By now, you've probably seen several takes on Brandon Jennings' quite astonishing fifty-five point game. However, what's so special about it - besides the fact that he's a rookie and fifty-five is a big number? Is it the element of uncertainty that surrounded him until he made his huge splash? Could it be that he was cast out during his tenure in Italy? Was the bar set too low for him after averaging only a mere 7.6 points in Euroleague play? In spite of his outburst, will his ego be affected? And then there's the question on everyone's mind: Is he guaranteed to win Rookie of the Year honors?
First of all, to muster fifty-five points in a NBA game is a historic feat for any player in the league. Even Kobe and Lebron have fans buzzing for a few days when the points in a box score has a 5 in the tens' column. Jennings' performance bares no comparison in the last forty-one years, as the last time a rookie put up a higher point total was Earl Monroe (source: The Baseline). The fact that Jennings doesn't share the accomplishment with numerous stars, like Jordan, Bird, and others - athletes who dominated at an unprecedented level - says something by itself.
The rest of the hype around this game likely spurred from the fact that, unfortunately, the bar was set lower. Some may argue that expectations were higher because he was relatively unproven, yet still drafted at #10. Nevertheless, it's the very fact that he lacked a particularly ostentatious reputation - and the fact that he plays for Milwaukee - that many disregarded him. He gained plenty of haters from his decision to skip college, those who called him out declaring he wouldn't succeed by taking a shortcut.
Truthfully, there was reason to believe he wouldn't make it in the NBA. He didn't play enough minutes to validate stardom. In Italian League play - surely easier than Euroleague competition - he had mostly low averages across the board: 5.5 points, 1.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.5 steals in 17 minutes per game. What's worse was the fact that he was a guard, which put an even greater emphasis on his dismal assist number. In Euroleague play he didn't fare much better. The only bright spot was his field-goal percentage: 47.9% in Italian league play and 45.7% in Euroleague competition. But even that was offset by his poor perimeter shooting, in which he averaged 23.75% between Euroleague and Italian league play.
Needless to say, it was evident he belonged in the association from his debut, in which he nearly recorded a triple-double. Believe it or not, his 55-point game was practically inevitable. As a starter, he finally earned the minutes he deserved with the Bucks. With Michael Redd out, his production was bound to soar. When a team's starting lineup consists of Andrew Bogut, Kurt Thomas, Carlos Delfino, and Charlie Bell, it can't be that difficult to maintain impressive stats.
Although, it's worth wondering if the 55-point game could commence future pandemonium among the Bucks' squad. When Michael Redd comes back from injury, Jennings, or his stats for that matter, will likely start to drift back to Earth. Will this game affect his ego in the long-term and potentially cause a clash between him and Redd or, worse yet, Head Coach Scott Skiles, a former guard himself? The answer is quite simple: probably not. Subsequently after his remarkable game, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports! published an article about Jennings' unknown work ethic. In the article, he writes:
First of all, to muster fifty-five points in a NBA game is a historic feat for any player in the league. Even Kobe and Lebron have fans buzzing for a few days when the points in a box score has a 5 in the tens' column. Jennings' performance bares no comparison in the last forty-one years, as the last time a rookie put up a higher point total was Earl Monroe (source: The Baseline). The fact that Jennings doesn't share the accomplishment with numerous stars, like Jordan, Bird, and others - athletes who dominated at an unprecedented level - says something by itself.
The rest of the hype around this game likely spurred from the fact that, unfortunately, the bar was set lower. Some may argue that expectations were higher because he was relatively unproven, yet still drafted at #10. Nevertheless, it's the very fact that he lacked a particularly ostentatious reputation - and the fact that he plays for Milwaukee - that many disregarded him. He gained plenty of haters from his decision to skip college, those who called him out declaring he wouldn't succeed by taking a shortcut.
Truthfully, there was reason to believe he wouldn't make it in the NBA. He didn't play enough minutes to validate stardom. In Italian League play - surely easier than Euroleague competition - he had mostly low averages across the board: 5.5 points, 1.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.5 steals in 17 minutes per game. What's worse was the fact that he was a guard, which put an even greater emphasis on his dismal assist number. In Euroleague play he didn't fare much better. The only bright spot was his field-goal percentage: 47.9% in Italian league play and 45.7% in Euroleague competition. But even that was offset by his poor perimeter shooting, in which he averaged 23.75% between Euroleague and Italian league play.
Needless to say, it was evident he belonged in the association from his debut, in which he nearly recorded a triple-double. Believe it or not, his 55-point game was practically inevitable. As a starter, he finally earned the minutes he deserved with the Bucks. With Michael Redd out, his production was bound to soar. When a team's starting lineup consists of Andrew Bogut, Kurt Thomas, Carlos Delfino, and Charlie Bell, it can't be that difficult to maintain impressive stats.
Although, it's worth wondering if the 55-point game could commence future pandemonium among the Bucks' squad. When Michael Redd comes back from injury, Jennings, or his stats for that matter, will likely start to drift back to Earth. Will this game affect his ego in the long-term and potentially cause a clash between him and Redd or, worse yet, Head Coach Scott Skiles, a former guard himself? The answer is quite simple: probably not. Subsequently after his remarkable game, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports! published an article about Jennings' unknown work ethic. In the article, he writes:
Three years ago, Jennings had come to New York as a high school junior to
play in the Elite 24 all-star game that Stone had started, and he won the MVP
over players like Michael Beasley and Kevin Love. The next
morning, it was Stone’s job to drive over to the Westin Hotel in Times Square
and make sure the kids were awake by 8 a.m. on the way to LaGuardia for flights
home. So, Stone walked into the hotel lobby at 6, the elevator doors opened and
there was a vision that brought him back to his days growing up in the Bay Area.
“And here comes Brandon walking out with a basketball under his arm, a
T-shirt and shorts,” Stone said. “He had just achieved his greatest
accomplishment as a high school player, and he’s running out the door to go work
out with Ben Gordon
As I was listening to sports radio the other day, I heard one of the guests mention how humorous it is to see the widespread panic & shock among the teams that passed up on him. As far as his status for Rookie of the Year, for now, it's almost certain that he will receive the award. None of the prospects selected before him have come remotely close to his success, with the exception of Tyreke Evans of Sacramento, who is among the benefactors of Kevin Martin's injury. It also helps that Ricky Rubio, another EuroLeague prospect who was the cause of much hype, decided not to play in the NBA.
Overall, the Jennings' 55-point game remains a legendary achievement and won't be forgotten. He definitely has All-Star potential. Heck, who knows, we may even see him facing off with the likes of the league's best next year. Down the road, there's no stopping him from joining the U.S. Olympic roster. For now, though, Brandon Jennings will continue to create and justify hype with each passing game.
2 comments:
It's a nice thing for Jenning's to have such a high-point game. Honestly, I believe when any player has that high a number it's because he's a carrying a team... not so impressive. But congrats to him for getting the notice he's deserved for a long time.
@chingpea I disagree with you on the point of carrying a team. I think when a player scores more it's only made more impressive when he had to carry the whole team. It's amazing when you think about it in the context of 1 vs. 5. Regardless, I may be choosing the best example here, but would you deem Kobe's 81 point game "not so impressive"? After all, the Lakers were trailing by double digits during the game, which was why Kobe had to carry the Lakers. Mind you, this was the Lakers in the immediate post-Shaq era. You know, the same squad that had Smush Parker as starting point guard.
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