Wait, so I'm kinda confused on what people here think about Jennings. Is his performance so "unbelievable" because there is a new all-star player in the making, or is it "unbelievable" because it was so darn fluky?
Wow. What a show by Jennings! I just watched the entire third quarter. The kid is the real deal. I thought his head was screwed up when he made those off season comments about Rubio. He has come a long way, even though he might say some dumb things once in a while.
Steve was 6 years older than Brandon Jennings, and had played several seasons and didn't reach 55 pts in Shaq/Yao 1. The rookies that have scored 55 pts or more have done pretty well. Wilt, Rick Barry, and Earl Monroe. Wilt and Rick were able to surpass their rookie high. Earl Monroe achieved 56 pts, but it was only in an overtiime game in his rookie year.
The initial benefits were unclear after reading that he was riding pine in Europe. I felt the same as you and had my doubts. In a recent interview, he talked about his experience in Europe mentally prepared helped him for the NBA. It erased any doubts that I had about going to Europe. http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_13789870
After watching the 4th quarter live, I watched the 3rd quarter on LP Broadband. Like brooksball said, any of you that have LP Broadband MUST watch the 3rd quarter. It is sick how good he was. Reminded me of LeBron's game in Milwaukee last year. Seriously, it was every bit as exciting and fun except you had the shock factor that it was Brandon Jennings instead. He was 12/13! BetterThanEver, I guess the mental aspect of going overseas is what helped him because I can't see the benefit from a basketball perspective. Either way, it worked.
That was an epic performance! I just hope it doesn't start a flood of high schoolers going to play ball in Europe rather than college.
Good post Let's see how he responses the slump and how he plays when Michael Redd comes back Right now he is just a rookie, imagine how great he will be when he is 25 or older after playing NBA, crazy stuff
I don't know who the coach of Lottomatica Rome is but he must be kicking himself for "teaching" Jennings a lesson last year.
I don't understand these comments belittling the performance as just "one game" or "a fluke" or "against Golden State." This wasn't just about the game. No one is claiming the guy is going to average 40. The significance was possibly witnessing 'greatness' in its infancy. We don't know if Brandon Jennings will be great. But any time you see a rookie drop 55 points and seal the game with a certain poise, or watch Kerry Wood strike out 20 batters in his first year, it's special simply because of what may still be yet to come.
I think the benefit is that you're playing against better competition. It's the same thing as the whole QB thing in college football - guys like Bradford, Colt, Matt Leinart, etc always had massive talent advantages on their teams, making the college game easy, but not ideally prepping them for the NFL. Guys like Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, etc didn't have those advantages and were forced to be more precise, better players. If Jennings goes to Carolina or Duke or Texas or wherever, the vast majority of games will be against inferior, amateur competition. Even when you do face a good team, the majority of those players will be worse than the guys you play in the Euroleagues, so it doesn't force you to refine your game. Playing in Europe may have forced him to develop his game to deal with a higher level of talent, which may be paying benefits now. (of course, there's no way to know because we don't have a baseline comparison - he might just have been that good going to college too).
my buddy and i were talking about him while the game was on. both of us are bucks fan. it's been a WHILE since it got exciting there. (other than the fact that Yi got drafted, and busted. ) finally something to watch for since the Big 3 days (glenn, ray, sam). no wonder bucks let go ramon sessions. they knew what they had in BJ.
This really is a "historical" moment One Game NBA History Rookie Points Date Wilt Chamberlain 58 Feb. 1960 Wilt Chamberlain 58 Jan. 1960 Rick Barry 57 Dec. 1965 Earl Monroe 56 Feb. 1968 Brandon Jennings 55 Nov. 1909 Wilt Chamberlain 55 Nov. 1959 Elgin Baylor 55 Feb. 1959 http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=291114015
I understand the concept but his lack of minutes over there had to r****d his development compared to the massive floor time he would have gotten in college testing himself. I won't quibble because it worked for him.
I know one thing I would have loved to see him for one year at Arizona. I always wonder how players like LeBron,T-mac, Kobe, Amare, and Jermaine O'Neal would have been if they went to college.
