This morning, I taped a podcast with BYU Head Coach Dave Rose over at the ESPN TrueHoop Network Affiliate Cowbell Kingdom. And of course, the show was focused on his former star player Jimmer Fredette. We got some pretty good thoughts from Coach Rose on what aspects of Fredette's game would translate well to the NBA.
At the end of the podcast, Rose made a pretty bold statement about the 2011 National Player of the Year.
Where Jimmer ranks among the players he’s played with and coached: “Well, I think he’s the best offensive player that has ever been on my team, either as a player or a coach, as far as his ability to just make big shots and kind of will your team out of spots during the game.”
That's heavy praise coming from someone who played with Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Rose was a member of the Houston Cougars teams (AKA Phi Slamma Jamma) of the early 1980s, that were known for their up-tempo and explosive styles of play.