Brandon Jennings or John Wall – Who Would You Take?
Words. Jason Jordan
So there I was sitting in the stands at the Dean Dome watching the stars of tomorrow play in the Tournament of Champions when all of a sudden a heated conversation about the stars of today erupted among friends.
The great debate?
“Brandon Jennings or John Wall – who would you take?”
(No we didn’t have anything else better to do with our time…)
One friend was rocking with Jennings, while a handful of others were taking Wall.
“I mean John is just way more athletic!” pointed out one friend.
“Are you kidding me?!?! Jennings is just 6-feet tall and he can do everything that John can do,” said another friend. “To me that makes HIM more athletic!”
We went back and forth and forth and back and any other direction that opposed agreement. I chimed in with this:
Both Wall and Jennings have similar games.
Both have great vision, both break down the defense with their handles and quickness.
Both have freakish leaping ability.
Both play with a necessary cockiness to warrant this debate and both seem faster than Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. OK. Too far … but both are really fast. You get the idea.
Jennings struggled in the halfcourt in the Euro-League and Wall only knows one gear – fast.
Both of their jump shots could use some work and both are strong defensively.
When the attributes are this close you’ve got to go to the intangibles, you know, the things beyond either player’s control.
Wall is 6-4 and Jennings is closer to 5-11 than he is 6-1. Call me crazy, but for that reason I have to give Wall the nod. If it gives me anymore credibility, I know plenty of NBA scouts that factor in height (Click HERE to see where Dime Magazine is predicting Brandon Jennings will land in this summer’s NBA Draft).
Please list the 6-foot-tall NBA point guards that are putting up major numbers despite not having a dependable jump shot.
Wait for it… Wait for it…
If the weakest part of your offensive arsenal is gonna be the J, at least be tall enough to not get your shot blocked in the lane consistently. Also, a 6-foot guy could potentially be a defensive liability if they start to get posted up.
That said, Jennings is a monster.
All I’m saying is give me Wall.
Chime in: Who would you take between Brandon Jennings and John Wall?
I’d also go with John Wall because of his height. I’ve seen several clips of Brandon Jennings in Europe. The kid cannot shoot. Period. And I don’t think his defensive skills are near NBA-ready. His inability to academically qualify at Arizona is also cause for concern. He’ll get drafted in the lottery, and I’m betting he’s too mature to become a healthy bust in the league.
Jennings. That court vision is phenomenal. He’s one of the few that can see a passing angle developing and still know get it to the guy in time for a score.
I’ve seen both of them play a good number of games, so after analyzing every part of each of their games, i would have to go with..(drumrolll)…John Wall! BJ is athletic, but he is no where near “EXSPLOSIVE” AS JW! Wall just doesnt jump high,he jumps through u!
He’s a great finisher with either hand and on anybody! He consistantly finishes with contact, i give the edge of court vision (even though it was close) to Brandon Jennings. He’s just a magician with all the different angles in which he delivers the basketball three plays ahead.
J.Wall does the same thing, he just does them 2.95 plays ahead. I do give wall the lower turnover margin in which he completes his risky passes.
J. Wall also gets the nod in Ball Handling. Please dont get me wrong, BJ has better handles in such a way as street ball and super fancy type of way. J. Wall dribbles the ball equally with his left hand as he does his right hand, thats why he gets from point a-2-point-b faster than BJ and as anyone i’ve ever laid my eyes on.
That includes Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton. Ty pushes it, but his left is a couple of notches below his right hand, that goes for ray felton also.(but felton has a better left hand than ty, just not quite as fast).
Last but not least, i’ll give the defensive edge to JW. This was an easy decision. J.Wall does gamble a little to much some times, but most of the time he does it in a free lance type setting (ex. MD-All-american type of game, i do think he did it a little to much in the Nike Hoop-Summit).
Bj is good in the passing lanes, but thats it. He doesn’t even try to look like he’s playing D. JW has great lateral movement, quick feet, solid fundamentals in his defensive stance added to his quick anticipating hands and super long arms.
I forgot to rate the shooting. That clearly goes to BJ. Sometime’s its streaky, but he is clearly a better shooter. I think wall has a better mid-range game, but the nod goes to BJ.
Another Great article JJ, Keep up the good work!
JOHN WALL easy. He wins by default becuase if… dwayne wade, jamal crawford, derrick rose, and brandon jennings had a baby…it would be JOHN WALL