Bold Predictions That Could Come True For The Milwaukee Bucks

Sep 28, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks center Greg Monroe (15) poses during media day at Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

1. Greg Monroe Makes The All-Star team

Greg Monroe is a huge acquisition for Milwaukee. In the context of the team he should help the Bucks improve mightily in terms of scoring per game and rebounds per game; they were in the bottom 10 in the NBA in both categories.

Being in Milwaukee is a huge move for Monroe too. In a personal context, Monroe escapes the shadow of Andre Drummond and the Detroit Pistons. Detroit never gave coaching stability or useful complementary players to him, and yet Greg consistently gave the Pistons solid, efficient scoring and excellent rebounding numbers.

Now in Milwaukee, Moose gets to be the guy. No longer does he need to play out of position at the power forward while Drummond plays at center. As the focal point of the offense Greg is going to shine.

Last year while playing a lot with Andre Drummond and sometimes with Josh Smith, Monroe averaged 15.9 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists a game. Those guys reduced his ability to get good looks by reducing the spacing in the offense.

Hmmm, I wonder where I’ve heard about the concerns of Monroe being on a team with no spacing? Oh wait, that is what people are saying about the Bucks this year. Regardless of what you think of the Bucks roster it should be able to space the floor at least as well as the Pistons did last year.

With five different coaches in five different seasons in Detroit, Monroe averaged 14.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, shooting over 50% from the field. He spent a big chunk of that time playing out of position with poor shooters around him. He just got it done, regardless of coaching scheme and support.

Greg is hungry for a playoff berth. He joined the Bucks specifically because of their potential to make the playoffs and the foreseeable continuity of having Coach Jason Kidd around the next few seasons, and probably much longer than that.

Through the first four pre-season games he is averaging 14.0 points and 7.8 rebounds a game while playing 23.5 minutes a game. Say what you will about the pre-season, but when he starts playing more minutes those averages are only going to go up. Monroe will likely average a double-double this season between points and rebounds. Additionally, it isn’t unimaginable for him to get about 20 points per game.

If he can be a 20-11 player this season, an All-Star bid should be in store for him. It could be an awesome season of firsts for Greg Monroe: first time All-Star and first trip to the playoffs.

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