THE Brandon Jennings Question

[WillTheThrill12]

He's starting to bud as a real leader on this team, but I do need more sample sizes in this post-Josh Smith Era as a "wait and see" as pertains to if he's really our answer at PG in the future. If he keeps this train rolling, I do have to give real thought to keeping him here if I were SVG.

[kurtis48239]

If he can get us into the playoffs and shows great judgement,then I will lean more to that side,right now he is playing awesome,but his problems comes from his matureity and inflated ego.I need to see another season of him at this level,but if he can mature into a leader on the court,he isnt so bad to have.Lets also see how he copes with a string of bad games from himself to.

[epheisey]

Chauncey was quite the chucker himself early on. He didn't earn the name Mr. Bigshot by only taking high percentage shots. It's comical how many people criticize the very thing that they loved when it was coming from someone else or vice versa.

Every hates Jennings' ill-advised shots. Yet Chauncey could run to the top of the arc and jack a 3 and no one would bat an eye. And he did that hundreds of times. Early in the season, KCP could take and miss 20 shots a night, and people dropped the "he's young and developing" line.

Joe Dumars dropped buckets of cash on supporting/role players and we crucified him for it. Now half the poster's want to throw a max deal at Draymond Green.

Chauncey was a great defensive PG when he had Tayshaun, Sheed, and Ben behind him. Specifically when Ben left, his defense went back to above average.

If Drummond can develop into that type of defender, and KCP can help on the wing, Jennings does more than enough on defense to hold his own.


So can Jennings be the PG on a winning team? Yes. In fact, name me the last Championship team who's PG was one of the 2 or even 3 best players on their team? Tony Parker is the only one even worth mentioning, and he's borderline at 3rd. No winner in the past 10 years has had a superstar PG. Most of them have had very average PG's actually. Surround Jennings with good players and he will be more than enough to get us there. PG isn't our problem. SF, and potentially PF are the problem.

[Pharaoh]

Only one team wins the championship do to ask the question is kinda out of whack.

Better question is: can Jennings be the starting PG on a legit contender?

And I'll say yes!

We're obviously missing some key components but we're really not as far away as people think.

There isn't a single Eastern Conference team that scares me in a 7 game series!

And assuming we get to the playoffs...All bets are off

[vic]

Chauncey was quite the chucker himself early on. He didn't earn the name Mr. Bigshot by only taking high percentage shots. It's comical how many people criticize the very thing that they loved when it was coming from someone else or vice versa.

Every hates Jennings' ill-advised shots. Yet Chauncey could run to the top of the arc and jack a 3 and no one would bat an eye. And he did that hundreds of times. Early in the season, KCP could take and miss 20 shots a night, and people dropped the "he's young and developing" line.

Joe Dumars dropped buckets of cash on supporting/role players and we crucified him for it. Now half the poster's want to throw a max deal at Draymond Green.

Chauncey was a great defensive PG when he had Tayshaun, Sheed, and Ben behind him. Specifically when Ben left, his defense went back to above average.

If Drummond can develop into that type of defender, and KCP can help on the wing, Jennings does more than enough on defense to hold his own.


So can Jennings be the PG on a winning team? Yes. In fact, name me the last Championship team who's PG was one of the 2 or even 3 best players on their team? Tony Parker is the only one even worth mentioning, and he's borderline at 3rd. No winner in the past 10 years has had a superstar PG. Most of them have had very average PG's actually. Surround Jennings with good players and he will be more than enough to get us there. PG isn't our problem. SF, and potentially PF are the problem.

Pretty much sums up my opinion. It would be nice to have a bigger better defense of PG, but it's not crucial. Jennings is very talented, and as long as he plays with confidence I'm fine with him being the PG of the future. I think it's good to have somebody with that swagger that can get mad and just go off at any time. At the same time he's smart enough to pass well and get his teammate involved also. I like Dinwiddie too. I think we are set at guard.

What's more important is that 3 position and will Monroe stay on as that 4/5. This years free agency will determine when and if the Pistons get back to a championship level.

[Ghost]

I would not sell high Brandon Jennings, even if the opportunity presented itself. He appears to have bought in and he is playing with such a high level of confidence. Remember when Smith got waived, a quote came out from Jennings and he said "when youre the highest paid player on the team and youre not performing, youre going to get some bad looks" well, Jennings is our highest paid player now and he is acting like he is. We need to kind of get lucky and end up with a steal of a deal, this could be it. Everyone has always loved his potential, just not his attitude and the way he plays, but we might have a situation in place where he could finally excel.
Hes still a young point guard and his relationships are growing with everyone, the whole dancing on the bench when Augustin is in and playing well. It's great to see. He wants to win and he's willing to sit if he's not playing well, that's perfect.

On top of all that he's a true x-factor going in to any game, he can elevate our team's play dramatically when he's on.

[fekz]

Jennings over the last 30 days:

18.0 PPG on 44% FG

2.8 RPG

7.1 AST

1.3 STL

1.9 TO

That's pretty damn good.

[mattao313]

http://tinyurl.com/ptotuk9

Pretty good article on Brandon Jennings.

[ImHeisenberg]

Chauncey was quite the chucker himself early on. He didn't earn the name Mr. Bigshot by only taking high percentage shots. It's comical how many people criticize the very thing that they loved when it was coming from someone else or vice versa.

Fair point- Billups isn't a great career shooter. A career 41% shooter. But, he also played in a different era of the NBA. Raw points were what people and team's looked at, they generally weren't as concerned with how many attempts it took to get there. That's why chuckers were getting massive contract then, and now they're paid the mid-level at best.

The NBA has shifted from volume shooters to efficiency (for the most part, LA and NY still haven't).

So, it's kind of apples and oranges. Plus, Billups does deserve a lot of slack considering how decorated his NBA resume is. Jennings doesn't get that slack because he hasn't accomplished anything of note in the NBA.


As for Jennings being the long term answer at PG- he's young enough to fit with where this team is going, but the sample size is far too small to form a good opinion either way. This is something better addressed when the season closes.

[MrBigShot]

Chauncey was quite the chucker himself early on. He didn't earn the name Mr. Bigshot by only taking high percentage shots. It's comical how many people criticize the very thing that they loved when it was coming from someone else or vice versa.

Fair point- Billups isn't a great career shooter. A career 41% shooter. But, he also played in a different era of the NBA. Raw points were what people and team's looked at, they generally weren't as concerned with how many attempts it took to get there. That's why chuckers were getting massive contract then, and now they're paid the mid-level at best.

The NBA has shifted from volume shooters to efficiency (for the most part, LA and NY still haven't).

So, it's kind of apples and oranges. Plus, Billups does deserve a lot of slack considering how decorated his NBA resume is. Jennings doesn't get that slack because he hasn't accomplished anything of note in the NBA.


As for Jennings being the long term answer at PG- he's young enough to fit with where this team is going, but the sample size is far too small to form a good opinion either way. This is something better addressed when the season closes.

Don't be fooled by his FG%, Chauncey was an excellent overall shooter and a very, very efficient offensive player in his prime. Prime example: Chauncey shot 42% in 05-06 but ended up with a TS of 60%. Steve Nash, who many consider to be the pinnacle of efficiency for a PG, has a career TS of 60%. Chauncey has a career of TS of 58%. He was very underrated in his ability to get to the line and convert at an elite rate, and that was a big part of why he was so efficient.

Sure, Chauncey was a bit of a chucker early on when he was bounced around, but once he became established as the Chauncey we've all come to know now, he was a very efficient player. There is a HUGE difference taking heat check threes in transition when you are as efficient as Damian Lillard, Steve Nash, Chauncey ect...

I don't want to come across too harsh though, because right now Jennings is playing like an all star and in my opinion has been our best player during the last 10 games. I love the way he plays with heart and takes matchups personally, and appreciate the fact that he is a true floor general. He's been impressive and deserves nothing but praise since we waived Smith.