SportsGroove Workout Watch: Guards Make Bid During Wiz
Ron Bailey, Publisher
Page 2
Adjustment has been a mantra for Jennings, whose experience last year centered around competing in the best Italian professional league, Lega Basket Serie A, as well as the European equivalent of the NBA, the Euroleague. Language, food and custom were all new to him there, as was on-court utilization.
"I feel like I have my swagger back" said Jennings, of being on this side of 'The Pond'. "I'm playing my position right now, the point guard. I'm back on U.S. soil, with my family and friends. I'm real happy about that". Overseas, Jennings shared he played point and shooting guard, along with small forward.
During the workout, Jennings was likely the fastest/quickest performer, but seemed out of control at times. Brandon can also hit shot out to three ball range fairly consistantly.
Brandon Jennings , standing 6'1", 169 pounds put up 5.5 points and 2.6 dimes in Italian Serie A play, while providing 7.6 points each game in Euroleague action.His team as Lottomatica Virtus Roma. (Photo property of sneakerfiles.com)
Though admitting the experience was an "up and down situation", and that he took on the challenge to "see how mentally tough" he was, Jennings, who hails from Los Angeles, feels bettered by it. "I thought I showed my mental toughness. It was a great experience for me and my family. I learned a lot about life. We don't know how good we have it until we step outside those boundaries".
Brandon posited his game has improved tremendously by turning pro right
out of high school last year; he was able to "play against older
stonger guys" in a professional environment. Doing so, in his opinion,
prepared him for a certain aspect of the NBA. "I think it's more
physical overseas" Jennings opined, comparing international ball
with The League. "They don't call anything. You can grab, you can
choke a player out. You can do anything (all in attendance laughing).
It's real rough over there. So I think it will be kind of easier in the
NBA. I won't mind getting bumped or hit, because I've been hit all year".
What does Jennings desire from the draft? "I just want to be the
number one guard or point guard" chosen in the draft, he said. Why
does he think it should be him? "Besides Ricky Rubio, I have the
most experience, pro experience in the draft".
Brandon has worked out for the teams slotted four through eight, and is not alone in fashioning himself numero uno in terms of available, draftable point guards.
"Me, Jonny Flynn" exclaimed the star of Nigara Falls, NY, when asked who would he draft as the first lead guard this year. "I'm just a guy that says, I look at all the players in the draft and want to see what have you done. And to see if you have improved as a player". Jonny went on to laud Stephen Curry in that regard.
"It's still kind of early, but you hear alot of things - lottery" confided Flynn before hedging "but draft night can be crazy...I just like to go out and control the things I can control".
Flynn can definitely control his body - his athletic ability is off the charts (including 40 inch vertical jump). That, joined with an acute understanding of the point guard position and a positive personality, may put him on the fast track for NBA success.
At 6'0", 185 pounds, Jonny Flynn was good for 17.4 points, 6.7 helpers, and 2.7 board each contest. (Photo property of Zimbio).
On Janurary 14th after Syracuse's 88-74 Verizon Center loss to Georgetown, Flynn suggested he would stay in college for his third year, that the NBA, at that point was not necessarily desirable to him. That obviously changed. Why?
"Just through the course of the year, I just started playing better at the end of the year. It's just a lot of things. I sat down with my family, and just thought it was the best decision for me and my family. During the course of the year a lot of things changed, and that was one thing that changed".
Any regrets? "No, not at all" stated Flynn. "I was confident of my two years at Syracuse. When you start second guessing yourself is when you need to be back in school. Right from the get-go, I said if I were to do this, I wouldn't second guess it".
Flynn, cited Syracuse's 127-111, six overtime, Big East Tournament win over UConn as helping alter his mindset. For the contest, Jonny finished with 34 points, 11 assists, and six steals in 67 minutes: "I definitely beleive so (it helped move him towards turning pro). Because with that game came all the media attention. The ESPN, the Big East Tournament, which I like to say is the best tournament in the country. Madison Square Garden. The lights were on. And everybody got to see Syracuse play that night. So I think, along with that, people knew Jonny Flynn as a household name after that".
Price, also a participant in that epic struggle, likewise thought the game beneficial. Recalling the night, A.J. shared the always ebullient Flynn jokingly requested UConn cede victory. Jonny commented on that as well. "One of the things about that game is both teams wanted to win the game, but we also understood we were playing in a historic game" said Flynn, with a gleam in his eye. "Coming out everytime and we're talking to each other, I remember saying 'Just let us win this game. You all are already the number one team in the tournament, we need it way worse than you'".
"This was the toughest workout by far...Coming from workouts where they might just have you shoot for 20 minutes and half speed just play the rest of the time, this was back-to-back-to-back", he noted of the Wizard's session, which still in his opinion paled physically to the UConn thriller. During the evaluation, all the participants engaged in shooting drills, three on three, full court drills, and foul shooting. One excercise, dubbed 'Seven', focused on elbow-area shooting, and requires players to make multiple jumpers consecutively - the drill doesn't stop until the shots are made - while also employing width of the court running. If you miss a jumper, the necessary make count goes up one. Done towards session's end, Jonny thought it a doozy.
Flynn should know, considering his workout schedule has included stops at "Sacramento, Golden State, the Knicks, Chicago, Toronto", with "Minnesota this week, Milwaukee, and maybe New Jersey" on tap.
"It's winding down, it's winding down, but you have to kind of get used to it you know. Playing in the NBA, playing four games in five nights, it' s definitely good preperation" said Jonny, a sentiment seemingly shared by all the participating lead guards.
"It's very surreal. When I hear my name called next Thursday, I'm
definitely looking forward to it" said Curry, who also seemed to
sum the group's feelings.