Jennings leads Bucks past Knicks
Photo credit: AP | New York Knicks' Wilson Chandler and Milwaukee Bucks' Jodie Meeks (23) go after a rebound during the first half. (November 7, 2009)
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Nov. 7: Bucks 102, Knicks 87
MILWAUKEE - Donnie Walsh admitted with stunning candor Friday that going into the draft, he and his scouting staff "didn't have a feel" for Brandon Jennings' game.
It took only about two weeks into the NBA season to get the feeling they made a mistake when they passed on the lightning-quick point guard from Compton, Calif. with the eighth pick in the draft.
"I was a little upset," said Jennings, whom the Bucks selected two picks later. "New York was one of my No. 1 teams I wanted to go to at the time."
Jennings' outstanding start this season - he scored 19 points in the Bucks' 102-87 victory over the Knicks last night and entered the game leading the Bucks with 18.8 points and 4.8 assists per game - has the Knicks scrambling to explain themselves. Especially considering how poorly Chris Duhon has played at point guard this season.
David Lee led the Knicks - who are owned by Cablevision, which also owns Newsday - with 18 points and seven rebounds. Toney Douglas had 16 points and Danilo Gallinari finished with 15.
Jennings carries himself with a confident swagger and said he believed the Knicks were going to select him last June, especially after their prime target, Stephen Curry, went to the Golden State Warriors one selection earlier.
"They needed a point guard, LeBron was coming in '10, I was thinking, 'Oh, man, here we go; here it is,' " Jennings said.
"Didn't happen, though."
Instead of preparing to take Duhon's starting job, Jennings had to settle for borrowing his driver that night. Jennings stayed in his Manhattan hotel with his family and watched the draft on television until his name was called. He rushed to the Garden's WaMu Theater via Duhon's driver, who happened to be available.
"I just borrowed him for a second," Jennings said with a smile.
It's become an annual practice for Knicks fans to covet thy neighbor's draft pick. Last season, while Gallinari was dealing with back issues that limited him to 28 games, Eric Gordon of the Clippers was the one who got away. In 2005, when the Knicks took Channing Frye, it was Andrew Bynum.
(Knicks fans need not worry about the next pick. It's owned by the Utah Jazz as a final result of the Stephon Marbury trade from January 2004.)
Walsh said the concern with Jennings was the very little scouting information they had on him from Italy - where he played a limited role for Lottomatica Roma - and his slight 6-1, 169-pound frame. But they saw firsthand his predraft workout at the MSG Training Center, where he took it to Tyreke Evans.
"I thought I showed them enough in the workout," Jennings said.
Jennings said he wanted to play for Mike D'Antoni because "I saw what he did for Steve Nash; how Steve Nash's game is unbelievable now. I wanted to play for a guy like that."
D'Antoni said Jennings "had a good workout and we liked him, but the consensus was Jordan Hill was a better talent. We took Jordan at a spot where we had a lot of guys. We just thought he was the best talent at that time, so that's who we took. We'll see. It's too early to make an assessment either way. Brandon Jennings has played well and Jordan will get his chance and we'll see."
The 6-10 Hill played garbage time in the season opener in Miami but didn't get off the bench again until Friday against the Cavaliers, when he made a 4:46 cameo in the second quarter. He scored six points and had two turnovers.
He played 12 minutes against the Bucks and had seven points.
