Is Monroe a terrible defender?

They're only three games out and competing against the Knicks, Bucks, and Cavs. I'd rather they got a #1 overall, but the reality is that playoffs are an actual possibility.

They are definitely a possibility.........but a team that started 4-20........I'm allowed to pause.

You think that is what he's telling him when he sits him for almost the entire 4th Q, take it easy?

Monroe did not foul a lot last year, especially for a rookie big.

I can't explain why Monroe sits soooo long in the 4th quarter of games. Maybe Frank forgets he's there.

But, at times it does look like Monroe's on crusie control on the defensive end.

I can explain, Ben Wallace and Max are superior defenders than GM. Greg will get there, I don't envision him as 1st team All-NBA Defense, but he'll be solid.

You'd think that you want the most profitable players from a net standpoint in the game rather than the guys who are defensive specialists. Why does it make sense to overplay defensive specialists for most of the 4th quarter, but not start the game and not finish with them?

Coach must just be going with the flow or employing some genius strategy that we aren't privy to.

I just realized that Monroe is tied for the 14th best PER (player efficiency rating) in the entire NBA. He is a hair away from being in the top 10.

1. Lebron- 32.2
2. Wade- 28.4
3. Durant- 26.9
4. Paul- 26.3
5. Ginobili- 25.1
6. Howard- 24.9
7. Love- 24.8
8. Rose- 24.7
9. Bryant- 23.4
10. Jefferson- 23.2
11. Westbrook- 23.2
12. Griffin- 23.1
13. Millsap- 23.1
14. Bynum- 22.9
15. Monroe- 22.9 "bona fide all-star"

That is some pretty sweet company.

Here is how the rest of our squad shakes out in the rankings (with the qualitative meaning of PER given their value):
#47- Stuckey- 19.6 almost a "borderline all-star"
#226- Jerebko- 14.1 "in the rotation- pretty good player"
#242- Prince- 12.7 "in the rotation"
#256- Maxiell- 12.3 "in the rotation- maybe scrounging for some minutes"
#279- Knight- 11.5 "scrounging for minutes"
#311- Gordon- 10.7 "scrounging for minutes"
#326- Wallace- 10.1 "scrounging for minutes- definitely renting"
#379- Bynum- 8.3 "definitely renting"
#397- Russell- 6.9 "definitely renting- next stop D-league"
#401- Wilkins- 6.7 "definitely renting- next stop D-league"
#402- Daye- 6.6 "definitely renting- next stop D-league"
#446- Villanueva- negative 1.6 "laughed out of D-league, signed contract with soccer league to scrape up some gambling money"

It is out of 454 players, so some pretty ugly stuff.

Here is the key for what PER equates to:

• A Year For the Ages: 35.0
• Runaway MVP Candidate: 30.0
• Strong MVP Candidate: 27.5
• Weak MVP Candidate: 25.0
• Bona fide All-Star: 22.5
• Borderline All-Star: 20.0
• Solid 2nd option: 18.0
• 3rd Banana: 16.5
• Pretty good player: 15.0
• In the rotation: 13.0
• Scrounging for minutes: 11.0
• Definitely renting: 9.0
• The Next Stop: DLeague 5.0
• Villanueva: < 0.0

Disclaimer- PER does incorporate blocks and steals, but otherwise it shafts defensive specialist type players... just like the all-star game voters. I like to think of PER as a good indicator of how the general public would rank players if they watched them all equally and they all played for their favorite team (that probably doesn't make much sense).

I guess that explains why Chuckie G scores so poorly. (Thanks for the LOL this AM)

Nice stats TaShawn.

Basically I see 5 starters per team, so the top 150 should round out the starters in the NBA.
That makes Monroe at #15, an All-star...and Stuckey at #47, a quality starter.
Continuing to divide by 30, the # of NBA teams....for each Piston on the list I get.....
JJ is 8th on the team to play...3rd off the bench....
Prince and Maxiel are 9th on the team to play...4th off the bench.

On a team that plays 9 guys regularly..........that's all we got.

Our other players are pine brothers.

Except, give a little more leeway because every single player is on the list (i.e. there is no filter for minutes).

Monroe really seemed to struggle last night defending the pick and roll. He rarely seemed to show to slow up the dribbler coming off the pick and when he did he had his hands down rocking a slumped shoulder Charlie V posture.

More often than not he chose to play a few feet behind the picker or stayed on the same pre-pick side of the guard which gave him no chance to get back to his man to contest the shot as Big Ben was able to consistently do. Both of these are pretty unusual choices.

I obviously do not know what he is supposed to be doing on these plays, but his pine time indicates that he is doing something wrong.

In PER, 15 is always the league average.

Therefore, I deduce that we have one great player, one good player, and the rest are below average.

Having said that, PER relies on FG%, and can be skewed by good 3pt shooting - lots of points and low usage rate.

Monroe was in the top 10.. I think he was 6th or 7th in january..