The Thing I Don't Like About The Monk Pick...

[Peppers90 NC]

i heard Clifford talk the other day and he put an emphasis on making rookies earn playing time and not starting out of the gate. i think that stands for most rookies but Monk has elite player qualities. we will see how long he comes off the bench, or push Batum to the 3 and MKG comes off the bench.

[MCC]

I imagine MKG will start to set the defensive tone, with Monk being one of the first guys off the bench, depending on the situation.  

You have to remember that the kid is only 19 and has a lot to learn.  He'll get his minutes and they will continue to increase as the season goes along. 

[Proudiddy]

I think the other reason they're worried about benching MKG is that if he isn't eating up minutes as a starter guarding the other team's best scorer, he loses whatever little value he has.  Most successful teams dont rock with a wing defensive stopper coming off the bench.

[MechaZain]

1 hour ago, mountainpantherfan2 said:

I think the issue of how is starting is of little importance. What Monk gives is the ability to create multiple matchup issues throughout the season and within individual games. If your starting guards are Walker and Batum then Monk has the ability to come in for either. Walker can even slide over to the 2 spot and Batum can also slide up to the 3. Howard is the only stationary player on the team. Kaminski and Zeller both can play the 4 or 5 spots. And MKG can play 3 or 4. Throw in Lamb and Williams into the mix as well and that's a deep roster.

MKG is the center of the defensive lineup. With him and Howard in the game that's a lot of rebounds and blocks/contested shots. Want or need more scoring then have Walker Monk and Batum in the lineup.

I really don't think the starting lineup is going to matter much or playing time. It's all about matchups.


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Thank you. Malik will get plenty of time on the floor with Dwight. Starting a rookie over your team's primary defender just because he's a better scorer is insulting. 

[CPF4LIFE]

I'm more concerned with how many minutes he gets, though I agree he should be starting.   I always worry about Clifford and how he seems to not use young players like he should.   If we're keeping him on the bench so MKG can learn to shoot another year, that's just stupid.    

I'm afraid this can possibly happen, I'm not a big fan of cliff like everybody else.

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[Proudiddy]

19 minutes ago, MechaZain said:

Thank you. Malik will get plenty of time on the floor with Dwight. Starting a rookie over your team's primary defender just because he's a better scorer is insulting. 

Not if the rookie is balling, creates his own matchup problems, and earns the spot over MKG.  Again, I like MKG, but he is what he is and waiting on him to develop into something more is a fruitless endeavor.  I think what it comes down to is do we want an offensive juggernaut-style lineup, or do we want a defense into offense lineup?  Clifford obviously prefers defense first.  He also prefers veterans over rookies, often at the expense of stagnating their development.  Frank looked booty until he actually started getting playing time...  that's all I'm saying.

[Carl Spackler]

Westbrook didn't start right off the bat, either. Nor did Kemba

[Peppers90 NC]

24 minutes ago, Proudiddy said:

Not if the rookie is balling, creates his own matchup problems, and earns the spot over MKG.  Again, I like MKG, but he is what he is and waiting on him to develop into something more is a fruitless endeavor.  I think what it comes down to is do we want an offensive juggernaut-style lineup, or do we want a defense into offense lineup?  Clifford obviously prefers defense first.  He also prefers veterans over rookies, often at the expense of stagnating their development.  Frank looked booty until he actually started getting playing time...  that's all I'm saying.

i think youre getting worked up over a nonissue. once Monk deserves and has earned more playing time, he will get it. all Cliff is pretty much saying he has to earn his playing time, it wont be handed to him.

[WOW!!]

This is such a useless worry..

Just say what you want.. You are done with MKG and want him gone..

To bad so sad.. He is a improtant part of the team.  Monk will get his time and even if he comes of the bench it will be a good thing.. 

He still needs to build up his body and skills before he is ready to take the Nba pounding..

Coming off the bench and being the microwave scoring guy is a good role to start with..

Hell MKG being on the floor with him will help with his defensive deficiences..

[WOW!!]

4 minutes ago, bull123 said:

 

Mkg is a bench player...even if he starts his minutes are what is most important...he is a really good player, just not a star player, never will be


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He is a defensive stopper.. Which can be in the starting line up or off the bench.. No matter what you need somebody who can slow down the other teams best scorer ..

[SOJA]

Would not mind little version of our own lineup of death for the final minutes

Kemba

Monk

Batum

MKG

Marvin/Cody

[yasuhara2241]

Manu didn't start for almost his entire career and is probably a HOF and played when it mattered. He will grow into more time when he learns the plays and shows what he has. 

As for the MKG bashing that we all love to do. I know that he can't shoot but to be fair. A lot of times we lost leads in the Q4 and we couldn't stop anybody and Marco was on the floor. 

Now I am not a MKG homer, but I do see his value. My hope is that Monk plays so well that he is on the floor in crunch time but for me starting isn't a huge thing as long as he is getting 25+ minutes a game. 

 

[Woodie]

7 hours ago, Proudiddy said:

Not if the rookie is balling, creates his own matchup problems, and earns the spot over MKG.  Again, I like MKG, but he is what he is and waiting on him to develop into something more is a fruitless endeavor.  I think what it comes down to is do we want an offensive juggernaut-style lineup, or do we want a defense into offense lineup?  Clifford obviously prefers defense first.  He also prefers veterans over rookies, often at the expense of stagnating their development.  Frank looked booty until he actually started getting playing time...  that's all I'm saying.

You're getting hung up on scoring, but there is literally nothing else Monk does at this point to deserve a starting spot over MKG...and we don't even know how well he will be able to score right out of the gate against the bigger and stronger SG's he'll face in the NBA.

The ironic part to this worry is that some are saying that we should move Batum over to SF to open the starting SG spot since MKG is not a good scorer.  But currently, Monk is a worse defender than MKG is a scorer...and he is small...and MKG does many other things to help facilitate the offense other than scoring. 

Does that mean Monk can't develop into a solid defender or should never be a starter?  Not at all (I actually think with his athleticism, Monk can develop into a decent defender and valuable starter, but it will take time).  But right now, he would be a bigger liability on the defensive end than MKG is on the offensive end.  So, it makes far more sense to start him off on the bench and cherry pick how you use him to take advantage of his offensive skill while mitigating his defensive deficiencies.  No need to rush him. 

[ItsPantone278]

Our bench was so fuging bad last season it didn't matter what the starters did.  With that said if you put monk with the starters it doesn't change the fact that we were and will continue to be terrible in that regard.

Hey, I get it.  Long term the guy is extremely talented, and with zero games of stinking it up as a hornet I'm still optimistic he can be one of the better players on the team.

Honestly Id like to see him come off the bench and work his guard skill set up to the point we can play him at 1.  If he can add that versatility to his game it'll be hard to keep him off the court if he has wind.  Gotta work on handling the p&r.