3 YEARS $50M WITH A PO.
GREAT SIGNING BY THE BUCKS!
https://twitter.com/daldridgetnt
This is a HUGE signing for Milwaukee. Now they have a true scorer in the low post, and a phenomenal rebounder. The guy can pass, and plays far better defense than has been advertised around the media outlets.
Now we have a starting Center! 16 ppg, 10 TRB, 2 AST - 20ppg 13TRB when at Center last year.
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Agree. Bucks have not had a low-post scorer like this for many, many years.
Monroe is a good low-post scorer and rebounder. He doesn't play much defense or block shots. I didn't consider him a max player before yesterday. He'll make the Bucks a championship contender as soon as LeBron either leaves the Eastern Conference or his body starts to break down.
Agree. Bucks have not had a low-post scorer like this for many, many years.
Wow, the front office is serious!
My hat is off to john Hammond and the Bucks ownership group LED. Remarkable turnaround of this franchise in less than two years.
Figure, we wouldn't have had a conversation with either Monroe or Robin Lopez without all that has transpired under their direction, with Kidd's guidance as HC.
Phenomenal change for the better in Milwaukee with the Bucks. This team is going to be VERY tough to defend:
PG: MCW/Bayless/Vasquez/Ennis
SG: Middleton/Mayo/Bayless/Vaughn
SF: Parker/Dudley
PF: Giannis/Henson/Dudley
C: Monroe/Henson/ZaZa
"Overall, Monroe would bring two obvious skills the Bucks have lacked: rebounding and interior scoring. While he's usually labeled as unathletic due to his lack of explosion, the former Georgetown star is actually a pretty good runner and carries his 250+ pounds rather fluidly, especially on the offensive end. He's a major threat either facing up or with his back to the basket, and he's also a good passer capable of initiating offense from the high post. Monroe's only obvious offensive flaw is his lack of range; though he's a good free throw shooter and made a respectable 37.2% of his midrange jumpers last year (29/78), Monroe isn't a floor-stretcher and that's one obvious reason why he simply doesn't make sense playing as an oversized power forward next to a low-skill guy like Drummond.
Defensively, Monroe has been an above-average rebounder throughout his career, averaging a double-double per 36 minutes each of the past four seasons. But he's hardly a prototypical defensive center; he's not a rim protector and doesn't have the quickness to handle quick fours or the ideal size to battle with elite offensive bigs. Nevertheless, his encouraging defensive RPM of +2.29 last season suggests his IQ makes up for a lot, and his splits at center are encouraging on both ends. In 805 minutes playing without Drummond and Josh Smith, Monroe averaged an exceptional 21.6 points/36 minutes on 59.3% true shooting (via NBA Wowy), and the Pistons were actually better defensively with Monroe at center (104.3 pts/100 possessions) vs. Drummond (108.9). Interestingly, they were dramatically better offensively with Drummond in the middle (112.1) than Monroe (106.1), though the bottom line remains that both guys were very good without the other.
In an ideal world everyone wants a rim protector, especially with Jabari Parker a potential major liability at the 4/3 spots, and Monroe simply isn't the type to erase others' mistakes. But he's also no Enes Kanter defensively (more on him in a moment), and he's a vastly better defensive rebounder than anyone currently on the roster. Also remember that the Bucks were a stellar defensive team with Zaza Pachulia and Ersan Ilyasova starting together for the second half of the season, and the Pistons were good with Monroe in the middle a year ago."
http://www.brewhoop.com/2015/7...roe-free-agency-2015
I love the fact that we offered the same as the Knicks (and maybe the Lakers) and he chose to come to Milwaukee for a better chance to win.
Ooh, nice get. Hopefully this shuts up the national press idiots like Mike and Mike who had assumed he was going to either the Lakers or the Knicks. Actually, it probably will. Now that he has signed with the Bucks his name will disappear from their stupid show.
He's actually a very good scorer in the post, a great passer, and a very solid rebounder, even better on the defensive boards. Averages almost 2 steals per game too.
quote:Although he is somewhat slow-footed, Monroe, like the Moose, is a solid and wide player, who doesn't often get beat on the low block - due mostly to his positioning. Whilst he doesn't block many shots (0.6 BPG for his career), he has quick hands and looks to strip opponents when they drive to the basket, evident in his 1.6 steals per game. Defensive basketball IQ and positioning are hard statistics to quantify, Monroe has often been relied on to guard opposing centers when Andre is unable to. The 24 year-old Georgetown product knows he lacks the athleticism to soar above the rim and swat shots, but relies on his positioning, size and his knowledge of his opponents to keep players away from their favorite scoring areas.
Grantland's Zach Lowe, like Van Gundy, also praised the bigman's defensive energy, pointing out that Monroe is an especially good pick-and-roll defender. Greg has a career 106 Defensive Rating. For comparison, fellow Pistons Andre Drummond and Joel Anthony boast ratings of 102 and 104 respectively, while last year's Defensive Player of the Year, Joakim Noah defended his way to a 96 rating. If those numbers prove anything, it is that Monroe isn't a total defensive liability as some would lead you to believe, but an unheralded defender who knows how to hold his ground.
http://www.detroitbadboys.com/...defense-trade-rumors
quote:According to Synergy Sports, Monroe is ranked 17th in the league (regardless of position) in defending spot-up perimeter shots including long twos and three-point attempts. Synergy has tracked 87 spot-up attempts against Monroe this season, and he's allowed 31.1% inside the three point line and 26.9% beyond. These marks are better than a "who's who" of defensively-acclaimed big men, making him a virtual stopper when the opposing team employs a stretch shooting big man.
http://www.detroitbadboys.com/...g-nba-power-forwards
Defensively, he struggles a bit in space with players who want to face him up. He's not a 7-footer, but close. He's not a shot blocker, but still blocks some. He can play some D, and will help this team immensely in scoring...
He's young, probably the best asset. This is a young, talented front court.
More on his defense, a great read actually:
quote:One thing that jumps out is the defense against the ball handler in the pick and roll. This is by far the largest sample of every big man defender I have researched. Among defender who have at least 100 such possessions Greg Monroe ranks 13th while Asik ranks 74th. The very best players at this consist of names you would expect; Brook Lopez is 1st, Tim Duncan is 2nd, Al Horford is 3rd, and Dwight Howard is 4th. However, the names around Asik are equally familiar; Pau Gasol is 73rd and Roy Hibbert is 77th.
While Monroe also outpaces Asik defending post ups it is important to note that Monroe rarely receives the task of guarding the most dangerous post player. Asik is the designated stopper to protect Anthony Davis, Monroe lines up beside an even bigger man in Andre Drummond. All other areas Asik far outpaces Monroe. Spot Up could be slightly misleading, as Monroe must chase stretch fours while Asik rarely defends shooting threats.
Combining the pick and roll ball handler and pick and roll roll man evens the scales slightly. On a total of 266 possessions Monroe has allowed 0.733 points per possession. Asik, defending 287 such possessions, allows a higher success rate at 0.864. The big area where Monroe makes the difference is turnovers; Monroe has forced 53 turnovers in 266 possessions (19.9%) while Asik has forced just 34 (11.8%).
http://www.thebirdwrites.com/2...-asik-synergy-sports
quote:"I think Greg's actually pretty good defensively," Van Gundy said. "I've thought that all year.
"He's a very good low post defender, in my opinion. And he's a smart defender. He doesn't make a lot of mistakes."
In a way, Van Gundy believes Monroe's lack of athleticism makes him a more sound player because he knows he doesn't have the natural ability to cover up for mistakes and play above the rim. Of course, Andre Drummond is the athlete who can erase everybody's mistakes when he's on, but Monroe is usually in the right place at the right time.
"He's not a shot blocker but he's not out of position very much," Van Gundy said. "He's very attentive to game plans, you can make adjustments with him. He's smart, a very good position defender. I think he's developed that over time."
Position-wise, Monroe is likely a more effective low-post defender than Drummond. Monroe knows how to use his base to provide enough resistance against other bigs while Drummond is still learning how to use his base, relying more upon blocking shots than keeping a guy away from his sweet spots.
"He's not that freak athlete where he can make a mistake and recover with quickness and jumping ability," Van Gundy said of Monroe. "He's got to be in the right spot and he is. His mental approach and ability makes him a solid defender."
http://www.detroitnews.com/sto...-van-gundy/22253271/
More...
quote:One really good measure of a player's defense is the comparison of Defended Field Goal percentage (DFG%) and FG%, which measures how the opponent against the player in question shoots vs. how he does in general. Monroe's assignments shot 60% from less than 6 ft. on average against other players last year. When Monroe defended them, that number was 60.1%. Yep, that's a 0.1 percentage point difference, which is as negligible as one can get statistically. Monroe fared a bit worse when the opponents were farther away from the basket (0.9 percentage points worse from less than 10 ft., 0.5 worse from less than 15 ft.), but in general he in no way offered those players an open house.Another useful piece of statistics is Opponent Points in the Paint (Opp PITP), which I think is self explanatory. Monroe allowed 33.6 Opp PITP per 36 minutes, which is not a great number as he ranks really low among fellow centers in the league. However, his numbers were still better than or very close to Celtics players like Brandon Bass and Tyler Zeller, or other potential green targets such as Nikola Pekovic, Robin Lopez and Omer Asik. Again, this stat is not necessarily meaningful because paint defense is not solely the center's responsibility -and it actually paints Anthony Davis as one of the worst defenders in the league which is obviously not true- but what it shows is that the Celtics could or would do worse without Monroe than with him, and they ranked 26th last year in that category so any help would be welcomed.
If you're not impressed with the numbers above, here's something that will cheer you up. Opponent 2nd Chance Points (Opp 2nd Pts) is a more accurate indicator of a big man's effort in the paint because if an opponent gets the offensive rebound, their first option is usually to score the ball right away, and in most cases only the big men are there to deter that shot. Greg Monroe is actually one of the best in that category as he allowed only 9.1 Opp 2nd Pts per 36 minutes. That either means he doesn't let other players get the offensive rebound that often so they have less chances to score, or he actually recovers pretty well when they give away a rebound. Either way, he would be a very good addition to a Celtics roster that ranked 18th last year and got crushed in the Playoffs by Tristan Thompson alone.
http://www.celticslife.com/201...-is-greg-monroe.html
There are trade offs with FA signings, especially with the big fellas. Can't have everything, but I think we are really going to like seeing what Greg Monroe does with this cast of fellow Bucks around him! I can just imagine what it will be like having him and Henson at the 4 on the floor at the same time.
Even without Monroe... Think about that!
More on Greg Monroe's defense and other attributes in an awesome piece here:
The assist/inside passing video (in the link to 'Trophies' post above) is impressive.
I can see Henson and Antetokounmpo on the receiving end of those passes.
MC, good read on Jared Dudley's perspective on Bucks and the trade:
MC, I like your basketball IQ, but sometimes - I don't know, man!
In this case, I take strong exception to one thing - the comparison of Giannis' trajectory to Durant. My guess is Durant shot better his one season at Texas then Giannis will ever shoot in his entire career in the NBA.
Gotcha, MC, and thanks!
If Giannis could acquire a decent shooting percentage midrange jumper, that would be awesome.
Yeah, I like Giannis' chances to take a big step forward in his game this year. He's been working on his shot, which is going to help an already solid game. Khris Middleton is a player who I think will be taking that next step right along with him. Both players should be coming into this season stronger, more sure, with improved games.
Adding Vasquez, along with the rookie Vaughn will help our shooting immensely. Not to mention the newly signed Chris Copeland, who is deadly from outside.
Then there is Monroe, who will be a force in the post in terms of scoring, like we haven't seen there in decades... Considering all of that, on an already solid defensive team, I would venture our Bucks do crash the 50 win barrier this season. Easily.
There's going to be a ton of mismatches for Kidd to exploit, as early as this year. You know he is just dying to mix it up, and he knows his players strengths and weaknesses. Giannis is just one of those players.
If Giannis and MCW develop shots, look out.
Also, I can easily see Henson's offensive game improve with Monroe to learn from.
Barring of course injury, I think the main variables impacting the Buck's success will be the offensive improvement of MCW and Giannis.
Wishful thinking, I suppose, but MC you got me thinking of Amare Stoudamire's post game in his prime. Man, it was beautiful. Would love to see Giannis have a little Amare in him!
