See that look in his eyes? It's called infrared court vision. (Getty Images)
Brandon Jennings finally found the bottom of the net again last night, “breaking out” of an ugly shooting slump. (He also hyperextended his knee in the third quarter, although it seems to be no big deal.) Sure, it’s nice that he shot an Andrew Bogut-like FG% vs the Raptors, and I’ve been begging owners to be patient with Young Money and not to sell low on him, but does it really mean he broke out of his slump? Or is something else going on here? The answer might be in the splits…
Jennings at home: 25.5 ppg, 5.9 apg, 3.6 rpg, 3.0 3pg, 47.9% FG, 56.9% 3PT, 80.4% FT
Jennings on the road: 16.4 ppg, 5.5 apg, 4.0 rpg, 1.4 3pg, 34.4% FG, 28.6% 3PT, 78.8% FT
Those are pretty drastic differences, especially in PTS, 3PM, and FG%. (Of course, let’s not forget the double-nickel vs GS at home.) Sure enough, his 10-game shooting slump started with the Bucks’ longest road trip of the year, at Memphis back on Nov. 21, with 7 of those 10 games on the road.
Does that mean Jennings is going to put up top 20 numbers at home and only top 100 numbers on the road? Or did he just happen to hit a rough patch (with defenses finally learning how to slow him down) during a long road stretch? I’m taking the safe answer here and going straight down the middle. (I know. How bold of me!) Both of those factors — opposing teams’ gang-tackle defense and a long road trip — contributed to the rookie’s first slump.
So what? Is the slump over?
If you are a (once-again) proud Jennings owner, hopefully you didn’t bail on him over the last couple weeks. I expect those home and road splits to even out over the course of the year, although I wouldn’t be surprised if the home stats still look considerably better when all’s said and done. But has he broken out of his slump? Yes and no. Yes, I think he has stopped the bleeding. However, I’m not expecting him to start another hot streak right away. Sure, he could torch Steve Blake and Derek Fisher in the next two games at home, but I think we’ll see some middle-of-the-road numbers over the next month or so.
However, it’s looking more and more like Jennings’ FG% will be sub-45% on the year, as he’s had one insanely hot stretch and one insanely cold stretch, and it’s all averaged out to 41.8% so far. It also puts him at #57 in Yahoo rankings (by averages) on the year, although he’s probably ranked higher in ESPN leagues, most of which don’t count TO. I think the PTS, REB, AST, and 3′s are here to stay, so his ultimate ranking depends on that FG%. I’ve been saying for a while that I think he’ll finish in the top 50, although I amended that to “flirting with the top 50″ a couple weeks back if his FG% sunk. (Note: There are also several other factors at play here, including Michael Redd’s return and Luke Ridnour’s emergence at the PG spot, shifting Jennings to SG for long stretches, so nothing is ever certain in fantasy.)
In other words, if people have been lobbing trade offers at you (and I would expect them to pick up again), I’d still target a safe top 50 player at the least, although you could probably get much better if you waited for another Jennings hot streak. If you absolutely can’t stand his streakiness, I’d take my time getting the best offer possible, but just beware of the Bucks’ extended road trip starting January 10 (6 games, although 2 of them are against fantasy-friendly squads in PHO and GSW).
I actually recently traded Jennings for Paul Pierce in one roto league where my FG% is keeping me out of the top spot, as Pierce is enjoying his most efficient year in a while. (No, I don’t think he can sustain 49.6% FG, but he’s taking more efficient shots while providing Jennings-esque across-the-board production. But more on that in a different post.) I’m hanging onto Jennings in my other leagues though, unless an “offer I can’t refuse” comes along.
Loading ...By the way… yes, I’m looking forward to that SAC/MIL matchup next week. Can you say “Rookie Smackdown”?
