JACKSONVILLE – Sometimes a player needs only a change of scenery to finally find the right opportunity in the NBA. It’s extremely early, but midway through the 2014 preseason, it looks like Jimmer Fredette may have signed with a team that puts him in an optimum situation to succeed. Through Wednesday’s defeat vs. Washington, Fredette leads the New Orleans Pelicans in scoring average, having reached double digits in all three games.
After 17- and 10-point outings in previous games vs. Miami and Atlanta, Fredette scored 13 points against Washington. He is shooting 56 percent from the field and has connected on seven of his 13 three-point attempts.
“Consistency of playing time,” Fredette said, when asked specifically what’s changed early in his New Orleans tenure compared to his previous three NBA seasons. “Every single game, I’ve been able to get into the flow of the game, play a little bit. That really helps a player, knowing when they’re going to go in the game, and what they need to do when they get in there, what to expect.”
Fredette’s third straight quality performance was one of the highlights for New Orleans (1-2 in preseason) as it wrapped up its three-game road trip. Five Pelicans players reached double digits in scoring, headed by Eric Gordon’s 15 points, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Wizards (2-0), who rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit.
New Orleans shot just 36.4 percent of the field, including 7-for-28 from three-point range. Excluding Fredette’s 3-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc, the Pelicans were only 4-for-22 in that department.
“Our shots did not fall tonight,” Pelicans Coach Monty Williams said. “All of our guys know that. We forced a lot of tough shots. I would say 12 to 15 of (Washington’s) points came because of our bad shots. We have to do a better job of making better decisions.”
Wednesday’s game marked the return of Patric Young to his hometown of Jacksonville, but – like fellow Pelicans rookie Russ Smith in his Louisville return Saturday – Young had to wait until the second half to play. Young (4 rebounds in 8 minutes) entered in the fourth quarter with the score tightly contested, but the Wizards eventually seized the lead behind a 26-19 edge in the final period.
Williams, who subbed Fredette out with five-plus minutes remaining, said he could’ve left Fredette in to give the Pelicans a better chance to potentially win, but he wanted to give additional minutes to young players. New Orleans will now have multiple days of practice before returning to game action Tuesday vs. Houston in the Smoothie King Center.
“We’ve had a lot of games in a short period of time, so now we have a chance to practice and figure it out,” Gordon said. “It’s going to help. We want to get better and better and play more as a team. We’ve still got a ways before the (regular) season starts.”