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

[Braggins]

I feel like we are in pretty big trouble as a franchise if Monk is a bust. We really need him to turn into a good player and this season is pretty much a lost cause at this point, so I think we need to start making it a priority to develop him. The coaching staff needs to shift a decent amount of focus to instructing and teaching him and we need to force feed him at least a small amount of minutes and try to put him in a position to utilize his strengths and build confidence. Sometimes it feels like this franchise actively tries to ruin its prospects by playing them out of position (Cody/Frank) and/or not giving them a chance to develop their skills (think MKG getting sent to the shame corner and Cody getting put in the high post in their prime development years so we could hand the team over the Al Jefferson...).

[yosemiteben]

Completely agree on that, we need Monk to be a homerun.

[arthy704]

i highly doubt monk will be a bust, hes wayy too advance in scoring talent. At age 19 hes already showing flashes of an assansin scoring machine against the bucks. I believe once he matures and figure out what he needs to work on to be an affective consistent all around player(better defense), hell will be unleash on the nba and teams will have nightmares. he has the fundamental skillset down(no need to re-teach anything like shooting,handles ect), just need a season to get the feel for the nba game and get comfortable going up against grown men who has been through many battles and it will all click much sooner then any of our best player we have ever draft.

[Hornet Mania]

Monk needs to play in a modern offense where the pace is quick and the ball doesn't stop. He needs the floor spaced so he can get either open threes, clear driving lanes, or one dribble into a wide-open midrange shot, that is his game. I'm firmly convinced that if he played with a garbage squad who at least pushed the pace, like Phoenix, he'd look much better. If he played on a good team, like GS or Houston, who plays a fast style he'd contribute less but still likely look far better.

Much like Braggins menioned with Frank/Cody/MKG, Monk's development is being wasted. I think the common denominator conservative, and more importantly totally outdated, strategy. What good team in the NBA plays a style even somewhat similar to Cliff-ball (which is just a variation of Van Gundy ball)? No one. There's good reason for that, I think. The game has changed and we're trying to force new-age pegs into old-school holes and failing all sides miserably in the process.

[fatlever]

Completely agree on that, we need Monk to be a homerun.

Well I hate to break it to you but monk is definitely not going to be a home run

I'm actually curious about a Kemba - Monk lineup. I agree about defensive issues, but I also think that it could create huge issues for the opposing team on the other end. Just have to score a bit more than they give up together. Could be really fun to watch.

Silas did have the two in together briefly during either the Orlando or Warriors game.

I think that lineup would be awful on defense.

doesn't stop Portland from putting Lillard/McCollum out there. Lillard is easily a worse defender than Kemba as well. With MKG, Marvin, Dwight behind them, it would be fine. It's not like we have anything to lose by trying it

Sent from my SM-G920V using RealGM mobile app

[Robot Rock]

Having been a fan of this team since its inception, I am convinced that we could've picked Giannis and he'd be the backup 4 to Marvin right now, averaging 8-10 points per game. We could've picked Ben Simmons and he'd get maybe 12 minutes a game. We could've picked Donovan Mitchell and he'd be exactly where Monk is.

Some of the guys we've picked definitely suck, but nothing sucks worse than a system which sets up young players to fail.

[Robot Rock]

Were he a 2017 Hornets draft pick, Stephen Curry would be a shorter Treveon Graham in terms of usage.

[JDR720]

Having been a fan of this team since its inception, I am convinced that we could've picked Giannis and he'd be the backup 4 to Marvin right now, averaging 8-10 points per game. We could've picked Ben Simmons and he'd get maybe 12 minutes a game. We could've picked Donovan Mitchell and he'd be exactly where Monk is.

Some of the guys we've picked definitely suck, but nothing sucks worse than a system which sets up young players to fail.

Mark Price is the only person who I actually think knows how to develop players that we have had.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

Steve Hetzel is Kemba's development coach. We know that Silas had MKG and Monk.

https://www.theringer.com/2016/11/22/16043248/kemba-walker-charlotte-hornets-3-point-shooting-5a432c3fdaef

[yosemiteben]

We don't know anything about Monk's long term potential, he was hurt over the summer, missed training camp, and he's 19. Silly to suggest that we know what sort of player he can become.

[316Hornets]

Monk has skills, but he's just not a primary option. Who can he really take advantage of of offense? Most his shots just seem to rely on skill rather than athletic ability. He needs to take MJ as his personal mentor and come up with some more offense.

[catch20two]

Steve Hetzel is Kemba's development coach. We know that Silas had MKG and Monk.

https://www.theringer.com/2016/11/22/16043248/kemba-walker-charlotte-hornets-3-point-shooting-5a432c3fdaef

Silas? No wonder Monk is in a funk and MKG still hasn’t learned how to shoot 3s.

[Braggins]

Completely agree on that, we need Monk to be a homerun.

Well I hate to break it to you but monk is definitely not going to be a home run

I shed a single tear every time you post about how you think Monk is going to suck.

[fatlever]

Completely agree on that, we need Monk to be a homerun.

Well I hate to break it to you but monk is definitely not going to be a home run

I shed a single tear every time you post about how you think Monk is going to suck.

sorry. i really hope he proves me wrong soon. but he still needs a big leap just to get to troy daniels level.

[Braggins]

Well I hate to break it to you but monk is definitely not going to be a home run

I shed a single tear every time you post about how you think Monk is going to suck.

sorry. i really hope he proves me wrong soon. but he still needs a big leap just to get to troy daniels level.

Its all good lol. He definitely hasn't given a lot of reason to be hopeful about him recently, but I still think the talent is there. I'm not really sure how I feel about his long term prospects, but we really need to make it a point to try to develop him.

Edit: I don't think Monk is far from being easily better than Daniels. All he needs to do is add a bit of strength and learn the ins and outs of the NBA basketball a little and he'll be better than Daniels. Daniels was undersized, unathletic, terrible at defense, and couldn't dribble or shoot well. Monk is way more athletic and can already dribble and pass better than Daniels has ever been able to. The only way Monk will not surpass Daniels is if he has no work ethic and unfixably bad IQ/instincts.

[Hornet Mania]

Monk's passing alone gives him higher upside than Troy. Kid has blown me away with some of those looks, and seeing it is half the battle. He's got good vision just needs to make better decisions. I've also been very pleased to see willingness to pass, I sorta assumed (given the typical shooter archetype) that he'd be a bit selfish or just not able to see the floor well.

He takes his fair share (more, really) of bad shots but they're typically not "shoot it over three guys while ignoring open teammates" shots but rather the impetuous "Eh, I'll get this one up early in the clock because I have two feet of space and that's *technically* open, right?" type that young players are seduced by.

[yosemiteben]

I agree with all of that HM.

[catch20two]

UNCWFootBall of Reddit took liberty to compare Monk to other combo guards during their rookie year.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.fcgi?request=1&sum=0&player_id1_hint=Stephen+Curry&player_id1_select=Stephen+Curry&y1=2010&player_id1=curryst01&idx=players&player_id2_hint=Kemba+Walker&player_id2_select=Kemba+Walker&y2=2012&player_id2=walkeke02&idx=players&player_id3_hint=Russell+Westbrook&player_id3_select=Russell+Westbrook&y3=2009&player_id3=westbru01&idx=players&player_id4_hint=Malik+Monk&player_id4_select=Malik+Monk&y4=2018&player_id4=monkma01&idx=players&player_id5_hint=Jamal+Crawford&player_id5_select=Jamal+Crawford&y5=2001&player_id5=crawfja01&idx=players&player_id6_hint=Lou+Williams&player_id6_select=Lou+Williams&y6=2006&player_id6=willilo02&idx=players

I wasn’t really concerned about Monk’s struggles as I’m one to believe that he’d put up decent enough numbers to make everyone forget how bad he’s playing had we force fed him minutes. To be honest from the eye test his defense isn’t much worse than Belinelli’s from last year.

[Robot Rock]

Eight points and four assists, plus better defense than MCW tonight. There's no excuse for him not to play more. None.

[catch20two]

Definitely needs more playing time. We’re not playing no better with him on the bench. Need to just let him play, take off the training wheels, and eventually he’ll learn how to pedal on his own.