Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made waves when he changed his name. Brandon Jennings, on the other hand, is busy changing the game. On Saturday night, B-Jen dropped 55 points, breaking Kareem’s (then Lew Alcindor) Bucks rookie record of 51, falling only three shy of Wilt Chamberlain’s all-time rookie mark. So where are all the haters now? Where are the doubters who shook their heads when they heard Jennings wanted to exercise his right to seek gainful employment after high school? I’ve got 55 reasons why they should reconsider:
1. I don’t know if I made this clear, but he scored 55 points last night. 2. The moment he landed in Italy last year, Under Armour gave him $2 million. 3. I don’t remember being offered $2 million when I arrived at college. 4. Because he’s not friends with Joe Budden anymore. 5. Coming out of high school, Jrue Holiday was ranked as the best point guard by Scout.com. Jennings had a “rough” time in Europe, while Holiday got to start at UCLA and had a decent, yet inconsistent, year. 7. The Bucks drafted Jennings 10th. He’s averaging 26 points per game and starting. Holiday went 17th to the Sixers. He’s averaging 2.5 points and is riding the bench. Hmm… 8. His new hairstyle is cool. 9. I know, I know. His old hairstyle was even cooler. 10. While his peers were in college (what a waste of time…sheesh!), Jennings was getting paid a milli to play basketball in a foreign land. Life sucks. 11. Scott Skiles’ profanity-laced rants can sometimes sound like a foreign language. Old hat for B-Jen after playing abroad. 12. Italy is famous for spaghetti and caprese. College is famous Ramen noodles and Capri Suns. 13. Just to make sure we’re on the same page, he scored 55 points last night. 14. Because…just watch this:
14. Because he’s playing for a coach who’s smart enough to make him shut down his Twitter. 15. He avoided getting drafted by the Knicks. That’s a big win in my book. 16. He’s a lefty who’s lethal with his right as well, which should come in handy when hoisting the Rookie of the Year Trophy with both hands. 17. He might not look too bad in an All-Star jersey next year, if not this season. 18. By the time Rubio comes over here, B-Jen will have already Continue Reading…
Back to the NBA. Back to The NBA, to prove to fans that I’m a good player. I got my three point shot packed up, my Nike’s tied tight, I hope I don’t get put on the end of the bench. Ohhhh, back to the NBA. Back to The NBA. Back to the NBA. Well, here goes Ersan far, far away…
*We apologize for the fuzziness of the first video. If it really bothers you, just turn the volume up and close your eyes.
This will be Ilyasova's 2nd Trip to the NBA
In honor of the movie “Billy Madison” I decided to give Ersan Ilyasova a special sendoff from all of us at Euroleague Adventures. The Milwaukee Bucks, who originally drafted Ilaysova in 2005, have just signed him to a reported three year deal worth $7 million. Ilaysova is coming off a great season for FC Barcelona in which he averaged 10.5 points and 7 rebounds a game helping lead Barcelona to the Final Four. This will be Ilyasova’s second stint in the NBA as he played for those same Bucks for two seasons from 2005-2007. In his first year he played mostly in the NBA’s Developmental League for the Tulsa 66ers and then moved on to play 66 games for the Bucks the next year averaging 6.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. After playing two years for Barcelona, Ilyasova is much better prepared for the NBA. Here are some more “Billy Madison” quotes that have been changed to show us what Ilyasova has learned in Europe and what he will bring back with him to the NBA.
You ain’t cool, unless, you shoot three pointers! Everybody my age is shooting three pointers; it’s the coolest!
Ilyasova always liked to put up three point shots, but he never hit them consistently. Now he is finally shooting above 40% from three land in his 2nd season with Barcelona in which he hit 40.3% of his 3’s. Now that defenses have to be honest with his long range shot it will open up more room for him to drive to the hoop and work in the post. This will be a very good weapon to have in the NBA as Ilyasova is not as athletic compared to NBA players as he was to Euroleaguers. His shot takes a little time to set up but he has a nice high arching release to get the ball over NBA foe. With an effective outside shot he can drag power forwards out of the paint and shoot rainbows all day.
Freaknick looks back at the week that was in European hoops in the only way he knows how: STYLE. In the first edition of the new weekly series, Freaknick takes aim at Ricky Rubio, Ron Artest, Hedo Turkoglu and…Eddie Murphy?
1. I don’t know if I made this clear, but he scored 55 points last night.
