This team needs a LEGIT center in the worst way

Touche!

Can't argue with that.

Moose are quite common out here in Yellowstone.

You know you're screwed when you find yourself pining for the "good old days" when Chris Wilcox used to patrol the paint.

It's worse than that. There has been more "Where's Walter Herrmann...." posts within the last two weeks than there has been in a year.

if he doesn't start to develop some leaping ability that goes beyond that of a guinea pig, he definetely has reached his ceiling already

Moses had a good team.......which helped him sail thru the season.........

With Moses..........they all stayed afloat.

Ron (Detroit, MI )

Chad, can I get your thoughts on Pistons center Greg Monroe? The guy looks stellar, and an all-star as well.

Chad Ford

(1:18 PM)


He's the one bright spot on an otherwise dim Pistons team at the moment. It's still very early, but hard to argue someone else besides Wall should've gone ahead of him in the Draft. Favors could eventually surpass him because he's a much better athlete. Paul George has a chance to be great. Evan Turner is playing MUCH better this year. But Monroe is special. Brandon Knight should be pretty good too down the road. It's not going to be pretty for a while, but the Pistons do have some nice pieces going forward.

It's as if I didn't noah what I was talking about.......

To me, it's pretty obvious that Monroe is a fine young player and has star potential. I don't think we've seen anything from him yet that is near the cap on his ability. The guy is becoming one of the best big men in the game. He is showing that he's on his way to becoming an excellent back to the basket low-post post-up player. In one summer he developed moves and counter-moves that make it very hard to cover him one-on-one down low. He's great cutting to the basket and finishing. He's a much improved free throw shooter. It's pretty obvious that he's got excellent footwork and that he works on this aspect of his game, so it's projectible and highly likely that he'll continue to improve a lot and develop a lot more go to moves down low as the seasons go by. Perhaps, the best aspect of his offensive game is his ability to pass the ball - he's got outstanding skill and court vision in that regard. As the Pistons team develops a lot more in their system, as Knight develops as a pro, and we get more talented players who perform better in their roles (really that's a function of time and practice, not just getting better talent, which we'll do also), Monroe is going to be a killer as a passer. Double team him at your peril, but he'll eat you alive down low if you don't.

He's also an outstanding offensive rebounder.

On D, he's shown great aptitude and really good effort. He also has great hands. He'll box out and get steals. He also rebounds balls out of his area - a great skill for a rebounder.

Absolutely he needs a big man partner. We need a dominant defender and rebounder to pair with him, somebody who can also cut to the basket when Monroe has the ball and either finish in the paint or terrorize teams on the offense boards and who becomes like Rasheed Wallace was to Ben Wallace in 2004 - two guys who just controlled the paint on D. Monroe and a guy like Anthony Davis (knock on wood, cross fingers, deal with devil, whatever it takes, etc.) might not be exactly like the Wallace brothers, since they're all 4 different players. But they'd still be fantastic together. It's not as if Ben Wallace brought much to the table offensively - but we thrived with him in combination with the talent around him.

Monroe can't jump
Monroe can't shoot
Monroe can't blah blah blah

Guys, it doesn't matter. The kid's getting it done. This season the kid is averaging 14.8 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.9 apg. He's shooting 57% from the field and 77% from the FT line. He is continously improving and adding new moves to his repertoire. Already he is a very goood big man in this league. Just enjoy having him and appreciate what he's doing.

Tim Duncan has never been a flashy player but he's a lock for the HOF.

The exact same arguments were made against Nowitzki when he entered the league and now he's a champion, also likely headed to the HOF.

I'd rather have Monroe on our team than some knucklehead who can jump really high.

Monroe is playing better now then last year, this is all without a team controlled off season, a summer league, or a real pre season.... we won't know for sure what we have with him for 2 more seasons... thats when we'll really know what his ceiling is. speaking of missing out on team stuff.... Knight really has been thrown to the fire without a net, I think that speaks volumes for what he can be given time to grow.... was a terrible year for us to miss out on a summer of work. why couldn't this have happened in 04 after we won the title.... our core would have been much better rested come playoff basketball...

Joe seems to prefer knuckleheads..........

Yeah, but he thinks "knucklehead" means a combo guard (or forward) with good character.

Anti-Monroe posts are just buffoonery. We're looking at a legitimate all-star big man now. I am happily stunned about how much improvement he's made in a single off season - an offseason without the input of Pistons coaches and trainers by the way.

I used to think his upside was borderline all-star. Now I think his upside is regular and multiple all-star games.

Pair him with at least one other star big man, and the Pistons with Knight are going to have a big three that can compete for championships.