This move could work well for him and other future players or it could be an epic fail. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3479195
I see 3 things from this, 1) He's academically stupid 2) He's stupid 3) He's probably not going to be great in the NBA Since he's stupid, he won't learn the languages in Europe, henceforth he won't understand the plays and won't be scouted as well. He won't get as much money. He's stupid. Or I could be completely wrong and he could open the window for other basketball players that don't want ejoomacashun.
He's #5 on Draft Express's 2009 Mock Draft Top 5 pick going to Europe would figure itd raise more eyebrows, but its what it looks like, obvious skipping of college cuz he CANT get into the Division 1 school.
I have no idea whether or not he will thrive over there; all I know is that one way or another his story is going to send ripples across the NBA as far as paths to get drafted. High schoolers are all crossing their fingers for his success, and the NCAA affiliates are crossing their fingers for his failure. My gut tells me it will take him two years to get to a draft-appealing level. The first year he will struggle like Batum, but perhaps he will want to make the jump anyways and be picked in the late-first early-second range. In my mind that would be a mistake as one more year could make him a top 5 pick, but all this is just guesswork.
Just about every team of any significance in Europe uses English as the primary language. Most of the players and the coaches themselves are foreign or all from different countries. You could be a team in Spain, with players from all over the world, with a coach from Eastern Europe. The coaches pretty much speak English.
Why is he stupid? Just because he decided to get guaranteed money playing overseas? He probably can get 800K at least for the year. For half that I'd skip college too for a year. He may not have it academically but there's nothing I see stupid about making money.
He's stupid if he thinks he can get guaranteed money overseas OR getting 800k for one year.....you are severely misjudging the marketplace.
No, he's stupid because the only reason this is an issue was because he couldn't get an 18Edit: 16!! on the ACT or a 530 on the SAT. That's why he's stupid.
I dont think jennings is a bust he is going to be a great PG in the NBA. i dont think he really had a choice though it seems like he wasnt going to get the scores needed to get into Arizona (even the lower side of scores needed for athletes) so rather than sit out he goes and play overseas whose level of competition imo is probably a bit better than D1 college ball or at least on par which will help him before he goes to the NBA. he also just be able to focus just on basketball. now what team will want to sign a guy for just one year? probably not many but some teams will because it will attract a lot more people to their games plus being able to say they were the first of (what could be a small trend) signings of american high school players. 800k he may be able to make that i dont know what the payscale is over in europe for their league but i dont see how a team wouldnt give him at least 500k which anyone of us would take for a year. the guy is going to be good i wouldnt be surprised if he dominated the euro league he is a really good PG
LOL - So, Sammy, looks like you were wrong about him....... I agree with you that this is an exception, but if the NBA goes to a 2 year period after high school, this will be the beginning......especially if he has success over there. DD
Uh - how was I wrong about him exactly? I do know that he potentially just cost himself millions because he's too dumb to pass the SAT/ACT...... And you don't agree that it's "an exception" you're the one forecasting this as a TREND, I say it's a blip - and an unremarkable one at that.
Who cares if he's dumb, he made the best decision in this case to go to Europe. He will get paid, provide for his family, and still get picked in the 1st round.
Not exactly. if he gos to a team good enough to pay 800K they are in a much higher level than NCAA and therefore very small chance he ever sees floor time. If he goes to a team where he would play, then yes just barely above NCAA level and he would play and get paid. But in that case it would be a team that would be paying more like 350-400K. He's not going to get 800K unless it's a big club and at that level a 18-19 year old kid from high school is not good enough to play, unless it's Lebron or someone like that. Even Ricky Rubio is on a mid sized Euroleague club and not even mid level in team ability and he's a backup on his team.
Jennings doesnt know what he is getting into.... its gonna be tough for someone his age to live in another country after living his whole life in the US.
Have you seen him play? I'm confident he will remain a lottery pick even by making this decision. He was a one and done guy anyways. He can bring a personal trainer or do something of that nature to continue to make progress on his game. He got red flagged as well. I believe he passed the test the second time and this was all centering around his third test. He may not be book smart but he definitely is an extremely talented pg. He needs toi add some weight and this will give him an opportunity to do just that. I wouldn't be surprised if he already has a shoe contract as well heading into next years draft.
You sure about that? http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/insider/columns/story?id=3470995 Jennings playing Europe would hurt his draft stock, improve his game By Doug Gottlieb Special to ESPN.com (Archive) Updated: July 3, 2008 There has been a lot of talk about Brandon Jennings threatening to play in Europe rather than the University of Arizona next season. But Jennings' assumption that he be the first American high schooler to skip college to play professionally in Europe before entering the NBA draft is naïve at best. Jennings, who has yet to academically qualify for college because of his SAT score, is Scouts Inc.'s No. 1-rated high school player in the country. He might be the best high school basketball prospect in the country, but he also has a far more well-rounded offensive game than Derrick Rose, this year's No. 1 draft pick, right now. Jennings is the prototype of a franchise point guard. He has grown to 6-foot-2, filled out physically and developed a Damon Stoudamire-like pull-up jump shot. Jennings is a far better and more creative passer than Rose, and creates the type of thrilling "ahs" that are usually reserved for the "And-1 Mix Tape" crew. The flaw in Jennings' game is his rapidly improving long-range jumper, which is still streaky. There's no doubt about Brandon Jennings' high-flying ability. But would he benefit more by spending a year in Europe over a year at Arizona? But Jennings is not ready for the culture shock of playing overseas, for the challenge of playing grown men as opposed to over-matched high schoolers, for the huge drop in the NBA draft stock. Yet that might not be enough to deter him from skipping school. And in the long run, he might end up a lower-rated NBA prospect but a better player and more well-rounded, grounded person. Be careful what you ask for, Brandon. You just might get it. While Jennings can cry the NCAA a river and complain that the NBA and its players' association have treated him unfairly, there is no cheating the FIBA litmus test that awaits. This year, I watched intently as Jennings interacted with his McDonald's All-American teammates for a week in Milwaukee, and it did not seem as though Jennings had matured into a true leader that an NBA team could count on. So if Jennings chooses to pack his bags, passport and old Bobby Brown pictures for his new barber (check out that high fade from the McDonald's game) and go overseas for a year, he might actually hurt his stock by playing a far different game. If Jennings thinks going overseas will be a year-long vacation in which he will dominate, play just twice a week and ready himself for an early call from David Stern at Madison Square Garden next June, the couple hundred grand in cash he will earn might need to make up for the revenue he'll lose by dropping in the draft if he is not overly impressive in Europe. On the other hand, if Jennings succeeds in Europe, he could emerge as a perfect combination -- the flair of the American game and the fundamental team game that is played outside our borders. Six facts going against Jennings: 1. The most difficult position to make it as an American in European competition is playmaker, or point guard position, due to the number of quality "local" guards. 2. European coaches despise inexperienced players. 3. American players are expected to not only carry the team, but also to win and play quality defense, more so than their European counterparts. 4. Playmakers in Europe shoot a very high percentage and do not over-handle the ball. 5. While some Europeans contracts are guaranteed, many contracts are abruptly terminated at different points during the season due to poor play or performance. 6. Some European coaches want their point guards to be at least 6-5, if not bigger. And those are just a few of the obstacles facing Jennings. He also has no real sense of what it takes to win at a high level, as he often bails out on guarding the ball by going for steals. When scored upon, he always comes back up court and tries to go one-on-one for a bucket. Great moxie over here, not embraced over there. I don't blame Jennings. He is just a product of playing for one of the most talented AAU programs (SoCal All-Stars) and high school powerhouses (Oak Hill) in the country. While both win games, the emphasis isn't on sets on offense or stops on defense. Whereas young players are coddled here and pushed to learn in a trial by fire sort of way, most youngsters in Europe sit and earn their minutes and do their work in practice and in friendly games. Jennings can claim he is going to Europe to get around the NBA's "19-year-old rule" (a player has to be at least 19 years old and one year removed from high school to be eligible for the draft), and it is somewhat true, but remember that the only reason Jennings' academics are in question is because he had to take the SAT a third time. His second SAT score was flagged for an excessive increase from his first SAT score. While there is no doubt that some team in Europe will take a chance on this high-profile youngster and give him a decent six-figure pay day, playing overseas is not like playing here. There are hooks on the walls for lockers on the road. Smoking is commonplace. Gyms are half-full. And soccer is football, and football is every boy's dream. [+] EnlargeKelly Kline Brandon Jennings is a well-rounded offensive star who needs to learn how to run a team. In Europe, Jennings would have to relearn how to run a team because he has not really played for a team in true competition in the two years since he moved from Los Angeles' Dominguez High School to the loaded Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. Oak Hill had scores of Division I talent, and the Warriors were rarely tested, often rolling over lesser competition. While he might not know or respect some of the veterans in Europe, Lou Bullock (Real Madrid), Zoran Planinic (CSKA), Sarunas Jasikevicius (Panathinaikos) and Morris Finley (Montepaschi Siena) are skilled and experienced guards whose eyes will light up at the thought of a "SLAM" cover boy trying to learn the Euro game. The idea that every game matters and the win-or-be-cut mentality of FIBA hoops would truly test Jennings' mettle. He has been a pampered superstar for a while now, and because of it, he is also reviled by fellow all-stars and opposing AAU coaches despite his immense talent. But in Italy, Spain, Greece or Russia, pouting gets you nowhere; wins get you paid. Overseas, Jennings would get real, full-time coaching and real critiques. He would be competing against players who are 25- to 35-years-old and do not care for some youngster coming in to take their salary. Teammates and opponents alike would attack Jennings in the two-a-day practices and the twice-a-week games. Jennings would be the better for the experience, but it will be far more difficult than he can ever imagine. It is not easy to change your diet, time zones, TV viewing (DVDs and X-Box take over), language and especially your game to fit completely new surroundings. And he would have to do it for a coach that might think he has talent but has not heard of him for the past three years like Arizona's Lute Olson has. It's not like Jennings was ever planning on going to Arizona to earn a four-year degree. He would have been using the school to get to the NBA as quickly as possible. He is not alone, though he might now become the poster boy for other high school players who want to avoid college basketball and play for pay at an earlier age. While Jennings might have found a loophole for Renardo Sidney and future young stars who want to educate themselves overseas before jumping into the NBA, Jennings might find out how hard it is to set the mold. Doug Gottlieb is a college basketball analyst for ESPN and host of "The Pulse" on ESPN Radio.
That article has a lot of loop holes. You can't view European basketball like you view the NBA. It's completely different. You have 8-10 really super rich clubs and then hundreds of small very poor clubs. You can't just lump European basketball together like you can pro ball in the US AKA NBA. 1. To get the money he wants (considering the fact that he's right from high school) it would have to be a really rich club and the players on those clubs live in complete luxury there is no way to even explain the money these clubs have in context of what Americans think of for sports clubs. We are talking billions and billions of revenue for these clubs. In this case, none of the stuff about playing older guys matters one bit because he will never hardly see floor time ever. Also the stuff about the crappy conditions and not getting paid means nothing because that is not how it would ever be in such a team. 2. All the stuff about playing the players there doesn't matter either if he goes to a smaller level club in some crappy domestic league because then the players he plays against will suck. Also he won't be getting any 800k a year. In this case the conditions could be poor and yes he could get dumped with no guaranteed contract. But he won't be in that situation if he wants 800k because no small team would go for it. You can't look at European basketball the way people look at the NBA. There is a certain amount of super clubs and then hundreds of small clubs. If he wants to play he will go to a small club and small league and the players won't be any good so it won't matter if he's young. If he wants to get paid that much (800k) at his age and no experience and unproven in Europe unlike a player like Rubio that has already played there, only a really premiere club would even entertain the idea. In one of those clubs there is no way he would see floor time in the Euroleague. He would see 10-15 minutes in a domestic league against inferior opponents. So about 10-15 minutes in regular season in a domestic league once every 2-3 games depending on which league. No chance at all he would see any playing time on one of these clubs in the Euroleague.
