Bucks banking on a backcourt led by rookie Jennings

Maybe if Yi Jianlian knew that Milwaukee was headed toward a League of Nations configuration, he wouldn't have pushed so hard to get traded to that global and cultural crossroads known as East Rutherford, N.J.

From Andrew Bogut (Australia) and Carlos Delfino (Argentina) to Roko Ukic (Croatia) and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (Cameroon), the Bucks are an international melting pot -- sort of a fondue when you factor in all the Wisconsin cheese. Even Joe Alexander, the forward from West Virginia trying to bounce back from a disappointing rookie season, spent his first eight years in Hong Kong and China. In all, Milwaukee has eight players whose roots can be traced to foreign soil, each of them proud of their overseas heritage.

And then there is Brandon Jennings, who spent a lifetime in Europe last season, then rushed home like he'd been sprung out the back door of a Turkish prison.

Jennings is a brash, 6-foot-1 playground point guard and Oak Hill Academy product who took what the GPS robots would call an alternate route to the NBA this season. Rather than waste the University of Arizona's planned investment in him or banish himself to the D-League, Jennings spent his year between high school and NBA draft-eligibility playing for Lottomatica Virtus Roma, getting paid $1.2 million for his time in basketball's green room.

It didn't go great -- Jennings averaged 5.5 points and 2.3 assists in 27 Italian league games, then 7.6 points and 1.6 assists in 16 Euroleague contests. His minutes were limited and he sometimes was used out of position. But it kept him occupied until the Bucks took him with the 10th overall pick, and now he's where he wanted to be all along, in camp with an NBA team, the ball in his hands.

Or not. Jennings' coach in Milwaukee is Scott Skiles, a former point guard himself and a demanding court boss for newbies who doesn't flip the keys to anyone who hasn't earned them. Jennings might -- most likely, he will -- become the Bucks' starting point guard this season, later if not sooner. But Skiles has Luke Ridnour to hold over Jennings' head, and the coach sounds almost eager for some of the rookie's rugged Euro lessons to be replicated over here.

"I could make a long list right now, but I don't want to make it too long,'' Skiles said when asked to cite Jennings' early NBA hurdles. "It's not like you can come in at that position and excel right away. Some guys have, but it's very difficult to do. There's an awful lot to learn -- all the NBA situations that occur, the chaotic environment at the end of a game where you can't always communicate with the coach.''

Then there's the physicality, Skiles said. "Every team is screening on the ball in some fashion. You've got 7-foot guys screening a guy his size -- he weighs about 170 pounds -- and he's dealing with that contact, getting off those screens. He's not in any way shy about contact, it's just the nuances of dealing with that stuff.''

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Defensively? "He's got very good feet and very good hands, so he has the ability to be a good defender. The bigger guards -- Andre Miller, Chauncey Billups, those type people, more physical guards -- until he learns the stuff I was talking about, they may give him trouble. But he has the ability to keep people in front of him. We want him, on the defensive end, to contain his man. He's going to have to give us something on that end of the floor.''

Jennings' development was a priority for the Bucks regardless, but it took on more urgency when management chose not to match Minnesota's four-year, $16 million offer sheet to Ramon Sessions. That, combined with Milwaukee's decision to let free-agent forward Charlie Villanueva leave and to trade Richard Jefferson to San Antonio for pieces that mostly are gone now too (Fabricio Oberto, Bruce Bowen), has fans impatient. Matching last season's 34-48 record could be difficult. So progress might have to come in other places, such as player development (sounds sexy, doesn't it?).

To that end, veteran Luke Ridnour, the penciled starter at point, has been mentoring his 20-year-old teammate/rival. Skiles watches Jennings like a hawk and sees each October game as a chance to amass more video of teachable moments. Through Milwaukee's first two preseason tests, Jennings was OK, with 14 points, five assists and two turnovers against Minnesota followed three days later with 18 points, six assists, four rebounds, six steals and five turnovers at Detroit. He struggled more against the Pistons' Will Bynum on defense than he did against Timberwolves rookie Jonny Flynn.

As for the $1.2 million question -- is Jennings better off for spending that year in Europe rather than at Arizona? -- one possible answer is: At least he's no worse off for the decision. "I gained a lot there just playing with grown men every day and having to fight for my job,'' Jennings told Milwaukee reporters. "If I had never gone to Europe, I wouldn't know the pick-and-roll game. I wouldn't know how to guard, and wouldn't know how to fight through screens. I got stronger.''

Said Skiles: "If you saw him play in high school, you would have seen a very talented player who maybe sometimes didn't have the greatest body language or things like that. Going over there and being humbled a little bit -- Brandon himself will tell you it was humbling for him, a great experience -- how it manifests itself on this year, I'm not sure. Hopefully when it's over, he's had a very good year and we can look back and say, 'That was a great experience, that you went over.' I know just from a personal standpoint, growing as a person, he feels it was a very good experience for him.''

If it proves to be good for the Bucks, Jennings could wind up as Milwaukee's favorite Euro.

1. WITHOUT THEIR HEALTH, THEY'RE NOTHING The first reference is to Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut, who combined to play only 69 games last season. The second reference is to the Bucks overall. 2. SKILES GETS 'A' TEACHING 'D' Newly added Kurt Thomas and second-year forward Luc Mbah a Moute are natural defenders, but Skiles has even gotten his porous players to try harder. 3. PECKING ORDER TOUGHER THAN 1-2-3 Milwaukee rightly is proud of its depth, based on a training camp roster with lots of combinations. But backups need to know who they are, and why. -- Steve Aschburner