Open Court: Getting the ‘point’

Why might Nov. 14 turn out to be a pivotal day for Arizona’s basketball program?

The answer lies in a handful of AAU games I attended near the end of July 2005.

My colleague and I headed to Las Vegas to spend a week watching an insane amount of basketball while enjoying a rare vacation to one of America’s most entertaining cities.

Adidas, Nike and Reebok were each hosting mammoth All-Star tournaments, with every top-notch high-school hoops recruit playing his heart out in order to impress the dozens of college basketball scouts and coaches who had made the trek to the City of Sin.

The games were thoroughly entertaining and the talent level was through the roof.

This is where I first saw Greg Oden—a 7-foot man-child who had just completed his junior year of high school.

I also managed to catch Kevin Durant, Mike Conley Jr., Michael Beasley, O.J. Mayo, Spencer Hawes and every other relevant prospect from the 2006 graduating class and under—including Arizona’s own Chase Budinger.

As one might expect, this was an incredibly surreal week.

After some awkward small talk with Oden, Durant, North Carolina coach Roy Williams and Texas coach Rick Barnes, I decided to head to another gym to catch the SoCal All-Stars—a team that had developed into one of the tournament’s most talked-about squads.

Budinger was this team’s most high-profile prospect. He had the most polished offensive game out of any player who made the Vegas trip.

Kevin Love was not far behind. Now one of the stars for the No. 1 UCLA Bruins, nobody could handle the 6-foot, 10-inch Love in the post.

In addition, current Duke marksman Taylor King displayed the shooting stroke that had made him one of the nation’s most sought-after small forwards during last year’s recruiting period.

However, none of these players caught my attention. I was too busy watching the team’s point guard.

This kid couldn’t have weighed more than 160 pounds. His uniform was at least three sizes too big, almost as if his older brother was on the SoCal All-Stars and he decided to sneak into the locker room and try on the jersey.

During the squad’s opening lay-up drills, I couldn’t help but notice that Love stood at least a foot taller than he did.

I leaned over to my colleague and whispered, “That kid can’t be any older than 16.”

I was wrong. He was actually 15.

With the SoCal All-Stars squaring off against the D1 Greyhounds, this kid had the unenviable task of defending Mayo—one of the country’s most ballyhooed prospects.

However, this kid did not back down from the challenge. He went right at Mayo.

He controlled the ball as if it was attached to his hand. He used his supreme quickness to drive past anyone in his path—two months before he could legally drive a car.

The best part? He instinctively grasped the nuances of how to properly play his position.

He knew where he should dribble in order for Love to set the best screen. He knew where Budinger liked to catch the ball for his patented jumper at the elbow. He knew when to push the tempo and when to settle into the half-court offense.

He made all of his teammates better.

It takes some players years to figure out how these things work. Some never figure it out at all.

It came naturally to this kid, and he had just finished his freshman year of high school.

His name? Brandon Jennings. He is the latest applicant to Arizona’s vaunted “Point Guard U,” making it official on Nov. 14.

Is Jennings perfect? Far from it. He needs to bulk up and work on his outside shot.

But in basketball, there is nothing quite as special as a team blessed with a terrific pure point guard.

From NBA stars Steve Nash and Chris Paul to college guards like Derrick Rose, Darren Collison and perhaps Jerryd Bayless, an elite point guard always gives a team a puncher’s chance to win any game.

Is Jennings going to be that good? It’s impossible to tell at this point.

All I know is I watched a 15-year-old kid play point guard like a seasoned veteran two-and-a-half years ago in Las Vegas, and it was the most wonderfully surreal moment in what turned out to be a wonderfully surreal week.

This time next year, the Brandon Jennings era will have officially started in Tucson. I, for one, couldn’t be more excited.

nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747