Jennings calls starting on opening night a dream come true

Paul Imig Posted: Oct. 30, 2009

ST. FRANCIS – Milwaukee Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings will be starting his first career National Basketball Association game Friday night in Philadelphia, and the 20-year-old point guard is feeling a variety of emotions heading into his team’s regular season opener.

“I’m real excited, anxious, and a little nervous,” Jennings said after practice Thursday. “But I’ve just got to go out there and be aggressive.”

Just a little over four months ago, Jennings was in Milwaukee wearing Bucks attire alongside other eventual first-round point guard selections Jonny Flynn, Ty Lawson and Jeff Teague, all taking part in a pre-draft workout with hopes of being selected No. 10 overall.

Now, with his first summer league, training camp and preseason completed, Jennings will realize his dream of starting on opening night.

“It’s a blessing,” Jennings said. “That’s something you always dream about, being an NBA starting point guard. So to hear my name (announced with the starting lineup) I’m going to be real excited and real anxious.”

Coach Scott Skiles announced earlier this week that Jennings would be the starter opening night, with veteran Luke Ridnour coming off the bench.

“We feel like, because he (Jennings) has so much to learn and so much experience to gain, that it’s better to have him playing with Andrew (Bogut) and Michael (Redd) for him to hopefully have some success and for us to have success,” Skiles said. “Luke Ridnour can play with any of the lineups, so it’ll be another interesting thing to see how he responds in his first real game.”

As the starting point guard, Jennings understands the importance of getting his teammates in a good rhythm right from the opening tip.

“My goal is just to get the guys off to a good start,” Jennings said. “Get Michael Redd going, get Andrew Bogut going, and try to find my shots as the game goes on. Just try to get everybody to a good start and be more aggressive.”

Bogut, the Bucks No. 1 overall selection four years ago, said he likes to hear that Jennings is coming in with a pass-first mentality.

“For us to be successful, we need Mike and myself to score the basketball and other guys to chip in,” Bogut said. “Not to say that we can’t have bad games, but we know the club is relying on us to score and be the focal points on both ends of the floor, so we need to bring that. Obviously (Jennings) is still young and very inexperienced, but at the same time he brings a lot of energy and passion to the game.

“I think he’s going to have his lumps and his good games, it’s just a matter of maintaining consistency. He’s a young fella. We don’t want him to get down on himself when he has bad games, but you don’t want him to get too high when he has good games. So I think he’ll do fine, he’s really pumped up for it.”

Jennings is the youngest player on the Bucks roster by more than two years, and he knows that the competition at point guard in the NBA is tough every night. His first tasks will be Philadelphia’s Louis Williams on Friday and the combination of Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum of Detroit in Milwaukee’s home opener Saturday night.

“I know everybody’s good, everybody’s talented, so going in to every game I know I have my hands full every night,” Jennings said. “So my main thing is just to lead the team; for me, Luke (Ridnour) and Roko (Ukic) to try to go out there and lead our team to victory every night.”

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Jennings calls starting on opening night a dream come true