Milwaukee Bucks: Greg Monroe Progress Report
The Verdict
To be fair, this shift from defense to offense hasn’t just been about Greg Monroe. The return of Jabari Parker has lent itself to Milwaukee’s early defensive woes, and there hasn’t been much stability with Kidd’s lineups because of injuries to Parker, John Henson, Michael Carter-Williams and O.J. Mayo.
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The Bucks have had seven different starting lineups, and it’s also worth noting that veterans like Zaza Pachulia, Jared Dudley and Ersan Ilyasova are all gone. Milwaukee’s preferred starting five doesn’t feature a single player over the age of 25, one was a rookie whose season was cut short by an ACL tear and two weren’t even on the roster at the start of the 2014-15 season.
It will take time for this young team to gel, and Monroe can’t be blamed for all of the Bucks’ early defensive problems. But quite a few people are still scratching their heads from the Brandon Knight trade, which wound up being a decision between paying Knight and Khris Middleton over Monroe and Middleton (not Knight vs. Middleton as everyone thought).
So far, the results of choosing Monroe over Knight have been all over the board. The Bucks are taking baby steps in the right direction offensively, and the fact that they were able to lure a big-name free agent like Monroe speaks volumes about the bright future of this franchise.
But until Milwaukee can sort out its defensive issues and find a way to rotate more effectively to hide Greg Monroe and his defensive flaws, they’ll continue to be a middle-of-the-road Eastern Conference team.