Chris Bosh is playing harder than last year
He’s not playing harder, he’s playing inside. Fans have been begging him to do that for six years now and he’s finally shifted his primary offensive game from 15 feet to 7 feet and that’s made all the difference. Comparing his hotspots to last year (08-09, 09-10, you’ll notice that he’s taking 85% of his shot-attempts from close range which is a 27% increase from last year. Even the jumpers he’s taking are shorter thus having a higher chance of going in. A shorter jumper means a lighter touch which means the rim is more likely to be your friend and how many times this year have we seen his short hooks and jumpers bounce around the rim and in? Many. Those of you who play the game in any capacity know exactly what I’m talking about. Part of his resurgence is definitely the improved strength, but a bigger part of it is the mentality change that he’s supposed to be playing closer to the rim. It’s also been a relief to see him gain his muscle without losing his quickness which would’ve been a questionable trade-off.
Jarrett Jack is a suspect signing
Here is a man who has shown that he’s a very serviceable backup in his time with Indiana and Portland. Right now he’s struggling to find his niche on the team, his mind is split between being a playmaker, being an energizer, being a scorer and is also stuck between two positions. The Jose-Jack lineup has received enough criticism on this site for good reason and last night even ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz wondered aloud why these two were playing together. He even posed the question to Jay Triano who responded by saying that “the more people you have out there to handle the ball, the better”. I’m not sure having two PGs out there only for ball-handling purposes is any advantage if you’re conceding on defense, especially when you can players like Turkoglu and Belinelli who are great ball-handlers and can easily play point-forward for brief, if not longer, stretches.
What the Raptors need most from Jack is energy and leadership for the second unit which is his to command. Of all his abilities, the drive game is what he needs to make a priority because that is what will set up scores for lesser refined talents such as Amir Johnson and Antoine Wright. It will also help his shooting percentage which is at 36%, 8 points below his career average. His mentality should not be that of a scorer and all he needs to do is lead by example through his effort, get into the paint, and find options because there will be open men which he can use his court vision and wrist-strength to find. I’m at a loss to explain his recent lackadaisical cross-court and skip-passes which even TV viewers can anticipate being picked off. That needs fixing and I point to better concentration as the remedy.
Jose Calderon looks off people
He doesn’t. Or at least he’s done a much better job this year of making the riskier pass than last year when Marion was left with his arm up in the air on every other possession. I’ve seen a lot of people in the chat point out that Bargnani isn’t getting the ball in the block despite securing position, that’s just not true and an important part of being a big man is to demand the ball, not politely raise your hand. Jose’s done an equitable job of ball distribution and deferring to other ball-handlers on the team, which is one of the reasons the Raptors aren’t missing many offensive opportunities, as certified by their highly ranked offense.
Even though his assist numbers are down by 2.2 per game, his AST/TO ratio is higher by a full half assist going from 4.23 to 4.78. In fact, after starting the season with back-to-back games of 3 turnovers each against Cleveland and Memphis, he’s never since had more than 2. The bounce in Jose’s step has been more than evident on the roadtrip and he’s gotten stronger with each passing game. The willingness to attack the rim and hunt down the behind-the-screen jumper is returning which will ease the pressure off everyone else.
101 Raps
Great Post as usual, However, I do not agree with your Jose section. You used the AST/TO ratioto evalualte Jose. It is true that Jose has a superb AST/TO ratio but to me, after seeing the last 9 games, it is simply because he does not take the risk to make the more difficult pass !!
I have been comparing Jose with other point gaurds and Jose barely creates a high percentage position by his pass for his teammate.
Look at Baron Last night with some of his dishes into the paint that has led to dunks by the guys.
A good PG ( like Nash) makes the life esier for his teammates by putting them in places and passing them the ball in situations which they can make easy baskets.
I have not seen that by Jose. He brings the ball up,then pulls back and waits and then makes the simple pass to Bosh or a simple pass on top of the Key to Hedo or …
Anyway, I wish you had AB in this column as well and did some analysis on him. We have been talking about his rebounding all season now but after the game against clippers, I feel that it is his lack of boxing out and keepin staying between his man and basket that is hurting us the most. There are just too many guys from other team in great positions under the raptors basket who can make the esy put back and …
Gonna disagree and agree with you at the same time here.
Davis only got Assists in high percentage positions due to the Raptors lack of man-to-man positioning.
Nash, on the other hand, is known to find his players in high percentage positions where they can finish – and is willing to take the risk of dishing an unfamiliar pass to get them the ball there. Hence the reason he leads the league in Assists AND Turnovers.
I watched Billups play a lot of games while he was with the Pistons and a number of games with the Nuggets. Jose is very similar to Billups on the offensive side of the ball. The most noticable difference being that Billups takes it to the rack more often late in games with the attitude you are going to let score on my drive or I will draw a foul and make two at the free throw line.
Billups was also vastly underated by a lot of fans because he wasn’t fancy but his getting to the conference finals 7 consecutive years one shy of the league record as the teams PG speaks loads for this non fancy effectiveness.
On the defensive side it is a totally different story with Billups being the far better defender especially when he had younger legs.
There is defenitly some similarities. However, I don’t think it is as much as you say. I have seen Billups play many times and in many occeains he drove and made that small pass on the post for those easy dunks by Rashid and Ben.
Nash is a special case – a rare breed (and former MVP). But even he’s guilty of excessive turnovers as well.
The Davis example (or other risk takers like Arenas and AI) is interesting. Should Jose take more risks and hopefully generate easy baskets?
Usually this leads to much higher turnovers as well. I’ve been trying to find the data, but a turnover have a higher negative value than that extra assist has positive value. I.e. the extra assist equals 2 points. A turnover means a) you team missed about 1 point on avg (shooting ~50%) and the other team likely made 1 point on avg (I’m betting this is a little higher than 50%, since a decent # of turnovers lead to 2 on 1s, open layups etc – although many are travels etc that lead towards ~50% shooting).
“Look at Baron Last night with some of his dishes into the paint that has led to dunks by the guys.”
Baron is a great example. He had 7 assists (whoops Jose had 9!) and 4 turnovers (Jose had zero).
A *very* simple way to look at this is:
Baron’s contribution: 17 pts + 7 assists (+14 pts) – 4 TO (-8 pts or more) = 23 pts “influenced” if you will.
Jose’s contribution: 18 pts + 9 assists (+18 pts) – 0 TO = 36 pts “influenced”.
I’ll take “safe” Jose any day of the week.
Oh, Nash (on avg this year): 17.1 pts + 11.8 assists (+23.6 pts) – 4.2 TO (8.4 pts) = 32.3 (so using my very simple method – no better than Jose’s performance last night)
Obviously, I have to confirm that a turnover is “worth” 2 points, but I hope the logic is sound (or reasonable at least). And I’m also ignoring rebounds, FG% and other contributions.
(BTW, completely agree with you on AB – had a nice night scoring the ball, but hurt us on TOs, didn’t really pass the ball for easy scores and didn’t change the possession (or maintain it) by rebounding – only 2 boards all game)
Great post my friend. Thank you for your analysis, I really enjoyed it.
@Liston: First of all, let me say that I 110% agree with your conclusion. But there is indeed a problem with your logic. It doesn’t make sense to count the ~1 point the opposing team will score on the ensuing possession as a negative effect of the turnover, because regardless of the outcome of the possession, the other team gets the ball back at the end. It also doesn’t make sense to count the value of an assist as 2 points, because that would imply that the value of actually making the basket is zero. Prof. Dave Berri, author of The Wages Of Wins, has done some excellent work* determining how much various different statistics contribute to winning, using regression analysis. I don’t feel like grabbing the book off my shelf right this minute to grab the precise numbers, but here’s how the major stats break down, in terms of points:
blocks, assists: +0.5 pts each
field goal attempts, turnovers: -1 pt each
fouls, free throw attempts: -0.5 pts each
rebounds, steals: +1 pt each
The actual numbers aren’t perfectly round like that, but they’re pretty darn close. Note that making a 2 point shot actually contributes 1 point towards winning, as it’s 1 point above average. If you score 1 point on a possession, it’s effectively neutral, because the other team will get the ball back and score, on average, 1 point. Free throw attempts and shot attempts are negative because they end possessions; they’re only positive if they result in points being scored.
All that said, Berri’s numbers say Jose is a top 5 point guard in the league, and I’m inclined to agree. I think he fits this raptor team perfectly, and the only ones I can think of that I’d rather have are Paul, Rondo, and Deron Williams. Billups and Nash are too old, Harris and Arenas are volume shooters and that’s the last thing the raps need, Parker and Mo Williams are score-first combo guards, and that’s the second last thing the raps need, Davis just sucks, Nelson has only put together a total of 4 months of elite-level ball in his career…anyone I’m missing?
On another note, I’d be very interested to see if there’s a measurable increase in offensive efficiency after non-dead-ball turnovers. Anybody know if there’s research out there on that?
*caveat: I don’t necessarily think that his conclusions about individual players are always correct; I think the implicit assumption that a player is solely responsible for his statistics is rather flawed, especially when it comes to rebounding
Thanks to both of you for some really insightful comments. Very enjoyable read.
All great points (and correct). Didn’t want to get into the full Wages of Wins-type numbers, but you’re right that turnovers/assists would be overrated in my simple example.
Bosh so far this season can do no wrong. I know being a contract year probably has a lot to do with it, but either way, I can’t complain. He’s a certified monster right now and its great to see. It’s truly impressive to see his added strength become a big factor in his game WITHOUT losing any of his speed.
Baron Davis did a great job with his passes, making 4 turnovers, vs zero by Jose, contributing to 17 to’s by the Clips ( 4 by Kaman also), and gifting the Rap’s 24 pts off of.
I’ll take Calderon’s passes any day, with 9 ast, 18 pts, 0 tos, (7.8 ast, 15.6 pts, 1 to, per game, for the last 5) games, as he is getting his game in shape, after a slow start to the season.
Also anyone who thinks Jack should start in place of Calderon, should be watching the Leafs, as they know nothing of BBall.
Baron had 4 TO which contributed to 17 by clipers ?? How did u make this connection ?
Er. 17 turnovers, please read carefully.
Baron Davis had 4 turnovers, which added to the 17 turnovers overall by the Clippers.
I’m assuming that everyone else on the Clippers had 13 turnovers. Baron had 4 turnovers. Baron is a Clipper. Therefore the Clippers had 17 turnovers, 4 of which were “contributed” by Baron. No?
Right, but how is that a reflection on Baron ?? We are looking at Baron vs Jose, why bring in the TO by other clippers in the equation.
It’s insane to me how many people on this site blindly back Bosh. Here is an “elite” almost 7 foot big man, who plays SOFT and seldom displays any resemblance of a killer instinct (a necessity to be a winner in sports).
True, he has great stats this year. True, he is our most able offensive threat. True, once in a while he shows aggression and is able to take advantage of his defender (but very rarely, if ever, for a whole game). What is also true is that he seems wholly satisfied by getting high stats on a non-marquee team. Too many times he backs down, and too many times he doesn’t take full advantage of his skill set. A more aggressive and confident offensive attitude for a player of his caliber will only collapse defenses and make it easier for us to score.
It’s all about roles and expectations. If Amir came out and had a Bosh-like night, we would go wild, because we don’t expect that from him. But we need to be expecting more from our best player if we want to see any kind of serious success. Otherwise, pair him with someone better who has balls (Turk is a good start) and DON’T give Bosh the max, or let him go. Fellow Rap fans, aren’t you also getting tired of supporting a perennial mediocre/losing team?
So far this year Bosh has shown that he is easily within the top 5 players in the league and thus definitely deserving of a max money contact, assuming he continues to play this way all year, that is.
While I don’t usually condone putting all of your eggs in one basket, this guy is a supreme talent that we cannot and should not give up on.
I’d feel great about the Raps chances moving forward if we could sign Bosh to a long term deal. Sure, we wouldn’t have a lot of flexibility, but we would have a great core.
Letting their best player go is the key attribute of a perennial losing team.
Just wondering, but do you propose not giving Bosh a 5% raise next year?
I might agree with you that Bosh has tended to do that in the past, but have you watched him this season? Your description of him is completely off from how he’s played this season. This season, he IS playing at an elite level. He’s not backing down or playing soft and actually carrying his team when he needs to.
“It’s insane to me how many people on this site blindly back Bosh”
I back Bosh because he’s insanely good. And I’m not blind.
He does not play soft. He has been to the FT line MORE THAN ANY OTHER PLAYER IN THE NBA THIS YEAR. That is the opposite of soft.
Have you watched him this year in close games?
I’d say 5 rebounds against Kaman and Camby late in the 4th q is a pretty solid crunch time contribution. He was also getting to the line. It’s common for mid range jumpshots to be more highly contested in the crunch and in the past that is all Bosh had to offer at the end. This year he’s been taking guys down low and getting to the line and the glass. Sure he’s not icing it with smooth long J’s but that is what elite wing players do. Big men get rebounds, block shots and get to the line (which also stops the clock) in the crunch and it’s these qualities you need to win consistently.
Playing tough in the crunch, in the frontcourt, is mostly not Hilite material. Bosh has been doing this all year (so far) and if he can keep it up this is exactly what a max money pf has to do.
Arse, I think Bosh playing inside requires that he plays harder, as it is far more physically demanding ( harder) to play inside and take the constant physical contact, than to make 15/18 ft jumpshots, with little contact, as well as fight for rebounds.
Good read and good comments as well. Bosh is looking so physical. The extra size has helped his head as much as his game. He is so confident and he should be. He is a Manster! Jack does look lost and I loved the comment about the possibility playing 2 positions is confusing him. Calderon’s assist numbers on first thought can be attributed to Hedo handling more but I think Bosh shoting less jumpers is the real cause. JC gets others jump shots not layups. But let’s not rip him too badly he gets to the hole and FINISHES great, No TO’s. Hedo looks 100.get in shape!!!!!
Bosh soft????
Not this year, he is leding the leauge in free throw attempts, tht is the opposite of soft, it mens he is willing ti bang, leading raps in rebounds, again willing to bang, and he has finnaly given up on tht 15 ft jumper that drove me crazy.
Bargs is the guy who needs to get tougher now, get to the line more and more rebounds.
Jose is like the one who took the job away from TJ again, i really like wht i see.
If this team can get consistent with team D they will be very good.
If there is one thing Jack doesn’t have a problem doing,it is talking. Go to Triano and ask him why he is being put on the floor with Jose. Lets get over the experiment and let JJ hone his skills at the spot he was brought in for.
I do think Calderon sometimes `looks off’ people, but that’s what a point guard does. He makes decisions on the court and some of those decisions involve not passing to players who might want the ball, but either aren’t in as good a position as they think, or a player is in a better position. Bargnani will often ask for the ball in the post, but hasn’t sealed his man, so a pass to him would be risky. Bosh seals his defender much better, which is why he gets the ball more in the post.
Bargnani is only effective with the ball in certain situations and on certain spots on the floor. Calderon knows this more than anyone.
I also don’t think playing Jack and Calderon together was necessarily a bad idea, it’s just that he’s not played well when put in that position. In the past he has. Last season, in Indiana, he played with TJ Ford a lot of time and started quite a number of games at shooting guard.
And I’m guessing that most of Jack’s critics have seen him play very little before this season. He’s a very good backup and eventually will show it.
I agree with Tim on this one. Jack’s game will definitly come around. I think he’s trying to hard and not letting the game come to him.
C**tics just lost to Indiana. Ugly game. C**ts looked old!
Arse, ya arse … the obvious is staring you in the face and you still can’t see the obvious:
BOSH HAS CONVERTED HIMSELF INTO A CENTER … HE’S NOT A PF ANY MORE …!!!!
Bargs is the PF for the Raps now … sooooo obvious..!!!!
I know I’m going to be playing right into lil romeo’s hands but did you see Jennings? 29 points in a quarter!!! I know its the warriors but still.
Sorry, he hit a buzzer beater while I was typing, 32 now
JENNINGS JENNINGS JENNINGS
53 4 and 5
beats Jose’s career high points scored by over double
*orgasms*
Damn Damn Damn, this kid is unreal !!!! Is this a rookie record in NBA ???
Wilt when he was a rookie had 58 in one game.
If you want to know what almost any scoring record in the NBA is just go look up Wilt’s best numbers in that category. LOL
This is a “leBron James” like domination in the NBA L for the rookie Brandon Jennings. He is already looking like the steal of this year’s draft along with DeJuan Blair and Ty Lawson.
I just watched this game on league pass. Jennings was special. He is completely unguardable on the pick n roll, and made outstanding decisions all night. 55 points is where he finished.
12 fer 12 in the third quarter, not even kobe could do that
Kobe dropped 81 on a team you and I know well. Kobe can do whatever he wants and Jennings is a long way off yet.
Have fun watching Jose and Derozan raptor fans, let’s see when they manage to score 55 points combined. I’m sure it’ll be soon…
I won’t lie, my jaw dropped when I saw that, but come on man…I could be wrong, but I don’t remember ANYONE saying we should draft Brandon Jennings, and I seriously doubt anyone (including GMs) would have thought this kid would be this good this fast.
he is already on the front page of nba.com
Not to mention a twitter trending topic.
#1 twitter trending topic for Brandon Jennings baby, even “Superstar Mvp” Chris Bosh couldnt do that no matter how much he whores for attention.
Slamonline did
http://www.slamonline.com/online/the-magazine/toc/2009/04/slam-128-on-sale-now/
and they knew about him when he was just a sophmore in HS, just like Lebron.
is jennings for real i thought Gherardini was suppose to scout european and what happen we drafted demar airballs we always missed out on the good stuff from igoudala,brandon roy and danny granger and now brandon jennings
Don’t worry man, those 55 points were just a fluke.
After all Brandon Jennings plays for a bad Bucks team.
He’d NEVER put up those kind of numbers on an offensive powerhouse like the Toronto Raptors.
Who’d let him take that many shots in the 4th with such proven clutch performers such as Jose Calderon and Chris Bosh on this team.
And did you see those 4 turnovers he had? If you’d read our buddy Liston’s report on turnovers you’d know that Jennings is a bad player and that you should “take “safe” Jose any day of the week”.
lol last time i checked the bucks are 5-2 and raptors are 5-4 and their starting point is brandon jennings he averaged more points than derozan and jose combined together so if jennings is a bad player how come hsi team have a better record than u ? anyways my point is that jennings is a real stud and we should have drafted him.
Gotta love the snark, Len. Obviously 55 points on 41 possessions is amazing, and any team would love to have that. But I have a feeling Jennings is going to have a lot more games where he has ~25 points on ~33 possessions, which is awful. I see him basically being the second coming of Iverson. Take that as you will…
He dropped 30 and 10 the other day against the Denver Nuggets. A tough team to beat.
I’ve seen more leadership and a desire to win in 7 NBA career games from a rookie Jennings then 6 years of Chris Bosh. The guy who beats up on bad teams with 3 injured players and not once has willed his team to a victory
Also where weer our Euro connections with Marc Gasol? The guy is the real deal and will be a player in this L
He was in the Lakers back pocket.
Jennings already, even before tonight, reminds me of Isiah Thomas when he was a rookie with the Pistons. Most fans are old enough to remember that far back.
As good as Iverson was, Thomas became a far better team player and on court winner than Iverson did.
Iverson never could get past the “me, me, me” on court mentality.
I think Jennings will get a NBA title ring or more before he hangs them up, something Iverson never did.
bang on, buddhafan! The Brandon guy is nothing like A.I. and it is only a matter of time before he gets his first NBA ring.
take it easy…relax….Derozan will be our francise player give him a few years
Well. Our GM is an Idiot.
It’s that simple.
The guy has a fascination with Euro’s. Hires Gherardini, Drafts Bargnani, signs Hedo,Belinelli,Garbo,Parker,but offcourse, when it came down to drafting Jennings ( spent a year in Italy ) and will be a superstar he says, No thank you.
Can’t do that. Wouldn’t want to upset Numero ocho Calderon. How would he feel? He’s a nice guy, careful with the ball, can’t play defense but oh well, he’s a nice guy with a low turn over ratio.
Youngest to score 50+, breaks KAJabbars Bucks record. OOF. 3 cheers for Shitardini.
imagine a back court of jose calderon and brandon jennings
That back court line of Brandon and Jose will be as crazy as the Ty Lawson and Chauncey Billups combo in Denver. Bryan Colangelo drafted based on our need for an SG but we got that SG through FA in Antoine Wright so the draft pick was not really thought about if you asked me. In addition, an unknown rule about draft picks is that you don’t draft based on needs(as it might take time for the draft pick to fit into the position like Derozan’s experience now on the Raps).
Michael Redd holds the Bucks scoring record, not Jabbar or Jennings.
He plays solid ass defense too and rebounds for a rookie.
I don’t see Chris Bosh dominating the Denver Nuggets. Most overrated player in the NBA today bar none. True Franchise players do not lead there teams to 15th place in the East 5 out of 7 seasons.
Most franchise players have a better supporting cast than Bosh has had. In fact, the only other All-Star Bosh ever played with was Carter, who only played with him for 1 1/2 seasons. Plus, this is the first season that Bosh has really played at a truly elite level (so far), plus had a half decent supporting cast, so I don’t think you can judge him honestly, just yet.
Jennings is setting twitter on FIYAH. Even Derozan’s starting to feel the heat. http://twitter.com/DeMar_DeRozan
Who cares? 9 teams passed on Jennings. He’s having a great year so far, good for him.
The train of logic that “Jennings scoring 55 points = our GM is an idiot” is ridiculous. Hindsight is obviously 20/20. Take a deep breath and chill out – the sun is still going to rise tomorrow.
But we were supposed too have the upper hand with Gherardini working for us. The Euro Jesus of basketball. Rudy Fernandez, Marc Gasol and now Jennings are all going to break out soon and be studs.
If you’re a diehard raptor fan you should care. You should really care.
Hey Len, I’m not going to lose any sleep about…but obviously it’s really bothering you. Every draft there is a sleeper or two in there that basically every team misses. Do you think Milwaukee had some great insight into BJ that other teams didn’t…or do you think that at the 10th pick, they chose him because he was the best player available.
Nice Guys finish last in Life. Rule of thumb. All the greats are cocky, arrogant, a bit psychotic, maniacal, and that’s why GM’s were afraid to draft Jennings. Colangelo and his stupid fascination for good character guys makes me ill. I don’t see Good ole Jose and Bosh leading us anywhere. LOL
Alright Arse, you’re gonna have to give this dude a double Rap of the day for this and the previous comment. It’s the truth. Plain & simple.
So you’re saying you want an egomaniac with a brain disorder rather than Chris Bosh. Fine, trade Bosh for Zach (he thinks he is the best), waive Jose and get Stephon marbury, get Rasheed from Boston. I would also like to know who you thought we should draft, and if you say Brandon Jennings, then you’re lying.
Ray Allen is a pretty nice guy, Dwayne Wade, Tim Duncan. I guess those guys never got anywhere because their too nice. Honestly, yours and Len’s comments are so idiotic and ridiculous its laughable.
I share your anger and sorrow for missing out on having Brandon Jennings play for my hometown team but saying reckless things about his character just isn’t the way to go.
Jennings isnt an egomaniac or a headcase. He has SWAGGER & ATTITUDE, something this raptors team has been missing since VC’s departure.
And Ray Ray, Dwyane Wade & Duncan aren’t nice guys when they’re on the court, they’re killers who talk a lot of trash.
…and BTW I did want the raptors to draft Jennings. I just didn’t think he’d be available. Check out the RR archives for Jennings’ name and when you find some fanatic comments about Brandon Jennings, you’ll know who posted ‘em.
When I say nice guy I meant that it is ok to be nice to the media and your family, the fans, whatever. When it comes down to the actual game is when the maniacal part should come out. The swagger.
Duncan and Wade have that killer instinct and toughness on the court they don’t play the nice guy role. That’s the Raptors job. And that’s why they loose
Duncan?
Yeah he was so obviously great that scouts were writing him off when he couldn’t get pt on an Italian team. Oh wait he was so awesome he dominated the PG play for Lottomatica right?
Take your crystal Ball and use it to smash your 20/20 hindsight goggles, no one saw this coming. Let’s at least leave the MVP/ROY mangasms till all star. 7 games in does not tell the whole story.
BTW how many teams in NBA history have won a chip with a shoot first and second pg being their #1 off. threat?
Nice guys are in the NBA L are not real winners, because when it is time to fight for the game on the line,there is no niceness. Support Joe’s line of thought. The nice guys finish last line is really true especially for aggressive fields of life like dating and sports.
Oh that’s the perfect description of David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker.
Can’t forget Steve Nash. And so on and so on.
The problem with your list is most people are arrogant.
Because alot of players are arrogant doesn’t mean those are the traits that make
them great.
The number one reason why they became great was the long hours devoted to
their trade.
It’s you who idealise these traits. And their are many examples in sports where
such people you fantasize about have ruin teams.
It’s funny how you and others talk about Jennings.
Where was all this talk before the draft.
You people are a group of fakes.
Hindsight is 20/20.
Jennings signed a contract with Under Armour.
Nike is now sheeting their pants. LOL
Mon, Mar 16 2009
Under Armour, Brandon Jennings, and the Next Epic Shoe Deal
Brandon Jennings has been a trendsetter since he skipped out on college hoops to play professionally in Italy for his “purgatory year” between high school and the NBA. On the business side of the game, Jennings signed a deal to be Under Armour’s first basketball endorser.
http://www.sportsagentblog.com/2009/03/16/under-armour-brandon-jennings-and-the-next-epic-shoe-deal/
That was a long time ago, everyone except Slam magazine was sleeping on this cat. Everyone criticized the dude for going to Europe and getting paid instead of being a slave to the NCAA and now with him kicking ass, as a long time fan, I must say it feels hella good.
That was a long time ago>>
=======
Say what?
Jennings just scored his 55 tonight. I know for in this day age news becomes old as fast as someone can twitter something new but sales of Under Armour Jennings shoes will respond to his play. His play this year so far and his 55 tonight will drive tens of millions in sales to Under Armour during the holiday sesaon that before tonight would not have happened.
Nike is now sheeting their pants.
he didn’t go to the NCAA because he couldn’t get into school with his grades/SATs…. not because he didn’t want to be their “slave”.
Site sources on this please. All I have ever heard suggested Jennings was grade A smart, and went to Europe to see the world.
“Jennings was unable to pass the entrance exam to attend college at Arizon even after multiple attempts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Jennings
Under Armour stock closed Friday at $27.83
I think it could gap up on Monday and keep going
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=UA
Can you imagine haveing the balls to do what Jennings did at 19 yrs old. Going to a foreign country all alone to play pro bball with grown men, dealing with big money out of nowhere, signing with and being the face a shoe company that’s a minor player in the shoe industry and having to deal with all the haters. BIG BALLS. CHARACTER. Now I’m not so sure if Milwaukee would even deal the guy straight up for Bosh.
lol You know what. If Jennings can keep this up and win ROY I rather keep him then trade him for Bosh
“Going to a foreign country all alone to play pro bball with grown men”
Len, a little fucking melodramatic their buddy…he wasn’t 12 years old…he only went because he couldn’t get into a US college as I mentioned in the thread and link above…plus Rubio was playing pro bball in Europe since he was 14. Get over it, we didn’t draft him and unfortunately there is nothing you can do about than keep whining.
We have players who are literally afraid to rebound a basketball. And literally afraid to play defense. How can these millionaires have no mental toughness?
And Our superstar franchise player is doing nothing about it. Just accepts it and laughs. Can you imagine what Dennis Rodman, Oakley, Ewing, Jordan, Pippen, Bill Laimbeer would be doing to our Italian 7 footer had he played in that era? I think, they would have killed him, and that’s not hyperbole.
Same goes for Calderon and Bosh. Knock someone on there ass for once. Stop hugging and laughing with the players before/after games. You’re in the NBA to win not make friends. Bosh choking against Joakim Noah was a Joke.
What we’ve learned:
1.Brandon Jennings is a good player.
2.There will always be lunatic Raptors fans who indulge in criticizing our own players by pointing to other players who have great nights.
Brandon Jennings look great, he really does, but thanks, I think I’ll stick to our ’softy’ Chris Bosh who’s proven himself to be a damn good player and has gotten better every year. No he’s not a first tier franchise player like Kobe, Wade, Duncan, tell me something I don’t know. But he’s played absolutely out of his mind this year so far and that’s more than you can ask for. No he doesn’t push people on this team defensively like Jordan, Pippen, or any of the defensive greats did. How many great players really do? Why don’t you name all the other great defensive juggernauts to show how much Chris Bosh sucks as a defensive enforcer?
And yeah, we let Jennings “slip”, so did nine other teams, it wasn’t cast in stone he was going be great. What’s next, people are going to complain we let Manu Ginobili (another great foreign selection) slip by to the 57th pick a decade ago?
Jose isn’t Steve Nash, Jose isn’t Brandon Roy, and Jose isn’t Brandon Jennings. Get over it. We’re still lucky to have him.
^^^
This is truth.
At least we didn’t end up with Thabeet
LOL… Thabeet had the mind and the skillset of BUST! Memphis is again a possible wastelsnd that you can take their most talented players and toss away your expiring contracts. I’ll take Rudy Gay for Marcus Banks.
I had a feeling Jennings will be a solid player, I just didn’t know he will explode! In the balance of fate and fortune, Milwaukee deserves to catch a break in the draft after the Joe Alexander and Yi Jianlian crabber. Milwaukee came in this season with no such expectations in themselves and just played every game with some set plan and nooooo worries and hesitations. That mindset seem to benefit Jennings, and look what happened.
So true on everything you said.
1. Look at BJennings’ high school resume and ask yourself again if that looked like a potentially great player.
2. Personally I don’t have any grand problems with Bosh. He is a seasoned vet who’s a very good contributor. It’s a shame we could’ve had both him AND Brandon Jennings at the same time. (Also on a side note, if we draft Jennings, doesn’t that automatically give Bosh reason to re-sign here?)
3. No one’s ever going to complain about Ginobili, that’s just an overstatement to back up a weak point. People don’t harp about Wade because Grunwald’s gone and neither do they harp about Granger & Iggy because Babs is gone. However the man who supposedly knew everything about european prospects and the “genius” GM of ours passed up on someone who could’ve brought back life to this boring team of “good guys”.
4. As for Jose, we’re paying the dude 9.4 mil a year (3rd banana money) to play like a borderline starter. When his contract finally expires after 4 years of mediocrity and Jennings will be playing in All-Star games, you’ll see why I’m pissed off as a raptor supporter.
Len, Jennings isn’t a European prospect 1st of all.
Yes, he did play for Pallacanestro Virtus Roma which isn’t a good European team, and he didn’t play much either so it’s difficult as a scout to really judge how good he is.
It’s easy to see now that he is in the NBA that the boy has some serious skills.
My personal opinion is that a PG should always be a “pass first” type guy. It only makes sense that the quarterback of the team should organize the offense and get everyone involved. I’m not sure Jennings is this player, so as much as he might be an amazing scorer, he might just be another Iverson and never win anything since he cant make the cast around him better.
But maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps he learns to be unselfish and run an offense correctly and gives other NBA nightmares for the next 10 years….
Pass first is only invaluable if the other options are better options than you. If you are the most efficient scoring option, and you have a clear path, or open jumper, calling your own number is *the best play* by the percentages.
The Bucks worked the high pick and roll with Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings all night. When they didnt double onto Jennings, he drove by if the show was weak, and he hit an open step back if they didnt close out, and when they doubled, he dropped it in to Bogut for the clean look.
The most efficient player on offense getting the majority of the shots = good basketball.
When the shot is falling it is indeed good basketball.
But what happens when the shot isn’t falling? Does he start passing or just jack up more shots? Thats the important thing to remember about a “shoot 1st” type of point guard. If he doesn’t share..no one else gets theirs.
I don’t see Jennings as a thug, unless Ruben Patterson,Isiah Rider, and Jamaal Tinsley come knocking on his door. His future looks bright and will stay clean, I feel he is Gilbert Arena the 2nd.
As pointed out previously, playing inside takes much more effort. Following this axiom, lets ask the question of whether Bosh has the stature/frame to sustain this style of play without breaking down physically?
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