Bucks 'relevant again' thanks to their dazzling rookie

It's one thing to dazzle the fans sitting in the expensive courtside seats. All that's required is a nifty crossover move and a dunk or two to make the highlight reels on TV.
It takes more to turn heads inside NBA locker rooms, which makes it so impressive that Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings has necks twisting like Linda Blair's in The Exorcist.

"My goodness, a rookie?" said 15-year veteran and Bucks teammate Kurt Thomas. "He's been playing unbelievable and he ranks right up there at the top of any of them that I've ever seen."
Indeed, the numbers and the feats are as good as anybody has witnessed. Jennings started with 17 points, nine assists and nine rebounds on opening night against the Philadelphia 76ers, just missing out on being the only rookie in league history other than Oscar Robertson to begin his career with a triple-double. His 55 points on Nov. 14 against the Golden State Warriors was the highest total by a first-year player since Earl Monroe's 56 back in 1968. And his six games of scoring at least 25 points are the most by any rookie before Thanksgiving since Michael Jordan. He ranks ninth in the league at 24.2 points per game.
Jennings' blinding raw speed, uncanny court vision and ability to make plays has the Bucks off to an 8-4 record -- their best start since 2001 -- in what most figured was going to be rebuilding season. Most of all, he has put the crackle and electricity of excitement back into the Milwaukee franchise.

"No question," said coach Scott Skiles. "There's a buzz in our building and there's more of you guys (media) hanging around us in other cities. For some of the guys on our team, they haven't encountered that with our franchise, if at all. It's very important. He makes us relevant again."
That is further evidenced by ESPN switching its TV schedule to show the Bucks game on Friday night at Oklahoma City. It will be the first Milwaukee game shown on ESPN since Jan. 11, 2008. Jennings' jaw-dropping plays as both a scorer and passer also have enabled the Bucks to frequently elbow their way back into the nightly national TV highlight packages. It's all heady stuff for the first American player to go straight from high school to a European pro league and then return to the U.S. Jennings fell to 10th in the NBA Draft, likely due to a maverick reputation. His reputation is anything but that now.