The Misuse of Greg Monroe

One thing I've often thought is "why does Greg Monroe take the ball in the low post so much"? Granted, this is often a good play when he's not going up against a superior defender like Tyson Chandler, but it actually makes his job on offense more difficult. Monroe is one of the better passing bigs in the game, but he also turns it over a TON. 

A lot of these turnovers I attribute to a poor design on offense. First, Frank is supposedly conditioning Monroe to be a PF so Drummond can play center. Well, Chris Webber was maybe the best passing PF of all time (apologies to Unseld), and he LIVED at the elbow.

The Elbow is great. You see the court better, you have more room to work, and the entry pass is much easier. Passing into the low post can be tricky, and the player posting up has to fight for position so the defender doesn't disrupt the pass. Monroe has a tendency (as do a lot of big men) to hold the ball low as he gathers to make his move in the low post. He gets tied up, stripped, or forced into a bad pass. On a team with a well-designed, well-spaced offense, a passing/scoring big at the elbow can be a good weapon. 

To be fair to Frank, I think he got the memo. Greg Monroe started a lot of his plays at the elbow last night, and finished very well with 19 pts, 7 rebs, 7 assists and only 1 turnover. 

Today at 3pm is the trade deadline, but I don't expect the Pistons to make another move, unless that Bynum to OKC for Eric Maynor & a pick deal materializes.