Jeremy Tyler goes to Israel, gets out of shape, hurts NBA chances

As others have noted, Brandon Jennings has had a tremendous NBA start and plainly looks better prepared for the NBA than those his age who went the college route. And, guess what, these exact same sort of negative stories were floating out about Jennings' attitude and flaws at this time a year ago. Yet his experiment turned out to be a clear and absolute success in end.

As for Tyler, sounds like he's approached it with the wrong attitude but, crap, he's only a couple games into his first year there, it's WAY too early to be passing judgment. These hard times now might be precisely what will better prepare him for the NBA. He's learning early that he can't coast on talent alone and what it takes to be a pro. He would not be getting those lessons if he was still playing high school ball, everybody would still be kissing his ass and he'd see no need to make the effort to get better.

 

It's also very early in Jenning's NBA career.

How do his numbers stack up against Evans or Rose at the same time last year?

 

Five games:

Jennings: 18.4 ppg, 43% FG, 77% FT, 40% 3-pt, 4.4 apg, 3.3 TO per game

Rose: 17.8ppg, 40% FG, 86% FT, 25% 3-pt, 4.2 apg, 3 TO per game

 

My thought reading the story was that the kid is struggling but what the hell do you expect, him to go and act like a pro from day one? It's an adjustment. He'll make it or he won't but it's a little early.

 

And Evans? I think he went for 30 something the other night?

Jennings is 100k richer, though. I don't think Cal pays that much to his players.

 

Evans:

15.9 ppg, 40.2% FG, 30.8% 3pt, 71.7 FT, 3.9 Ast, 2.0 To

 

So they are all in the same ballpark. I'm guessing they will all be in the same neighborhood at the end of the season.

 

Comparing Jennings vs. Rose's numbers is hardly a valid way of measuring which route worked better, because they're starting from different baselines and initial expecation levels: Rose was the most talented HS point guard prospect this nation's seen in quite a few years. Jennings was also a clear Top 10 guy out of HS, but never at Rose's level, and he was never expected by anyone to have the same kind of immediate impact on the league as Rose. Yet that is exactly what he has done thus far, indeed even slightly more so.

A far more valid comparison would be to compare his NBA numbers to someone like Jrue Holiday, who he was rated slightly behind or roughly equivalent to coming out of HS. How do Jennings and Holiday's numbers measure up?

 

I remember Jennings being the #1 hs guard in the country.

 

I believe the difference between Jennings and Tyler is that Jennings was quite humble during his time in Europe. Tyler comes across quite differently and that would be a huge red flag.

 

Jennings is making millions less than Evans or Rose, though.
Playing 18 minutes a game in Europe made a difference in how high Jennings got picked.
Rose was the No. 3 player in a more celebrated recruiting class.
Jennings was the consensus No. 1 guy in his class.

 

Jennings wasn't considered humble by the press prior to him leaving the states.

He had the same red flags tied to him and didn't help matters with his tirade about the Knicks several months ago. It seems that the press have changed their tune once he showed flashes of being an exceptional player.