Why Kemba Walker Is Better Than Jimmer Fredette

It has been a debate all year long: who is the nation's best basketball player? Kemba Walker or Jimmer Fredette?

Walker has had an incredible year with Connecticut, leading the Huskies to Maui Invitational and Big East championships and now has his team in the Final Four.

Jimmer Fredette racked up the points at Brigham Young. He surpassed Danny Ainge as the school's all-time leading scorer and helped BYU to one of its greatest seasons ever.

Both were AP First Team All-Americans and finalists for National Player of the Year.

Jimmer walked away with both the Naismith and the Wooden Awards in overwhelming fashion, making him one of the most undeserving POYs in recent memory.

Is Jimmer the better player? No. Did Jimmer have the better season? Points-wise? Yes. Overall? No.

Kemba Walker is the better of the two players OVERALL. This is merely a few reasons that follow.

Defense

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NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 12: Peyton Siva #3 of the Louisville Cardinals drives with the ball against Kemba Walker #15 of the Connecticut Huskies during the championship of the 2011 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament presented by American Eagle Outfitters at

Great players and teams play good defense. UConn proved against Kentucky and Butler that a team that plays better defense, believe it or not, will win the championship.

Why did BYU lose to Florida? Watching a few minutes of the game, it was pretty simple to figure out.

Time and again, I watched Jimmer Fredette sit at the top of the key, rarely pressuring the point guard and hardly ever chasing after a ball. Several times, Jimmer's man got the ball and took it to the hoop or set up a scoring play.

Without Kemba's defense, UConn might not have done half as well as they did all year. Kemba averaged 5.4 rebounds, 0.2 blocks, and 1.9 steals during the season. Jimmer averaged 3.4 rebounds, 0 blocks, and 1.3 steals.

An overwhelming number on defense is that Kemba, little 6'1" at most, snagged nearly 50 more defensive rebounds than Jimmer.

Kemba's steals led to many transition points for the Huskies. Transition was where they won many games and it was crucial to UConn's success. Kemba was a force on defense, shutting down many key players and providing UConn with opportunities to break.

Definitely have to give the defensive edge to Kemba.

Clutch

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NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 10: Alex Oriakhi #34, Kemba Walker #15 and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel #4 of the Connecticut Huskies celebrate after walker hit the game winning basket against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the quarterfinals of the 2011 Big East Men's Bask

This one is quite simple.

Jimmer never hit a game-winning shot in the final three minutes of a game this season. He shied away in all their losses and was ineffective in tight games against strong competition, not that he played much (more to follow).

Kemba on the other hand, was the king of clutch. Look at Maui, where without his late heroics, they possibly lose to Michigan State and then do not win the Maui Invitational. At Texas, he hit a buzzer-beater from just inside half-court to beat the shot clock and put UConn in with a chance in OT. Shortly after, he broke a defender's ankles to hit a game-winner with under 10 seconds left in the same game. Villanova, drives the lane to finger roll with less than three seconds left.

Oh and speaking of ankle breaking, how about that shot over Gary McGhee in the Big East Quarterfinals?

When they needed him to put them on his back, Kemba took UConn to great heights. Jimmer made a lot of shots, but that's because he took pretty much every shot for a mediocre BYU team. Kemba had pieces around him, but like you can call Reggie Jackson Mr. October, Kemba is Mr. March. Without his key plays late in games, UConn might not have gotten as far as it did.

Kemba Makes Everyone Around Him Better

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HOUSTON, TX - APRIL 04: Jeremy Lamb #3 and Kemba Walker #15 of the Connecticut Huskies talk against the Butler Bulldogs during the National Championship Game of the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at Reliant Stadium on April 4, 2011 in H

The junior Walker was the most experienced Husky on this year's team. He had a band of freshmen (seven overall, five played regularly) and two sophomores with which to work as well as two seniors. The world knew it was going to be a work in progress, this year's team.

Right off the bat, you could see Walker was working to make his teammates better. By season's end, Jeremy Lamb had established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the future. The same can be said about big man Alex Oriakhi. Without Lamb and Oriakhi, who would not have been as productive without Walker, the Huskies would have been just another BYU, one talented player with no chance of winning.

Competiton

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HOUSTON, TX - APRIL 02: Doron Lamb #20 of the Kentucky Wildcats goes to the hoop against Kemba Walker #15 of the Connecticut Huskies during the National Semifinal game of the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship at Reliant Stadium on April

Games vs. Top 25 in Regular Season/Conference Tournaments:

Kemba Walker- 15

Jimmer Fredette- 3 (all vs. San Diego State)

Record vs. Top 25:

Walker- 9-6

Fredette- 2-1

Before the NCAA Tournament, Fredette only played three ranked teams all season.

Let me rephrase that: Fredette played one ranked team three times. San Diego State was the only ranked team on BYU's agenda this year and they went 2-1.

Let's take the last game against the Aztecs, which BYU lost by 18. Fredette shot 25 times. The rest of the team shot 34 times. Fredette missed 15 times. Not that the rest of his team was any better and they settled for mostly three-point shots (Jimmer took seven, made two). BYU did not stand a chance.

How about Kemba's biggest game? He scored 33 points, had 12 rebounds, five assists, six steals against No. 11 Syracuse in the Big East Semifinals. He shot 9-18 and he actually had help, as the rest of the team shot 48 times.

Against Florida in the Sweet 16, Jimmer shot 29 times, made 11. He was the only player for BYU to shoot more than 10 shots and 15 of them were from three. He made a whopping three of them total.

Kemba does not choke against the better competition and his competition was far better than SDSU, who UConn beat in the Sweet 16.

In the big game, you want Kemba on your team. He does not always need to be the star. He is amazing without the ball and he makes everyone better.

Most Importantly...

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HOUSTON, TX - APRIL 04: Shabazz Napier #13 and Kemba Walker #15 of the Connecticut Huskies celebrate with the trophy after defeating the Butler Bulldogs to win the National Championship Game of the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament by a sc

Kemba led his team to the most historic conference championship win in college basketball history. Jimmer and BYU lost by 18 in the conference championship.

Kemba led his team to the Final Four. Jimmer shied away in overtime of the Sweet 16.

After making the Final Four, Kemba Walker was the Most Outstanding Player in Houston, as he, with the help of Jeremy Lamb and Alex Oriakhi, led UConn to wins over Kentucky and Butler to win the National Championship in his second Final Four. Jimmer watched from the crowd.

When it comes down to it. Kemba was able to be a great leader for a team of mostly freshmen and two sophomores. He made each of his teammates better and the brotherhood that is UConn cut down the nets in Manhattan, Anaheim and Houston.

BYU was a one-man show. A one-man show that could not rise to the occasion in big games, which is why the Cougars never stood a chance of winning the championship.

Jimmer may have won the individual hardware, as undeserving as it was, but Kemba got the real prizes.