Pistons' Brandon Jennings: 'There's no leader in this locker room'
Following the Detroit Pistons' 115-99 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night, reserve guard Brandon Jennings called out the team's locker-room leadership, according to MLive:
"We need a leader in this locker room," Jennings said. "That's the first thing, we need a leader. We don't have a leader. That's just being honest. There's no leader in this locker room. I think that would help. We do a lot of talking but not a lot of doing. ...
"We'll say things here and there, but mostly, it's just coach talking. It has to come from the players and we have to police ourselves," Jennings said. "Great teams in this league, they have confrontation. Guys get into it and guys tell them how they feel, and we don't have any of that. Maybe that's what needs to be done, let it out and let's go on from there. But the more you keep it in, whatever you're feeling, it's not going to help."
Jennings' harsh words seem to ring true, though that doesn't make them any less controversial. In a sense, he's calling out Andre Drummond and/or Reggie Jackson, who are the supposed leaders on this team.
Jennings also admitted that he doesn't have the power to be the Pistons' leader yet -- not that he'd necessarily be the ideal choice -- and that he's still trying to figure out his own role off the bench.
This comes just days after reserve big man Anthony Tolliver called out the team for its lack of maturity following Kentavious Caldwell-Pope getting ejected in a loss to the Chicago Bulls. There are obviously some underlying chemistry issues here, though it's unclear which player or players are the primary issue.
Jennings wasn't the only one who took offense to the team's effort against the Pelicans, including a first half in which Detroit allowed 72 points. Head coach Stan Van Gundy called the team's effort "deplorable," and said the 23-20 team appears destined to be average:
"We look like a team that is firmly committed to trying to be mediocre," he said. ...
"We're capable of playing hard," Van Gundy said. "We just don't want to. We've only defended one time in the last six games (in a win over NBA champion Golden State). We were a top seven or eight defensive team, and five out of the last six games, we've had horrible defensive outings, horrible."
Oof. That's a tough assessment to take from your own coach.
There is nothing worse in the modern NBA than being stuck on the treadmill of mediocrity, and Van Gundy is warning his ball club that they're heading that way -- and underperforming their potential -- if they keep playing so inconsistently.
Reggie Jackson said, "It is tough to talk about." Marcus Morris admitted he can tell some of his teammates are taking plays off. Basically, there is a whole lot of finger-pointing and no one taking accountability for the situation they find themselves in.
Jennings added that he thinks the responsibility should fall on his and Jackson's shoulders, as they are the two point guards. If they are holding their teammates accountable and confronting them when they are not doing their job, then that mentality will trickle down throughout the rest of the roster. That makes sense.
With all of this said, the Pistons shouldn't be too done on themselves just yet. They're still above .500 and appear to be a playoff team as long they maintain this pace. The East is so jumbled together that as long as you can avoid the No. 8 -- and a date with the Cleveland Cavaliers -- you probably have at least a puncher's chance in Round 1.
If the Pistons combust from the inside, as the Phoenix Suns have already done this season, then that's a different story. It hasn't gotten that serious yet, but this is a team to keep an eye on moving forward.
Jovan Buha covers the NBA for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter at @jovanbuha.
