Greg Monroe debut all positive for Celtics going forward
Newly-acquired Greg Monroe's first game as a Celtic certainly bodes well for the team's future. Moose played 19 minutes and scored five points while adding six rebounds, two assists and two steals. The game went into overtime with Boston coming out with a 110-104 win.
“I thought he did a really good job,” Brad Stevens says of Greg Monroe making his Celtics debut. “And we’ll only get more used to playing with him.”
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 9, 2018
Greg seemed to fit into the Celtics system seamlessly, particularly since he had a week-and-a-half of downtime leading up to his signing. His rebounding and inside moves were certainly on display last night. The video below shows a nifty inside spin move for his first score in a Celtics Uniform.
Monroe's addition to the team adds a wealth of future possible lineups for Coach Brad Stevens. One of the biggest problems for Boston has been finding a way to score when both Al Horford and Kyrie Irving are out of the game. Moose is an accomplished low-post scorer and solid playmaking big man that will allow more versatility on the second unit. Here is the NBA's Taylor Snow on the subject:
Monroe’s versaility will allow Stevens play with a number of new lineup combinations, some of which were featured Thursday night. One rotation that experienced some success was when the C's featured Terry Rozier at the point, Jayson Tatum at the 2, Marcus Morris at the 3, Daniel Theis at the 4 and Monroe at the 5. That combo was able to produce on both ends despite note having either Irving or Al Horford on the floor.
“One of the things you think about in adding Greg is that’s time that you don’t have to necessarily stagger Kyrie and Al,” said Stevens. “And so I think that that’s a positive moving forward. We still will (stagger Irving and Horford) some, depending on who we’re playing and the matchups and those types of things. But I felt good about the way that Theis and Greg played together.”
It is only 19 minutes in one game, but Monroe's addition puts a stronger glow on the Celtics already-bright future. We are lucky that Greg chose Boston as his destination following his buyout with Phoenix. But give Celtics boss Danny Ainge credit here. He has created a player-friendly environment with a win-now/win-later mindset. Brad's innovative lineups going forward will be exciting to see.
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Photo via Instragram/@Celtics
Video via XimoPierto
