Jimmer Fredette hopes to give his fans another show

People expect Jimmer Fredette to make shots from Tijuana.

It'll be the same come Saturday.

Fredette makes his first appearance in Utah as an NBA player when the Jazz host the Sacramento Kings on Saturday. He comes to town playing as well as he has all season. But while his confidence is rising, Fredette knows the bigger picture is for the Kings to start winning.

"I'm really excited to make my debut in Salt Lake City," Fredette said Monday before a Kings' practice session. It marked one of the few consecutive practice days the struggling, injury-laden Kings have had all season.

"It will be a lot of fun to play in front of those fans who have supported me the last four years and I just hope I'm able to have a good game and we are able to win."

This NBA gig has become a lot tougher for Fredette than it appeared when the Kings obtained him as a lottery pick last summer. First, the NBA lockout prevented full training camps; a settlement gave everyone a compressed schedule; and then Kings coach Paul Westphal got fired just weeks into the season.

For a rookie, that's a lot to digest the first month on the job.

"It's very, very interesting," Fredette said. "It's not the normal way of going about it. The short training schedule and the coaching change is something you don't plan for and it changes your perspective on things. You expect to have the same coach all the time and you have to play through it to get better and stay together with your teammates and get as consistent as you can."

Fredette has struggled with the Kings. The Kings have struggled with themselves. Fredette went through a stretch where his shot wouldn't fall; whether it was his attempt to shoot in the key or launch one of his outside bombs, they didn't drop. His body language read discouragement.

Then came a road game at Memphis on Jan. 21, in which he got 33 minutes in a Kings loss with the game out of reach. He scored 20 points that night, backed it up with 13 points at Portland on Monday and then led the Kings in scoring Wednesday with 19 in a blowout loss at home to Denver.

In that stretch, Fredette made 16 of 33 from the field, 11 of 18 from 3-point land. But the Kings went 0-3.