Bucking the Trend

Dan O'Donnell 620 WTMJ & SportsBubbler.com Posted: Nov. 4, 2009

Ho-hum, another Bucks loss last night. Big deal. For a franchise that has posted a 158-252 record over the past five seasons and has failed to make it out of the first round of the playoffs in the last decade, losing is nothing new.

And neither is the fact that most fans simply don't care anymore.

To say that Milwaukee's alleged NBA franchise has suffered from a lack of interest is about as gross an understatement as the suggestion that Packers fans were a little annoyed that Brett Favre became a Minnesota Viking.

If you were one of the untold thousands who missed last night's Bucks loss in Chicago, however, you missed something special.

No, it wasn't Milwaukee blowing an 18 point third quarter lead and no, it wasn't Ersan Ilyasova airballing a potentially game-winning three with seconds remaining. Those sorts of things are nothing new, either.

What is, though, is the energy, the excitement, the sheer electricity with which rookie point guard Brandon Jennings has started his career.

With a game-high 25 points last night and a team-high 24 in a win over Detroit on Saturday, Jennings pushed his scoring average on the young season to 22 points per game (on 50 percent shooting, mind you) to go with 4.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.7 steals. In the season opener, he was a board and a dime away from dropping the first triple-double in an NBA debut since Oscar Robertson.

If that weren't enough, he averages approximately four "Did You See That?" plays per game and, in so doing, has the potential to single-handedly reinvigorate a fan base that has all but abandoned their team since it abandoned Ray Allen.

Let's face it, a jump shooting superstar who doesn't play much defense and Number 1 overall draft pick who's been more Andrea Bargnani than Dwight Howard don't exactly put butts in the Bradley Center.

Jennings can and, scarily enough, he'll likely get much, much better.

"He is still learning how to play hard for long stretches," Bucks head coach Scott Skiles told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "He's in good shape, but it's learning to play in the NBA now. It's very physical with the hits and the picks out there."

A scant 6'1 and 170 pounds, Jennings has Allen Iverson's fearlessness and Chris Paul's court vision. Combine that with speed and quickness that is perhaps unparallelled in the entire league, and the Bucks have themselves the makings of a franchise player who can change the dynamics of both a game and an apathetic fan base.

I dare you to watch him play and not feel his enthusiasm, his passion. I dare you to watch and let a smile cross your face when you imagine his potential.

I dare you to watch him and not care about the Bucks.

To read more from Dan O'Donnell on a daily basis, check out his blog on 620WTMJ.com

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Bucking the Trend