Comments on: Rodney Stuckey returns, lifts Pistons (to loss)

By: tarsier

tarsier — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 01:15:22 +0000

Monroe and Love, bringing back the very-good-in-spite-of-not-being-athletic big man.

By: tarsier

tarsier — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:35:23 +0000

OK, what centers can Monroe not guard because they are too center-y (big, strong, etc.)? He is not yet much of a defender but he is getting better. But he isn’t much of a defender against PFs either.

By: frankie d

frankie d — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:09:13 +0000

imho, frank is a bad game coach.
his line-ups, his substitutions, just the way he manages the games leave a lot to be desired. imo.
he obviously is a smart guy who knows a lot about BB, but from what i’ve seen so far, he just doesn’t have the feel for the flow of games and how to put his mark on the game, as a coach.
the front court line up you note – wilkins, max and ben – is just one example. no offense, and it puts even more pressure on the guards to take risks and risk turnovers. who else is going to score if the guards don’t? and it puts max in the position of being a scorer, which is laughable.
coaches don’t go on long losing streaks accidentally. they happen for reasons.
it’s pretty clear that frank’s lack of “touch” with games – and maybe a communication issue as he yells at his players something awful and i’ve never seen very many successful coaches use that approach in the nba – won’t bode well for the season.

By: frankie d

frankie d — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:01:30 +0000

you must not have watched the games. teams have been having a field day on detroit’s interior.
did you see what NY did?

By: frankie d

frankie d — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:58:06 +0000

he can be better than aldridge.
the blazers are my second team and i watch almost every game. monroe is much more skilled than aldridge. aldridge does two things better: he has more range on his shot – all the way out to the 3 point line – and he runs the court a bit better. aldridge is amazingly fast for a near seven footer. almost rodman-like in the way he runs the court. monroe gets up and down the court, but he is nowhere near as fast or graceful as aldridge.
but aldridge is a mediocre rebounder who really doesn’t have that nose for the ball. he just doesn’t explode to it the way that monroe does. he also doesn’t like contact, and monroe doesn’t seem to mind it.
monroe is a far superior rebounder. it is not even close. everyone always gets on aldridge because of his mediocre rebounding.
monroe also has passing skills that aldridge can only dream of. the last few years, the blazers have been taken out of the playoffs by teams using a simple formula: they double aldridge, if he’s posted up, and force him to make decisions and quick passes. he is horrible at it and at best, doesn’t turn it over. but he never makes the defense pay for doubling him, he panics and just tries to get the ball to an open man. when teams have a chance to game plan for the blazers, that strategy -doubling him and forcing him to pass out of double teams – is the number one move they make. it has worked every year and is probably the main reason they’ve not gotten out of the first round since he’s been with the team.
he’s never averaged more than 2 assists a game. monroe is averaging about double that amount.
monroe’s passing skills far surpass aldridge’s and even now, monroe makes teams pay if they attempt to double him.
monroe is a far superior ball handler also. aldridge is your basic catch and shoot big man. he can dribble once or twice to get his rhythm, but that is it. he almost never puts it on the floor and uses his dribble to get into better position. the only time he does that is when he takes a couple of dribbles and shoots his turnaround. maybe once a game he will dribble to the basket, and it is such a shock to everyone that it is very effective. aldridge’s low post game is very mediocre as a result. the only thing he does in the post is use a turnaround jumper. he never drop-steps or uses footwork to get closer in and get an easy shot.
monroe is very capable of putting the ball on the floor like a guard to get to the rim, even from about 15 feet or so. no way, no how aldridge ever does that.
monroe also has both a left and right hand close to the rim. aldridge does not have that ability.
like the milwaukee announcers kept saying last night, monroe is just a smooth offensive player he is like bob lanier that way, a big man with guard skills.
aldridge is definitely more gifted athletically, but he has nowhere near the skills that monroe has. he is not even in the same league.
bottom line: monroe has a higher ceiling than aldridge, especially if they use monroe more at the 4 and put the defending responsibilities on someone else. one of the things that coaches and media here recognize is that while aldridge can play the 5 – like monroe – and he often moves over to the 5 fior short spurts, it ultimately takes a huge physical toll on him and it is much better if a true 5 handles the defensive duties on the bigger guys.
aldridge is an interesting comparison, one i wouldn’t have immediately thought of. as someone who’s seen just about every game aldridge has played, i’d state unequivocally that monroe will be a better player, absent an injury.

By: tarsier

tarsier — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:55:19 +0000

Which centers can’t Monroe guard besides Howard?

By: frankie d

frankie d — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:23:56 +0000

well, according to the milwaukee announcers i listened to last night on the online feed, bogut has been less than solid. they were praying that he would get his act together offensively.
in fact, if you look at his numbers, he is shooting 43% and only getting 2 foul shots a game, both horrible numbers for a legitimate 7 footer who’s been in the league for 7 seasons. he certainly has been a lot better in the past, but this year he’s been pretty bad offensively.
so monroe playing well against him doesn’t really say much.
monroe can defend some big guys well because he is very smart and uses leverage well to keep guys from just backing him down and doing certain things they might want to do. but when a team has athletic big guys, monroe’s lack of elite athleticism becomes painfully obvious. the lack of a real rim protector, a shotblocker is killing the team. the milwaukee announcers kept talking about the defensive hole in detroit’s middle and it is impossible to ignore. the team does not have a single player averaging more than one block a game, and the leader is ancient ben, at .07. monroe is next at .05.
yes, monroe is a good, smart one on one defender who can individually guard lots of good bigs and will most times not get outright dogged, but he will not bring the defensive presence that a good team needs.
funny, when you listen to broadcasts from outside the detroit market – which i typically do – the announcers notice it immediately and talk about it openly and constantly. somehow joe d doesn’t see what is so apparent to others.
look at what SA has always done with duncan. they have always put a big man next to him who can defensively handle the most difficult big man on the other team. robinson, kevin willis, nestorovic, nazr muhammed, oberto, elson….those guys basically did the dirty work so that duncan could concentrate on other things and take advantage of his myriad skills. duncan is a good defender, but it obviously puts a lot of stress on him if he has to defend the other team’s center. so SA has always had a big guy to play that role. the pistons would be smart to do the same thing with monroe. it would allow him to take better advantage of his wide array of skills.
it would also, imho, allow monroe to become an even better rebounder. he has that nose for the ball that all great rebounders have, and he has excellent, strong hands. if he has someone next to him that provides a physical presence, someone who allows monroe to concentrate more on rebounding – the way mahorn freed laimbeer – monroe could average 12-15 boards a game.

By: sebastian

sebastian — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:57:44 +0000

frankied, I’ve been reading your post – arguing that Monroe is not a Center and I kind of agree with you, but when one steps back and take a closer look at Monroe’s game it becomes obvious that Monroe would probably have an easier time going against other Centers in the League.
I think that Monroe could probably have more offensive success against the opposing Center position because he will force the opposing Centers to step away further from the basket to guard him. He will probably be more successful against Centers, because he may be a little quicker and his left hand (dominate hand) will force opposing Centers to react to him differently, forcing an additional 2-3 fouls. Also, I have noticed Monroe to be very crafty around the basket, sometimes using his right hand very skillfully.
Monroe will probably be a better defender against opposing Centers, as well, as he will be able to get away with more banging, when guarding a larger player closer to the basket. There is no way in Hell Monroe will be successful guarding stretch fours and active fours like: Love, Stoudimire, Griffin, Bosh, Dirk, etc.
No, the player OUR Pistons need is JaVele McGee. A guy who has length, speed, and quick hops. McGee could defend the aforementioned type PFs in the League, while Monroe checks the opposing teams’ Center.
Now, how do WE acquire JaVele McGee. We offer the Wizards Charlie V. and OUR 2012 First Round for McGee and Trevor Booker.

By: Daye and Knight

Daye and Knight — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:32:13 +0000

Wow one game against a center who was out a few weeks due to personal problems and still isn’t 100% from his injury he suffered a few seasons ago…give the man a cookie!

By: Mr.BlockedShot

Mr.BlockedShot — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:49:54 +0000

Finally we got an almost close game. But with that Prince´s airball lights went out. Anyway, since we had those two great performances from Monroe and Knight, the game was close to be considered as watchable game. That´s not a little keeping in mind all the awful previous games.
Ben Gordon continues to kill himsef with that rushed shots, bad passing decissions, turnovers and poor defense. He´s so much of a one-dimensioned player that if he´s not scoring he will hurt his own team a lot. He´s always oversized and overplayed in defense, but at least you are counting on him on the other end. I don´t know how much of the blame can take Frank in Gordon not getting his good shots, but, in the end…who´s not converting shots isn´t Frank but BG.
Realisticaly, apart from Monroe, Knight and some production from Stuckey and Prince (although 6/17 from the field…), the rest of the Pistons were almost dead bodies on the court. I wonder how long will it take to Frank to give a chance to Mackiln. Not speaking about starting role but more time on the court. i truly belive he´s right now our best option at C. Why is he not even trying it? What do we have to lose? Maybe a game more? Oh My…
JJ keeps lost in limbo…and Maxiell turned to his oldself…Villanueva is out and Daye is missing in action. So…what decent pieces do we have in the SF/PF possition? Prince? Wilkins? ouch!
Will we get some minutes from Macklin tonight? Come on Frank, it´t the Bobcats!!