Jennings Flourishing Thus Far

Lottomatica Roma's Brandon Jennings, the preps-to-peninsular pro in progression, has had a fine first month of preseason play in Italy.

Dario Marra tells us that he's averaged almost 20 points in his first 5 preseason games and

has shown, in this first part, why he’s considered as a potential first 5 picks in the next draft. Still very skinny, BJ is very quick and can handle the ball with both hands, has a great capacity to find a way to the basket, being very aggressive in dribbling to the basket and in shooting from long distance... . Obviously, Jennings could find some hard moments with teams more physical and, in general, with the slower European game, but there is no doubt that the roman audience – and all the Euroleague fans - may have some fun (he’s spectacular in open floor) in the next season.

If you daren't believe Dario, then check out this video of a scrimmage in which he scored 16 points and dished out 7 assists in his first scrimmage against a team from Serbia.

The NY Times' Pete Thamel did a recent story on Jennings in which some interesting facts came to light:

1. Jennings makes $1.2 million a year in salary and endorsements, and the team provides a luxury three-bedroom apartment, a Volvo station wagon and eight round-trip tickets between Rome and the United States.

2. His mother and younger brother are living with him in Rome, providing him a support network. His mom drives him around, since he lacks a license. Jennings pays his brother's $20,000 international school tuition. “Right now, we have no worries,” Jennings said. “As long as those two are good, I’m happy.”

3. During the night's Jennings stays home, on his computer. This could be seen in a negative light - he's not experiencing the culture of a world-class city or a positive one - he's "staying out of trouble" and keeping in contact with him friends and family back home. It is after all his job to improve his basketball game and a boring social life is one of the best ways to free up time to do that.

4. One positive "cultural" influence the move has had on his lifestyle so far is a change in diet.

The dinners at Del Taco and In N Out Burger, two fast-food restaurants in abundance near the family’s Los Angeles home, have been replaced by salmon, chicken and vegetables bought fresh daily at a local market.

5. Jennings is at least saying the right things on the expanding-your-mind-when-you-travel front, even if he stays mostly in his apartment and gym. He said he'd ask anybody making the same leap: "What do you want to get out of it? If they’re coming over here for the money, don’t do it. If they want to learn and get better, they should think about it. If you have a bad attitude, it’s not going to be good.”

It'll be interesting to see if that attitude holds up as the season wears on.