Greg Monroe has been snubbed, not once, but twice in recent days, first by the media, then by the coaches. I can’t say I was all that surprised in either case. As has been argued by advocates of Wins Produced for some time, the people responsible for evaluating talent in the NBA tend to fixate on scoring and not much else.*
So, in spite of having a fantastic season, especially during 2011, Monroe is not getting the post-season recognition he deserves, at least not in the mainstream conversations. If you’re a Pistons fan and find yourself frustrated by this, the Wages of Wins Network has your back.
First, a recent post from Dr. David Berri that discusses the “Most Productive Players” from every NBA team. For the Detroit Pistons, that player is none other than Greg Monroe.
Over at Courtside Analyst, Ty applies his “Value Rating” to this year’s crop of rookies, and once again, Monroe looks good.
By all counts, Blake Griffin was deserving of all the accolades he received. He was outstanding this season and is likely to become a dominant big man. Landry Fields was quietly exception as well.
But by the numbers, Greg Monroe was also exception. There is no question that Greg Monroe was the second most productive big man in this year’s class and was clearly deserving of a spot on the All Rookie First Team.
*In the case of individual awards such as MVP, team wins also seems to be considered. The top scorer on the best or one of the best teams, in other words. The Spurs’ success as a team may help explain how Neal vaulted Monroe in popular perception, in spite of nearly identical PPG averages.
Pistons by the Numbers 