Watching Greg Monroe for the 10th time this year last night said A LOT

[capstone21]

I can't deny it anymore. @TheNorthCydeRises is right about Al Jefferson. I don't like that he's so slow up and down the court and he's not the type of defender I'd want at C but his post game is undeniable. He's probably the best low post scoring C in the game and I think he's gotten even better in Charlotte.

he is definitely one of if not the best low post scorers in the league. It's everything else that is the problem.

[NBASupes]

Monroe does not suck and he is only bad on defense when forced to play PF. He has absolutely no awareness or lateral quickness to play PF on defense. He can only play center IMO with a good weak side blocker at PF to put next to him. Monroe and Josh Smith make a lot more sense than Drummond + either of the other two actually.

 

If we traded for Greg it would have to be Millsap we gave up and kept Horf at PF. Monroe is the worst shot blocking big man in the NBA, I think he's down to like .2 blocks a game now in this season. But he can rebound and can defend the low post. Just can not block a shot and definitely is not going to come over on weak side help to block a shot.

He has awareness, his problem is he lacks lateral quickness. His reaction time and generally positioning is just fine, his feet are slower than Zaza's in terms of lateral movement and that's a problem. Considering how quick Antić feet move for his position laterally, it gives him an adv on D.

 

I agree with the rest of what you said.

I didn't say he was a good defender. I said he was a better defender at C than at PF and that was what your article from last year talked about. He is simply atrocious defending stretch 4s and as a result should never play the PF position in the NBA. When he's at center and asked to defend the other team's primary low post guy he's not too bad.

 

Once again, I love Dolf but he's wrong on this. His overall numbers at Center a much better than at PF and but as we all know which Dolf is right about. Monroe was a FLAWED Center. He didn't protect the rim. You couldn't hedge with him. He wasn't worth crap for weakside defense. If you can't protect the rim or play solid or better weakside D, you as a Center are a weakness. Also his advanced numbers showed that as well.

 

This is probably the article Dolf is talking about: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/taking-the-mo-out-of-motown-cheeks-couldnt-wrangle-detroits-three-headed-monster/

 

Zach Randolph was a player who was seen as a flawed big. Having center strengths and weaknesses and PF strengths and weaknesses and it was hell for him to find a fit. Everyone knew he was talented but finding a fit was extremely hard. He went from team to team and found a home in Memphis with Marc Gasol. Gasol was strong where Z-Bo was weak. Z-Bo was strong where Marc needed development at. They played with each other extremely well and it worked. Now look at them. Sometimes fit is the most important. Look at Toronto for example. Atlanta do have a talent issue but they have a serious fit issue. Moose would be an extremely good addition to our team.

[NBASupes]

he is definitely one of if not the best low post scorers in the league. It's everything else that is the problem.

I am still on the outs with Jefferson. He really has to have the offense BUILT around him. I would love to have him with Al in a Woody or LD system, not so much in our system. Ball stoppers don't play well in our offense.

[NBASupes]

I would love to see the Horford/Monroe. It's like their both movement guys but score in different areas, aren't redundant, Monroe can guard and score on centers consistently and they fit extremely well. Al strong at what Greg is weak at and Greg is strong where Al could be better at. I wouldn't mind Pek either with Horford but I have trouble seeing would Minny find interest in trading for Millsap when they aren't trying to win anything.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbjLUTdgYWo

 

 

 

[NBASupes]

Two Detroit posts: Different perspectives to say the least and truth. 

 

 

 

how exactly do you guys want Monroe to get more shots? he is an extremely one-dimensional player on both sides of the ball. it's easy to say 'give him the ball more!' and not say HOW you are going to get him the ball.


Monroe is easily our best iso player, that i'm not questioning. the thing is though, that is really the only way Monroe can score consistently. he can shoot jumpers out to 15 feet but not with a ton of frequency and it seems like he can't spot up and shoot - he has to do when he's squared up in isolation out of his triple threat stance. he's not athletic enough to roll to the rim effectively after he sets a high screen, he even struggles to score after offensive boards because he has no lift inside so he's constantly shooting contested layups.

so, if the only way Monroe can consistently score is by isos on the low block then he needs tons of space to do that all the time down the floor. we simply don't have the shooting necessary for him to get that space. I've seen recently in his struggles that teams are doubling him and effectively shutting him (and the offense) down because he has to kick it back out and reset. a lineup consisting of jerebko and Jennings/KCP/butler would probably work great offensively, except then you have Monroe as your rim protector on defense lol. that leads me to...


defensively, Monroe is a huge liability. that's not to say he's a dumb defender, even SVG has stated that Monroe does everything he's asked of on defense. he simply isn't athletic enough to get where he needs to be in time. Monroe simply isn't athletic enough to guard most power forwards in this league. heck, he's not athletic enough to guard half of the centers either. SVG's defensive system is heavily reliant on help defense and Monroe is too slow to make most of the rotations. 

'Monroe is a good man defender'. ok. Monroe might be decent at guarding players in the low post, but teams very rarely initiate their offense in the post these days. man defense in the post is not nearly as important as help defense for big men. when a post player is getting torched down low, teams just send help his way and that essentially nullifies that threat. having a lockdown post defender helps, but is not nearly as important as having a sanders/Dwight/davis-type help defender.


bottom line, as much as Monroe creates some mismatches on offense he always drastically hinders the offense if the opponent gameplans accordingly. on defense he is a walking mismatch and I really can't see many positives from him on the defensive side. he definitely isn't a starting-calibre player on a contending team and probably not even a starting-calibre player on a good playoff team. he reminds me of luis scola from his days in Houston, which isn't meant as an insult or anything but it's not the type of player you want your team to rely on heavily for much of anything.

 

 

 

 

Whitehops, good post... for some reason posters refuse to admit how much of a liability G.M. is defensively and how limited his overall game is... however if he played primarily at the 5 with shooters and help defenders it could still work... this team is the polar opposite of being a fit for Monroe.
He's a smart guy... when free agency lands he'll find his niche somewhere else.