CougarCorner

. . . If he stays with the Kings. I went to the summer league game last night and even though Jimmer played a horrendous game, the team was 10 times worse. I wouldn't usually be too worried about a Summer league team, but they seem to have taken on the personality of the regular season team. There is little to no coaching, there is no teamwork, and no enthusiasm. You could see it starting in warmups when the guys started doing dunks during layup drills. They kept trying to one up each other with better dunks. The bobcats were the exact opposite team. They were well coached, played together, cheered each other on and played hard to the very end. Granted, they had better team members overall, but they were noticeably better prepared than the Kings from warmups through the final buzzer.

Jimmer is surrounded by people who don't know how to coach or play team basketball and by players who buy into the coaching philosophy of Everyone for themselves. I see Jimmer getting worse in this environment and stagnating. He will be a bust if he doesn't get out of Sacramento soon.

totally agree. Couldn't have went to a worse team. It's a collection of good players who don't know what position they play and refuse to recognize that there are 4 other teammates on the floor at all times.

The Kings are a complete joke.

He may not have been able to go to a worse team, but there are equally bad teams to which he could have gone. Like the Charlotte Bobcats or Washington Wizards or New Orleans Hornets or Cleveland Cavaliers are all extremely poorly run teams.

Did a little better today: 3 boards, 4 assists, 15 points in 25 minutes.

I watched half of the first game and all the second and this is what I saw:

All the opposing teams play Jimmer this way. They pick him up at half court and play pressure D with a very good defender. Jimmer is usually being guarded by SG who is 6'5" or 6'6". Jimmer hasn't been able to get a step on them and get into the paint. So when a screen comes for a pick and roll Jimmer has been pushed out beyond the 3 pt line. The big man shows really hard and usually doubles Jimmer.

By the end of the second game Jimmer finally started to get the screener to set the screen at the right angle and on the right side so he could create some space for a shot or a drive. In turn he got the foul line and had a bunch of shots he can make go in and out.

Defensively he is too physically slow to make up for fact that he doesn't really know where to help to or rotate to. Maybe this a coaching thing or maybe it is a Jimmer thing. I can't tell.

IMO there are still some ways for Jimmer to become an offensive weapon.

1. Learn to use off the ball screens better. Yes the plays in Summer League aren't well run but Jimmer doesn't setup the screens or curl around them well. He is a good enough shooter to score a couple of buckets using screens.

2. He needs to get strong and more crafty with the ball to make up for his lack of foot speed.

3. Defensively he needs to intently study film so his quick decision making can make him a couple of steps faster.

So, I think it isn't hopeless yet. He needs to work his butt off in the film room. If he can show some more improvement in the 3rd game, then he can gain the confidence of his teammates and himself.

I agree with your analysis QMan, but I just can't see the kings being focused enough or selfless enough to set screens for Jimmer. The summer league is designed around developing Jimmer and their current draft pick. The coaches have done such a poor job preparing this team for the summer league that I think he will have a difficult time developing. If he does improve, which I think he will, getting this team to rally around him and improve with him, then when he moves on to the regular season, what does he do then? I have little faith that the current Kings starters will work to help setup shots for Jimmer, nor will the coaches reign in their team to focus on team basketball. I have plenty of faith in Jimmer's ability to do well in the NBA, but more faith in the ability of the Kings staff to bungle their opportunity with Jimmer, stifle his growth and crush his confidence. Hope they prove me wrong.

IMO DeMarcus Cousins is a Jimmer fan and if Jimmer can win over Thomas Robinson that would be the two cornerstones of the team. The two biggest chuckers are Thorton and Evans. I expect them to be told to feed the ball to the big guys and shut up once a new coach is brought into town.

Qman wrote:IMO DeMarcus Cousins is a Jimmer fan and if Jimmer can win over Thomas Robinson that would be the two cornerstones of the team. The two biggest chuckers are Thorton and Evans. I expect them to be told to feed the ball to the big guys and shut up once a new coach is brought into town.

If cousins is on his side there is hope. Robinson seems to play well with Jimmer, so we'll have to see. Evans is a wild card in more ways then one.

Today vs. the Rockets: 30 pts, 3 assists, 4 boards, 1 steal in 28 minutes. Not bad at all.

What was his shooting percentage?