Atlanta Hawks: Pro comparisons for Sharife Cooper

Atlanta Hawks: Pro comparisons for Sharife Cooper No. 2) Brandon Jennings

Brandon Jennings started his pro career out with a bang. In his first four seasons, he averaged 16.9 points and 5.7 assists which shows what is possible for a 6’1″ 170 lb guard can do. He was then traded to the Detroit Pistons and played a full season before disaster struck.

He tore his Achillies partway into the season, which carried on into the next season as well. The problem is that when a player relies on his speed to get past the defense is robbed of this speed thanks to such a serious injury.

Because Jennings was never a great shooter, he was not able to transform his game when he came back. In fact, he was never able to get back to his pre-injury shooting form. Without the speed to blow past defenders, Jennings could be guarded closer when he was behind the arc.

While Cooper may not even reach the heights of Jennings’ early career, he has a good template to follow if he wants to maximize his talents. Jennings’ court vision was incredible throughout his career and this really helped his ability to make it to the rim which was a big part of his scoring ability.