Too bad Brandon Jennings is no longer participating in the Slam Dunk competition. Check out a feature they did with Jennings before he was replaced.

Brandon Jennings may have been replaced from the NBA All Star Saturday Slam Dunk contest but he was selected to participate in the Rookie Challenge the night before as a member of the Sophomore team. Jennings should flourish in this type of open court streetball type of game where defense isn’t played. Since returning from a five week stint on the injured list for a broken foot, Bucks coach Scott Skiles has limited his minutes and Jennings has been coming off the bench. The 21 year old has expressed his displeasure with his lack of play as he tries to work his way back to starter minutes.

“If I am going to be having limited minutes, I might as well not be playing at all. When I get my rhythm, I have to come out because the limited minutes I am in. But once I get going you know how I get. So it kind of took me out of my rhythm a little bit. So if I am going to be on limited minutes, I might as well just not play at all.”

Jennings, who made headlines as a high schooler when he became the first American to skip college to play professionally in Europe, may have bad memories of sitting on the bench since he averaged less than 20 minutes a game when playing overseas. He had originally decided to play for the Arizona Wildcats where he would have gotten a lot more minutes and would have greatly increased the team’s March Madness odds playing with current NBA players Jerryd Bayless, Chase Budinger, and Jordan Hill.

When asked about Jennings’ minutes, Bucks coach Scott Skiles defended his decision:

“I am just going by what I am told by the medical staff on how much he can play. It’s not an ideal scenario, obviously, but it is a situation where he does have to be built back up. He had foot surgery, it’s not like he just had a sore foot or something. They’re going to be a little more cautious and I totally understand that.”