cover up your defensive deficiencies as best they can, like they do for Nowitski. There was concern that Jimmers offensive usefulness wouldn't be enough to cover for his defensive questions. Doesn't mean that he won't prove everyone wrong. Just that there are questions and doubts. Now that he's ours, my fingers are crossed and hoping he can be another Curry. Only wish BYU had done what Davidson did for Curry, which was to let him play the point and showcase his play making skills for the NBA.
I haven't heard one scout or GM question Fredette's ability offensively. And anyone that saw him play wouldn't. Defensively, thats another matter and not to be sneezed at. But trust me, if Fredette was 6'5" with the same skills he would have been a higher pick. But he's not! He's around 6'2", and that makes him a PG, and a PG with question marks about his ability to be a true PG. And he's 22 years old. If he had the same skills and he was 19 years old, he probably would have gone higher.
I think he'll do just fine playing the point. But there are no sure things, and when you taking a guy at 5 or above, you try and hedge your bet as much as possible. I think thats why Knight dropped. Teams would rather make a mistake with a gamble on a big man than a little man. Anyway, those are the reasons he wasn't drafted any higher. The reason he was drafted as high as he was, was because of his offensive skills.