



With Brandon Jennings now in Detroit, and no longer having to deal with Monta Ellis, Larry Sanders says he’s ready and excited to lead the young Milwaukee Bucks into the future (shaky as it may seem.) Sanders is looking forward to teaming up with new point guard Brandon Knight. Per the Journal Sentinel: “Sanders said he learned a few things during his time with the U.S. team that can translate to the upcoming season. ‘It’s not really putting their egos aside but joining egos for the USA ego,’ Sanders said. ‘How they all had the same goal in mind, the USA team, they just won gold (in the 2012 Olympics). I think that’s something we can definitely bring to the Bucks, just everybody pointing in the same direction.’ Sanders was asked his reaction to Tuesday’s trade sending Brandon Jennings to Detroit and bringing 21-year-old point guard Brandon Knight to Milwaukee. ‘Well, Brandon Knight is a tough player, man,’ Sanders said. ‘He plays extremely hard. Every time I’ve had a chance to play against him, he’s been a tough competitor. Sometimes he was out of position, jumping for blocks and stuff, but he don’t have to do that no more. He can focus all of his energy up top. I just see me and him having a heck of a pick-and-roll game. Just hounding guys, he’s a good defender, so he’s going to add an element to our team as far as guard defense up top. And he can shoot the ball well, too, push the ball. A lot of speed. I think he’s a great addition to the team.’ Sanders said it will be important that the Bucks stay unified and he likes the players management has signed or acquired through trades this summer. A divided locker room contributed heavily to a poor regular-season finish and a four-game sweep at the hands of Miami in the first round of the playoffs last season. ‘From the gate, too, from the beginning,’ Sanders said. ‘It’s not an issue we should have to address in April in the playoffs. It’s something that should be addressed in preseason, before we even play a regular-season game. Everything will be ironed out. You go through situations and you learn from them. You learn how not to do things and how to handle things better.’ Sanders will be entering just his fourth season but is one of the young players the Bucks are building around, along with 22-year-old John Henson, Knight and even 18-year-old rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo.”

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