After months of media hype, the Jimmer Fredette backlash has started.
ESPN’s Rick Reilly ripped Fredette following BYU’s 83-74 loss in overtime to Florida, calling his performance on Thursday one of the worst in his career.
“So that’s the end of Jimmermania. Saw it for myself. Caught the closing act. Not impressed.
AdvertisementThanks to one of the worst performances of Jimmer Fredette’s frabulous career — and a set of teammates who looked like pizza delivery guys — the BYU star took a hard fall in the Big Easy. BYU was bumped out of the Sweet Sixteen on Thursday, losing to Florida in a lopsided overtime, 83-74.
You can take off those “Romney-Fredette in 2012″ T-shirts now.
Except for a stretch in the middle, when he was brilliant, Fredette was brutal.
Yes, he scored 32 points, but he took 29 shots to do it. He seemed to be wearing a blindfold from the 3-point arc — 3-for-15. Plus, he committed six turnovers and wandered aimlessly through the lane on defense like Moses in the desert. I’ve seen dead people play better defense. At least they occasionally trip people.
If his last college game is what he’s bringing to the NBA, then I’d say, in five years, he’s got a really good chance to be your Provo area Isuzu dealer.”
We all knew Fredette’s flaws during the season. His lack of defense and sometimes sporadic shooting is nothing new. But let’s be fair to the kid and judge his body of work instead of picking apart one bad game.