The clock is ticking for Jimmer Fredette. The D-League star signed a 10-day contract with the New York Knicks, but his playing time has been slim upon his arrival to the team. While Fredette was lighting it up in the D-Leauge, things in the NBA are looking much different. Fredette nailed a 3-point shot in his Knicks' debut but then saw no playing time against the Indiana Pacers. Head coach Kurt Rambis says that this will continue until his defense improves.
Rambis told the New York Post that Fredette has shown very little defensive effort in practice and has gotten pushed around a little. The guard is known to be a scoring machine, but his defense lacks, and that will be what keeps him on the bench and sends him back to the D-League if it does not improve.
"We had a tough, aggressive defensive practice [Tuesday],'' Rambis said. "So looking at different guys and what they were doing defensively, some parts [Fredette] got pushed around a little bit. Guys were active defensively as a result of the defense. So right now it's probably still going to be the same rotation as it was before. It's just being young, skinny, small."
Rambis has made it clear that he is not Fredette's biggest fan. The interim head coach hinted that management had a lot to do with the calling up of Fredette, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. Fans are certainly thrilled that the guard is on the team, as they were chanting his name prior to his debut against the Toronto Raptors. However, Rambis does not like the idea of starting someone over another player that has been at practice all season.
"He's not going to displace someone who's played all year and has worked hard in practice,'' Rambis said. "He's got to be keyed in to where everyone's supposed to be. I'm not sure he's there yet.''
At this point, the Knicks cannot get worse. The team has lost 13 of their last 15 games while falling further away from playoff contention. There is really no harm in playing Fredette. New York Knicks' fans would be wise to not get used to seeing Fredette on the court much, according to Johnette Howard of ESPN. Rambis is not the type of coach that will feed into a "Linsanity" situation. If Fredette does not improve, he can easily be cut.
