Jimmer could adopt a Nash-like mentality
Jun 22, 2011, 4:22 PM | Updated: 5:31 pm
One of the more favorable comparisons for BYU’s Jimmer Fredette has been Steve Nash.
Excellent shooters who also share the ability to…umm…play basketball, Ron Wolfley from Sports 620 KTAR’s Doug and Wolf show said the soon-to-be-rookie could prove the comparison right — if he can handle the ball.
“I think Jimmer Fredette could adopt a Steve Nash-like mentality,” he said. “Steve Nash doesn’t beat people because he’s quicker than them, what he does is…he uses that ebb and flow, that pace and that tempo, to beat people off the dribble. Then, of course, he has the ability to keep the dribble alive.
“I don’t know if Jimmer Fredette can do that, because I think everything else compares to Steve Nash, physically.”
On the show, Sports 620 KTAR’s Doug Franz said he struggled to make the comparison, other than the ability to drive to the bucket.
“That’s it,” he said, “There really isn’t a lot of similarity between the Santa Clara Steve Nash to what I saw from Fredette in the last two years.”
Wolfley, however, pointed to the ability to shoot and inability to play defense as reasons for the comparison being strong. To be fair, Fredette outscored Nash (28.9 points per game to 17) and outshot the future NBA MVP (45 percent to 43), but Nash destroyed the Cougar’s assists per game output (6 to 1.2), showing that they really played a different game at the collegiate level.
Whichever team selects Fredette will surely take a Nash-like career from the player, but to expect his career evolve to the point where he can be a league MVP may be a bit of a stretch.
