Today's news that the Bucks and Greg Monroe signed a short 10-day contract has revived a once-vivid name in the minds of fans. After 2 years away from the league, Monroe returned, but most likely short-lived. So, how did this high-ranking interior lineer from the cradle of the center, which was once regarded by the Pistons as the hope of the inside, get to where it is today?
Monroe, 31, was born in New Orleans on June 4, 1990. In his early years, he attended Helen-Cox High School in Harvey, Louisiana. In his senior year of high school, Monroe was named america's best high school student team with an average of 21 points and 14 rebounds per game. He has also been twice named Mr. Basketball of Louisiana. After graduating from high school, Monroe was named a five-star high school student, ranked 8th among the class of 2008, and topped the fourth-place player list.
Monroe then moved to Georgetown University. Iverson comes to mind at this point, but before that, Georgetown was known as the "cradle of the center," and Ewing, Mourning, and Mutombo were the pride of the place. Monroe's performance here is still passed down by word of mouth among Georgetown teachers and students.
In his freshman year, Monroe was named the Best Freshman in the Great East Division with an average of 12.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, and was named to the All-New Team and the All-American Freshman Team that season. In his sophomore season, Monroe averaged 16.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, and was named the best first team in the Great Eastern Division and the best third team in the United States.
With the latest production of "Cradle of Center", Monroe was selected by the Pistons with the 7th pick in 2010 to come to The Motor City. The rookie season was also a smooth one for Monroe. He started in 48 of his 80 games, averaged 27.8 minutes per game, had 9.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals, and shot 55.1 percent from the field, making him the best rookie second team.
At that time, the Pistons had entered the end of the "Five Tigers Era", the classic Five Tigers who pulled the F4 Lakers off the horse in 2004, and only the "Mask Man" Hamilton and Prince were left at this time. Monroe shouldered the burden of regaining the glory of The Motor City, and his progress was obvious, and in the second season of his career, he stepped into the 10+ ranks and averaged 15+9 per game for four consecutive seasons, but he was unable to take the Pistons any further. In Monroe's five seasons, the Pistons won no more than 32 games in a single season, but the coach changed like a marquee and fell into a decadent situation.
Continue to sink into the pistons in exchange for high picks, but their vision is not flattering. In 2011 the Pistons selected Brandon Knight with the 8th pick; in 2012 and 2013, the Pistons selected Drummond and Pope with the 9th and 8th picks, respectively. From the perspective of hindsight, these players are not unknown, but they may not be worthy of such a high pick, not to mention that the Pistons have missed many real superstars for this reason. In drummond's case, his and Monroe's "door god combination" was once the Pistons' inner line hope, but the "twin-tower trial" soon proved to be incompatible with the NBA trend.
In the 2014-15 season, Monroe played the peak of his career, averaging 15.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, shooting 49.6%. He previously accepted a qualifying offer from the Pistons to become an unrestricted free agent. In the 2015 offseason, Monroe bid farewell to Motor City and signed to the Bucks for $50 million for three years. In the first season of signing, Monroe still averaged 15.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, shooting 52.2% of the performance, but unexpectedly, the season became a watershed in Monroe's career.
In the eyes of then-Bucks coach Kidd, Monroe was not particularly dependent, and coupled with the unstoppable upward momentum of the alphabet brother, Monroe's first start began to loosen this season. In the 2016-17 season, Monroe played 81 games as a full bench, gradually reducing his playing time and performance also began to shrink. Finally, in the 2017-18 season, Monroe played only five games for the Bucks and was sent to the Suns. He was ruthlessly cut after a brief 20-game stay at Phoenix and subsequently signed to the Green Army. At the end of the season, even Boston issued an eviction order against him.
Any NBA player who goes through such twists and turns is difficult to recover, and Monroe is no exception, he has completely become a marginal man in the NBA. In the 2018-19 season, after another season of many teams, Monroe understood that his NBA path had come to an end, and he was under 29 years old.
In the second round of the 2019 East Side, a small card smashed the 76ers' playoff dream and also pressed the pause button on Monroe's NBA journey. In July of the same year, Monroe bid farewell to the NBA and came to the German league to sign for Bayern Munich. A year later, Monroe signed for Khimki Moscow in the Russian league, but the contract ended in January of the following year.
As a result, Monroe returned to the United States and signed with the Wizards' Development League team in November 2021, where he averaged 10.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Soon, he regained the favor of the NBA team, signing a 10-day short contract with the Timberwolves and Wizards at the turn of the new year, until now returning to the Bucks.
When it comes to Monroe's situation, viewers will always exclaim to today's center and inside groups that "the sunset is infinitely good, but it is near dusk". With an arm span of 2.19 meters, a standing height of 2.76 meters, and a weight of 120 kilograms, Monroe is a tonnage-rich traditional inner line. However, his slow movement and limited range to the basket have gradually abandoned him by the times, even if his starting point is quite high.
While fast-paced and small-ball became increasingly popular in leagues, Monroe's problems were infinitely magnified. On the offensive end, he has a basket to play singles, but he can't open up space, even if singles are time-consuming and labor-intensive, the success rate is not high, and the efficiency of "eating cakes" is also limited; and before the draft, it was his signature policy, and in the NBA, it was also like the six-veined Excalibur.
On the defensive end, Monroe is the other defender and flank of the cash machine, unable to follow the defense can not assist in defense, can only look at the ocean sigh, but also the ball style is soft and does not like confrontation, but also lack of ability to protect the basket. The industry believes that if it is put aside, Monroe is a qualified interior lineman, his singles, rebounds and passes can come in handy, and it is not a problem to be among the rotations, but now he can only sigh that he has the wrong era.
A center who is not sick, has a good reputation in the locker room, and has a bright resume, but he was forced to leave the NBA when he should have entered the peak of his career, and he was already a passerby when he returned, and Monroe's encounter is lamentable, but also reflects how the NBA has undergone tremendous changes in recent years. (Supine Braces/Hairy)