This is a post that I’ve held off from for a long time. I wondered this way back in November, when Brandon Jennings took the league by storm. My friend Dan from knicksfan.net was chatting about it on Twitter last night.

I’ve been somewhat critical of Jennings, but the addition of John Salmons (a TKB favorite) has helped Jennings and the Bucks to the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference. Jennings, after hitting the rookie wall at 100mph, has regrouped and been very efficient over the past few weeks.

To me, Douglas is a classic two-way player. This is not to say that Jennings doesn’t play the passing lanes exceedingly well, he does, but Douglas is the better defender. It will be interesting to see how Jennings plays defensively in the playoffs, as it’s a given that he will be posted up by a bigger guard matchup. If I’m the Bucks, I’m hoping to face the Hawks, since Jennings and Mike Bibby would somewhat negate that.

Jennings is younger, but from a scouting standpoint I like Douglas’ frame better. Something about Jennings’ legs scares me a bit more than his attitude, which came into question before, during and after the draft. Jennings, in all fairness, aside from an issue with Twitter where he was fined $7,500 dollars, hasn’t been a problem whatsoever.

Douglas appears to be a more efficient shooter and maybe scorer, but the team still may not be sure he’s the PG of the future. If the team has Douglas coming off the bench, though, that would be a sign of ridiculous back court depth. Jennings has proven to be an effective starter, but Douglas in his short tenure has really opened a lot of people’s eyes.

That said.

 Loading ...

It’s been a busy week from a point guard discussion from the coach’s decision to bench Chris Duhon in favor of Nate Robinson, to Isiah Thomas on WFAN, to the passing of Knicks legend Dick McGuire.

And now, here comes Brandon Jennings to end the work-week.

There has been no bigger, more polarizing topic for fans this season (summer 2010 aside of course) than the Jordan Hill/ Jennings debate. It’s what makes the draft so captivating.

Jennings hasn’t been very good lately, in fact he’s shot over 50% from the field just 3 times since November 20th, and Walsh’s first choice in the draft Tyreke Evans is cementing his case for the Rookie of Year trophy. But make no mistake, if Jennings comes into the building and goes off and the Bucks win, you can officially stick a fork in the Knicks’ season before the All-Star break.

If you’re a fan of Jennings, or even if you swear you are despite seeing him all but 3 times, or you don’t like him even for the same reasons, pay particular attention to him tonight. Watch and see if he’s the second coming of Chris Paul or if he dominates the ball in a way that this franchise has seen far too often over the past decade. It’s too early to call Jennings great in my opinion, because there are so few great point guards per generation. Be patient, give the kid a chance, and let’s really see.

McGuire had a huge impact on Walt Frazier’s development, as the Knick great learned the most important part of being a lead guard was leadership and getting the ball to players in the right spots. Maybe Jennings doesn’t have much talent around him, but that shouldn’t be an excuse to lose confidence and constantly call his own number.

Maybe he has that great ability at a young age to get teammates involved in the first half, pace himself, and take over the game in the 4th quarter…EVERY NIGHT.

Keep an eye out to see if he is someone you want to build around and keep around and win with for a decade, or someone you’d think would find his way off the team in a few years.Is the fact that he’s doing what he’s doing at 19 overly incredible and his ceiling through the roof, or if he doesn’t get stronger on that wirey frame will he be putting up the same numbers at 26.

Would he more  likely have been Frazier, Rod Strickland or in between if he were drafted here?  Would he have captivated the city like Mark Jackson only to be exposed for his defensive liabilities once the Knicks became a serious playoff team?  Jackson, remember, for all his highlight passes and glamor was not a Pat Riley favorite for that exact reason.

Because at the end of the day that’s the point. It’s not does he “embarrass” other players with his moves, or make ESPN’s Top Plays. It’s about quarterbacking a team to a place that the franchise hasn’t seen in some time.It’s about getting people involved and getting wins. Yes, he’s better than anything on the current Knicks roster, but who cares? This roster means nothing. No one really knows what Brandon Jennings’ career would have amounted to in New York. What fans are armed with is speculation.

Maybe Hill only becomes a serviceable big guy. Maybe he’ll be better than that. All teams need big, athletic bodies. They, of course,  are not as essential as the quarterback of your offense.

Tonight is an important night for this franchise on a small scale, they know it’s a must win on so many levels. Because every decision-maker stands by important decisions and if Jennings plays well and the Bucks walk out with a win, Knick fans, right or wrong, will be questioning the decision making of the front office.

As if they haven’t started already.

Kenny Anderson talks Brandon Jennings’ development.

Via Isola:

“…As the Knicks president, Walsh is ultimately responsible for the pick and yet he continues to hint that part of the problem lies within the scouting department he inherited. Mark Hughes, Rodney Heard, Walker D. Russell and Steve Yoder were all hired by Thomas. Russell, in fact, was believed to be one of Jennings’ strongest advocates.

Dick and Scott McGuire are the longest-tenured scouts going back to the ’90s. Walsh’s hires were Ben Jobe, John Gabriel and Misho Ostarcevic, who runs the department. Walsh reportedly has been interested in hiring Chris Mullin, Billy King or Billy Knight as GM, but it is believed that Garden chairman James Dolan doesn’t want to add front-office staff. According to a source, Dolan vetoed Walsh’s plans to bring in George Felton as a scout last summer.

In a recent interview with SI.com, Walsh hinted that ownership wouldn’t allow him to revamp the front office.

“I could have hired some amazing people,” Walsh told SI.com. “But there are some things you can’t ask the owner to do, and that’s eat some of these (front-office and scouting department) numbers.”

That Dolan would be loyal toward Thomas’ hires is not surprising. Dolan continues to maintain a relationship with Thomas, the former Knicks coach and president who is now coaching Florida International University. Dolan dined with Thomas and invited him to be his guest for the Knicks’ season opener in Miami on Oct. 28.

When Walsh was hired to run the Knicks, it was Dolan who insisted that Thomas have a role in the organization. Thomas was eventually reassigned to a consulting position, and according to a team source, had Thomas not accepted the FIU job he would have remained employed by the Knicks…”

Walsh himself admitted that because the scouting department was already in existence he didn’t want to bring in more salary, which to me says that the owner has him on a budget. That makes sense. (more…)

Got the chance to chat with Jonathan Givony of draftexpress.com about the depth of this year’s crop and his thoughts on the Knicks passing on Brandon Jennings. Check the video player to the right.

Via Yahoo:

“…A Jennings-James combo is one to dream about. Imagine the lightning quick, pure point guard LeBron has always needed. Imagine the same player having such a deft shooting stroke – honed during 1,000-shot-per-day sessions before and after practice in Europe – that he can then wait for kick-out passes when James barrels down the lane.

Most of all, imagine the dose of credibility the pick would’ve given the Knicks’ new regime. Yes, we inherited a mess, they could argue. Yes, we still have ways to go, but look at our talent evaluation. We just plucked the Rookie of the Year off an Italian practice squad.

Knicks fans would be beside themselves with the Jennings show, MSG rocking nightly. Nothing charges that city up like a young, breathless talent.

“I didn’t have a good feel for his game,” Walsh told the New York Post. “I went to Europe to see him at a draft camp and he didn’t show. We brought him in here and the situation is not running up and down, five-on-five. So going into the draft, I didn’t get a good feeling.”

At least Donnie Walsh is honest. It’s still his fault.

He had scouts in Europe and some of them, sources say, lobbied hard for Jennings. He could’ve made repeated trips. They brought the kid in twice for workouts.

In a draft as weak as last season’s, with the Knicks in such a critical need of talent and so much riding on the choice, there isn’t an excuse for not seeing what Milwaukee and its fraction of a scouting budget saw.

New York didn’t just blow its shot at the NBA’s next great point guard last June. They may have blown their shot at LeBron James…”

No one can deny that passing on Jennings, at this point, was a poor decision by, 9 NBA general managers. The Clippers should have taken him first overall. I mean, how could they take Blake Griffin? How could they not see that he was going to get hurt? Hasheem Thabeet?? Brutal James Harden? Eesh. (more…)

The team can’t compete right now, players are not on the same page and for fans, yes, it can get worse. You all know what I mean when I say “Utah Jazz.”

In case you needed a reminder.

“…Scott Layden - The former Knicks GM was replaced by Isiah. Layden was working on a Marbury deal in the weeks before he was canned. Isiah swooped in and sweetened the deal for Phoenix with a couple of first round picks, one of which eventually was traded to Utah where Layden now works…”

“…The Knicks could equal the franchise’s worst nine-game start (1-8) with two more losses. Compare that to last season’s 6-3 start after which Walsh made his two cap-clearing trades and shot to death the next two seasons.

After the Jazz, the Knicks host the rising Hawks, who boast Jamal Crawford, sacrificed in last November’s bloody cap-clearing massacre.

It must have killed D’Antoni to see rookie Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings look so much quicker, and so much more fluid than Duhon on Saturday. It must kill D’Antoni to read Jennings say how badly he wanted to be drafted by the Knicks, how badly he wanted to play for D’Antoni, how he and LeBron James would make the perfect tandem one day.

D’Antoni does not run the draft — he is one voice among many. D’Antoni won’t give his true assessment on whether he had Jennings higher than Jordan Hill on his personal list.

But know this: The Knicks scouts didn’t have Jennings close to Hill on their board. The club’s European scout Kevin Wilson liked Jennings, but did not push Walsh hard enough. The Barcelona-based Wilson, close to the Ricky Rubio family, probably thinks Rubio will land in New York eventually. Jennings played limitedly last season in Italy…” (more…)

Point guards and other first-year players around the league are making impacts early this NBA season. Meanwhile Jordan Hill of the Knicks, the eigth overall pick from Arizona, can’t get off the bench.What a horrible draft choice by Donnie Walsh!

It is a sentiment that many Knicks fans are echoing, and on the surface it seems valid.

That’s if you are in the habit of overreacting and defining a player’s career after two weeks.

Mike D’Antoni, who has told me that Hill is “close” but “needs to get better” recently told reporters that Hill isn’t better right now than the players ahead of him.

What did you say? But this team stinks! He can’t play over Jared Jeffries!

Yes, I understand the dismay, but what fans should understand is that it takes much longer for big men to develop. We are talking about someone with great physical gifts who just needs more seasoning. He’s a big part of the team’s future.

Sure, Ty Lawson is playing well in Denver and, of course, Brandon Jennings is lighting it up (and losing, too) in Milwaukee. Fans believe that Mike D’Antoni’s high-octane offense desperately needed an upgrade over Chris Duhon in a point-guard heavy draft. Several teams selected one in the first round, and that has many fans infuriated that Walsh missed out on one. Throw into the mix that the team’s 2008 lottery pick, Danilo Gallinari, spent most of last season out with a back injury has many fans wondering, for the first time, if the Walsh/D’Antoni combo has what it takes to turn this franchise around.

I think it’s safe to say that it will take more than just over a year and that when the team sits down at the table on July 1, they will be happy with what they walk away with as it relates to 2008 and 2009.

But let’s look at this logically. Two weeks does not a career make, on either end of the spectrum. Channing Frye was a stud early in his career and had an All-Star ceiling. What happened?

Point guards, since birth, have the basketball surgically attached to their hands and have the foot speed to play right away, so expect them to move to the head of the class. A class, by the way, that has a can’t-miss in Blake Griffin atop it, who is light years ahead of Hill. That’s why he was taken seven spots ahead.

I’ve seen Hill in practice, and, at his best, he’s exciting to watch. He still floats and doesn’t have the polish on the block that you’d like, but he can knock down shots and finish around the rim.

He’ll be fine. More.

I liked Hill’s fluidity against Cleveland, and he’s not afraid to pull, that’s for sure. Last night was a step back. He’ll be getting more minutes soon. Interesting that Hahn mentioned that Walsh didn’t have enough feel for Jennings to draft him, but he’s still very happy to have Hill.

Was sent an article by my boy Drew written by Chad Ford where he talks about General Managers and executives’ take on prospects and highlighting Brandon Jennings.

“…In early June, there was anything but a consensus on what kind of NBA player he’d become, and NBA executives and scouts traveling to the Reebok Eurocamp were furious that Jennings was a last-minute scratch.

According to one veteran general manager:

“We all came to see whether this kid can really play. I’d heard the hype, watched the video and heard various opinions from my scouts. I wanted to see how he stacked up against other top kids his age. Then he doesn’t show. He sure isn’t making this easy on us. You want to like the kid, but he ain’t giving you a lot to go on…”
The Grizzlies (2nd), Thunder (3rd), Warriors (7th) and Raptors (9th) weren’t really in the hunt for a point guard. The Kings (4th) had ruled out Jennings after a shaky workout and were deciding between Tyreke Evans and Ricky Rubio. The Wolves (5th and 6th) were considering Jennings, but he was behind Jonny Flynn, Ricky Rubio and Stephen Curry on their board. The Knicks were set on taking Curry or Jordan Hill, whoever was left.

Duffy couldn’t get a team to commit to Jennings and eventually decided to pull Jennings from the NBA green room to avoid a potential embarrasment.

Just hours before the draft, things started to turn Jennings’ way. The Bucks had been on the fence between Jennings and Jrue Holiday. For much of the past month they had been leaning toward Holiday, but in the final 24 hours they began to have a change of heart.

“Jennings has so much upside,” a Bucks source told me hours before the draft. “Sometimes you have to gamble a little. The great teams take calculated risks. I think we need to take a calculated risk.”

Two hours later the Bucks jumped in head first and drafted him with the 10th pick. (more…)

Through two games of the preseason, Ramon Sessions isn’t exactly lighting it up in Minnesota. Through 40 minutes, Sessions has racked up 6 assists and 7 turnovers and has taken just 9 field goal attempts in two games. Does it appear, at least on the surface, that Sessions’ NBA experience hasn’t allowed for a promotion but yet another situation where he has to split time? He would have been a 20-25 minute-per-game player here too and would have held the distinction of being the first, post-2010 contract of the Walsh Era.

So Sessions defenders can insert the excuses below.

In his last game against the Bulls, Brandon Jennings managed 3-12 from the field and 6 points in 25 minutes. Yes, I am aware that Jennings had an “impressive” showing against the Pistons where he had 18 points, 6 assists and 6 steals, but he also, had 5 turnovers. Again, if you wish Jennings were here feel free to explain his struggles below.

I wonder what the reaction would be from fans had either player posted those numbers while wearing a Knicks uniform, or would the reaction be “at least Walsh made the right move.”

To me, Toney Douglas, on both sides of the ball can be a tremendously successful player in this league. How good is anyone’s guess, so honestly having seen all three players I’m not afraid to say I’d take Douglas because he’ s a real bitch on defense and once his offense catches up you’re talking a pretty complete point guard. I’d like to think he’d have more than 6 assists in his first two games, but i’ll take the rebounds and steals as very good signs.

Certainly you have to be concerned about the timetable surrounding Danilo Gallinari in terms of when his legs will fully strengthen. It’s an issue because it’s hurting his ability to make shots. Let’s hope that he doesn’t lose confidence, and my gut-feeling is that you have as much chance seeing Eddy Curry play at 250 than seeing Gallo struggle with confidence. But, yes, the team could have Eric Gordon or Brook Lopez.

Sure there are other questions and concerns, but I still maintain that this group will be much better, they just haven’t clicked in yet. In Boston, their shooting reminded you of  the first game of a 40-and-over league, but you had to at least be a little impressed with their defense. They do have 8 block shots in two games to go along with 20 steals and while those inflated numbers are sure to go down, it’s nice to see that they are paying attention and trying to take possessions away from the other team.

And while everyone is so quick to whine and cry about Jordan Hill, the player they took instead of a slew of players including Jennings, he did show that he could handle the Celts reserves in his 12 minutes of action.  In fairness, I was very impressed with Stephen Curry last night against the Suns, but wasn’t at all interested in giving up Wilson Chandler in order to move up to get him.

The bottom line is, as a fan, you can certainly gawk at your neighbor’s grass. That’s your right. But all I ask is that you be fair about it.See both sides of the story. Nothing Jennings has done has led me to believe that drafting Jennings and, say,  Dejuan Blair or Dante Cunningham was a better alternative than Hill and TD.  Yes, Blair has been impressive for the Spurs, but they are the freekin’ Spurs. I understand the idea that the 8th pick should be a decent impact player, and I’d like to think that Hill will make his mark as the season goes along.

But if fans want to throw in the towel after two preseason games, there’s obviously nothing wrong with that.

As long as you’re fair about it.

** First of all, I want to wish a Happy Father’s day to all fathers, guardians, grandfathers, etc., etc. I hope that you all enjoy your day. **

There are a ton of rumors about the rise and fall of of prospects in this draft.  With so much uncertainty, the rumors about these players are justifiable.  However, above all others, I believe that Brandon Jennings is the true enigma of the draft class.  After working out for teams in the top 10, including the Kings at #4, Jennings is scheduled to work out or has already worked out for teams outside of the top 10.  Yesterday, the Suns worked out Jennings, Earl Clark, and Austin Daye.  The Arizona Central caught up with president of basketball operations for the Suns,  David Griffin.  Griffin had the following to say about Jennings:

“Griffin on whether Jennings could slip to No. 14: “I wouldn’t be surprised and the reason is I have no idea where anybody is going after (Blake) Griffin. This is a very, very bizarre year for us. The draft is not as top-heavy as it is deep. So I think there’s a group of players, maybe 15 deep, that can all be the same. We’re looking at a much deeper pool than we’ve ever really looked at in any pick that we’ve had.”

Griffin on Jennings: “What happened to Brandon in Europe is just that his overall maturity level is staggering for a kid his age. He has polish to him as a human being that you don’t find in very many kids his age. Part of that is because he’s worldly now. He’s traveled. He’s actually seen other people’s opinion of basketball and what makes a good player and what makes a winning player. Frankly, the number of kids that are top high school players in this country that could do what he did and do it as well as he did in Europe, in terms of the off-the-court actually living and functioning in Italy, is not many. It’s impressive that he was able to do that. There are a good many people working in this business that couldn’t pick up and go to Rome, let along a kid of his age. He gets a lot of high marks for that.”

Griff on how much stock to put in Jennings’ poor European stats: “Very little in his case because he just didn’t get to play enough to build any kind of consistency. In much the same way, you couldn’t look at Goran Dragic’s numbers in the beginning of the season. If you don’t play consistently, your stats don’t mean a whole lot.”

Griff on Jennings’ shooting: “He made a lot more shots today that we would’ve expected, based on how it looks. It reminds me a little bit of (Leandro) Barbosa. You’re not going to teach somebody to shoot that way but he made a hell of a lot of them. This is a guy who scored at Oak Hill (Academy), I think, 37 points a game his last year. The kid can put the ball in this basket.”

If Jennings falls down to the Suns, I would be surprised, but it is not unthinkable.  I still believe that Jennings will go to Golden State at 7.  I do not think Hill will be there when the Warriors select, and I think Hill is his biggest competition (despite the fact that I think both Flynn and Holiday are better options for Golden State).  I doubt that Jennings would go to NY at 8, despite his apparent desire to play here.  Time will tell, but Jennings’ night will be interesting.  Every year, someone falls beyond where they are expected to go.  Perhaps Jennings will be that player.

You’ve heard it a million times and of course you’d expect stock answer after stock answer from potential prospects.  But the most positive thing that any fan can take out of prospects meeting with the media following workouts is that you get the feeling they can come in and play right away in this system, making New York an attractive sell ON the court,  which is a far cry then what it was a short time ago.

“I really want to come here, I’m not gonna lie,” Brandon Jennings said after today’s workout.  “D’Antoni’s system is great for all point guards. You seen what he did for Steve Nash MVP back-to-back years and the Suns were one of the most exciting teams to watch for those two years, so you know his system is great for me.”

Tyreke Evans was also quick to point out that he’s sees himself as a D’Antoni-type player.

“I think it would be a great fit for me,” said Evans. “I’m a basketball player, I can play the point guard  position if you give me the ball you know I can make things happen. At the 2 guard position I can score as well. I’m good at both.”

Although it’s great to hear, and you love the fact there IS some excitement to play here, it seems like, at least the way I see it, they think this system is a bit of a free-for-all. In actuality, there is real structure here.

It’s more than just running and pick and rolls and shooting quick in the shot clock.

Which leads us to Jennings. Coming in I felt that the kid is a bit of a loose cannon and he did little to squash my opinion on that. He’s loud, brash and really confident. Okay, let’s face it, he’s a bit of a knucklehead, which is fine except when you’re developing team chemistry it’s very important who you bring in. ESPECIALLY at the point.

You’d have to wonder, really wonder, if D’Antoni would subject himself to that again having had to put up with the apparently soon-to-be-jettisoned Nate Robinson. Sure, they are two different people, but you’d have to imagine D’Antoni and Walsh would be leery about who they bring in to the mix from a total personality and skills standpoint.

The plot thickens.

Notes:

Jennings on his recent comments regarding Rubio:

“I was having too much fun with it. He’s not all hype. The kid has more experience than everybody in this draft, he’s been playing since he was 14. He’s a great player, he did his thing in the Olympics. Overall, he’s a great person. I know him, we did a photo shoot together. No disrespect to Ricky Rubio.”

Evans on his improved jumpshot:

“Definitely. Came in today and showed them I could shoot. At Memphis a lot people thought it was my downfall, but I got in the gym and worked on it alot and I’m really confident in it now.

Jennings on if he will fall to the Knicks at 8:

“I don’t know. I’ve been hearing there will be a lot of trades in the draft, so I really don’t know.”

Via ZagsBlog.

“…The Knicks will continue their search for a point guard on Monday when they work out Memphis freshman Tyreke Evans and California native Brandon Jennings at their Westchester campus.

Louisville junior forward Earl Clark of Rahway, N.J. will also work out for head coach Mike D’Antoni, as will UConn senior guard Craig Austrie and Gonzaga sophomore forward Austin Daye.

The Knicks hold the No. 8 pick in the June 25 NBA Draft and have already worked out the following point guards: Levance Fields of Pittsburgh, Jonny Flynn of Syracuse, Ty Lawson of North CArolina, Steph Curry of Davidson and Jrue Holiday of UCLA.

The 6-foot-6 Evans, MVP of last year’s McDonald’s All-American Game, was the consensus National Freshman of the Year. He thrived after former Memphis coach John Calipari moved him to point guard from the wing following a loss to Syracuse that dropped the Tigers to 6-3.

The Tigers won 27 straight before falling to Missouri in a West Regional semifinal. More.

Courtesy of the Sac Bee…

Holiday was in for his second workout with the Kings, but the spotlight was off of him mainly because he was faced off against Notre Dame point guard Kyle McAlarney. The winner of this main event, during and after, was Jennings. But because there was no extended video permitted to be shot (no surprise there considering the high stakes of this kind of face off), I decided to take verbal notes while watching the scrimmage. For the most curious of you out there, here is a play-by-play that is somewhat revealing. The bolded line was the highlight of the outing.

• Jonny misses jumper over Jennings
• Flynn and Jennings guarding each other, Holiday with Notre Dame guy
• Jennings denies Flynn, plays tight
• Jennings gets free off screen, hits jumper in the lane
• Jennings short on jumper top of key against Flynn
• Flynn misses drive,
• Jennings takes charge from big, nope they called block
• Holiday rotates on Jennings, who stutter steps gets around him right baseline and hits layup – no problem getting by Holiday
• Notre Dame guy hits jumper left baseline from Holiday assist
• Jennings loses Flynn on pick, finds guy for dunk coming left
• Jennings steps back, almost three top of arc over Flynn
• Jennings misses jumper over Flynn, left wing,
• Holiday dunk on the break, Jennings can’t get there for LeBron-style block (only lower)
• Flynn misses layup in traffic, Jennings the other way gets blocked – layup by Holiday
• Jennings loses Flynn on screen, misses layup baseline
• Flynn loses Jennings on screen up top, finds big man down low for layup
• Holiday big board in traffic with two others, finds big left wing – 20-footer good
• Flynn left wing, 20-footer
• Holiday pull-up left wing, good over big
• Flynn floats right, flip pass left wing, three-pointer good
• Flynn goes at Jennings in the lane, Jennings contests, and Flynn misses a five-footer
• Guard hits a long two over Holiday coming off a screen
• Jennings top of key stepback miss over Flynn
• Holiday right wing, finds big through traffic, layup good
• Holiday goes hard for layup, Jennings contests and Holiday misses
• Holiday driving left, finds Flynn on right wing, who buries a three
• Jennings misses three from top, somewhat contested
• Jennings takes a spill in the three-man weave, gets quick breather and is back at it again
• Holiday throws to self on three-man weave off backboard for the dunk.

Sounds like this was a great workout. Jennings is a player who is gaining serious momentum.

Okay, so I’ve had the chance to watch some video and talk to some guard prospects and have heard some scouting reports from people’s camps, but at the end of the day the best information that I have to go on are the countless times I’ve seen the prospects play. For guys like Ricky Rubio or Brandon Jennings, who I really didn’t have the chance to see play much, it would appear that they still appear to be the first two guards taken, although the Kings may have a different say in that.

So without further adieu, here’s my take on the guards in order:

1- Ricky Rubio- What Jennings says aside, Rubio is still the premiere PG in this draft. He’s been playing elite-level professional basketball since he was 15 and from what I saw more than held his own against Team Redeem. In a free space-type system with adequate playmakers, the guy could be scary good. In a slow down, plodding half court set he will still find shots for teammates, but his jump shot could be exposed. That doesn’t mean he can’t be a solid jumpshooter. Remember Jason Kidd couldn’t hit a jumper coming out of college either and became a  more-than-efficient spot/set shooter as his career progressed. And as far as the individual performances Jennings is referring to, remember basketball is a team game.

2- Jrue Holiday- I know, I’ve been more than high on Holiday, but here’s why in a word:  Strength. Say what you want about play making and facilitating, and those are certainly important, I’ll take a guy who can do those things and is a rugged body. He weighed in a shade under  200 lbs and the kid still has the athleticism to make plays and will definitely be a ball-hawking guard his entire career. Derek Harper, or more recently Chauncey Billups are players you can equate Holiday’s frame to as well as the fact that they learned to be efficient lead NBA guards.  The Knicks need two-way players, which is why I’m so confident that Holiday would be a great choice. Again, questions about his jumper have surfaced, but as we said with Rubio, that comes down to putting the time in to get better.

3- Brandon Jennings- I’ve talked to plenty of people in the AAU circuit who believe Jennings is the best PG prospect in the draft. That’s good enough for me, however something about his personality rubs me the wrong way. I’ve never met the kid, so that could be deemed as unfair, but when you feel the need to call out Rubio, as he did in Sacramento yesterday, something about it irks me. People know Rubio can play. Granted, Rubio has a ton of hype and he should play against the best, but at the end of the day Brandon just worry about yourself.

4- Stephen Curry- I’ll be more than happy with Curry and his ability to shoot if he gets drafted by the Knicks. Can you imagine Danilo and Curry surrounding the perimeter on kick outs? Man. However, I can imagine both spending time on the DL, and that’s a risk that Walsh needs to be careful with two years in a row. Obviously, you can’t predict injuries, that’s part of the deal with drafts, but I do have some concerns with Curry over 82 games. Still, he’s a great fit.

5- Tyreke Evans- This is a guy I’ve truly done the most homework on. There was a reason why Memphis won games and it was because Evans was making the decisions. I underestimated this fact. He can guard 3 positions, but how well is anyone’s guess. I’ve had people tell me that he does go for cheap steals and “falls asleep sometimes” on the help side. That is what makes me most leery. I was more inclined to classify Evans as a two, but he can fit as a one. He’d be a great value pick at 8, and can improve defensively, but hearing stuff about his defense makes me a little worried. Odds are Evans ends up in either Sacramento or Minnesota.

6- Jonny Flynn- What’s not to like about Flynn? His energy, his passion and his ability to make plays are great qualities. Sure, he can tone down the bursts of intense in-your-face trash talking, but you’d have to figure maturity will occur. In fact, I was very impressed with how he dealt with reporters in New York and Sacramento.  I feel what separates Flynn from the others is his ability to pull up in the lane under control, get in the lane or make jumpers, which, as all well-schooled point guards know, falls under the category of “decision making.” I question his defense and his long distance shooting, especially off pick and rolls, which is why he falls on my board. But, I’m a fan and would gladly take him at 8.

7- Ty Lawson- A safe pick and a player who’s accustomed to the NBA game. He’s as good a two-way option as you can get, if you can get past his size. I think he’s going to be a solid NBA player for a long time, and isn’t that really what you should be looking for via the draft? As I’ve said before, don’t underestimate Lawson’s tournament-saving performance against LSU.

8- Eric Maynor- Another great value pick should Maynor fall to the teens. The kid knows he can excel in a system that is up-tempo and we agree. Not sure if he’s a ready-made starter, which is why he’s ranked behind the rest. You’d much rather have an older prospect ready to jump in right away and run the show. Not sure Maynor is that for a border-line playoff team. But he can be an instant rotation player.

9- Darren Collison- Much like Maynor, Collison would be a great off the bench 15-20 minute-a-night guard right away. How much is that valued? We’ll see.

10- Jeff Teague- Tough to judge why Teague has fallen so much, but you’d have to imagine he’s just too streaky. Had the draft been in January he’d have been a top 5 pick, but clearly he wasn’t that spectacular. If he can find some consistency, he’s a steal.

11- Patty Mills- Mills couldn’t raise his stock in Europe, but his style is still fit for the NBA game. He’ll get a shot somewhere because he can get into seems and kick out. But he’ll have to learn how to defend at the NBA level if he’s going to get minutes.

In keeping with the Jennings theme, check out the Sac Bee’s video.

At the end of the first video Jennings was asked if Rubio was all hype after talking about the one time when he played him and apparently got the best of him. His answer, “yup.” Then he really goes off.

He also went on to say that if Rubio worked out with the likes of Jennings, Flynn, Ty Lawson, Stephen Curry and Jrue Holiday that we probably wouldn’t be “the top.”

Check it out.

Jennings just Tweeted back to someone knocking him for his Rubio comments. It’s easy to assume that “he” is Rubio.

“…so that means he’s better then me??? He’s not sorry, he’s a good player. I just wanna workout against everybody…”