We "Don't" Want the Monk: The Malik Monk Thread

[yosemiteben]

Monk was fed steady minutes, don't agree that he wasn't given a fair shot.

[Eoghan]

Monk was fed steady minutes, don't agree that he wasn't given a fair shot.

Wasn't that before the team was at full strength with Batum and MKG back?

[yosemiteben]

Monk was fed steady minutes, don't agree that he wasn't given a fair shot.

Wasn't that before the team was at full strength with Batum and MKG back?

Yeah, but why is that relevant?

[HornetJail]

Monk was fed steady minutes, don't agree that he wasn't given a fair shot.

Wasn't that before the team was at full strength with Batum and MKG back?

Yeah, but why is that relevant?

Because we kind of need to see what Monk looks like when 1) he has someone like Nic feeding him the ball in the right spots instead of having to create most of his looks like he had to early in the season and 2) what he looks like alongside our starting wings instead of our 2nd/3rd string. Let's face it, Bacon and Graham aren't exactly good players and neither will be in the rotation come playoff time.

[catch20two]

Let's face it, Bacon and Graham aren't exactly good players and neither will be in the rotation come playoff time.

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I can see Clifford keeping Bacon in the rotation all season. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lamb fell out of the rotation for Bacon by seasons end knowing Clifford.

Furthermore I’m not even thinking about the playoffs until we’re over .500 again.

[Hornet Mania]

Yeah, I gotta agree. While it is true Monk go steady minutes from the get-go, and it is also true he was mostly awful in those minutes, it wasn't the optimal situation for his growth and hopefully success.

In spite of his rough start I'd still like to see 5-10 minutes a game as backup SG alongside Batum or Kemba (or both), let the scorer just score and get acclimated as a role player. It's what's best for his future, imo. It's a shame he's been forced to be a backup PG well before he was ready straight to getting benched. A small portion of minutes is what he needs.

We're historically awful at developing young talent (Kemba aside), and I believe this is one of the reasons. We don't put young players in a position to succeed. We pigeonholed Cody as a stretch four for years (without ever bothering to develop a corner 3!!!) when that's clearly not his game, we screwed with MKG's shot forever with the end result being...he still shoots pretty much the same except now he said eff it and it's going in sometimes, you get the picture. We also tend to have short-sighted goals that do harm to the greater good when it comes to developing them.

This is super frustrating, because as a small-market franchise our only realistic shot at a championship is drafting and developing talent at an elite level. Those are arguably the areas our organization is weakest.

(As an aside, it's even more frustrating as a longtime Hornets fan because we used to have success with our draft picks. Bob Bass did so much with so little. THAT's what we need to get back to as a franchise)

[catch20two]

MCW now has a worse net rating than Monk after 8 games of playing.

[fatlever]

No doubt we have been dreadful at our player development for draftees since we returned in 2004. Kemba is really the lone bright spot and arguably the only draft pick, 1st or 2nd round, who exceeded their draft slot expectations over the past 13 years.

[Robot Rock]

MCW now has a worse net rating than Monk after 8 games of playing.

But apparently, Malik still shouldn't be playing, because reasons.

[catch20two]

MCW now has a worse net rating than Monk after 8 games of playing.

But apparently, Malik still shouldn't be playing, because reasons.

I’m guessing the same reasons most of the board preferred Marco over Lamb in the rotation last year.

[fatlever]

MCW now has a worse net rating than Monk after 8 games of playing.

But apparently, Malik still shouldn't be playing, because reasons.

I’m guessing the same reasons most of the board preferred Marco over Lamb in the rotation last year.

how are these two situations similar?

[catch20two]

But apparently, Malik still shouldn't be playing, because reasons.

I’m guessing the same reasons most of the board preferred Marco over Lamb in the rotation last year.

how are these two situations similar?

It’s similar because just because Clifford choose to play one player over the other don’t mean that it’s actually the best decision.

[316Hornets]

MCW's Real Plus/Minus is -1.38 while Monks is -3.01. Monk drags everybody's net down. He is a black hole on offense and is invisible on defense. Until he proves otherwise in practice or limited game action, his role should stay the same.

Article from the observer http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nba/charlotte-hornets/article186560468.html

Basically, says Cliff put MCW in for defense. He likes Monk's potential, but he has to learn to play NBA defense.

[euphorbus]

Please play Monk at shooting guard. Just tell him to shoot threes only if someone passes him the ball. Catch-and-shoot is a much higher percentage shot. Please do not entrust him with running an NBA team at this point in his career. The kid is only 19, youngest player on the squad. Also possibly the most talented, after Kemba Walker. Have Zeller set some screens for him, then pass him the ball. Surely even Coach Clifford can manage that.

[Bassman]

Please play Monk at shooting guard. Just tell him to shoot threes only if someone passes him the ball. Catch-and-shoot is a much higher percentage shot. Please do not entrust him with running an NBA team at this point in his career. The kid is only 19, youngest player on the squad. Also possibly the most talented, after Kemba Walker. Have Zeller set some screens for him, then pass him the ball. Surely even Coach Clifford can manage that.

Agree, Monk is not a 1. I can only hope he will eventually be a prime scorer as a small two guard. If not the curse on draft picks will continue. Another small rookie SG is already getting it done and he went 13th:

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/248218/Donovan-Mitchell-Becomes-NBAs-First-40-Point-Rookie-Since-2011

[catch20two]

Clifford is just misusing Monk because in his mind it’s “play MCW or play Monk and if I play Monk he has to play PG because he comes off the bench and I can’t have him and MCW playing together but I have to play him with the 2nd unit and if I play him with the 2nd unit I can’t have Batum handling the ball as the PG because he’s the starting SF”. That’s his Rainman logic.

[yosemiteben]

I think it's been more that Bacon has been at least somewhat useful on one end of the floor, whereas Monk typically hasn't. It was pretty notable that Bacon got zero minutes last game IMO.

[HoopsMalone]

I've seen more than enough Monk with the Hornets for now. We're going to be playing plenty of meaningless games in March that we can give him heavy minutes.

Are we able to send him down to Greensboro to get game action? When kemba, mcw, and stone are all available it's useless to carry a 4th point guard

[catch20two]

The Donovan Mitchell to Malik Monk comparisons are unfair. Mitchell is getting to play trial and error basketball in Utah with Snyder while Monk is on a extremely short leash for mistakes here with Clifford.

Mitchell started the season with several 1-7 shooting games and even had a 3-21 shooting game. He’s getting the green light to play his game and a long leash to make mistakes.

Life for Monk hasn’t been the same ever since we squandered that 15-point lead in the 4th against the Knicks that was the 3rd straight loss in a 6-game losing streak. By the way Monk had 21 points in that game on 47% shooting.

You see, in Utah veteran savvy proven scorers like Rodney Hood and Alec Burks come off the bench while Donovan Mitchell starts. Hood leads the team in scoring and still comes off the bench.

I don’t even know if Utah is even trying to win games but they still got a better record than us and they’re over .500. A lot of this boils down to coaching and Clifford is incompetent.

[HornetJail]

The Donovan Mitchell to Malik Monk comparisons are unfair. Mitchell is getting to play trial and error basketball in Utah with Snyder while Monk is on a extremely short leash for mistakes here with Clifford.

Mitchell started the season with several 1-7 shooting games and even had a 3-21 shooting game. He’s getting the green light to play his game and a long leash to make mistakes.

Life for Monk hasn’t been the same ever since we squandered that 15-point lead in the 4th against the Knicks that was the 3rd straight loss in a 6-game losing streak. By the way Monk had 21 points in that game on 47% shooting.

You see, in Utah veteran savvy proven scorers like Rodney Hood and Alec Burks come off the bench while Donovan Mitchell starts. Hood leads the team in scoring and still comes off the bench.

I don’t even know if Utah is even trying to win games but they still got a better record than us and they’re over .500. A lot of this boils down to coaching and Clifford is incompetent.

Quinn Snyder is low key a very good coach that makes the most of his personnel. He's no Brad Stevens but he's better than Clifford- his defensive strategies actually work in today's NBA and he knows how to make player rotations. I'd put him top 10, and Clifford bottom 10.