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

[316Hornets]

What's going to be real funny is when we have no shot at the playoffs and Cliff still plays MCW over Monk.

[DY_nasty]

i'll also say cliff sends his guards to die

i remember seeing him put PJ on Wade for a whole game and I'm just like why would you do this? The raptors game early this year Derozan got to match up on Monk for a while... like he's trying to be a dick on purpose lol

He do the same thing to Lamb lol.

It is because this isn't the player he spent the whole year lobbying for. All he did the year before we took Frank was complain he couldn't win because we couldn't shoot from the 4 spot. Then magically we pass on much better players to take Frank to solve Cliffs main issue with his coaching. All he has been good at in his tenure here is coming up with excuses for why he can't use the players we have to win games. Monk didn't fit his whining so he is banished to the bench while Frank couldn't defend a chair but he keeps trotting him out there because he knows it is his fault Frank is here.

as much as i hate on frank, at least he's not justise winslow. i'll forgive everyone in the org for passing on booker too - there was nothing from his college year that indicated he'd be one of the best pnr guards in the league because cal wouldn't even let him put the ball on the floor. the common assumption there was that if he couldn't get some chances to handle the ball over the harrison twins of all people, then he couldn't be a versatile offensive threat. every scout saw him under the same light as kennard.

i'm also not going to say that there's some conspiracy to hate on monk when monk could've gone top 3 in this draft and it wouldn't have been that much of a reach. there wasn't a single board that had mitchell over monk. you can't blame the team for taking a top prospect that slipped down to them....

i don't think doesn't fit comes into play at all. there's almost always been an undersized gunner on this team too... so i'm not ready to agree with the rest of what you're saying. i'm just talking about leaving guys to die out on mismatches. he does nothing to stop it to the point where it has to be deliberate imo

i'm not even saying that cliff hates lamb specifically, i'm saying that he's always leaving younger guys out to dry defensively and makes no effort to hide or help anyone. while it sounds nice on paper to say that you'll never compromise your defensive schemes, its irrational to stick to it religiously when its simply impractical and self-defeating. even when mkg was getting lit up by melo or lebron, clifford refused to send help. when wade went off in the playoffs, clifford wouldn't double team.

so when it comes to rookies or clearly mismatched players (for example, frank's entire career at the 4 so far), i'm just saying that its hypocritical for him or anyone else to crucify monk on defense because we're not doing them any favors out there.

Mean Cliff made Lamb guard good players, obvi because he hates Lamb.

when did you get so bitter

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

So Cliff played Frank because of his defense? That's a bold take.

Today Frank is legit bad on D, no argument. But two years ago? Not so much.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kaminfr01.html

The stats speak for themselves. Rookie frank had a DRtg of 105 & a positive DBPM. Two years ago I remember folks posting about how they were disappointed in Frank's offense but were pleasantly surprised by his decent D. I've also brought this up before how Frank has gotten worse a D every year, and how this isn't normal player development. Frank is another example of why I want Cliff & the rest of the staff gone - though honestly I suspect that some of this is on Frank himself. I suspect that he played good D as a rookie because that's what he had to do in order to get PT. Now he's probably being told to score more and focus on that and playmaking ... and he's discovered that he's not getting benched for mistakes on D.

[Robot Rock]

I think it's awesome that one of Clifford's relatives is a mod.

[catch20two]

I think it's awesome that one of Clifford's relatives is a mod.

He’s not related to Clifford beyond just being a colleague. It’s been discovered that he’s a team mole used to prod around team boards and forums to do a heavy bit of damage control.

[catch20two]

Frank...he's discovered that he's not getting benched for mistakes on D.

This.

[BeesWax]

I think it's awesome that one of Clifford's relatives is a mod.

He’s not related to Clifford beyond just being a colleague. It’s been discovered that he’s a team mole used to prod around team boards and forums to do a heavy bit of damage control.

The reason I left the board for a long time. Got threatened because I questioned whether or not Al Jefferson was a positive for us at the time and if Cliff knew how to actually use stats to know how much he hurt us.

[yosemiteben]

What an enjoyable bunch.

[Joest2003]

To win in this league you need at least 2 A players (Westbrook/PG, Lillard/CJ, Cp3/harden and the list goes on and on. Right now we only have 1 and are desperately in need of the second to get to the next level. Jeremy Lamb was relishing his Opportunity to start the season and in my opinion if he kept starting or at least stayed around 30MPG he had potential to breakout into our second A Player to pair with Kemba. Instead we give all the minutes back to our max contact batum who has hit his cieling 2 years ago and is doing nothing but declining. Now we will never know at least this season what Lambs potential could be. He is only 25 and that's right around the same time Kemba turned the corner into a Allstar caliber player. Now we also have Monk. A extremely talented scorer who also has the potential to become the second A player we need. But he is buried behind one of if not the worst rotation players in the league who has a max ceiling as a C player. We are a small market and if we intend to land a A caliber player is has to be homegrown. We need to focus on developing the guys we already have with the most potential. That starts with Monk and also Lamb. This method of grossly overpaying mediocre players just so they will stay here is going to do nothing but keep us where we are. A 10th seed who never gets a top 3 pick just trending water every year.

[Joest2003]

Give Monk back his backup PG spot and get Lambs minutes back inot the 30s. Seeing him play 18 and 19 MPG and Monk getting DNPS makes me furious. While Batum goes 0-10 and MCW misses 3 wide open layups. Why tank when we won't even give the guys with the most potential playing time? This organization is so poorly run.

[Lwcasu]

I think it's awesome that one of Clifford's relatives is a mod.

He’s not related to Clifford beyond just being a colleague. It’s been discovered that he’s a team mole used to prod around team boards and forums to do a heavy bit of damage control.

^^ This is not true is it?

[DY_nasty]

if monk is still getting mugged at the halfcourt line he doesn't need to be running point until next year. making him run point is what got him into this funk to begin with...

[Braggins]

if monk is still getting mugged at the halfcourt line he doesn't need to be running point until next year. making him run point is what got him into this funk to begin with...

I really only remember that happening in one game (against Dunn). I'm sure it would have happened more as the season went on, but I feel like this issue has been exaggerated.

I've actually been pleasantly surprised with Monks handle. It needs some work, but his issues are mainly that he can get a little high and sloppy with it at times, which is easily fixable, and he actually has better control than I expected and has some moves already. I think his handles are going to develop nicely if he has good work ethic.

Dunn eating him alive that game seemed to have more to do with him just physically overwhelming Monk than it did Monk having a bad handle.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

if monk is still getting mugged at the halfcourt line he doesn't need to be running point until next year. making him run point is what got him into this funk to begin with...

Long term, if Monk can be a PG, then it's hugely advantageous to both him and the team.

It's not clear to me if he's better served by just diving into PG play or if letting him play SG for now is more beneficial. I have no question that giving him minutes would help more than sitting on the bench though.

If you are letting him play SG then he's best paired with a taller guard who can bring the ball up and guard opposing wings so Monk doesn't have to.

[Braggins]

I'd play him more often as an off ball SG to keep his comfort level and confidence in a good place, but I would definitely have him be primary ball handler at times. We also need to try to play him in lineups with at least a couple starters as often as possible to keep some of the pressure off of him.

[DY_nasty]

if monk is still getting mugged at the halfcourt line he doesn't need to be running point until next year. making him run point is what got him into this funk to begin with...

I really only remember that happening in one game (against Dunn). I'm sure it would have happened more as the season went on, but I feel like this issue has been exaggerated.

I've actually been pleasantly surprised with Monks handle. It needs some work, but his issues are mainly that he can get a little high and sloppy with it at times, which is easily fixable, and he actually has better control than I expected and has some moves already. I think his handles are going to develop nicely if he has good work ethic.

Dunn eating him alive that game seemed to have more to do with him just physically overwhelming Monk than it did Monk having a bad handle.

naw, dunn just stayed on his neck. other guards would recognize it and simply not let him get to where he needed to be in order to stretch out our sets and generally stall our offense as a whole as everyone had to over extend to compensate when he had the ball.
dunn wanted to dog him and it was easy.

his handle is okay until he gets any real, dedicated pressure. his vision and passing are good imo. he's a better half court, downhill player than anything. no one should like him bringing the ball up, but they should be equally offput by how he skates the perimeter as well.

also, handles at the point guard position don't ever really improve significantly enough to change the type of player someone is. you can tighten it up, you can get better footwork, but outside of lowry i can't think of any other point guard to improve their handle so much that it changed the way that they played.

[euphorbus]

I am not even very interested in watching the team play unless Monk, Hernangomez, Graham, and Lamb get a lot of minutes. What's the point in cheering on a team that is not only going nowhere, but has no road map to getting somewhere?

And while you're at it, bring in Marcus Paige. He is shooting .365 from three and averages 4.2 assists per game in the G League. Or Terry Henderson, who is shooting .395 from three.

[HoopsMalone]

I'd never completely write a guy off as a 19 year old rookie. But Monk is as close as you can come to a total lost cause at the 2 guard.

He's one of the worst defenders in the entire NBA. He's been brutal offensively, but I think those skills will come with time as he shouldn't be shooting this poorly. It just takes time to adjust to the NBA line. Your depth perception/muscle memory is off with the different markings on the court. These are all arenas not gyms. It's common for guys not to shoot well.

But i just don't think he can defend in the NBA. We are going to need to pair him with a SG who can guard the opposing PG (think MCW but someone who doesnt suck so hard) so that we can hide Monk on defense where he is hot garbage.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

I think that it's nearly impossible to say anything about Monk given how little he's played.

[Robot Rock]

I'd never completely write a guy off as a 19 year old rookie. But Monk is as close as you can come to a total lost cause at the 2 guard.

He's one of the worst defenders in the entire NBA. He's been brutal offensively, but I think those skills will come with time as he shouldn't be shooting this poorly. It just takes time to adjust to the NBA line. Your depth perception/muscle memory is off with the different markings on the court. These are all arenas not gyms. It's common for guys not to shoot well.

But i just don't think he can defend in the NBA. We are going to need to pair him with a SG who can guard the opposing PG (think MCW but someone who doesnt suck so hard) so that we can hide Monk on defense where he is hot garbage.

I genuinely have not seen evidence of him being one of the worst defenders in the entire NBA. I have, however, seen it from Frank and others.