Greg “Moose” Monroe Budding Star

In this first excerpt of my weekly ten part Detroit Pistons roster breakdown I will be bringing you individual players strengths and weaknesses. Things this person can improve on this offseason as well digging deeper into the overall impact he has on the team.

<strong>Before the NBA
Greg Monroe was born in Gretna, Louisiana to Norma Jean Monroe and Greg Monroe Sr he attended Helen Cox High School in Harvey, Louisiana and was the 2008 McDonalds All American and two time Mr. Basketball in Louisiana. The 6 ft 11 inches 250 lbs center/power forward attended Georgetown University playing under the tutelage of John Thompson the third for two seasons averaging 14 ppg, 8rpg, and 3apg in sixty-five career games before foregoing his final two years of eligibility to enter the NBA draft.

Becoming and Being a Pistons
Greg Monroe was drafted 7th overall in the 2010 NBA draft to the Detroit Pistons. In three seasons he has averaged 13.5ppg, almost 9rpg, and 2.5 apg, and is widely consider to be one of the best young big men in the game. Monroe professional accolades include NBA All Rookie Second Team(2011) and NBA BBVA Rising Star(2012).

Moose’s Game
Greg Monroe has many strengths and very few weaknesses so at this point we are just fine tuning because everyone strives for something and no one is perfect. It’s a real pleasure to watch Monroe play, Monroe can score with a plethora of moves in the low post and prior to Jose Calderon joining the roster mid-season he was second on the team in assist showing he is a willing passer and understand the game of basketball. Monroe controls his area in rebounding but I would like to see him average double digits. Monroe needs to work on his outside touch this offseason because with him and the other half of the TURNT UP TWINS in Andre Drummond in the post almost exclusively to correctly space the court. Moose will probably have to venture out to the elbow or further more often making his ability to knock down the 18 foot jumper imperative for the Pistons to effectively continue to grow as a team. I would also like to see Monroe improve in the block shot category. He average 0.7bpg and I’m hoping to see that double next season and the Moose will alter more shots.

Rumors and Innuendo
I have heard several rumors about Moose being maxed out on potential and needs to be traded and I can say about that is that is hogwash. Sometimes you don’t know what you got till it’s gone and it is true in this case. Moose is a budding star who needs more of a supporting cast around him to fully get the most out of his potential. I was not very happy with how Drummond only played 20 minutes a game when everyone knew by mid December this was not going to be any different than the year prior. That was the time to infuse more young talent into the rotation and take your bumps and bruises now to help the Pistons later. To fully understand just how important Moose can be to the Pistons getting him a few deadly three point shooters will cause teams to not to double down when Monroe or Drummond is in the post and it’s easier to rebound when it’s one on one not one against three.

My Synopsis
Keeping Monroe in my honest opinion is paramount to building a championship contender in the future. Not only is he a great basketball player he is a great person. You rarely see young people so well mannered and with a so called old soul where he is wise beyond his years on and off the court.