Lob City East?
Feb. 3, 2012; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings (3) is defended by Detroit Pistons point guard Brandon Knight (7) at The Palace. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
In what should be the last press conference of the Summer for Detroit, the Pistons introduced newly acquired point guard Brandon Jennings to the Detroit media on Tuesday. Jennings was sent to Detroit in a trade that shipped Brandon Knight and two other prospects to the Bucks.
Brandon Jennings arrived to the press conference wearing a Detroit Pistons hat that looked extremely similar to the 2009 draft cap. (ironic?), to address the Detroit media for the first time.
Joe Dumars started the press conference with an opening statement on why the deal was made. Dumars said Jennings “is a guy that can score and distribute, and that was important to us. We also like the fact that he has 5-years of pro experience, one in Italy and four in Milwaukee.”
He added, ” We thought that he could step in right now, hit the ground running, and fit with the rest of our guys (Smith, Monroe, Drummond).”
Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press started off the press conference with a question we all wanted to hear the answer to:
“A couple of days before the news came out, you were at the Drew League wearing a Detroit Bad Boys T-shirt, and the photo got circulated widely across twitter. Did you have any inclination this was going on, at the time, or how long does your fandom of the Pistons go back?”
Brandon Jennings responded with a giddy smile, along with several whispers back and forth with Joe D, and responded with this:
“Well I actually just saw the shirt and I just liked it I guess.”
Right after, you see Dumars pat him on the back with a cheesy smile to confirm what the media has just found out. Jennings had a feeling he might have been shipped to Detroit.
Keith Langlois of Pistons.com, followed with a question about the talent he would be playing with in Detroit.
KL: “Brandon, Joe talked about what you can do for the Pistons, how do you see the talent you will be playing with, especially the frontcourt helping you become a better point guard?”
BJ: “Well for one, this will be my first year actually playing with a frontcourt like this. With Drummond, Greg Monroe, and Josh Smith, so you know I think we got the two top big men in the League. Especially two young guys that have a lot of potential, so they are going to make my job a lot easier, and of course I’m going to make their jobs a lot easier. So I guess you could say we are bringing Lob City to Detroit this year.”
A rather big statement for a player, and team, that have not set foot on the court together, and have yet to create any sort of chemistry, but still music to many Piston fans’ ears.
Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News, asked later on, about how Brandon might have to change his game for the better of the team, targeted at Dumars.
VG: “There has been a lot of talk about how Brandon has to change his game or submerge his game from what it was in Milwaukee. A.) Do you agree with that? B.) What does that exactly mean, what type of player does he have to become, compared to the player he has been?”
JD: “I think any time you put a lot of talent on the floor, I think its important for everybody that their games mesh, I don’t think it falls on to one guy, to do that. I think that Andre, Greg, Josh, and Chaunc, and everybody else you have to sacrifice to make sure that it works, and to make sure that you have chemistry. If your trying to depend on one guy to make sure that the chemistry is good, that’s usually not going to happen, so I would say that that falls on every single guy on our roster, to make sure that the chemistry works.”
Terry Foster of the Detroit News, asked Jennings about what kind of player he thinks he will be in Detroit.
TF: “When you said a few minutes ago, that we will see the player that played five years ago, who is that guy, and how can that guy help this team this year?”
BJ: “I definitely have to change my game, you know for this team, for my teammates to be successful. With the talent that I have around me…we have a great frontcourt, we have some great vets, we have Stuckey, we have Billups, we have a bunch of great players so the things that I was doing in Milwaukee, I won’t have to do here, take all those bad shots, cause we have so many pieces.”
Dumars and Jennings answered a few more questions posed by the media before they ultimately unveiled the soon to be top selling Piston jersey, the Jennings #7. Brandon will wear No. 7 in honor of the great Kenny Anderson who made the number famous as a member of the New Jersey Nets.