Comments on: Greg Monroe might be the second best player and prospect from his draft class

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 06 May 2011 15:11:01 +0000

Why the heck do people say that? How is Griffin not a rookie. Sure he spent a year hanging out with an NBA team and watching games up close and personal. But that year was also spent unable to play. Not just unable to play in the NBA or on the NBA level, but play basketball at all. He wasn’t getting a chance to play college ball or international ball or even just pickup games. I recognize that he had some advantages from being around the team for a year, but disadvantages from not playing at all are probably higher.
And if Griffin wasn’t a rookie, was Jennings last year? Sure he hadn’t been in the NBA before but he was still playing pro ball. And it’s not like sitting on the sidelines for a year has a documented history of helping prospects. Oden, who had comparable hype to Griffin, didn’t come crashing out the gates and blowing all other rookies out of the water in 2nd year/1st year of really playing. Taking credit away from Griffin for not being a rookie is total bullshit.
If you want to say he should be more polished than some because he stayed in college two years instead of the one that most top young players do, that’s fair. But heck, you can do four years of college ball and still be a NBA rookie. So don’t bash on Griffin for overcoming averse circumstances and outpacing his already huge expectations as effectively as anyone has since Lebron was a rookie.

By: mrfoof4

mrfoof4 — Fri, 06 May 2011 09:29:39 +0000

How was Monroe much better than Cousins this season? All you are saying is, is Monroe was better because he shot a better FG%. Monroe turning out better than you thought doesn’t equal to him having a much better season. I can see making a case that he should’ve placed 4th, but second or third? No way. Cousins was options 1, 2, or, 3 on offense on a real bad team with it’s best player missing 25 games, and had much more pressure on him than Monroe. Cousins got double teamed all the time. I don’t think Monroe did. Cousins turned out to be an excellent passer. He averaged one assist a game at Kentucky, but almost averaged 3 on the Kings. Monroe averaged 2 AST/game post all star to Cousins 4 AST/game post all star. IMO Monroe should have placed 4th.

By: davemc

davemc — Wed, 04 May 2011 22:54:01 +0000

great article. couldnt agree more. i am somewhat of a kings fan (thanks in large part to c webb and vlade divac) so i watched cousins this year a wee bit. the kid has gobs and gobs of talent but he could just as easily piss it all away. he is so immature that i just dont know if he is ever going to have the ‘click’ moment when he gets it (point in case: has ron artest had that moment yet?). c money, on the other hand, seems to have his head on his shoulders. if anything, i think the pistons will look to him more in the future for leadership and inspiration. what a pick. i think you could easily put monroe as the 2nd best rookie behind john wall (lets be honest, blake griffin isnt a rookie) and to that point you could argue that wall (and cousins for that matter) had more opportunities (which i believe you alluded to PH). landry fell off as the season went on and gary neal (great story, great shooter) was made a lot better by being on the best team in his conference. monroe did more with less help and fewer opportunities that any other rookie. period. JJ, AD, and C Money are what the pistons need to build around. get rid of everyone else save bynum and only because he is fun to watch (i know this isnt possible but i can wish on a shooting start cant i?).

By: detroitpcb

detroitpcb — Wed, 04 May 2011 22:23:06 +0000

Nice article Patrick. Lots of excellent points.

i would add that if Monroe improves his strength, he should become a better defensive rebounder as well as improve his scoring around the basket.

If he develops a consistent 15 foot shot, he may well reach the upper possibilities of your projections for scoring average.

And finally, i believe Monroe can play in the open court. I know he moves funny, but he has good ball handling skills for a big man, naturally spaces the court well and fills lanes, has good hands to catch the ball, and once or twice this season showed an ability to avoid defenders trying to take charges while he went to the basket.

I don’t think anybody can complain about the year Monroe had and given the improvement we saw this year, coupled with his intelligence and work ethic, i think we can see a cooresponding improvement next year.

By: gordbrown

gordbrown — Wed, 04 May 2011 21:06:17 +0000

A couple of things to note. First, Monroe started slow in the Summer League and improved in every game there. That might say something. Also he had a poor camp based on the fact that he had off season surgery and had to earn his minutes, especially early in the season. To his credit he did that and I think that says something as well. Finally, there were a few times when he showed the ability to put the ball on the floor and beat his man one-on-one. But he stayed within himself and didn’t abuse this. But this proved he was much more mobile than anyone thought. I look for continued improvement and believe he will continue to keep pace with Cousins (and be better than others drafted over him) for the longer term.

By: RandomGuy313

RandomGuy313 — Wed, 04 May 2011 20:27:02 +0000

I think that Greg’s assist totals will increase when he has people that can finish at the rim. Monroe is an excellent piece for this team, paired with Wilcox this year they had countless putbacks as you highlighted in a previous piece. I did not envision his rebounding prowess prior to his selection and it is a welcome revelation.