Milwaukee Bucks 2016-17 season review: Greg Monroe
By Paul Headley
The Worst of Monroe
Monroe is still not a good rim-protector. Field goal percentage at the rim statistics are problematic for a number of reasons (bad perimeter defense can leave bigs exposed and thus more likely to get scored on, just how involved a player was on a play within five feet etc). Still, they’re a handy guide for broadly assessing a player’s interior defense.
Opponents shot 53.8 percent (2.8 made field goals on 5.2 attempts) with Monroe at the rim, one of the worst rates in the league for any player defending at least five attempts per game. For context, opponents shot just 46.2 percent on 5.1 attempts with Giannis Antetokounmpo protecting the paint.
Although he’s spectacularly skilled on the block, he’s not as efficient a post-scorer as he could be. He scored 0.90 points per possession on post-ups this season, just above league average.
Monroe has a tendency to force things when posting up or playing in isolation:
The play here is to capitalize on Andre Roberson abandoning Kris Middleton on the wing, not toss-up a difficult hook over a stout defender in Taj Gibson.