FanPost

Jennings: The Truth




So I am writing this to set things straight as to why Jennings left and the truth behind his game, rather than have you listen to the made up junk articles written by sports "experts" who we all know really don't follow the Bucks and had to come up with something on the topic since the Brandon trade was pretty big news given the time it was done (not much else going on since all the major trades and signings were already made a few weeks ago).

The first thing I want to point out is that Jennings did not want to be here and was not escorted out the door by the Bucks organization. It was actually the opposite. So these "experts" are sympathizing with Jennings, saying that "well I don't blame Jennings for leaving since Teague was given an offer sheet and Jennings was no longer wanted." The truth is Jennings was offered a $40 Million extension for 4 years by the Bucks prior to this last season, but he was an idiot and thought he was worth $12 Million a year at least and declined. Hr whined and complained, but give the Bucks credit for not caving and doing something stupid. Obviously he is better than Knight, and we wanted to keep him. Now I would think money was the issue and not the Bucks organization, since he was saying he loved it here and wanted to stay. Whoa now! Take a step back. Love that Larry Sanders sticks around in the summer, but I don't see Jennings here in the summer very much at all (and he wonders why nobody knows who he is and doesn't show up for his signings). Also, a much more obvious indicator is money apparent;y wasn't the issue since he took the $24 Million 3 year deal (that's 8 Mil a year not 12) in Detroit. So Jennings is the one wanting out, and I think that is pretty obvious. Don't blame it on the Teague offer, or Bucks not offering enough $$$. He had plenty of opportunities to be overpaid and still #1 in Milwaukee.

The second thing I want to point out is people blaming the Ellis/Jennings experiment for Jennings performing poorly this last season, and trying to make it sound like Jennings is way better if this was not the case. Here are some career stats from ESPN.com for Jennings:

REGULAR SEASON AVERAGES
SEASON TEAM GP GS MIN FGM-A FG% 3PM-A 3P% FTM-A FT% OR DR REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS
'09-'10 82 82 32.6 5.5-14.8 .371 1.8-4.7 .374 2.7-3.3 .817 0.6 2.8 3.4 5.7 0.2 1.3 2.3 2.4 15.5
'10-'11 63 61 34.4 5.7-14.7 .390 1.6-4.8 .323 3.2-3.9 .809 0.7 3.1 3.7 4.8 0.3 1.5 2.1 2.3 16.2
'11-'12 66 66 35.3 7.1-17.0 .418 2.0-5.9 .332 2.9-3.6 .808 0.7 2.7 3.4 5.5 0.3 1.6 1.7 2.2 19.1
'12-'13 80 80 36.2 6.2-15.6 .399 2.2-5.8 .375 2.9-3.5 .819 0.7 2.3 3.1 6.5 0.1 1.6 1.9 2.5 17.5
Career 291 289 34.6 6.1-15.5 .394 1.9-5.3 .354 2.9-3.6 .813 0.7 2.7 3.4 5.7 0.2 1.5 2.0 2.4 17.0

He didn't lose out on minutes, but in fact got slightly more. Also, most of his stats went up a bit compared to last year. But I'll focus on the obvious one that kinda matters more. His points took a hit, going from 19.1 to 17.5 and his shooting percentage dipped from .418 to .399 percent. The drop of 1.6 points is less than one more basket per game so I don't care about this and neither should anyone else. What we should care about is people blaming Jennings poor shooting percentage on the Ellis pairing. The .418 is pretty decent, and dipping to .399 is very bad. But let's look at every year, and not just last year. When we average all 4 years, Jennings is still under .400 shooting percentage. Let's not focus too much on the 11-12 .418, because every player can have a good year, but shouldn't have more bad years than good, which is the case for Jennings. Let's not pretend Jennings is some snubbed should be All-Star player who deserves praise and should have been kept by the Bucks. He averages less than .400 shooting percentage, doesn't have a great assist average, can't finish at the rim very well (especially since he can barely use his right hand), and still he thinks he is the next great point guard in the league. Detroit can have him and pairing Jennings with Smith on forced bad shot selections will most likely prove fatal to the Piston's 2013-2014 season (then again anything can happen, but don't bet the farm). I'll throw in Knight's stats, Chris Paul's, and Jrue Holiday's as well from ESPN.com just as a reference as to how Jennings stacks up compared to some other point guards.

REGULAR SEASON AVERAGES
SEASON TEAM GP GS MIN FGM-A FG% 3PM-A 3P% FTM-A FT% OR DR REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS
'11-'12 66 60 32.3 4.8-11.7 .415 1.6-4.2 .380 1.6-2.1 .759 0.5 2.7 3.2 3.8 0.2 0.7 2.3 2.6 12.8
'12-'13 75 75 31.5 4.8-11.7 .407 1.6-4.4 .367 2.2-3.0 .733 0.7 2.6 3.3 4.0 0.1 0.8 2.1 2.7 13.3
Career 141 135 31.9 4.8-11.7 .410 1.6-4.3 .373 1.9-2.6 .743 0.6 2.6 3.2 3.9 0.1 0.8 2.2 2.7 13.1

REGULAR SEASON AVERAGES
SEASON TEAM GP GS MIN FGM-A FG% 3PM-A 3P% FTM-A FT% OR DR REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS
'05-'06
  • NO
78 78 36.0 5.2-12.1 .430 0.6-2.3 .282 5.1-6.0 .847 0.8 4.4 5.1 7.8 0.1 2.2 2.8 2.3 16.1
'06-'07
  • NO
64 64 36.8 6.0-13.6 .437 0.8-2.2 .350 4.6-5.6 .818 0.8 3.5 4.4 8.9 0.0 1.8 2.4 2.5 17.3
'07-'08
  • NO
80 80 37.6 7.9-16.1 .488 1.2-3.1 .369 4.2-4.9 .851 0.8 3.2 4.0 11.6 0.1 2.7 2.3 2.5 21.1
'08-'09
  • NO
78 78 38.5 8.1-16.1 .503 0.8-2.3 .364 5.8-6.7 .868 0.9 4.7 5.5 11.0 0.1 2.8 2.7 3.0 22.8
'09-'10
  • NO
45 45 38.0 7.0-14.2 .493 1.2-2.8 .409 3.6-4.2 .847 0.4 3.8 4.2 10.7 0.2 2.1 2.6 2.5 18.7
'10-'11
  • NO
80 80 36.0 5.4-11.6 .463 0.9-2.3 .388 4.2-4.8 .878 0.5 3.6 4.1 9.8 0.1 2.4 2.5 2.2 15.9
'11-'12 60 60 36.4 7.1-14.8 .478 1.3-3.6 .371 4.3-5.0 .861 0.7 2.9 3.6 9.1 0.1 2.5 2.3 2.1 19.8
'12-'13 70 70 33.4 5.9-12.2 .481 1.1-3.3 .328 4.1-4.6 .885 0.8 3.0 3.7 9.7 0.1 2.4 2.0 2.3 16.9
Career 555 555 36.5 6.5-13.8 .473 1.0-2.7 .356 4.5-5.3 .858 0.7 3.7 4.4 9.8 0.1 2.4 2.5 2.4 18.6

REGULAR SEASON AVERAGES
SEASON TEAM GP GS MIN FGM-A FG% 3PM-A 3P% FTM-A FT% OR DR REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS
'09-'10 73 51 24.2 3.2-7.1 .442 0.8-2.2 .390 0.9-1.2 .756 0.8 1.9 2.6 3.8 0.2 1.1 2.1 2.1 8.0
'10-'11 82 82 35.4 5.4-12.2 .446 1.0-2.7 .365 2.1-2.5 .823 0.8 3.2 4.0 6.5 0.4 1.5 2.5 2.7 14.0
'11-'12 65 65 33.8 5.5-12.8 .432 1.0-2.6 .380 1.4-1.8 .783 0.9 2.4 3.3 4.5 0.3 1.6 2.1 2.1 13.5
'12-'13 78 78 37.5 7.1-16.5 .431 1.2-3.2 .368 2.3-3.1 .752 1.1 3.1 4.2 8.0 0.4 1.6 2.2 3.7 17.7
Career 298 276 32.9 5.3-12.2 .437 1.0-2.7 .374 1.7-2.2 .781 0.9 2.7 3.6 5.8 0.3 1.4 2.2 2.7 13.4

The Bucks could have done much worse than Brandon Knight, since he is only 21 and already has a better shooting percentage than Jennings in 2-pt and 3-pt shots on average. He needs help in the assists department like Jennings, but if you get his assists numbers up with some good coaching and work on his free throws a bit he is already better than the volume shooter Jennings with the under .400 shot. So Bucks didn't do as horrible as these "experts" make it seem.

So since I rambled enough here is the conclusion. Bucks made a pretty good trade given the circumstances, and I applaud the front office in this situation. Jennings was a whiny ungrateful wannabe who turned his back on Milwaukee fans long before this summer. He left not because of the Bucks, but because he thinks he is way better than he actually is in reality. Ellis was the same thinking he was on par with Wade and that got him only $25 Million over 3 years, when he passed on the Bucks $36 Million 3 year offer. I guess Jennings and Ellis really are two peas in a pod who never understood their worth and role and literally paid for it in lesser contracts.

Good riddens Jennings! I wanted to believe in you and think that you really did care about Milwaukee and its fan base, but reality isn't quite as nice. I will be shocked if Jennings matures at all in Detroit (you think Milwaukee was a dump, at least we never tried to file bankruptcy as a city, so have fun Jennings).

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