Brandon Jennings had a rough debut for the Wizards, scoring zero points and committing a memorable turnover. But he still sounded very happy with his new situation after being waived by the New York Knicks.
"I'm in the same position I was in New York, but just in a better system for me personally and with a team that actually plays together," he said.
I'm no Miss Cleo, but it's not too hard to read Jennings' mind here. He seems to be saying that the Knicks' system did not fit him and the team did not play together.
For some context, Jenning asked to be waived by the Knicks so he'd get an opportunity to join a playoff team, according to Marc J. Spears of EPSN. He also hadn't been shy about criticizing the team earlier in the season.
When the Knicks lost to the 2-8 Wizards in mid-November, Jennings was vocally unhappy.
“This is a team desperate for a win and they got one,’’ Jennings said, via The New York Post. “They just lost to Philly [Wednesday] night. They come in and beat us. We need to be more desperate.”
He also knocked his teammates for not listening intently to coaches. “When coaches are doing the game plan, we got to listen. When the coach is writing the play, everybody’s got to pay attention. There’s a lot at stake for us," he said.
Two months later after a loss to the Hawks, Jennings vented his frustrations about unsettled lineups and lack of direction.
“Every day is something new,’’ Jennings said, also via The New York Post. “You got to be ready [because] you never know when you’re going to play. When you come in, you really don’t know what’s going to happen. There’s kind of no consistency. It’s tough."
The elephant in the room here is the push and pull over the triange offense, which Knicks team president Phil Jackson favored throughout his coaching career. The team strayed from running the triangle much this season, but have turned back to it this week with practices specific to the triangle.
The triangle offense is controversial in and of itself. But regardless of whether you think it's outdated or can work with the right players, the Knicks aren't doing their guys any favors by not having a consistent system.
Or with any of their other drama this season, for that matter.
Infighting between Jackson and star forward Carmelo Anthony, plus owner James Dolan having former Knick Charles Oakley forcibly removed from Madison Square Garden, has to make establishing a team-first, cooperative atmosphere difficult.
Jennings is clear of all that now.
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