The gap between Evans and fellow rookie Jennings is wider on charisma than on performance. With his whippet-thin frame flicking treys and gliding across the court with an ambidextrous dribble, Jennings is like a bead of mercury rolling on silk. By contrast, the muscular Evans has the panache and savoir faire of a John Deere uprooting tree stumps. Grace trumps grit at the box office, though, and that has made Jennings the early Rookie of the Year favorite.
A closer look at the numbers, however, illustrates how similar the two have been this season. Evans averages 4.7 assists and 3.2 turnovers compared with 5.7 and 3.3 for Jennings. And while Jennings is scoring three points more per game (21.8 versus Evans' 18.8), it is largely because he has attempted 66 more shots. No matter the numbers, it's no coincidence that the league's two best rookies are playing for the NBA's two most surprising overachievers.
7 months ago
pookeyguru
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Evans was the guy I thought had the best chance to challenge Griffin for ROY, so there’s nothing surprising about what he’s doing. Meanwhile, Jennings definitely benefits from the surprise factor, the European detour novelty factor, and the fact that he’s had a signature game that got people talking about him.
I wouldn’t at all be surprised if Evans ends up taking the ROY, mainly because I don’t know how good Jennings really is, where his numbers will end up being, and how both teams finish in the standings. Evans’ numbers may come down slightly once Martin returns, but 18-20 ppg on modest efficiency seems reasonable given he’s there now. For Jennings, I would have been very happy with a 16/6 rookie year and that’s been about where he’s been at lately, though his fg% has been too low. Can he actually play a whole season around 20 ppg? Not sure, though it’s quite possible since he’s above that right now.
But I still have a hard time worrying much about the ROY. It’s probably a bigger deal for teams who picked someone else over Jennings and are trying to rationalize it, but right now I’m just happy Hammond and company made the right pick. If he wins ROY that’d be great, but he’s still a 20-year old guy playing arguably the toughest position in the game, so I’m hopeful he has a lot of growth ahead of him. Long season and we’ve already seen plenty of ups/downs, but it certainly seems like we’ve got a keeper.
by Frank Madden on Dec 2, 2009 6:03 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
I agree with you Frank
I think what Jennings has been doing, and in this comes in light of the Bucks admitting that Joe Alexander was a mistake (something nobody is talking about), has been good for the fans and the franchise. His on court play, not surprisingly, is better than Jonny Flynn who many considered to be better than him. (I liked Flynn at draft time, but I liked Jennings too. Than again, I liked Evans although I didn’t want the Kings to take him.)
I agree with you about worrying about ROY with regards to Evans or Jennings. It’s just……BS is all it really is. It’s great for any franchise to have that because it’s a PR selling point. Other than that, it’s not worth much. To me (a hardcore basketball fan admittedly), awards don’t make a lot of sense beyond it being a popularity contest. I’ll be happy with Evans winning the award (the Kings can get any good PR they can get), but as far as I’m concerned the bigger picture means something better for the NBA, the Bucks, and the Kings.
It’s that not having the 1st overall pick makes you relevant when you make quality decisions. The funny thing is that I’m thrilledd Jennings ended up in a quality franchise (which the Bucks are IMO), with a demanding head coach that understands the position in Skiles, and a staff that embraces B-Money for both the good and bad he does. There’s a lot of good for MIlwaukee, and it’s fanbase. Even if Jennings is getting too much hype off one game (which he is), it’s still not his fault. It’s not like he’ll stop working.
Everything I’ve seen, the ups & downs, tells me that Brandon Jennings could easily be a Tony Parker style of player. If you’re Milwaukee, you can’t complain with that given that Jennings was the 10th pick in a draft.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Oh, hes in the laegue two and Jayson Thomson and that Boggins dude on Milwokee, and Occur for the Jizz. Its a talented laegue.--Kfan in Korea
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