This time of year, my Thursday nights are filled with basketball. I am either playing in my team’s game, or I am at the score table keeping the stats. I like it, it’s a fun thing to do.
These church league games are always fun to watch, because of the wide variety of people that you find there[i]. In the last couple of years, a disturbing habit has crept into these games that makes me want to start ejecting everyone.
Some guy will dribble the ball up the court, stop his dribble about 30 feet from the hoop, yell out “IT’SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS JIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMER TIME!” and launch the ball hoop-ward. Of course the shot isn’t anywhere close. Usually it’s an airball or it goes flying out of bounds off the backboard.
Nice job moron. Not only did you just hand the ball back to the other team, but you irritated all of your teammates. Sadly, every team seems to have one of these “Jimmer groupies”[ii]. It makes me want to pull a Bobby Knight and throw the scoreboard out onto the court.
As I watch this play unfold, again and again and again, I think to myself “Curse you, James Taft Fredette. Curse you, your brother who makes those stupid rap songs, your whole family, and everyone out there who idolizes you.”[iii]
Ok, Ok, it’s not Jimmer’s fault….at all. I want you to go back and watch tape of when Jimmer was at BYU. Did he EVER bring the ball up the court and haphazardly fire away from 30 feet out? No.
And this brings me to my main point. We have become so fascinated with highlights that as people who play the game for fun, or young kids learning the game, we ignore the fundamentals and try to copy what looks cool on the highlights. Only, we blow it big time.
The same thing happened in the 80’s with Michael Jordan. The NBA had emerged out of the cocaine-filled 70’s on the backs of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird (NOT Michael Jordan, as some would have you believe). ESPN was new on the scene and each night you could watch MJ dunk, dunk, and dunk some more. How cool!
Kids in the backyard would try to copy him. “Hey, I could get on SportsCenter sometime too!”
But what ESPN doesn’t show you is that there is more to MJ than just his dunks. How does he get himself open so often? MJ was fundamentally sound. More kids should have copied that. But being fundamentally sound doesn’t get you on TV.[iv]
The same thing is happening here locally. And that’s what is so “Amazing”[v] about Jimmer-mania; most people have no idea how good he really is. It’s not just that he is a good shooter who can make shots from anywhere. What makes Jimmer, Jimmer is that he works hard. He knows where to go to get open. Go back and watch him. I have never seen someone who was so good at catching the ball at any angle, turning, squaring up and releasing. He did it with lightning quickness, which allowed him to dominate players who were bigger, stronger, faster, and more athletic.
He also has a complimentary ability to drive to the basket. If you want to watch something “amazing” (oh darn it, there it is again…..I hate you TJ Fredette.) watch a Utah v. BYU game from Jimmer’s time. Watch him embarrass 7’3” Dave Foster with drives to the basket. And Foster is one of the top 5 shot blockers in the country!
People see him do these crazy drives and make these crazy shots and they go “wow! He can play out of control and make shots! I can play out of control too! I can be like Jimmer!”
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![vi]
Another aspect of Jimmer’s game that goes totally unnoticed (and this is a real pet peeve of mine, so be prepared now) is that he improved DRAMATICALLY over the course of his career at the most underrated skill in basketball; the entry pass.
This is a pet peeve of mine, because I play center. My job on offense is to post up and try to score near the hoop. You small guards have no idea how difficult establishing and maintaining position is. None. The other night, I had to battle a guy, on both ends of the court, who was 6’4” and 300 pounds. Add to that the fact that he was reasonably athletic. (I should not here that I am the Kurt Rambis of the team. Kurt Rambis without the goofy goggles.)
I had to fight him for every single inch. I would try to back my way in, and he would push me back out. On and on and on over the course of the whole game.
From a big man’s perspective, once that position is established, I need the ball NOW. It’s too hard to maintain it. Add to that a little rule called “three in the key”. There is a skill for a guard in being able to say “my guy has position, here is the ball”. Additionally, you have to know how to pass it in. What angle to take. How can I throw it so that it hits my player in a spot where he can catch it and shoot as soon as possible? The biggest mistake on entry passes is when it is throw in such a way that I have to give up my hard fought position or my opponent will steal the ball.[vii] 99.9% of guards are clueless about this.
Why? Because it’s cool to bomb 3’s and drive the lane like you are LeBron or Dwyane Wade. Passing it into the post isn’t cool.
However, this skill can be the difference between playing professionally and washing out. Andre Miller is still getting close to triple doubles at the age of 35 because he is a master of the entry pass.[viii]
Jimmer learned to master this skill, and as such, he is playing in the NBA. And he has a nice career in front of him. (not nearly as nice as Andre Miller, but hey……..)[ix]
If you want to copy the great players, copy them. Study the how and why, not just the what. And please, don’t shoot the ball from 30 feet. You just might get clobbered over the head with a scoreboard.
[i] There are plenty of types of guys that each team has. There is “I didn’t make the high school team, but I am good enough to be in the NBA (in my own mind) and I’m out to prove you all wrong” guy, “I think I still have it” guy, “I’m just playing for fun and exercise” guy, “scream at the refs no matter what” guy, etc.
[ii] “Jimmer groupies” deserve an entire blog post themselves. For years in Utah, we had “Korver groupies”, the girls who would buy the pink Korver jerseys and come to the games with signs that said “Marry me Kyle!” or “The future Mrs. Korver.” They didn’t know basketball, they were there for Kyle. When Korver left, these “fans” left too (and Energy Solutions Arena has improved as a result). “Jimmer groupies” are an entirely different breed. This group is comprised of men my Dad’s age who skip work to try to get an autograph. Or they followed him around campes. Straight up, flat out creepy.
[iii] At this point, there are a lot of people who are saying “surprise, surprise, more BYU hate from Ben. No, it’s not like that. Just give me a minute….you’ll see.
[iv] Just ask Tim Duncan
[v] I’m sorry, no more TJ Fredette references; I promise.
[vi] That’s the sound of a buzzer going off, as in “if you think like that, you are wrong.”
[vii] There are not words to describe how this irritates me. Fortunately, the team I am on now does a good job. You could say that they are part of the 0.1%.
[viii] This is a tip for all you guards out there. Despite what you think, your big guys are the key to your team defense. Not you. If you want them to play hard on defense, give them the ball in the post often. They will play harder for you. Believe me.
[ix] What? You really thought I’d make it through a blog praising Jimmer without one “Utah is still better than BYU” jab? In the words of Chad OchoCinco, “Child, please!”
