NBA Notebook: Early returns point to Jennings as NBA's top rookie

Published online on Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

Like of lot of NBA people, I didn't have high hopes for Brandon Jennings after evaluating his season in Europe with Lottomatica Roma.

Unable to jump to the NBA directly, Jennings became the first high profile player to sign with a European team since the NBA's age restriction rule was implemented.

Since Jennings didn't qualify academically for Arizona, he made a bold and mature decision to make money instead of spending a year on some junior college campus chasing girls while waiting to become draft eligible.

The Los Angeles native inked a 1-year, $1.65 million guaranteed deal with Lottomatica and a $2 million dollar endorsement contract with Under Armour to showcase their products in the Euroleague.

During 27 games in the overly-structured, fundamentally obsessed Italian Lega A, Jennings averaged just 5.5 points, 1.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.5 steals in 17.0 minutes per game. He shot a miserable 35.1 percent from the field and a dismal 20.7 percent from three-point range in Lega A play.

In 16 Euroleague games, Jennings improved to 7.6 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.2 steals in 19.6 minutes per game, while shooting 38.7 percent from the field and 26.8 percent from three -- still not impressive,

Instead of a sure-fire top five pick, Jennings began to drift in most mock drafts after his disappointing performance overseas. The upside was still there but the 20-year-old point guard looked like a multi-year project.

In fact, Jennings never took his seat in the "green room" at Madison Square Garden during the draft and we were told he wasn't there as the whispers circulated that he would continue to fall.

Just as ESPN was likely putting together a Jennings montage backed up by Tom Petty's Free-Fallin', Milwaukee took the leap and selected the dynamic playmaker with the 10th pick. He then magically appeared on stage later in the evening.

After seeing Jennings in his NBA debut in Philadelphia, I felt like one of those new-breed baseball scouts that live and die by black-and-white numbers on a sheet of paper...scouts that never actually take the time to see the player they are supposed to be evaluating,

Jennings is breathtakingly quick with the ball. Maybe even a tick above a Tony Parker or Rajon Rondo. In the third quarter I nudged the reporter next to me, pointing at his stats."Jennings might get a triple-double," I said.

Instead he finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, just short of joining the great Oscar Robertson as the second player in NBA history to record a triple-double in his debut.

It brought back memories of his senior season at powerhouse Oak Hill Academy where Jennings averaged 32.7 points, 7.5 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 steals per game, earning the 2008 Naismith High School Basketball Player of the Year, 2008 Parade Magazine Player of the Year and 2008 EA Sports Player of the Year.

With presumptive Rookie of the Year Blake Griffin missing the early portion of the NBA season with an injury, Jennings has vaulted to the top of the rookie class, averaging nearly 19 points a contest along with 4.8 assists, 4.5 four rebounds, and just under two steals.

Among first-year players Jennings is first in points, tied for fourth in rebounds, second in assists, sixth in field goal percentage, third in three point percentage, second in free throw percentage, tied for first in steals and first in minutes.

Jennings may have been the fourth point guard taken but he's clearly the best.

The jumper is still shaky and you can bet the opposition will start sagging off forcing Jennings to shoot over the top, but that's the kind of adjustment all rookies need to make.