Young Cash Money
Brandon Jennings
Thank goodness they don’t teach defense in Golden State. Otherwise, how many highlights and one-night explosions would we have been robbed of over the last few years? As great as Brandon Jennings was last night — dropping 55 points on 21-of-34 FG with seven triples — it was hard not to look at the boxscore and say, “Oh, it was against the Warriors,” and allow the fifth-best NBA rookie performance of all-time to lose some of its luster. But just a little. Jennings was doing whatever he wanted whenever he wanted; if Monta Ellis was worried about he and Stephen Curry getting lit up by bigger guards, what did he think about skinny 6-1 Young Money carving ‘em up like Manny Pacquiao did Miguel Cotto? … It was pretty simple: Jennings would bring the ball up, somebody would set him a pick, his defender would go under the screen, and Jennings would hit a jumper. At some point you’d think the Warriors would play over the screen, but again, apparently they don’t teach defense in the Bay … If he doesn’t already, Donnie Walsh might want to have an intern go through his e-mail inbox and office mail over the next week or so. We’d imagine quite a few Knicks fans will want to send Walsh tapes and highlights of Jennings’ 55-point effort. Maybe they’ll even include a photo of Jordan Hill sitting on the bench … Andris Biedrins missed the game with “Osteitis Pubis.” Yes, that is exactly in the region you think it is, and it sounds exactly as painful as you think it does … The Nets didn’t guard Dwyane Wade as poorly as Golden State covered Jennings — Wade only gave them 22 points on 5-of-17 shooting — but NJ’s defense against Wade on the game’s decisive play would’ve even made Nellie scratch his head. Up by two with 4.1 seconds left after Brook Lopez scored on a tip-in, Jersey had to know who was getting the ball. And yet they decided to single-cover Wade, and he buried a three with 0.1 left to keep the Nets winless. No disrespect to Udonis Haslem and Mike Beasley and those guys, but please leave one of them open to send somebody else at Wade … Without Deron Williams in the lineup, at least give the Jazz credit for going down to the wire with the Cavs on the road. But Andrei Kirilenko might not be buying the “moral victory” thing. After Utah mounted a fourth-quarter comeback capped by Eric Maynor’s go-ahead bucket with 41 seconds left, AK was guarding LeBron (21 pts, 6 rebs, 9 asts) on the next possession and gave up the middle as ‘Bron drove past him for an and-one to put Cleveland back up. Jazz ball, and with plenty of time left on the clock and only trailing by two, Kirilenko launched a three for no good reason that bricked. After that it was basically the LeBron free-throw show … Oh, the Cleveland fans still hate Carlos Boozer, in case you were wondering … So after knocking off the Raptors and the Mavs without Tim Duncan and Tony Parker in the lineup, of course the Spurs get TD and TP back last night and proceed to drop one at home to the Thunder. Richard Jefferson and Manu Ginobili took turns carrying the offense when San Antonio was short-handed, but last night they both played bad, combining to go 1-for-12 from the field. Manu sat out the fourth quarter with a sore hamstring, and really summing up the night, RJ had a chance at a fast-break bucket in the final 30 seconds that would have cut the OKC lead to one, but he lost control and turned the ball over. Kevin Durant scored 25 in the win … Other big stat lines from Saturday: Danny Granger scored 29 points and hit six threes as the Pacers upset the Celtics; Ben Gordon went for 29 and five triples as the Pistons beat the Wizards; Brandon Roy scored 25 to beat the Bobcats; Marc Gasol put up 17 points and 16 boards in Memphis’ win over the Wolves; Kirk Hinrich had 19 points and seven assists off the bench to beat the Sixers; and Joe Johnson scored 26 and Josh Smith posted 17 points and 17 boards as the Hawks smashed the CP-less Hornets … As for the big fight: Cotto looked alright for the first few rounds — we’ll even call the first knockdown more a result of him being off-balance than getting rocked by a hard shot — and it looked like Pacquiao was in for a battle. But everything changed in that fourth round, which Cotto was handily winning until Pacman caught him with one punch and knocked him down again. Pacman went to work after that, and once he realized Cotto’s punches didn’t really hurt him (and Cotto’s punches continued losing steam), it was only a matter of time. By the end it looked like Cotto had lost a fight with a box cutter; the ref didn’t have to stop it when he did in the 12th, but you could also argue that he should’ve stopped it sometime in the 10th or 11th … We’re out like Hill over Jennings …
November 15th, 2009 at 5:40 am
BNZA says:
one year in Italy getting paid > a freshman year in college as a slave
November 15th, 2009 at 5:48 am
Vinman says:
Welcome to Milwaukee Brandon, we love you (so far), now if we could get Mike Redd back on the floor we might be on to something…
November 15th, 2009 at 5:49 am
the cynic says:
Much props to Pacquiao, i thought Cotto would bully him into the corner to negate Pacman’s footwork, but it never seemed to be part of the gameplan. I had Cotto winning until he got clocked by the corkscrew shot by Pac in the fourth. Once Cotto felt that shot he looked like he lost all his power and was having flashbacks to the plaster filled gloves of Margarito.
Jennings was on fire; should there be an asterisk because he did it against the warriors? Nelson and his staff were in shock the entire second half, probably wondering why they passed on Jennings for Curry
November 15th, 2009 at 5:50 am
BMW says:
I’m sorry Blake, but that ROY title is gone…Young Money might even START the ASG…I mean which pg’s better in the East right now…lol @ them Knicks fans: Jordan Hill huh? Right…
November 15th, 2009 at 5:53 am
2 Easy says:
55 on the warriors is prolly lik 40+ on a decent teamn and 30+ on a good defense so ya it loses SOME luster but its still AMAZING. This dude came in on a mission, win the R.O.Y and not even a good month in and we’re already ready to hand it to him. Worst part is Michael Redd has to feel lik the most forgotten dude around. I dun understand some drafts at all man, but hey lets hope the knicks learn one day, Danilo, Hill? I have some empathy bein a raps fan, ugh Arujo my god
November 15th, 2009 at 5:53 am
the cynic says:
big shock, a kid learned and grew up more working and living abroad then taking classes while banging drunk chicks
November 15th, 2009 at 6:11 am
Soopa says:
Young Money! What an insane performance.
I know NY fans are wondering how the hell they could pass on Jennings and so do i.
But Gallinari is gonna be a good player. Go back and see how good Dirk was in his first couple of years and in his early 20s (Galli doesnt turn 22 until august next year). Danilo is ahead of Dirk in that department. So give him time and you have a cornerstone for your franchiece.
Wonder how long this Heat bubble is gonna last. If they keep winning, dont we have to put Wade on the exact same level as LeBron?
November 15th, 2009 at 6:16 am
That's whats up says:
Pop should just trade Parker and Duncan.
We just can’t win with those scrubs.
November 15th, 2009 at 6:17 am
That's whats up says:
@ cynic
banging drunk chicks = working a-broad
November 15th, 2009 at 6:19 am
John says:
The Heat is 7-2 ??? Damn ,,, Thats a good start.
BJ 55 points are in the same level of Kobe 61 at the Garden, so if your playing the card “oh, it was against the Warriors”, you have to take out 20 of the 61, “it was against the Knicks”….
November 15th, 2009 at 6:29 am
Josh Tha roc says:
I had to read that AT&T line twice. I mean dude just took it to another level. 55. Damn.
November 15th, 2009 at 6:29 am
Name (required) says:
yeah its golden state… so put an asterisk by it.
But warriors got Bron and the Cavs next, and if lebron fails to score at least 60, then you can rub off young moneys asterisk and give him his full dues.
fucking jordan hill.
November 15th, 2009 at 6:31 am
Josh Tha roc says:
AT&T … WTF stupid iPhone…. Stat.
November 15th, 2009 at 6:33 am
sans says:
No mention of Beastzilla sending Crash packing? That was some Toughman Competition type shit right there. Faux reel, Greg Oden will be great someday because he has to battle Pryz in practice all the time….
November 15th, 2009 at 6:36 am
QQ says:
No dissing 55 points because it’s against the Warriors. How many fucking rookies scored that much in the last 5 years? If it’s easy, why won’t rookies score that much over shitty teams of the past every year?
And yeah, Pacman. Keep silencing those haters, son. Props.
November 15th, 2009 at 6:42 am
vince says:
55 is sick. however, playing against the warriors is like playing against summer league squads. morrown and randolph could score 40+ on their own team
November 15th, 2009 at 6:57 am
egypt says:
hell no u dont put an asterisk on it… go to the nearest court and shoot 34 times… see if u make 21 of them
people these days see 20 points and act like its nothing… like its easy to score 20 points in the nba… i mean thats ridiculous…. 55 points and people wanna hate…. no matter the team you’re playing its still the top athletes in basketball… 55 points isn’t easy at all, nothin is given to you
November 15th, 2009 at 6:58 am
BNZA says:
another great quote from Young Money, via SN:
“When I brought up to him after the game that he had passed Lew Alcindor, that his 55 points put him in the rookie company of the likes of Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan, he quickly shook his head and said,
‘I am not trying to get any individual accomplishments here. I am just trying to help the Bucks win games.’”
This is what you learn in Europe, that its a team sport. and if you good enough, you can STILL go for 55. nobody needs college ball.
I just love this guy.
November 15th, 2009 at 7:11 am
That's whats up says:
you can learn that in college too, …if you go
November 15th, 2009 at 7:31 am
Atom says:
I’m happy for the kid, Griffen must be chomping at the bit to get out there. 55 for a rookie is nuts no matter how you look at it, most points by a rookie in the last 50 years.
Hopefully Dubs management will see this as the nail in the coffin and fire Nellie already. His players hate him, fantasy basketball players hate him, the only person he’s on good terms with right now is his bartender.
November 15th, 2009 at 7:41 am
ab_40 says:
wow this has to hurt the whole college programming thing. but it won’t count for bigs… they’d have to go at age 12 to learn how to play like a guard till 15 and afther that they can go back to the states. Gotta love the hand check rule haha. bad shooting from outside and mid range is the result of that rule because if you can run and have a handle you can get 10 points on driving to the basket alone
November 15th, 2009 at 8:01 am
stanaeciouz says:
PACQUIAO G.O.A.T!
November 15th, 2009 at 8:29 am
the_don_mega (reppin the 3 stars and a sun) says:
Young Money is legit… Knick fans must be really pissed at Walsh for not gettin’ him… props to the Pacman… now bring on Floyd… the people have spoken… match needs to happen…
November 15th, 2009 at 8:41 am
NIGRE says:
KEEP HATING MOTHERFUCKERS, I DON’T CARE IF IT WAS AGAINST THE FUCKING WARRIORS, YOU DON’T SEE PEOPLE DROPPING DOUBLE NICKELS ON THE WARRIORS ON A DAILY BASIS, LET ALONE A ROOKIE DOING IT.
November 15th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Shep says:
BJ 55 points are in the same level of Kobe 61 at the Garden, so if your playing the card “oh, it was against the Warriors”, you have to take out 20 of the 61, “it was against the Knicks”….
=======
By that logic Kobe’s 81 against the defenseless Raptors should be equivalent to about 60 pts?
November 15th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Amar says:
AK did not play his best game vs. LeBron. (only 13 pts, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 block) I think taking that three in rhythm is part of the training he’s been getting from Hornacek. (who studied a lot of AK’s film and told him to only shoot in rhythm, and not when your brain tells you to, or not to) Before the Cle game AK was 6/11 on threes in the last few games — a pretty good accuracy. he went 0/4 in this game though.
November 15th, 2009 at 8:52 am
Amar says:
@Shep
if the true conversion rate of that Raptors team (Araujo, etc) I think Kobe owes the league about 19 points.
81 vs. those raptors = -19
November 15th, 2009 at 8:54 am
Amar says:
Also, it’s not just jazz taking cle down to the wire in cle w/o Deron, but without regular starter CJ Miles, and without Kyle Korver (only wing deep threat) *and* having a starting back court of two rookies (maynor and mathews). (ronnie price, the reg. back up, was inj too)
November 15th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Diggity Dave says:
I wonder if John Wall will have a similar performance next year playing for the Jazz.
November 15th, 2009 at 9:27 am
hector says:
Jordan Hill better start showing something here…. Imagine if we had Jennings and Gallo?
November 15th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Diggity Dave says:
Imagine if you had Brandon Jennings and Eric Gordon instead.
November 15th, 2009 at 9:56 am
truth says:
55 on the warriors is prolly lik 40+ on a decent teamn and 30+ on a good defense
… so what was 32/9 against Billups like his previous game? think people and watch the actual, game this is no chucker in coomplete control of the game 7 games into his career.
November 15th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Guitar Hero says:
Come on, Gallo is better than Gordon.
November 15th, 2009 at 10:33 am
gigi says:
more guys outta highschool should be going overseas and learning the team aspect of the sport and to actually get paid for the Work they do. when guys are in college its like they want to show case themselves to get to the league, which would make them forgo learning the team aspect of the game. and who can blame them really, these guys are studying n playing and not even getting any change for it (whatever scholarship dont count). so good for jennings, congrats home slice, as soon as i heard that the kid was going to europe, i knew it was the right choice.
November 15th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Mitch says:
55 is 55..ain’t no asterisk req’d…only props 4 buring up the warriors!!!
November 15th, 2009 at 10:41 am
dial up says:
Anyone surprised it was the “LEBRON” free throw show at the end of the game, again? If it’s a close game against the cavs you should forget about it, cuz lebron will be sent to the line at least 10 times by the end of the 4th.
November 15th, 2009 at 10:53 am
buck says:
who is jordan hill?
November 15th, 2009 at 10:59 am
jzsmoove says:
If Jennings keeps this up even justa little bit, and somehow Blake Griffin comes and wins ROY, some shit goin onfor sure. Then they should put an asterisk besides Griffin’s name.
November 15th, 2009 at 11:01 am
jzsmoove says:
btw, Props to Pacquiao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! holla !!
November 15th, 2009 at 11:05 am
YOUNGFED says:
Only one line for my Pistons whats the deal. I see even when im gone DIME is still business as usual. Yall hatin cause we are actually good and rank 5th in the league in D
November 15th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Dagomar says:
Jennings is the truth. So far one of the best rookies ever – who would have believed it?
November 15th, 2009 at 11:05 am
YOUNGFED says:
@33
Gallo is no where near better than BG
November 15th, 2009 at 11:53 am
TJ says:
Yea, Jennings did it against the Warrior, but the only higher scoring rookie games (Wilt, Barry, Earl Monroe) came during the 60’s when no one played defense and 140 point games happened on the regular. Give Jennings his due credit.
November 15th, 2009 at 11:55 am
jackass says:
where are those boxing pro’s who had deep knowledge of the sport, who just had to glow is with their wisdom and opinion??? where are y’all now??? wow way to silence the haters pacman!!! it ain’t even funny…
props to the double nickel performance jennings is the man
November 15th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
sunni says:
imagine if the knicks had gone with e.gordon two years ago and bjennings this year…byron scott gets fired b/c of everyone scoring on peja’s lame defense..
walsh is messin up..just cause d’antoni was friends w/ danilo’s dad dont make him a lottery pick..
the only reason danilo is somewhat lookin ok now is b/c he has free range to shoot…how many rooks get that.
November 15th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Chaos says:
Brandon jennings looks like he’s gonna beat out griffin for the ROY because 1) he’s off to a great start to the season and carrying his team, 2)Griffin may not start til some time later in january because of camby an kaman. Milwaukee may be better than we thought cause michael redd isnt in the line up….anyone notice how much better the cavs line up looks with jj hickson in the starting line up and sideshow andy on the bench?
November 15th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
hadoken says:
hell no on the asterisk. the double nickel was done in 3 quarters bc he barely even took a shot in the first quarter and had 0 points. it doesn’t matter that it was the warriors i’ve NEVER seen anyone make that many shots that just ripped the net except in NBA JAM.
the knicks and other shitty gm’s over the years are the reason why barkley thinks and deserves he should be a gm because most of these guys DO suck. jordan hill, frederic weiz, kwame brown, the ~kandi man etc. etc. etc. i guarantee you barkley would never draft scrubs like those.
November 15th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
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November 15th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
LakeShow84 says:
You guys is trippin.. Thats a stupid question too DIME.. everyone knows Golden State is a BIG MAN slaughterfest cuz they have no bigs.. Now they do have little quick handed guards who swipe at everything.. so for Jennings to do that is still amazin..
And if it was so easy how come everyone cracks 30+ but rarely drops 50 on the Warriors?? Guards NEVER really go off on GS to the tune of 50.. the bad defense excuses is wack.. still the highest level of competetion.. yeah im sure Ellis, Curry, Jackson and Buke are anything but roster fill..
Where u at RangerJohn?? chalk another OLD game for the Spurs.. cant quite keep up with the younger stud teams.. OUCH..
November 15th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
LakeShow84 says:
“yeah im sure Ellis, Curry, Jackson and Buke are anything but roster fill..”
That wasnt sarcasm lol
November 15th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Chris Barrio says:
Fifty five is 55 is fiddy fie! Reguardless of what team, court, league etc….But this WAS/IS the NBA were talking about. I dont see many if any players from an opposing team in the league consistantly dropping 50 on Golden State on a nightly or weekly basis.Before the season started I had many arguements with friends and associates about Jennings and how he is the future of the point guard position(best player in the draft) and there isnt ONE PG I would take over him right now to start a team with. NOT ONE !(including CP) And stop the Iverson comparisons (this kid has his OWN GAME)
He is a leader and I feel if anything Redd might hurt his progress. But then again he might help him due to the floor being spread and being able to dish it out to Redd for some assits. And I dont see why he wouldnt and couldnt play in both the ALL STAR game and the ROOKIE GAME. But time will tell.. (its the only one who told truth)
CB
November 15th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Da_Griff says:
So is this the month that Don Nelson finally gets fired?
November 15th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Da_Griff says:
Nelson used to know how to make adjustments. But it’s been close to a decade since he was last able to manage that.
November 15th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Tim says:
@YOUNGFED
no mention of Charlie V lighting up the score board for the Pistons tonight…guy has been dropping buckets last few games. What Rip and Tay come back….look out. current 5-4 too…
November 15th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
klassix says:
55 points? Big deal! Show me a shoot-first PG who’s won anything and then I’ll care.
November 15th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
mavs all the way says:
where’s BRUCE? cotto got molested out there.
November 15th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
HELP ME says:
Hey guys,
What do you think: Nash, Dirk, Jeff Green for CP3, D12, jameer nelson?
November 16th, 2009 at 1:03 am
spock says:
wade. amazing shot. pretty predictable though. nets shouldve known.
November 16th, 2009 at 2:11 am
William See says:
They should invite the Pacman to the celeb 3-on-3 in the 2010 all star weekend.
November 16th, 2009 at 4:07 am
jay says:
PACMAN, YOU’RE THE MAN!
November 16th, 2009 at 5:15 am
Josh says:
Brandon Jennings = “New” Allen Iverson
Pacman = He’ll murder Mayweather
November 16th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Russ says:
Why does everyone keep comparing jennings to iverson? because they are both skinny and quick? i don’t see them being the same player at all. i am an iverson fan but i don’t think i EVER saw him hit 7-8 from three. jennings runs a team and finds people much better; even as a rookie. look what he has done for bogut. was fun to watch.