Jimmer Friedman? Andrew Fredette?

I… I don’t even know… which is which? My whole world is turned upside down!

In case you haven’t watched SportsCenter anytime since last March, the guy on the left is Jimmer Fredette, and he is very good at college basketball. Fredette, a 6’2″ shooting guard from New York, has pushed Brigham Young University’s basketball team into national relevance thanks mostly to his pinpoint shooting from anywhere on the court. And, like Friedman, Fredette comes from a Jewish family.

That’s about where the similarities between Fredette and Andrew Friedman, pictured on the right, end. Friedman has, like Fredette, shown himself to be excellent at his craft, building a contender out of spare parts in one of the smallest and least lucrative markets in the league. However, Friedman certainly can’t play basketball, at least if Joe Maddon is telling the truth. Via Jayson Stark (insider subscription needed for full article):

“I watched Andrew deke [Rays assistant minor league director] Chaim Bloom,” Maddon reported. “He got Chaimer in the air. Went around him. Free layup. And missed everything. No rim. No nothing. Air ball. Over everything. That’s what I saw. I don’t think it was too windy, either. Calm winds. Great fake. Clear path. No iron.”

Ouch. Jimmer is likely to get drafted in the first round of next year’s NBA Draft. Friedman might be lucky not to be the last pick in the Rays’ front office basketball games going forward.