Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Getting Jimmered - Brian

It has been quite the layoff, but the Paper Work blog is back for business. And since I am writing this blog at the moment, you know that I am currently doing some business of my own. With that said, let's get to the blogging.

If you have a pulse (or at the very least have seen Sports Center over the last 4 months) then you would at least know Jimmer Fredette's name. He has become the iconic image of this season. His name has entered into the lexicon of sports lore, both as his name as a player, and as a verb, noun, adjective, and so forth. Opposing players can get "Jimmered." If you hit a deep three, you are pulling a "Jimmer." Shots can be described as "Jimmer" shots.

And this has happened for good reason. Jimmer is the clear favorite for national player of the year, averaging 28.3 PPG on 45% shooting while hitting a scorching 40% of his threes. He has scored 30+ points 16 times this season and put up an impressive 52 point game earlier this month.

All of this and people are crying out "NBA bust!"

They argue that he is not athletic enough. Not tall enough. Not fast enough. Can't play defense.

Which is all fine and good, but why are they saying this about Jimmer and not Kemba Walker? Walker put up slightly less impressive offensive numbers (23.9 PPG, 43% FG, 34% 3FG) and has mostly the same flaws. ESPN's Chad Ford pines that Walker is an "undersized, shoot-first point guard" and is "limited defensively."

Ford describes Jimmer as "undersized if he projects as a 2 in the NBA" and is "bad defensively." On the defensive end, Walker averaged 1.9 steals per game, with Jimmer checking in with 1.3 SPG. Not an enormous difference defensively. Jimmer also put up much better offensive stats that Kemba.

So why is Kemba projected as a guaranteed lottery pick and Jimmer as a late first rounder?

I'll tell you why - race.

Yep, we are going there. Jimmer is white. Kemba is black. Historically in the NBA, black athletes are much better than white athletes. By that standard, Kemba should hypothetically do better than Jimmer. And unfortunately that is how they are being projected by the experts.

Now I am not guaranteeing that Jimmer will be better than Kemba. But based on college stats (not to mention this was Kemba's first good season, and Jimmer's third good season), shouldn't Jimmer be the better prospect? They both have the same flaws - bad defensively, undersized - and have the same strengths - great overall scorers. The stats say that Jimmer is much better at this strength than Kemba is.

But if I were to put a black athlete and a white athlete in front of you and asked you which one you thought would be better at basketball, what would you say? And be honest. 99% of you would say the black athlete. That's just how it is in sports.

And whether or not it's true, shouldn't we focus on what we see in the games and what the stats say? All indications would point to Jimmer.

But this is isn't a gray area in sports.

It's pretty black and white.

11 comments:

  1. You sound like a realist, you point out the obvious, which is what I do and why I agree. JJ Reddick…same thing. If he was doing what he was doing in college and was black, he’d be through the roof as a pick in the NBA. Same maybe for Morrison. But guess what, they weren’t. Idk who was drafted first that year, but it may be worth looking at.

    You for instance probably aren't racist, but by pointing this out, people could make the argument that you are. It’s not about race, it’s just truthful. Nobody just wants to talk about it. Let's also say that you were on ESPN and made this comment while on the air. Probably fired, fined, or suspended.

    I just looked up the 2006 NBA Draft; Morrison was drafted 3rd, and JJ was drafted 11th overall. So my foot is in my mouth, and maybe that is why analysts are down on white basketball players that excel in college?

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  2. People can construe racism out of any topic that deals with race, which is an unforunate part of American culture. You are right that I am by no means trying to be racist. Quite the opposite actually. I am trying to get people to focus on basketball, not on race.

    If I presented it as:
    Player A - 27.5 PPG, 48%FG, 41%3FG, limited defensively, creative scorer, undersized.
    Player B - 22.3 PPG, 42%FG, 36%3FG, limited defensively, explosive scorer, undersized.

    and then asked you to pick which one you'd rather have in the NBA, you are most likely picking Player A.

    Now I add that Player A is white and Player B is black, and you are probably reconsidering your decision (whether or not you want to admit it).

    That is just the circumstances we find in sports. And it's depressing.

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  3. What about the fact that Kemba plays in arguably the most competetive conference in the NCAA and the Jimmer plays in some conference in the mountains?
    I think the race thing is a crutch. All you have to do is look at the tournament. Kemba made clutch plays game after game while Jimmer jacked up shots from half court as his team fell in a winnable game to Florida.
    Jimmer had a great season, and his stats may be better than Kemba's, but use the eye test and watch them play the game and you can tell who the better NBA prospect is.

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  4. The Mountain West Conference was actually the 5th best conference this season so I think you are incorrect in your conference assumptions. Jimmer had one or two bad games in the tournament but that shouldn't dramatically affect his draft stock.

    His overall body of work shows that he doesn't just "jack up shots." If anything, Kemba is the one jacking up shots. And in the tournament, Kemba hasn't needed to make any "clutch" plays, as his team won their first three games comfortably.

    I have watched both play a significant amount, having watched numerous games during the season and the tournament. Jimmer and Kemba are basically the same player except Jimmer is a better shooter from long range. Both drive and cut to the basket effectively and have deadly jump shots.

    I think Kemba is a great player. But every indication says that Jimmer is better.

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  5. I have a pulse and an dating a sports freak and have not heard of this Jimmer character

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  6. Really...?
    First of all, you admit that the Moutain West is 5th best...it produced 2 good teams. And yet my claim that Kemba plays superior competetion is incorrect? The Big East got 11 teams into the big dance! Yeah, they underperformed but that in itself is impressive. You're honestly trying to tell me that if Kemba was in the Mtn West that he would't be able to average 5 pts more a game playing against Air Force?!
    2nd of all, I'm talking Big East tourney,which no game was a comfortable win, as well as March Madness, which in fact, the UConn SDSU was also uncomfortably close until Kemba went off for 22 in the 2nd half! Not to mention his 20 pt,7 assist effort in the 2 pt win over Arizona.
    While I would agree there are similar elements in these players' game, they are not the same. Kemba is better at getting other players invovled, as his team's success shows, and like I said, he is clutch in the big games. This conversation isn't even necessarily about who had the more impressive season. It's about who translates better to the NBA. Is anyone going to say that Blaine Gabbert had a better season than Cam Newton? No...are there reasons that Gabbert is projected higher than Newton? Yes.
    And oh..wait...Newton is black and Gabbert is white...so the race card won't work here either.

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  7. Head over to ESPN.com and read the experts analysis of both Kemba and Jimmer and you will see how they have basically the same style of play and same strengths and weaknesses.

    Also, how exactly did Kemba get his teammates more involved? Kemba had 4.5 APG compared to Jimmer's 4.3 APG. I think it had more to do with UConn had better support players that BYU did.

    And I never said the Mountain West was better than the Big East. Just that Jimmer didn't just play in "some conference in the mountains."

    The race card can be played in your QB comparison, because last time I checked white QB's are significantly more successful than black ones. It's the same thought process as the NBA, but with the race roles reversed. Couldn't that be playing a role in people's evaluations? Gabbert has all the "intangibles" aka high football IQ while Cam does not (allegedly).

    I feel like people are perceiving me as thinking every argument is about race. It's not. I just think that it is playing a role in the Jimmer/Kemba debate. Not in every athlete debate.

    Race is a touchy subject so people would rather avoid it instead of confront it.

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  8. 08/09/10
    Back in Business - Brian
    03/29/11
    "It has been quite the layoff, but the Paper Work blog is back for business." - Brian

    It is interesting how 7 months ago your last post was titled back in business and now 7 months later you are claiming to be "back in business" if this is true you better bring your A game oh yeah and one more thing

    Uconn beat SDS
    Kemba > The Jimmer

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  9. ACS, you're a moron. BYU beat SDS 2 out of the 3 times they played this year. Your logic blows. Me, using your thought process:

    Kemba beat SDS once
    Jimmer beat SDS twice

    Jimmer > Kemba

    Big East - consists of 16 teams
    Mtn West - consists of 9 teams
    So the Big East SHOULD get more teams in, especially since the NCAA blows the Big East's weiner year round in b-ball (similar to SEC in f-ball).

    The Big East just play each other year round so the NCAA thinks that they are good, and to an extent they are. They get out of the conference, and look what happens (tourney). "OOOOOHH BUT CODY, UCONN MADE IT FURTHER IN THE TOURNEY. Doesn't that mean Kemba and the Big East are better???" Supporting cast, and Jimmer was w/o Davies in the tournament, don't forget that. A Big East team made it further, congrats. Odds are in their favor, ACS logic:

    16 > 9...almost double.

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  10. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft2011/news/story?id=6277093

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  11. Good story. Seems like it is a definite possibility. And because it's people being racist against a black athlete, it seems a lot more likely than my example of people being racist against a white athlete.

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