To me the special thing Jennings brings to the table is that Iverson like first step. He can make that one insanely quick step that will always free him to take a quick jumper or make a clean pass. Douglas doesnt have that and its not something you can teach. Thats also part of the reason that Douglas is ahead of Jennings in many areas (aside from age). Douglas has had to learn to do things fundamentally.
I dont know how driven Jennings is. He will always be able to get his shot off and he will always be able to create off the dribble. He is a liability on defense and is easy to push around with that Kate Moss like frame. However *IF* he ever develops the fundamentals to go with that first step he can really be a Nash type guy. He will pick you apart or drill jumpers in your face all day.
Its going to take a lot of drive from Jennings to do that. It will always be easy to fall back on that quick first step and settle for jumpers. Jamal Crawford is a hell of a good guy, always liked him but he's been doing it 8 years in the league and will probably be doing it 8 years from now.
That being said it gives him a higher ceiling in my opinion.
I was VERY staunch in my support for Walsh not drafting him. Not a lot of 160 pounders have long fruitful careers. He had some baggage also.
I'm very happy with how Douglas looks. He said himself he learned a ton this year even while he sat. When you look at our options its very feasable he's the starting PG next year and I'm starting to feel better about it.
I said he could be a Rondo... I take it back. They guy he can emulate is Billups. Billups bounced around like 3-4 teams his first 4 years. Tweener, not a true playmaker but a good talented (lottery) player. Then Detroit gave him the full MLE and Dumars said just do your thing. He doesnt get a ton of assists either, but he's a hardnosed defender and scorer. God I hope Douglas has that kind of potential. Good start.
"winning is more fun... then fun is fun" -Thibs