NBA Draft Combine, Day Two Recap

Jimmer Fredette is participating in the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago this week. See below what ESPN experts and others had to say on Friday.

Damon Stoudamire, Memphis Grizzlies Assistant Coach

“He plays the game a little different than everybody else. He has a motor to him. He's a risk taker and for me I like risk takers. I don't think they have comparable games but you can look at a J.J. Barea (Dallas Mavericks) right now and you can see that Jimmer Fredette can have that same kind of ability to take over a game in the NBA.”

Chad Ford, ESPN Insider

“I'm not comparing Jimmer Fredette to Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns) but there is something that's a bit comparable. When Steve Nash came out of Santa Clara, he was a scoring guard. And Phoenix played him at the two-guard position, in part because of the point guards they had on the team and in part because he wasn't thought of as a pass-first point guard.”

“Steve Nash made himself into the amazing point guard that he is today. It you watched him early in his career he wasn't doing the same things that we see the veteran Steve Nash doing now. I think early on, in Jimmer Fredette’s career, he’s going to make a name for himself by shooting the basketball and scoring the basketball. He's going to have to make himself into an NBA point guard.”

“I think he's got a good basketball IQ but he was not asked to be dishing the ball out to everybody at BYU. He was asked to score.”

“One of the questions is going to be is if he’s going to be able to get by defenders at the NBA level, is he going to be able to get to the basket. And if he shows that he has that explosiveness and quickness, he becomes a much more interesting prospect because he’s not just a jump shooter now. You saw him at BYU over and over again with the creative finishes. He can finish.”

“Jimmer’s strong too and he can put his shoulder into you and then get that space to get his shot off. Getting space to create your own shot is one of the biggest skills that NBA teams are looking at.”

Len Elmore, ESPN Analyst

“The bottom line for Jimmer Fredette is embracing the willingness to do what’s necessary and he can make plays. It’s just a question of will he pass up shots that he normally would have taken when he was in college in order to get a better play to get other people involved.”

“When it came down to making plays and getting people involved, it was Jimmer Fredette that got people involved. His mentality is there. When you get to this level and you’ve got guys who can finish and can put the ball in the basket at a higher percentage, I think Jimmer Fredette can make the plays.”

“It’s not just about sheer quickness. It’s about change of pace and change of speed. You lull your defender and then you get that one step where you explode and you’re pretty much home free.”

“Fredette has this cross over that’s sick, in the parlance of the kids today, that he can maybe change direction and break some ankles better than anyone and then pull up on a dime and shoot the jump shot.”

Fran Fraschilla, ESPN Analyst

“One of his greatest strengths, early in his career, he’s going to make momentum changing threes in games. He a guy that can knock down three threes in a spread offense that all of a sudden you’re down two at the beginning of the third, you’re up seven at the end of the third.”

“Jimmer has got really good speed and quickness, basketball-type agility in tight spots. He gets to places on the floor because he’s an agile player.”

Near the end of ESPNU’s coverage of the combine on Friday, ESPNU host Ryen Russillo made the following point about Fredette’s efforts vs. San Diego State this season.

“Kawhi’s (Leonard) team, San Diego State, went up against BYU a bunch of times this past season and he had a hard time staying in front of Jimmer. They threw everybody at him."

Russillo’s comments were followed with further comments from Fraschilla:

“To Jimmer’s credit, in the second game in San Diego (vs. San Diego State), when they did start to trap the ball out of his hands, his teammates in that particular game, Jimmer found them. Give Jimmer credit for the ability to adjust his game.”

CLICK HERE to watch a replay of ESPNU’s coverage from Friday.