Comments on: Will Greg Monroe improve more than anyone in ESPN’s #NBARank?

By: SD

SD — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 04:53:47 +0000

Barea!?! What did he have 2 good games of his life???? Come on these ESPN’s ranks are always going to hate on the pistons. Hibert..George Hill cracking the top 100..wow. I know there is going to be some question left with some of the rank. But there are so many bad judgements it is R I D iculous!

Stuckey and Monroe need to be in.

By: tarsier

tarsier — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:25:07 +0000

You think that’s bad? What about Barea at 92. Lol.

Yeah, Hibbert is not nearly efficient enough on offense. But he was SO much better on D last year than Monroe.

Also, I screwed up. The period of time when Hibbert kicked ass last season was really only about a quarter of the year. I thought it was longer for some reason. But it is noteworthy that in his first 21 games, Hibbert averaged 15 ppg, 9 rpg, 3 apg, 2 bpg, 0.5 spg on 52% fg and 75% ft in under 30 mpg. He didn’t maintain it as long as I thought, but that is substantially better than any 20 game stretch from Monroe.

Hibbert is ranked about right. Monroe, as we all know, is underrated by just about everyone who doesn’t pay too much attention to the Pistons.

By: neutes

neutes — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:40:45 +0000

I guess my first question would be which half would you consider Hibbert’s best? He shot 45% before the all-star break. He’s 7’2″. 45%! In no way was Hibbert better in either half than Monroe was in the 2nd half. What I’m seeing isn’t just close it’s a wide gap between these two players.

But you are right it is far from the most absurd mistake – Bargnani has yet to be announced.

The Pacers players seem to be slightly overrated. You’d think didn’t finish below .500 last season. Collison is ranked 94 and Hibbert 96 and I wouldn’t trade Stuckey or Monroe for either of them.

By: tarsier

tarsier — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 19:58:35 +0000

Each had a really good half season and a really bad half season. Hibbert’s good half was better than Monroe’s good half. Hibbert’s bad half was better than Monroe’s bad half. Monroe has the major advantage of ending on a high note while Hibbert ended on a low one. And Hibbert shouldn’t be that far ahead of Monroe. But it is far from the most absurd mistake in the rankings.

By: neutes

neutes — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 19:22:29 +0000

Roy Hibbert ranks 96

Greg Monroe ranks 132

Mind Blown

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:19:44 +0000

I love Greg Monroe. But Cousins is bigger, more athletic, younger and has a more diverse skillset offensively. He’s a good rebounder and better shot blocker than Monroe. Cousins certainly has non-basketball things that could prevent him from reaching his potential, but he has far more upside than Monroe. In fact, he has more upside than any young big man in the league other than Blake Griffin.

By: tarsier

tarsier — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:02:41 +0000

I can see not thinking that Cousins will ever be better than Monroe. But how can you think he doesn’t have the higher ceiling? The only thing that I couldn’t see Cousins potentially doing better than Monroe is taking care of the ball. Cousins is basically a big sack of potential.

By: DVS

DVS — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 15:43:35 +0000

With a capable head coach like Frank, Rip getting paid out with the amnesty clause and Prince leaving, Monroe will shine.
The ball hogging you speak of was due to Kuester having very little to no offensive structure and Rip and Prince constantly passing to each other and noone else.

By: JT's Hoops Blog

JT's Hoops Blog — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:46:16 +0000

I do not think DeMarcus Cousins has a higher ceiling with Greg Monroe. Monroe’s problem is that he is on a team of ball-hogs and will not get the ball as much as Cousins. Although the Kings have their share of heisters, I find the ball movement far better than that of Detroit.

By: neutes

neutes — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:35:50 +0000

Plenty of players have the ability to rise, but to rise the highest?

Monroe should already be in the top 100 and easily has a chance to be a top 50 player. He could make top 30. Does any look to be able to rise higher? If I had to make a list and exclude all others only Paul George, Ed Davis, Marcus Thornton, Kyrie Irving, Derrick Williams, Greg Monroe, Derrick Favors, Jonas Valanciunas, Bismack Biyombo, and Greg Oden have the potential to move from outside the top 100 to top 30 or above.

My choice would be Valanciunas as he seems like a lock to become a top 30 player so I’ll hedge my bets with what I consider the safest pick. Monroe has the chance to do it next season if there would be one, so for a one year riser he’d be my choice, but Valanciunas seems to me to be the single biggest talent outside the top 100.