Posts Tagged ‘Jimmer Fredette’

< Older Entries

NBA Players #PrayForBoston

April 15, 2013  ·  7:34PM



HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – The shocking events of this afternoon in Boston touched off passionate reactions from folks all over the country and all around the globe, and NBA players were not immune.

With the details on exactly what happened and why at the finish line of Monday’s Boston Marathon still being investigated, the response of players on Twitter was swift and simple. And it echoed the sentiment of a nation.

Everyone is concerned for the citizens of Boston and beyond that have been impacted by this tragedy:

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in HT News / Comments (31) /

Kings’ Changes Continue At Point Guard

March 1, 2013  ·  7:38PM

HANG TIME WEST – The latest was Aaron Brooks being released Friday as part of a buyout. But that came after the Kings spent most of the last four months trying to sort through options at point guard among current candidates and a good portion of the last several years scanning the globe for a solution.

Literally scanning the globe. Brooks signed last summer after playing in China, which came after Jimmer Fredette was picked from BYU in the lottery, which came in the same draft Isaiah Thomas was selected in the second round out of Washington, which came after Tyreke Evans was chosen in the lottery via Memphis, which came after Slovenian Beno Udrih was signed and then woefully overpaid to re-sign. Anthony Johnson, Sergio Rodriguez, Luther Head and Pooh Jeter (as in “cheddar,” not as in Derek “Jeter”) were somewhere in there as well. So even Derek Jeter was in there.

How long have the Kings been searching for a replacement for Mike Bibby?

So long that Bibby has played on four different teams – Hawks, Wizards, Heat, Knicks – and has sat all this season without announcing his retirement, while Sacramento has burned through prime draft choices and cap space. And still no answer. Nothing close to answer, in fact.

Three of the so-called solutions are still on the roster, but Evans has been moved to the wing, at shooting guard and small forward, in his own ongoing search for position stability and could be playing his final games for the Kings, before becoming a restricted free agent July 1. Fredette struggled so much last season as the next Point Guard of the Future that management offered the vote of confidence of signing Brooks in what at the time seemed like a smart move, with a reasonable salary and a coach, Keith Smart, who wanted to play fast.

Thomas, while clearly delivering the best return on investment, from No. 60 pick in the 2011 draft to an encouraging start on a long career, is at 25.5 minutes a game heading into Friday’s game, commendable given his path but not exactly taking over the position.

The topic becomes especially relevant as the draft gets closer and Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart continues to track to a potential top-five pick and maybe even the top three. But, though a physical presence at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds with an intense style of play, he’s still learning to be a true point guard instead of a combo guard. His shot is inconsistent. There will be Evans flashbacks.

For now, the roles among the remaining Kings have better definition, with Thomas the starter, after sharing the job at times with Brooks, and Fredette coming off the bench barring a sudden change of direction from Keith Smart. Fredette is shooting better than a season ago, but getting inconsistent minutes and still trying to show he should remain in the conversation for the job in the future.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in HT News / Comments (17) /

Analyzing Durant’s Free Throw Binge

January 21, 2013  ·  12:16PM

.

HANG TIME SOUTHWEST – Kevin Durant is binging at the free throw line.

The Oklahoma City Thunder superstar has scored 89 points in the last two games and 41 — 46.1 percent — have come uncontested from 15 feet away. He’s taken 42 free throws in his last 99 minutes played, and all on the road where it’s supposedly tougher to get calls.

After setting a career-best mark by making all 21 free throw attempts in an overtime win at Dallas on Friday, Durant went 20-for-21 in an overtime loss Sunday at Denver. The one miss was costly, giving OKC just a one-point lead with 1:44 to go in the OT. The lead disappeared for good on Denver’s next possession.

Dallas’ Shawn Marion, who typically guards Durant more than any other Mavs player, was so irked by his opponent’s constant march to the foul line that it prompted him afterward to say it’s “hard to beat anybody when you’re playing five-on-eight,” a not-to-subtle suggestion that the three referees were siding with the Thunder. The league fined Marion $25,000 on Sunday.

Durant ranks second in the league with 384 free throw attempts (9.4 per game) at the official halfway mark of the season. He trails only Houston Rockets guard and former teammate James Harden, who has 402 attempts in 41 games for a league-best 9.8 attempts per game. Dwight Howard, third in total attempts (361 in 37 games), is just fractions behind Harden in per-game attempts at 9.76.

Unlike Howard, a 50.4-percent free throw shooter this season, Durant cashes in most of his attempts. He ranks third in the league at 90.9 percent behind teammate Kevin Martin (91.6) and Sacramento’s Jimmer Fredette (91.4).

A whopping 28.9 percent of Durant’s total points this season have come at the stripe. Among the game’s top-five scorers, only No. 5 Harden (25.8 ppg) gets more of his points (32.3 percent) at the free throw line than Durant, who sits at No. 2 in scoring (29.5 ppg) and is closing fast on leader Kobe Bryant (29.6 ppg), who gets 22.4 percent of his points at the foul line.

No. 3 Carmelo Anthony (29.2 ppg) earns 22.1 percent of his points at the free throw line, while LeBron James (26.3 ppg) gets just 17.7 percent.

Sunday marked the third time this season that Durant has attempted 21 free throws in a game (he went 19-for-21 on Nov. 21 against the Clippers). The last two games marked the fifth time this season that he’s had back-to-back games with double-figure free throw attempts and he’s attempted at least 10 free throws in a game 17 times this season.

Still, Durant would need many more games of 20-plus free throw attempts to get anywhere near the NBA record for most attempts in a season. Wilt Chamberlain holds down the top five spots in that category with a seemingly impossible-to-top, all-time best of 1,363 free throw attempts in 80 games during the 1961-62 season.

Durant is on pace for 768 free throw attempts, which would still be a good ways off from his career-best of 840 attempts in the 2009-10 season, and would only tie Kobe’s 2006-07 season total for 94th best all-time.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in HT News / Comments (70) /

Time For Sophomores To Step Up

August 13, 2012  ·  10:51AM





HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – There’s one sure thing that we learned from last season’s rookie class: Kyrie Irving is a stud and will be a top-five point guard in due time.

The Rookie of the Year dealt with a shoulder injury late in the season, but was otherwise terrific in leading the Cleveland Cavaliers back to relevance just one year after LeBron James‘ departure. Ricky Rubio, of course, brought excitement to Minnesota before injuring his knee in early March.

But what of the other members of the 2011-12 rookie class? While there were some solid contributions on good teams made by the likes of Kenneth Faried, Kawhi Leonard, and Iman Shumpert, the class as a whole didn’t make much of an impact.

It’s much too early to judge last year’s rookies, though, as their first season came under some unique circumstances. First, the lockout canceled Summer League and kept them from working out with their teams for the five months following the draft. Then, they got an abbreviated training camp and little practice time in a condensed season. (more…)

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in HT News / Comments (51) /

Las Vegas Summer League: Day 7 Recap

July 20, 2012  ·  12:43AM

By Drew Packham, NBA.com
 

 
LAS VEGAS – A rookie stole the show Thursday, taking over the scoring lead and proving his doubters wrong.

Point guard Damian Lillard, who many thought was a stretch for Portland with the No. 6 pick, scored 31 points (see more below) in the most captivating performance (and 84-78 win over Atlanta), and Kemba Walker finished off the night by leading the Bobcats to a 99-86 win over the Nuggets.

Walker scored 19 points with 10 assists and had his smile and swagger going in helping his ball-hawking Bobcats improve to 4-0 with the victory. Denver’s second-year swingman Jordan Hamilton continued his impressive play, putting up 21 points and nine rebounds in the setback.

Non-rookie of the day: Walker’s double-double was impressive, but for the second straight day Tobias Harris kept up his stellar play, notching another double-double (21 points, 12 rebounds) in Milwaukee’s 88-77 win over the D-League Select team. The Bucks’ sophomore looks polished and the big game follows his 24-point, 12-rebound showing on Wednesday. Other notables: Sacramento’s Jimmer Fredette closed out his five games with 19 points on just seven shots (4-for-7, 9-for-10 on FTs), while Lakers forward Christian Eyenga had 22 points to help L.A. get a win (its first) in its finale, beating the Clippers 75-69. Minnesota’s Derrick Williams also had a big game, scoring 23 points by getting to the line 16 times (making 11) to offset a 6-for-14 shooting night in the Wolves’ 75-68 win over Cleveland.

(more…)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in 2012 Summer League / Comments (6) /

Las Vegas Summer League: Day 4 Recap

July 17, 2012  ·  12:35AM





LAS VEGAS – Monday was when the entire summer league got under way, with the Bucks, Clippers, Timberwolves and Celtics played here for the first time, with the final delay of Milwaukee lottery pick John Henson staying back at the hotel with the flu. Seven games in two gyms at UNLV provided some developments, though.

Non-Rookie of the Day: Talk about a bad few hours. News came early in the afternoon that the Kings had signed Aaron Brooks, a nice addition at a low cost but another setback for Jimmer Fredette in his attempt to transition from scorer to point guard. That path may now be closed. Then, when the Kings played the Rockets at Thomas & Mack Center, he kept firing away with little early success. The second-year guard finished with 30 points, but on 10-of-21 shooting thanks to a late hot streak.

Rookie of the Day:  It’s not just that Tyler Zeller had 19 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 25 minutes while making five of eight shots in Cleveland’s 94-88 victory over the D-League All-Stars. It’s that it came a day after the No. 17 pick had 14 points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes in the opener. The stats don’t mean a thing. Immediately playing with consistency, though, is very encouraging for the Cavaliers.

Coming up: Baring setbacks, No. 13 pick Kendall Marshall is scheduled to make his Suns debut after sitting out the opener while a paperwork issue was being resolved, and No. 2 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is expected to return to the Bobcats lineup following a one-game absence with a minor knee injury. Six games will be televised on NBA TV: Nuggets-Knicks at 4 p.m. ET, Spurs-Lakers at 6:30, Cavaliers-Suns at 8:30, Timberwolves-Bobcats at 10:30, Trail Blazers-Rockets shown delayed at 1 a.m. and Wizards-Grizzlies shown delayed at 4 a.m.

Tags: , ,
Posted in 2012 Summer League / Comments Off /

In Wake of Brooks Pickup, Jimmer Sends Message

July 16, 2012  ·  10:37PM




By Drew Packham, NBA.com

LAS VEGAS — Jimmer Fredette barely had time to digest the news.

The Kings added another point guard Monday with the acquisition of free agent Aaron Brooks, in what could potentially mean even less playing time for Fredette.

Jimmer sent a “don’t forget about me” message to the franchise just minutes after word of the trade came down, scoring 30 points Monday in a 113-91 loss to the Rockets, but says his big game had nothing to do with proving his worth.

“Coach just told me to be really aggressive and shoot the ball, so that’s what I did,” said Fredette, who put up 21 shots (hitting 10, including two 3s).

Fredette said he didn’t think anything of the pick up before the game, but is eager to play alongside Brooks.

(more…)

Tags: , ,
Posted in 2012 Summer League / Comments (17) /

Las Vegas Summer League: Day 1 Recap

July 14, 2012  ·  12:38AM

By Drew Packham, NBA.com



The first day of Summer League action in Las Vegas closed out a marathon day of hoops (Just ask Lang Whitaker, who was a trooper  and blogged the whole thing for NBA.com). We got our first look at several lottery picks, including Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who had 18 points, eight rebounds and four steals to help the Bobcats blow out the Kings 121-87 in the nightcap. Kidd-Gilchrist and Kemba Walker was an animated backcourt for the Bobcats, bringing a lot of energy, laughing and clapping throughout the game. (This is what winning feels like, Kemba.)

Rookie of the day: Donatas Motiejunas, Rockets. The Rockets’ 2011 draft night acquisition scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds in his first action with the team. Motiejunas was aggressive and showed off his shooting touch, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers.

Non-rookie of the day: Klay Thompson, who came on in the second half of the season, scored 24 points to lead Golden State’s 90-50  dismantling of the Lakers. The second-year guard out of Washington State was 6-for-8 on 3-pointers and showed why the Warriors were willing to deal Monta Ellis to the Bucks last season.

(more…)

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in 2012 Summer League / Comments (7) /

Lin Show Back Off Broadway

February 15, 2012  ·  10:51AM





HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – With all due respect to Jimmer-Mania and the legions of fans who were caught up in that storm this time a year ago, you haven’t seen hoops hysteria like you’re going to see tonight at Madison Square Garden when the Jeremy Lin Show comes back to town.

Jimmer Fredette, himself the epicenter of a basketball movement at BYU, is going to get a New York City-sized dose of “Linsanity” when the Knicks’ conquering hero returns to home soil to take on the Sacramento Kings.

With Lin’s face plastered all over the back page of the tabloids, on magazine covers and all over television screens around the globe, it would be easy for anyone to get swallowed up in the commotion. Most of us are neck-deep in it.

Then you hear Lin speak after sinking that game-winning 3-pointer in Toronto last night and you realize that he’s still floating on the air his play that has elevated the Knicks to these six straight wins.

Lin is winning over observers by the day — a historic six-game run complete with buzzer-beating game winners, scintillating individual performances and the resurrection of a team in disarray has a way of convincing folks. People who didn’t want to believe what they were seeing after the first couple of games are now coming around to the fact that Lin’s New York Minute is going to last a little longer than they might have expected.

Lin has a presence about him that even his predecessors cannot deny.

“You could argue this could be the biggest story of the NBA season,” NBA TV analyst Greg Anthony said during last night’s Heat-Pacers Fan Night broadcast. “I hear more about Jeremy Lin than anything else going on in the NBA. What’s been most impressive is that he never doubted himself. He’s always maintained a certain amount of confidence that he could do it when given the opportunity. It’s not about whether or not he leads them to a championship or is an All-Star, he’s proven he is an NBA player. He’s made the Knicks the talk of the town and not because they were 8 and 13 at one point.”

(more…)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in HT News / Comments (61) /

MIA From Rising Stars Challenge?

February 8, 2012  ·  3:30PM





HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – We usually have to wait until Thursday night’s announcement of the All-Star reserves for all “snubbed” talk to kick up.

But with this afternoon’s unveiling of the names in the draft pool for the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star Weekend, the furor is here a day early. There were a few names people expected to see on the list that were missing in action, namely Heat rookie Norris Cole, Rockets forward Chandler Parsons, Kings rookie Jimmer Fredette and Knicks rookie Iman Shumpert.

Now with Clippers All-Star Blake Griffin, and rookie Kyrie Irving and Ricky Rubio headlining, the list of players TNT’s Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal will choose from to comprise the rosters, there isn’t a ton of room to complain. And in defense of the committee, there were only nine slots available for rookies and nine for sophomores. Click here to peruse the roster for yourself.

But the omissions are sure to draw the ire of fans in certain places. And this will serve as good practice for tomorrow night. So let the venting begin …

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in 2012 All-Star / Comments (11) /

< Older Entries