Brandon Jennings fires back at Bucks' Larry Sanders

Vince Ellis | USA TODAY Sports

New Detroit Pistons guard Brandon Jennings today defended his shot selection while playing for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Former teammate Larry Sanders may feel that Jennings should have passed more, but Jennings thinks the only way the Bucks had a chance was for him and backcourt mate Monta Ellis to take the majority of shots.

"I had to, I had to, though," he said. "I mean, I had to take the shots. That's just what it is. Me and Monta had to take those shots. Regardless for us to even get into the eighth spot in the playoffs, we had to take those shots. That's just what it is."

The back-and-forth started when Jennings was introduced to the Detroit media after being obtained from the Bucks during the summer. He was asked about his shot selection and said it wouldn't be an issue because of the presence of promising big men Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe — options he didn't have in Milwaukee.

Sanders isn't a slouch, as evidenced by the four-year, $44-millon extension he signed with the Bucks in the off-season. Asked by Fox Sports Wisconsin's Andrew Gruman to comment on Jennings saying he was going to play with better bigs in Detroit, Sanders responded: "He has to pass it to them first."

Jennings said he wasn't taking a shot at the Bucks by complimenting the Pistons' front line, but he didn't back down from his talent assessment.

"I wasn't taking shots at Milwaukee, but let's be honest here," Jennings said. "I got two of the best young big men in the league. I'm not going to sugarcoat it or say it any other way. If he feels like I wasn't passing him the ball ... (laughs). There's times that that I had 20, 18, 19 assists in a game over there, so I was passing.

"Sometimes you gotta be able to finish."

Jennings' career high is 19 assists.

He had one more thing to say.

"Hey, they paid him $11 million per year, so he's doing something right," Jennings said of Sanders.

Vince Ellis writes for the Detroit Free Press and is a panelist for USA TODAY Sports' NBA power rankings.