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The Sacramento Kings dropped two games over the weekend losing both games by double digits. Jimmer Fredette and the rest of the Kings continued to shoot poorly from the field especially from 3-point range where the team was a combined 6-for-41 in the two games.
Fredette started against Houston on Friday but only played 20 minutes. Jimmer only took two shots, making one of them and a pair of free throws to finish with four points. The Kings led by two at halftime but were outscored by 16 in the second half and wound up losing 103-89 to the Rockets.
Saturday evening the Kings forgot to show up against Dallas losing 99-60 to the reigning NBA Champions. Fredette started the game on the bench as Marcus Thornton returned to the starting lineup after recovering from injury.
Jimmer entered the game late in the first quarter and played 24 minutes through out the game. His only bucket of the game came late in the third quarter when he took a pass from Jason Thompson and drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing. A few minutes later in Fredette returned the favor as he drove the lane and dished the ball to Thompson for the dunk. Jimmer finished with two assists, but was only 1-of-8 shooting from the field.
"It was a tough game," Fredette said after the Dallas loss. "No one was shooting the ball well. I felt like we were stagnant out there. They jumped on us early and didn't give it up. Sometimes that happens but you have to have a short memory in this league and try to come back and win the next one."
Sacramento Bee Kings reporter Jason Jones spoke with the Kings coaching staff about Fredette's rookie struggles and how they're helping him break out.
"I'm telling him all the time: 'Be you. Don't try to be this point guard and average 10 assists - just be you and shoot when you have to shoot. The team understands that,' " Kings coach Keith Smart said.
Assistant coach Bobby Jackson feels that once Jimmer figures out the NBA game "the sky's the limit" for him.
"The most important things are having confidence in himself and shooting that shot that you would when you were in college," Jackson said. "Don't second-guess yourself. He's doing a lot of thinking right now."
"There have been games where I haven't been as great, and there have been games where I played pretty well," Fredette said. "I need to be more consistent, but the confidence is still there, and I believe I can play at this level and at a high level."
"That's what shooters do," Fredette said. "They'll shoot their way out of it, and then they'll get into a groove. That's what you've got to continue to do."
James Ham from the Cowbell Kingdom came on air with Cougar Sports Saturday and talked about his most recent column about what is nagging Fredette. Ham thinks that hype that came with so many faithful LDS followers has gotten to him.
"Somewhere along the way, Jimmer stopped believing in Jimmermania. While trying to be a good teammate or fit into an NBA locker room, Jimmer forgot what made him great - he forgot that when fans in the crowd started yelling at him to shoot, it went in a high percentage of the time.
"Right now, it looks like he has the yips. Jimmer feels it and so do his teammates. There is a certain amount of hesitation in his actions. That hesitation is causing him to be what many experts believe he would become - a rotational player, but a back-up.
"It turns out Jimmer is too nice. You can watch him ask for the ball. With the clock winding, you can almost hear the please and thank you. His teammates act accordingly, passing to the other guy, the one who is yelling at them, not the guy who is asking politely.
"More than that, he needs to start playing the game and stop worrying about being the perfect teammate. Teammates cheer when the ball goes in the basket and they cheer when they win. Jimmer can help both those issues."
