Ball or Nuthin' » Brandon Jennings

Milwaukee Bucks Pull Off Game 5 Shocker in Atlanta

T Lamont — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 03:28:11 +0000

Not long ago, Brandon Jennings said that if the Milwaukee Bucks made the playoffs, he should be the NBA Rookie of the Year.

After tonight’s win, he has definitely converted some additional non-believers.

Jennings hit four clutch free throws in the final half-minute to seal the Bucks’ 91-87 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in Phillips Arena. The Game 5 win puts the underdog Bucks only one game away from reaching the second round of the postseason.

The rookie point guard – who scored 55 points in a game earlier in the season – provided Milwaukee with a 25-point effort. He was brilliant all night, and kept the Bucks within shouting distance in the third quarter. The Hawks had stretched out to a 13-point lead during the third, but the Bucks kept battling behind Jennings and speedy backup Luke Ridnour – who contributed 15 off the bench.

John Salmons did his thing down the stretch of the Bucks' 91-87 win.

Shooting guard John Salmons took over in the fourth quarter. Although he had a rough 6-17 shooting night, Salmons finished the game with 19. But perhaps his biggest contribution was holding All-Star Joe Johnson to 13 points.

The Hawks got big production from Al Horford (25 points, 11 rebounds) and Marvin Williams (22 points, 8-10 FG). But Atlanta have to be disheartened by the fact that they let a 13-point third quarter lead slip evaporate against a team with limited offensive firepower. Suddenly, the Hawks face a desperate situation in Game 6 which we be held in Milwaukee on Friday. With all of their talent, size and athleticism, it’s still the same old story with Atlanta – a lack of consistency for 48 minutes.

Too much credit cannot be given to Scott Skiles and his Milwaukee team. They have battled through injuries that he dislodged core members of their team (Michael Redd, Andrew Bogut), and have exceeded all of the wildest hopes of their fan base. The Bucks were projected to finish this season in a position to compete for the lottery, and tonight they stand on the brink of advancing to the second round of the postseason for the first time since 2000-01.

There are no such things as moral victories – but regardless of whether or not Milwaukee gets past Atlanta, they will look back on this season as a success.

The Hawks, on the other hand, have all the pressure on them based on their improvement from previous seasons. Losing to the Bucks could be just the right motivation to see some changes made – and to push Joe Johnson out the door.

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Jennings, Bucks Best Cavs Without LBJ

T Lamont — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:05:12 +0000

Brandon Jennings has a knack for saving his best for the spotlight.

The rookie point guard scored 25 points and handed out 6 assists as the Milwaukee Bucks continued its ascent in the Eastern Conference playoff picture by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers, 92-85. The win placed the Bucks in the sixth spot in the East, and they are on the heels of the Raptors for the fifth position.

Milwaukee has been playing some inspired basketball of late, winning 9 of their last 10 games. And they are doing it at the defensive end of the court. The Bucks have been deflecting passes, applying defensive pressure and forcing mistakes from their opponents. That certainly was the case tonight, as the Cavs committed 17 turnovers.

Williams didn't have much to celebrate tonight - he went 3-17 from the field.

And, oh by the way, the reigning MVP was not in the Cleveland lineup tonight. LeBron James sat out - a decision that was seemingly brought on by James’ right ankle sprain (which Mike Brown insisted wasn’t the reason). James was limping whenever he walked to and from the bench.

Antawn Jamison led all players with 30 points for Cleveland. Delonte West added 27 for the Cavs in the loss. They both stepped their point totals considerably with LeBron out.

So, the opportunity was there for a hot Milwaukee team at home. All of their starters scored in double figures, including Carlos Delfino and Luc Mbah a Moute who both recorded double-doubles in points and rebounds. They were effective from beyond the arc, hitting 11 triples (Jennings had 5, Delfino had 4).

But the story of the game was Jennings. After Jennings’ torrid start, the Oak Hill Academy product had been shooting terribly for some time now, and hadn’t recorded a 20-point game since February 5. Tonight, he broke out of it in a major way. He also got to the charity stripe, canning 8 of his 9 attempts. Jennings was even sporting a new do – a mohawk in which the middle strip was dyed red/blonde.

At this point, Jennings mohawk is a good representation of just how hot the Bucks are.

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The New Jack Rookie

T Lamont — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:42:59 +0000

Hairstyles are the biggest fads known to man.

Isaac Hayes started a revolution (particularly among Black men) with the bald look. Allen Iverson wasn’t the first, but certainly the most popular pioneer of the cornrow style which was dominant in the late 90′s. More recently, the mohawk has taken off thanks to big players like P-Diddy.

On the heels of these examples comes young Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings. Now, of course, he’s not close to being in the same class as the three mentioned above – but you’d think he was trying to be with his new haircut:

No doubt – one of the leading candidates for NBA ROY has taken us back to the days of House Party and Kid ‘n’ Play.

I guess it’s a good thing that the kid can play.

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Brandon Jennings – NBA Rookie of the Year?

T Lamont — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:03:14 +0000

Even in that overconfident mind of his, he couldn’t have imagined this.

NBA rookie point guard Brandon Jennings is the best player on the Milwaukee Bucks. I know it’s early in the season – and yes, Michael Redd is a member of that team – but Brandon Jennings is going to have some nice stats at the end of this season. Just look at these names: Kurt Thomas, Carlos Delfino, Andrew Bogut, Hakim Warrick, Charlie Bell, Luc Mbah a Moute, Ersan Ilyasova…none of these guys have any offensive game whatsoever.

After beating out Luke Ridnour (which probably wasn’t much of a contest) for the starting point guard position, the sky seemed to be the limit for what he could do. With Scott Skiles acting as the captain of the ship, analysts figured that Jennings’ flashy character might not be a perfect match. In fact, to quote Jennings:

“That n**** tough, that n**** tough though. There must be a reason he liked me. There must be a reason…”

Jennings provided Milwaukee with a little drama on draft night.

Apparently there was. After two games, the former Oak Hill Academy star is leading the Bucks in points per game (20.5), assists per game (6.0), field goal percentage (51.6%) and three-point field goal percentage (66.7%). Illustrating that he’s not afraid to mix it up, the 6’1″ Jennings is also adding 5 rebounds a game.

These numbers have the potential of improving as reports have surfaced that Michael Redd will be out for at least two weeks after experiencing soreness in his left knee. This knee was surgically repaired in March to repair a torn ACL – so there is a high likelihood that Redd will miss quite a bit of time on the floor this year. That’ll leave Jennings will all the time he needs to develop this game.

Don’t be surprised to see Brandon walk away with the ROY award this NBA season. He has the tools and aggressiveness to make this a reality.

And even more importantly – on a team full of offensively handicapped players – he has the opportunity.

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NBA Rookie Projections: Picks 1-10

T Lamont — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:11:38 +0000

This year’s draft class leaves a lot to the imagination when it comes to star-power. But, as with all drafts, it will proves to provide us with diamonds in the rough and some duds.

I’m taking an early shot at grading these guys. Here’s my grading legend:

“Swimmer” – productive player with positive impact to their teams and the league.

“Floater” – player that will stick around the league with inconsistent or varying degrees of impact, mostly positive.

“Sinker” – player that should be happy that his name got called in the draft. In 10 years, he’ll have to convince people that he actually played in the NBA.

First, let’s look at the top 10 selections:

1. Blake Griffin- This seems like a no-brainer. But being drafted by the Clippers could have been the worst thing to happen to Griffin (it’s not the absolute worst…after all, he is in the NBA). Griffin’s college game was built on athleticism and brute strength – tools that are more prominent amongst other NBA-types. I think he’ll find that out early and often. Otherwise, playing with the lesser L.A. team will prove to stunt his development. And playing with the Davises (Baron and Ricky) is always a good way to get shots…eh hem. T Lamont’s Grade: Floater

We all know that Thabeet can do this very well...

2. Hasheem Thabeet- Maybe he can carve out a career as a Dikembe Mutombo clone. But that would be wishful thinking. Mutombo had 11 seasons in which he averaged a double-double (points and boards). I can’t see Thabeet averaging 10 points a game for a week…much less a whole year. T Lamont’s Grade: Sinker

3. James Harden- Good pick by the Thunder. Harden will help pick up some of the scoring burden that Kevin Durant is carrying (not that he needs any help). His pick will go a long way towards bringing Oklahoma City that much closer to respectability as a team. But will he be a star? Hmmmm… T Lamont’s Grade: Floater

4. Tyreke Evans – Watching this guy all season at Memphis, the thing that stood out to me was his propensity to improve as he gets comfortable with his surroundings. That is a good sign for Sacramento, because they need someone to take the reigns and be the aggressor. The only reliable option they have to put the ball in the basket is Kevin Martin, but the Kings sorely needed someone to attack and create for others. Evans can do that and more – including finish at the rim on his own. T Lamont’s Grade: Swimmer

5. Ricky Rubio- With Rubio not making the trip to the league this year, the jury will remain deadlocked on him. I’m almost sad about about it. At the very least, I was looking forward to the first Rubio / Brandon Jennings showdown. T Lamont’s Grade: Stay Tuned

6. Jonny Flynn - Great college point guard. In only 2 seasons. And as far as point guards go in this draft, he is probably the best all-around at this point. T Lamont’s Grade: Floater

7. Stephen Curry - He’ll be physically over-matched in the NBA. He didn’t play for a big-time college program. He always had the “green light” with Davidson, and could shoot whenever he wanted without consequence. We’ve all heard the criticisms surrounding Curry, but the bottom line is that this guy is a player. There’s maybe (and I mean maybe) a few NBA players with the unique combination of his deep range and ultra-quick release. Additionally, he has demonstrated “blow-by” ability against defenders who want to crowd his jumper. He’ll have to work on his defense…but what rookie doesn’t? T Lamont’s Grade: Swimmer

8. Jordan Hill - Analysts’ selling point on Hill is that he hasn’t maxed out on his potential. But I’m thinking that should be the case with any player selected in the top 10 – that is, if you believe that NBA players are more talented at their craft than their college counterparts. Just playing against the top college players will make even the best former All-American have to dig a little deeper into his bag of tricks to make an impact on his new level. Taking that into consideration, I feel that Hill will only do that to a certain degree. T Lamont’s Grade – Floater

DeRozan has jaw-dropping athleticism.

9. DeMar DeRozan – Awesome, jaw-dropping athleticism. Right now, that’s the best – and probably the only – way to describe DeMar DeRozan. Fresh out of USC (and almost high school, for that matter), he obviously has some roughness around the edges of his game. With Toronto having a host of swingmen trying to prove they belong in the league (Antoine Wright, Joey Graham, Marco Belinelli) and Hedo Turkoglu set to gobble up major minutes, things may get tough for the youngster. T Lamont’s Grade: Floater

10. Brandon Jennings – This guy doesn’t lack any confidence at all. He has blasted a European sensation and wrongly predicted his new team’s off-season moves, but Jennings even did those two things with a swagger. In summer league, he has led the team like a veteran and – unlike many young players – seems to truly enojy winning…even at the cost of his own personal statline. While it remains to be seen what is ultimately going to happen with Ramon Sessions, there is no doubt in my mind that Jennings will make his presence felt…for some team in the NBA. It just remains to be seen if that team will end up being the Bucks. T Lamont’s Grade: Swimmer

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