You don’t need to jump very high to block Earl Boykins.

I am typing to you, not some giant NBA’er.

And so another rookie lesson learned. Brandon Jennings was caught with his feet off the ground, caught with his defensive judgment just off with a second to go in a tied game.

Whether a preseason-pessimest or offseason-optimist, we all figured it would be an up-and-down adventure on this Jennings ride, and it was just that in the final ten seconds of regulation: After all, the rook’ had just nailed a clutch three to tie the game prior to his foul.

Still, on a night when he was outplayed by his backup (about him…), Jennings wanted the ball, the shot on his team’s final possession. And he made it count.

But while much of the pregame focus centered on Washington’s Big Three, Bogut, and Jennings, everyone looked right past and right over old friend Earl Boykins. So Boykins worked the fourth quarter pick-n-roll with Brendan Haywood into a win.

via Recap: Wizards 104, Bucks 102 – Brew Hoop.

The shooting woes will even out, and somehow, someway, he’s still getting buckets late in games. All of the things you see Jennings struggling with are things he can work through. I’d be concerned with him developing into some sort of gunner, except he’s still averaging 6.4 assists per40 in his rookie season.

The other thing BrewHoop talks about here is the impact of Luke Ridnour. Luke Ridnour, through no fault of his own, has become my most hated of point guards. Because he’s constantly, and fairly, getting minutes over dynamic point guards. Last year it was Ramon Sessions. This year it’s Brandon Jennings. He’s playing well, which is a boon for Skiles being able to turn to a capable veteran to run the squad, but a drag for the rest of us. It’s like going to the zoo and seeing the tigers napping. Sure, it’s still a really big cat, but you’re looking for them to roar or something.

‘m sure there are some religious passages that refer to the dangers of temptation, and Brandon Jennings could just as easily play the part. If too many people jump on the bandwagon, he might just reveal himself to be a snake-headed woman with a penchant for carnage. Trust me. The bandwagon’s not safe.

Recall Jamaal Tinsley and his impressive debut. Or the fact that Gordon Giricek at one time in the not-so-distant past broke Allen Iverson’s record for points in a debut. Things happen in rookie seasons that never quite work out. So cool your jets. I’m not saying Jennings is on that level, he’s clearly in a world of his own – but that world is cold, twisted and bizarre.

Falling in love with Brandon Jennings is like trying to predict prom queen in freshman year – it’s impossible to make a safe assessment. As much as I would love to get in on the whole “He’s a rookie and he’s outplaying Player X, wahoo, let’s dance”, you know that come 2011 or 2012 he may just as well be overweight and skin-damaged from too many cigarettes between home economics and gym.

via The Good Point – Brandon Jennings, potentially filled with snakes.

This is why I hated that they had to play the Spurs last night. It was just one game, what’s the big deal, he can bounce back, they’re a tough team… they are the killers of all that is fun. That team sucks joy out of the world like no other. I actually like this squad quite a bit, they’re more likable than any iteration since the second championship, but they really do kill fun. And I actually seriously worry about them sucking his soul out.

I have my own concerns, so much hope poured into the kid. His ability to get 5+assists per game tends to alleviate the concerns somewhat, it’s nice to see that he can run the offense when he needs to. And George Hill is exactly the kind of player you want to defend him with, so he won’t be seeing that every night. But damn it, the season has started so well with him as a storyline (they’re on ESPN! Just like a real team!), I can’t bear the thought of him being crushed back into dirt before the March Rookie Well incident inevitably occurs.

Give him back his soul, Spurs. He’s too young to feast on.

What’s most impressive is how hard it is to shut him down for 48 minutes. An early pair of free throws not withstanding, Jennings didn’t score a point in the first half, but then had the balls to take (and make) a contested wing 20 footer to start the third. And he kept it going, with 10 more in the third and another dozen in the final quarter. Even with all his success shooting the ball from distance, he’s also mixing in enough drives to the hoop to keep defenses honest, which helps on nights like this when the threeball isn’t falling (1/6). Lots of Grizzly fouls in the final minute helped pad his scoring numbers, but it says a lot about how far Jennings has come that 26 points on 18 shots only seems like a so-so night for him.

via Recap: Bucks 103, Grizzlies 98 – Brew Hoop.

Pterodactyl with Wings of Fire has a so-so night with 26 points. I went to see 2012 last night because watching Jennings has convinced me the end is near.

Now, there are some things to watch out for. The league average for players playing 25+minutes is a True Shooting Percentage of 54.3%. Jennings is at 57.9%. He’s got a usage count of 31.54, good for sixth in the league for players 25+ minutes a game. That puts him above Dirk Nowitzki, for comparison purposes. His Turnover Ratio is slightly above the league average (again for players above 25+minutes) at 10.94. And his assist ratio is only slightly above the league average for players 25+ minutes a game. So the kid has some holes. But that’s the big thing. THE KID. For a player this young to have the ability to bounce backs from bad halves and respond, to consistently be putting up these performances, it’s huge. We’ve got something on our hands here, folks. Please don’t let it end, universe.

NetsAreScorching – New Jersey Nets Blog – Nets News, Rumors, Analysis, Podcasts, Salaries, & Statistics » Blog Archive » How Do The Nets Stop Brandon Jennings?.

If you’re not reading Nets are Scorching, begin doing so now. Their play-by-play breakdown is better than anything you’re going to see this side of JVG. Here they lay out what you have to do to stop Jennings (pretty simple, force him into contested jumpers, which you may call “playing good defense”). An interesting note is that going over screens is the preferred option, but you’ve GOT to bring man-help and NOT from the screener’s man. If you don’t bring help, he’s got the one-handed floater thing a la a young parker. If you do bring help, but with the screener’s man, he’s going to lob to the big. He’s gotten at least six assists this season off lobs to Bogut on pick and rolls. The kid’s not Ben Gordon.  Best option is to dare him into the drive and dish, because he’s not as accurate with that pass. You risk the wide open three, but his passing accuracy is worst on that pass, which gives you time to recover. You know, if he doesn’t just shoot over you.

Brandon Jenning is a Pterodactyl with wings of fire.

The point is not that we were right in our assessment of Brandon Jennings, and most NBA executives were wrong. We get some right, we get some wrong, so do the best of NBA scouts and executives, so does everyone. The point is why NBA executives were wrong on Jennings – there are some assumptions underlying the faulty evaluations on Jennings which need to change. We wrote in June that we “feel like Jennings is being questioned and moved down draft boards for a bunch of reasons completely unrelated to this question: Can he play?” It really did feel like evaluations of Jennings became more like a political topic than a basketball scouting report.

The Painted Area: Yes, Brandon Jennings Is (Already!) Laughing Last.

My man Haubs with what I can only describe as a complete analysis of what may end up being called the Jennings-Realignment. Mark makes a good point that the impact of Jennings’ predicted success at this point versus six months ago not only indicates a need for a drastic re-evaluation from high school seniors as to the best path for their careers, but also for how basketball personnel goes about its evaluations on draft picks.

A key element that I think lends itself strongly to the pro-Europe debate, you know, besides the money, cultural experience, immersion in basketball and the fact that you get to have sex with European groupies, is that they miss out on some of the things that can trip up a prospect here. If you go to a school with a persnickety coach who ends up not liking you, he’s going to tell coaches and GMs about your problems, and his opinion will have weight. Versus if the European coach says you suck, well, “What does he know? He rides a moped!”

In closing, Brandon Jennings is a Pterodactyl with Wings of Fire.