Brandon Jennings: How to bury the haters

By:  Dan Barto, The Director of Player Development IMG Basketball Academy

When you are the number one high school player in your class, the transition to NBA superstar, if not borderline max contract player, is expected.  Since Kevin Garnett, scouts from places like Rivals, Scout, and Hoopscoop have worked to identify those prospects with talent and upside.

I had the pleasure of working with Brandon Jennings several times, both on the court and in the weight room.  The questions asked in the wake of his signing with Italian Club Team Pallancanestro Vitrus Roma and its implications on grassroots basketball are intriguing.  How will a kid from Compton going to Europe for 600,000 per year non taxed with free housing, transportation and daily food money change the future?  What will the NCAA do?  How will it affect the Nike versus Adidas shoe wars?  What will the agents do?  How powerful is the Euro?  Will strong European agents start plucking high school players from the states?

The questions will go on and on.  My question is: What things can Brandon do to ensure success?  Face it, when you are projected that high, being a ten year veteran is not the goal.  Being a ten time All-Star, however, is.  Here are three concepts that are imperative to him moving toward becoming a max player.

Tighten your Inner Circle

You are an undersized point from LA.  The last hyped-but-undersized lead guard had a nightmarish ride through three cities in three years.  Sebastian Telfair was part of train wrecks in Portland and Boston before their epiphanies.  All of his coaches were fired or he was traded before anyone really figured out what he needed to do to transition from high school to the NBA.  Things like reading the floor, identifying sweet spots on the floor, knowing player tendencies, shot selection, leaving your feet to pass, underhanded finishes, reading a hot defender, dealing with distraction, when to use the God-given bursts, changing speeds, playing limited minutes, reading a second defender and playing without the ball are things Telfair never had to deal with in high school.  Who helped him with those transitions?  Successfully implementing those changes alone are a full time job, let alone the practices and the games.

What does this mean?  Basically, once Brandon leaves Europe he will have two years before he can negotiate his extension.  In order to get the extension that the number one high school player in the country should get, he will need to retool his game.  If he leaves Europe after one year he will have no less than ten coaches in his first two years of being a pro but only half of those teaching him the NBA game.

If his mother and younger brother move to Italy with him he will have the support that is needed off of the court and should keep his nose clean.  However, how will that help the problems discussed above?  Yes, his agent and Sonny Vaccaro will advise them, but they are not known for developing talent.   Will they be the basketball technical voice that is needed?  Will they be the mentors and father figures on a day-to-day basis when things need to be sorted out?

Michael Beasley has those things.  So does Dwight Howard.  So does Kevin Love.  So does Al Jefferson.  So does Derrick Rose.  When Al Harrington was the top high school player in the country, he lived with a veteran Indiana Pacer.  In his house, everyday.  Monta Ellis had Baron Davis.  Louis Williams has Andre Miller.  Who did Telfair have?  Who did Saer Sene have?  Who did Gerald Green have?

Family and friends is not enough.  Agents are not basketball people.  Financial advisors do not have Synergy subscriptions.  Assistant coaches and player development coaches in the NBA are always on the move.

A pair of suggestions: Hire a personal coach with extreme knowledge of point guard play to live with you.  Create a board of directors that you can count on and stick to the plan.  Choose wisely and that contract extension will be here before you know it. 

Study the game

There is a difference between watching the game and studying the game.  Listening to advice and applying advice are two different things.  Brian McCormick has been breaking down the motor learning concepts of being a point guard and what needs to happen to transition to the next level of reading and reacting as a point.

http://www.thecrossovermovement.com/component/option,com_jd-wp/Itemid,61/

These are the things young guards making the transition have to understand.  Being the same player playing with better players does not lead to success.  Let’s face it.  Oak Hill Academy, The So Cal All-Stars or AAU Basketball in general, and the McDonald’s All-American Game are not great places to judge transferability. 

Who will Brandon use?  Who will teach him what gifts will work and which ones will not?  Who will teach him how to make up for lack of strength when guarding Deron Williams?  Who will teach him where to shoot floaters from and how to shoot with more arc over a hot defender?  Who will teach him how the Spurs are going to give him 5 different looks on the sideline ball screen? 

If he is going to have to teach himself or differentiate what coaching staff has the better philosophy he may take 5 years to develop into and All-Star.  If he starts now he may have a chance at rookie of the year and if he gets traded or opts out he will be able to have a Chris Paul like rise.

Will he value this aspect and take ownership or will he wait until he is behind the eight ball?

Some suggestions: Buy Synergy.  Talk with point guards who have made it and those that have not.  Study the opponent on your own.  Identify two players and watch every single one of their games.  Spend a lot of time with any veteran on your team and keep a notebook of discussions.

Choose three activities that you enjoy and stick to it

Limit distractions.  Find three things that are pure and you love to do.  When you have free time, do those three things.  It could be sightseeing.  It could be spending time with your girlfriend or going on dates.  It could be golf or videogames.  You can not be stretched too thin during your vital development time.  Stress limits learning and people will be pulling on you from all directions.  A narrow focus will guarantee fun and relaxation during your down time and extreme focus during your basketball work.  If you play every game at the casino and bounce around you rarely find a hot table.  Many players party, travel, date, have a girlfriend, play videogames, read books, go to movies, visit family, entertain guests, mentor children, coach AAU, and they tend to enjoy very few of the activities because of the challenge of balancing everything.

A suggestion: You have all your life to party; get to that big contract first.  Be arrogant and confrontational about your on-court goals and your off-court choices.  When you aim to please, you tend to tread water in life and plow through dozens of acquaintances.

Dwight Howard was a freak but he was blessed with Clifford Ray and Patrick Ewing to help him with his game.  Chris Paul has been a student of the game since he was young and blessed with coaching consistency.  Deron Williams is surrounded by one of the great all time coaches and pick and roll specialists as well as a group of players with vast international accomplishments.  No one has ever questioned their antics or off court decisions and that’s why they nearly maxed out and will be ten time all-stars.

Will Brandon Jennings join them?  Only time, and the rest of his decisions, will tell.