The Moose Ran Loose
Right there with Beasley, in terms of shining stars on the night for the Bucks, was one Gregory Keith Monroe. Facing against his former team, Monroe was downright electric during his time on the floor, turning in a double-double performance with his 25 points and his 13 rebounds, along with three steals.
All throughout the night, Monroe was a problem the Pistons couldn’t solve down on the block. He regularly powered his way through to the basket with his variety of crafty low post moves, frustrating the various big men for the Pistons in the process.
While the Bucks lost the rebounding battle to the Pistons considerably (the Pistons outrebounded the Bucks 44-33), Monroe’s work on the glass, particularly on the defensive end, was key as it helped limit the threat of Andre Drummond from feasting off of second chance points all night long.
As it has for the majority of the year, Monroe’s work defensively was just the icing on the cake as he showed great anticipation, like in this play where he disrupts a simple bounce pass from Stanley Johnson to Jon Leuer for a fast break score.
THE MOOSE IS LOOSE pic.twitter.com/aGDsCpMrEA
— Behind the Buck Pass (@BehindTheBucks) February 14, 2017
Given how everything has shaken out over the last week, something similar to last night will likely have to become the norm for Monroe and the Bucks if they hope for any type of turnaround to last.