Brandon jennings

[buckeye247]

Jennings a rookie drafted by Milwaukee in the first round of the NBA draft. He scored 55 points tonight, as many people remember this kid spent a year playing in Italy because he didn't go to college. But he is an extremely humble person its great to see someone that humble doing that well in the NBA.

[naptownbuck]

Originally Posted by buckeye247

Jennings a rookie drafted by Milwaukee in the first round of the NBA draft. He scored 55 points tonight, as many people remember this kid spent a year playing in Italy because he didn't go to college. But he is an extremely humble person its great to see someone that humble doing that well in the NBA.

+++1

I've been a fan of this kid since 2005 when I started scouting Oden & Conley's AAU games. He first made noise at the age of 16 with the SO-Cal All-Stars playing with Kevin Love, Chase Budinger, and Taylor King. He then transferred from Compton to Oak Hill. He was the consensus number one ranked high school player his senior year. Guys like Tyreke Evans and Byron Mullens were ranked behind him. In fact, if you watch some of BJ's senior highlights on youtube (Mcdonalds all american game, Jordan Classic) You will see Mullens catching a bunch of lobs from Jennings.

Last season he made the very difficult transition from Highschool to the Euroleague with Virtus Roma. He wasn't just playing in a domestic league, he played in the Italian league & the Euroleague (europe's highest level of basketball) at age 18/19! It was a very big adjustment on and off the court. He wasn't totally comfortable with the style, and did not receive many minutes. Yet, he persevered, continued to practice, and came out of Europe as a mature young man.

His problems in the draft were that GMs did not have enough film to evaluate him. Plus a bunch of media outlets misinterpreted the kid's swag as an attitude problem. But as you noted, he's actually a humble guy who is making some gms (cough, new york, cough) look awfully stupid right now. The kid challenged the NCAA/NBA kabal, and is now succeeding. Hopefully Redd can get back to help the kid out. Iverson quicks with Kenny Anderson flash, but with a winning floor game (i.e he wants to pass)

[OHSportsFan9]

Tried to swoop him up off the fantasy wire the first week of the season...didn't get him.

[reagdog]

He's obviously good, but I don't think humble is a good description. Here's some Brandon Jennings quotes:

On Ricky Rubio:
A: ?Yeah, I think I?m a better player think he is, I can shoot the ball better than he can, you know the only time I have seen him do something is when he has a homerun pass or something like that. I think the dude is just all hype. I can?t even front you know, I?m just going to be real with you guys.?

?Having former pros teaching you is real exciting, but to be honest, I?ve had my way with everyone at this camp so far. Nobody here has really been any competition for me. I think I?m the king of [high school] point guards right now.?

?I don?t respect West Coast point guards; they?re too Hollywood for me. I?m more of an East Coast, flashy-type point guard. Someone like Jrue Holiday [another top-ranked Cali guard], he?s real smooth, goes to work in the first three quarters?but he?s not a killer yet. Me, I?m a killer.?

[fourteenandoh]

Originally Posted by reagdog

He's obviously good, but I don't think humble is a good description. Here's some Brandon Jennings quotes:

On Ricky Rubio:
A: ?Yeah, I think I?m a better player think he is, I can shoot the ball better than he can, you know the only time I have seen him do something is when he has a homerun pass or something like that. I think the dude is just all hype. I can?t even front you know, I?m just going to be real with you guys.?

?Having former pros teaching you is real exciting, but to be honest, I?ve had my way with everyone at this camp so far. Nobody here has really been any competition for me. I think I?m the king of [high school] point guards right now.?

?I don?t respect West Coast point guards; they?re too Hollywood for me. I?m more of an East Coast, flashy-type point guard. Someone like Jrue Holiday [another top-ranked Cali guard], he?s real smooth, goes to work in the first three quarters?but he?s not a killer yet. Me, I?m a killer.?

sounds like a basketball player to me...

[naptownbuck]

Originally Posted by reagdog

He's obviously good, but I don't think humble is a good description. Here's some Brandon Jennings quotes:

On Ricky Rubio:
A: ?Yeah, I think I?m a better player think he is, I can shoot the ball better than he can, you know the only time I have seen him do something is when he has a homerun pass or something like that. I think the dude is just all hype. I can?t even front you know, I?m just going to be real with you guys.?

?Having former pros teaching you is real exciting, but to be honest, I?ve had my way with everyone at this camp so far. Nobody here has really been any competition for me. I think I?m the king of [high school] point guards right now.?

?I don?t respect West Coast point guards; they?re too Hollywood for me. I?m more of an East Coast, flashy-type point guard. Someone like Jrue Holiday [another top-ranked Cali guard], he?s real smooth, goes to work in the first three quarters?but he?s not a killer yet. Me, I?m a killer.?

Meh..first of all, he retracted the Rubio comments. Those statements were made in the heat of the draft when he was getting barraged with questions about his falling stock & Rubio. I remember the press conference actually, he just got back to the states and got the best of some of the other top pgs (Flynn, Lawson, Evans) at a Kings draft workout. He was feeling confident and took the bait from a reporter. This is what he had to say about Ricky Rubio in December 2008.

Barcelona, Spain Trip & Euro League Game | When in Rome

Now to what everyone wants to hear about, the game and the matchup with Ricky. Unfortunately Ricky only played about 8mins cause he?s still kind of hurt from a wrist injury he suffered in the Gold Medal game vs. Team USA, but in just 8mins he showed me a lot. I have a ton of respect for the dude. He?s real mature out there on the court, he has a great feel for the game.

He passes the ball like crazy, reminds me of Steve Nash a little bit. Put it like this if he were in the class of 09 in high school basketball he would be the #1 player hands down. No question about it. I can only hope that when Ricky and I one day get to the NBA we can be like Chris Paul and Deron Williams, as our careers take off together like CP3 & D Will?s did. Despite what the critics say that he can?t shoot Ricky is going tobe going a Great NBA player someday?he brings a complete game to the table.

Those other quotes were taken (from where I don't know) from his high school days when he was a cocky young player. However, highschool bravado doesn't exactly mean he is not humble now. This is what seemed to fool an awful lot of scouts. They overlooked the year in Europe that helped him mature. At age 19 he donated $50,000 to earthquake victims in Italy. He respects his opponents and the game in general, he even drives a Ford Edge!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/sp...l/26bucks.html

Jennings?s birthday was Sept. 23, and he celebrated by staying up late polishing his game. He texted Sampson, who lives less than a mile from him, at 9 p.m. and asked if he would meet him at the gym, and they worked deep into the night.

So far Jennings?s decision-making has impressed his coaches. He moved into a condo less than a mile from the Bucks? training center in St. Francis, Wis., far from downtown Milwaukee and its beckoning nightlife.

There is an Italian-made Ferrari in the players? parking lot, but it does not belong to Jennings. It is guard Michael Redd?s car. Jennings opted for a Ford Edge, with its sticker price of $26,000. ?I want to save my money,? he explained.

Jennings?s life experiences have given him a maturity that belies his youth. His childhood effectively ended in grade school with his father?s suicide. Jennings left his hometown, Compton, Calif., to play basketball in Mouth of Wilson, Va., at Oak Hill Academy, where he was the Parade Magazine player of the year as a senior in 2008.

Good Interviews, didn't mean to embed these, it automatically did it.

YouTube - Brandon Jennings Interview with...

YouTube - Brandon Jennings (Milwaukee) Pre-draft...

[DubCoffman62]

Originally Posted by buckeye247

Jennings a rookie drafted by Milwaukee in the first round of the NBA draft. He scored 55 points tonight, as many people remember this kid spent a year playing in Italy because he didn't go to college. But he is an extremely humble person its great to see someone that humble doing that well in the NBA.

Wow, I didn't see that, that's pretty amazing. I need to start following the NBA a little closer.