The Greg Monroe Thread

[ReasonablySober]

Didn't see one. If there is, lock it up.

Development, stats, trades, contract situation, etc.

Greg Monroe is comfortable.

Monroe admits everything has gone much smoother the second time around with the Bucks.

“I’m more comfortable, definitely,” he said. “A lot of people might not realize it, but in Detroit, I only had this instance where I returned to the team with the same coach once.

“It has raised my comfort level coming back and not having to learn any new lingo, any new coverages. It has been a lot easier to have no adjustment period coming into this season.”

[pxp920]

I was one of the many outspoken critics of Monroe last season as I considered a black hole that needed to be traded ASAP. This season is a whole new story, he is the leader of the second unit, a prolific scorer and rebounder and a willing passer (most of the time). He's by far the best big guy we have and it would amazing if we could maintain him at his current role (with the increased minutes as of late)

[M-C-G]

Didn't see one. If there is, lock it up.

Development, stats, trades, contract situation, etc.

Greg Monroe is comfortable.

Monroe admits everything has gone much smoother the second time around with the Bucks.

“I’m more comfortable, definitely,” he said. “A lot of people might not realize it, but in Detroit, I only had this instance where I returned to the team with the same coach once.

“It has raised my comfort level coming back and not having to learn any new lingo, any new coverages. It has been a lot easier to have no adjustment period coming into this season.”

Why don't one of the stat guys lay out the picture with him this year vs. last year?

[ackypoo]

besides the obvious plumlee or henson trade, whats it going to take to get him to come back next season?

if you think hes going to opt in, i think we are on different pages.

[Shaffty]

Who woulda thought losing 20 pounds and looking to pass makes you good

[Ron Swanson]

Greg deserves a tremendous amount of praise for the way he's handled this entire situation. Not a lot of guys could put aside their egos after signing a big contract with the expectation of starting, and then be told that he's better suited coming off the bench.

He's handled it like a professional and is playing the best basketball of his career. The reason he signed for less years with us originally was because he wanted to win and make the playoffs. He's the last center on the roster that we should be looking to move.

[ReasonablySober]

Why don't one of the stat guys lay out the picture with him this year vs. last year?

I'll start with some lineup data. Monroe's top three lineups (min played):

2016
MCW/Middleton/Parker/Giannis/Monroe: 105.6 Off - 112.4 Def - -6.7 Net
Bayless/Middleton/Parker/Giannis/Monroe: 110.7 Off - 111.1 Def - -0.3 Net
Mayo/Middleton/Parker/Giannis/Monroe: 107.4 Off - 95.8 Def - 11.6 Net

2017
Brogdon/Terry/Beasley/Giannis/Monroe: 105.6 Off - 92.5 Def - 13.1 Net
Brogdon/Terry/Giannis/Mirza/Monroe: 132.5 Off - 96.7 Def - 35.9 Net
Brogdon/Snell/Parker/Giannis/Monroe: 113.0 Off - 99.5 Def - 13.4 Net

[Matches Malone]

He's definitely shown he can be a crucial part of this team moving forward. Just don't like the price tag that comes with him.

I'm hoping he doesn't feel he needs a bigger role and ends up leaving the Bucks to try to "Be the man" again for another franchise. I think that would be a mistake.

[jakecronus8]

Stats look good. Still doesn't pass the eye test for me. Does a lot of annoying things on the court including but not limited to: getting the ball under the basket double teamed and throwing some junk up that gets blocked or misses badly, screams and1 on every other shot attempt that bricks and gives the ref an earful rather than hustling back on defense, when he grabs an offensive board it's going back up 100% of the time rather than resetting, misses cutters to the basket, mis handles a lot of passes.

He's admittedly been better than last year, but he was atrocious last year, and he has the benefit of being compared to complete wastes like Plumlee and Henson. Yes he's our best center but certainly not worth the price tag. And yes I think he opts in.

[M-C-G]

Why don't one of the stat guys lay out the picture with him this year vs. last year?

I'll start with some lineup data. Monroe's top three lineups (min played):

2016
MCW/Middleton/Parker/Giannis/Monroe: 105.6 Off - 112.4 Def - -6.7 Net
Bayless/Middleton/Parker/Giannis/Monroe: 110.7 Off - 111.1 Def - -0.3 Net
Mayo/Middleton/Parker/Giannis/Monroe: 107.4 Off - 95.8 Def - 11.6 Net

2017
Brogdon/Terry/Beasley/Giannis/Monroe: 105.6 Off - 92.5 Def - 13.1 Net
Brogdon/Terry/Giannis/Mirza/Monroe: 132.5 Off - 96.7 Def - 35.9 Net
Brogdon/Snell/Parker/Giannis/Monroe: 113.0 Off - 99.5 Def - 13.4 Net

Out of curiosity, can we isolate it to a 3 man line up with Parker and Giannis, or maybe a 4 man line up but use Snell / Midds at the 4th?

MCW, Bayless and Mayo were anchors in a lot of cases. I know Moose has been good, but the upgrade of 2016 poopoo platter PG vs Brog Dog is significant as well.

[MilHammer]

Stats look good. Still doesn't pass the eye test for me. Does a lot of annoying things on the court including but not limited to: getting the ball under the basket double teamed and throwing some junk up that gets blocked or misses badly, screams and1 on every other shot attempt that bricks and gives the ref an earful rather than hustling back on defense, when he grabs an offensive board it's going back up 100% of the time rather than resetting, misses cutters to the basket, mis handles a lot of passes.

He's admittedly been better than last year, but he was atrocious last year, and he has the benefit of being compared to complete wastes like Plumlee and Henson. Yes he's our best center but certainly not worth the price tag. And yes I think he opts in.

I think what makes him a poor fit in terms of play with the first team is what makes him a great bench option. You need a guy who can get his own shot and score at a consistent clip. If you're consistently trying to force shots up between two starting PF/C's while Giannis, Jabari and Brog are on the floor probably open, its a bad shot. If you're up against Jason Smith and some other random bench scrub, most likely Monroe is getting fouled or it's still a high % shot. I agree sometimes he has tunnel vision and doesn't make the right pass or reset the play, but he plays hard and has stepped up his distributing and work rate on D.

[Ron Swanson]

The most infuriating thing with him is still all those under-the-basket layups he tends to miss. It's like dude, just **** dunk it. I've never seen a 6'11 center in his mid-20s that prefers to lay it in as often as he does at point blank range. It's even more frustrating when you see him do stuff like this on occasion:

Watch on YouTube

[VooDoo7]

Still doesn't pass the eye test for me.

I'm loving Monroe this year, despite his faults. He's been huge coming off the bench. I give him even more credit for keeping a good attitude. It can't be easy seeing Charmin starting ahead of you.

With all that said, I'd still move him at the deadline if the right deal comes along. I just don't see him having a future here.

[M-C-G]

The most infuriating thing with him is still all those under-the-basket layups he tends to miss. It's like dude, just **** dunk it. I've never seen a 6'11 center in his mid-20s that prefers to lay it in as often as he does at point blank range. It's even more frustrating when you see him do stuff like this on occasion:

Watch on YouTube

Yeah, I get it, but the dude does so much footwork to set up his opponent to get to the lay up. Because he does it by feel, and it takes him a lot to gather to actually dunk, it's not as easy as people make it sound.

It's the same reason he is always missing "bunnies"...it takes a lot of spinaroos and fakes to get in position, it's not like he is just missing open put backs. He also seems to have to finish through a lot of uncalled contact.

[SupremeHustle]

The most infuriating thing with him is still all those under-the-basket layups he tends to miss. It's like dude, just **** dunk it. I've never seen a 6'11 center in his mid-20s that prefers to lay it in as often as he does at point blank range. It's even more frustrating when you see him do stuff like this on occasion:

Watch on YouTube

Dude pivots more than Kellyann Conway, and that can be exhausting. After all that, who has legs to dunk?

[drew881]

Why don't one of the stat guys lay out the picture with him this year vs. last year?

I'll start with some lineup data. Monroe's top three lineups (min played):

2016
MCW/Middleton/Parker/Giannis/Monroe: 105.6 Off - 112.4 Def - -6.7 Net
Bayless/Middleton/Parker/Giannis/Monroe: 110.7 Off - 111.1 Def - -0.3 Net
Mayo/Middleton/Parker/Giannis/Monroe: 107.4 Off - 95.8 Def - 11.6 Net

2017
Brogdon/Terry/Beasley/Giannis/Monroe: 105.6 Off - 92.5 Def - 13.1 Net
Brogdon/Terry/Giannis/Mirza/Monroe: 132.5 Off - 96.7 Def - 35.9 Net
Brogdon/Snell/Parker/Giannis/Monroe: 113.0 Off - 99.5 Def - 13.4 Net

Maybe we can just make this the blame MCW thread?

[Whiteman]

I'm still a little shocked at how many steals he's getting (currently 7th in the league in steals/36.) His assist numbers are up too, and despite all the complaints about him missing bunnies his TS is just fine at .568.

He maybe too expensive to keep in the end, but right now I'm happy to have this guy on the team.

[CannondaleF400]

Would like to keep Monroe as backup but can't afford. Not a Henson fan but could live with him as backup C. He has enough offensive skills to provide bench scoring.

[M-C-G]

The most infuriating thing with him is still all those under-the-basket layups he tends to miss. It's like dude, just **** dunk it. I've never seen a 6'11 center in his mid-20s that prefers to lay it in as often as he does at point blank range. It's even more frustrating when you see him do stuff like this on occasion:

Watch on YouTube

Dude pivots more than Kellyann Conway, and that can be exhausting. After all that, who has legs to dunk?

As a kid growing up, my older brother was about a foot taller than me for a couple of years. In order to score, I used a series of pivots, pumps, fakes, spins, positioning and trickery that would make Jason (White Chocolate version) Williams and Jeff Hornaceck blush. The number of times I got stuck cross legged with no where to go but bouncing the ball off of his foot out of bounds is far too many to count. I understand the plight of Moose well in this case.

[Ron Swanson]

Don't get me wrong, his overall efficiency is still good, but he's only shooting 59% at the rim. For a guy as big and strong as he is, that number should probably be higher. Al Jefferson for instance, converts at the rim at a 65% rate for his career.