Monk as Starter

C

Caccia

Starter
#1
#1
Monk is coming on strong as a starter, as I always thought he would. A writer on another site compiled "A list of every player Mike Brown started before Malik Monk. The list is long:

De’Aaron Fox
Domantas Sabonis
Harrison Barnes
DeMar DeRozan
Keegan Murray
Kevin Huerter
Trey Lyles
Keon Ellis
Davion Mitchell
Alex Len
Jae Crowder
Terence Davis
Chris Duarte
Richaun Holmes
Doug McDermott
Kessler Edwards
KZ Okpala

It would be amusing if not so ridiculous. Many here passionately defended having Monk come off the bench, as the "super sixth man," and I respect those arguments, but now I hope and expect that the Kings will thrive with the current starting lineup. I have noticed that when both Fox and Monk are in the game, Fox normally brings the ball up and initiates the play, not Sabonis, whereas when Fox is out, Monk acts as the point guard. Ellis plays shooting guard alongside either one of those two.

https://kingsherald.com/articles/a-list-of-every-player-mike-brown-started-before-malik-monk/
 
C

Caccia

Starter
#2
#2
Another writer on the same site notes the increased minutes that come with playing as a starter:

"Malik seems to be fitting right in as a starter: 22 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists on the night for Malik, and 3-8 from distance as well. I think the biggest benefit of having Malik in the starting lineup is simply the fact that he gets to play more. Even last season where he should have won 6th man, he was only averaging 26 minutes a night. As a starter, he’s closer to 36, and that feels more in line with what should be happening. Get your best players on the floor."

https://kingsherald.com/articles/kings-140-spurs-113-turns-out-we-are-allowed-to-make-threes/
 
iowamcnabb

iowamcnabb

Hall of Famer
#4
#4
I was a proponent of him starting before we got Deebo (assuming we upgraded the wing with defense) and then against it once we landed Derozan. The usage was concerning but the big downside to me was the defense. It’s definitely not ideal to have 2 good defenders out of 5 in your opening and closing lineups and we are now small at 4 of the 5 positions. Having said that, it’s really worked well so far thanks to all the starters being unselfish and 4 of the five being plus passers. We were always doubling down on offense anyway so if this gets us back into top 5 offense and we can fill the rest of the roster with the right pieces it could potentially maximize our ceiling.
 
SLAB

SLAB

Hall of Famer
#6
#6
I was big on him starting last season.

I was adamant he was a starter when he re-signed.

DDR’s addition made me think 6th man would be his best role, because Keon balanced the starting 5 perfectly. Defense and doesn’t need the ball. But early results show he should have been starting from game 1, especially with Brown’s bizarre usage of Keon. He’s too talented and dynamic not to have him out there as much as possible.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#9
#9
ShastaKingsFan said:
How can not changing the broken defensive scheme possibly be a solution, in terms of making a playoff run?
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It's not. If this allows us to win games until Carter can go, at which point we can make a trade to hopefully get a rim defender and play some different lineups I am just going to accept it. Can't make a playoff run if you can't beat teams you have clear talent advantages on.
 
SacTownKid

SacTownKid

Hall of Famer
#11
#11
ockingsfan said:
Monk was always the best shooting guard on this team and will fit seamlessly into the starting line up.

For the Kings to succeed though, we need Huerter to fill his scoring void on the bench. If Huerter can embrace the sniper role, he could become our super Sixth Man backing up the SG/SF.
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Most talented offensively for sure. This is also why he most likely finished games from the start. It's funny, the bench scoring in the Grizz loss had everyone up in arms but the way Brown runs his team, Monk wasn't really a 6th man to begin with, he was the 6th starter. Just like Manu with the Spurs. If people were worried about "bench scoring" don't start Monk and put him in after a minute. Bang, bench scoring is back, lol.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#12
#12
SacTownKid said:
This is the 2nd straight December that Monk has been on fire, in particular from 3. With all the bad shooting from the normally good shooting it seems like all that magic has gone to Monk thusfar.
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This is the other part of the equation, ride the hot hands if you are going to live and die by 3pt shooting. It's the biggest question with Brown is being stubborn, well if Monk goes cold and we don't move the next guy on fire in we can talk about it. But let's ride with what works and adapt when it doesn't.
 
C

Caccia

Starter
#13
#13
Monk and DeRozan were held out of practice on Tuesday, after the team had Monday off, according to Jason Anderson. "The team did not disclose the nature of their injuries, but we're told both would have played if there was a game today."

It's good that all the starters played fewer minutes than usual on Sunday night. De'Aaron Fox is listed third in the league in minutes played per game, at 37.2. Murray is eleventh, Sabonis nineteenth, and DeRozan twenty-second.
 
sactowndog

sactowndog

All-Star
#15
#15
ockingsfan said:
Monk was always the best shooting guard on this team and will fit seamlessly into the starting line up.

For the Kings to succeed though, we need Huerter to fill his scoring void on the bench. If Huerter can embrace the sniper role, he could become our super Sixth Man backing up the SG/SF.
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I don’t think the Kings are winning because Monk is the best “shooting guard”. I think Monk is the best “point guard” on the team and does a great job of getting people involved. Fox is better as a shooting guard.
 
sono

sono

Starter
#16
#16
sactowndog said:
I don’t think the Kings are winning because Monk is the best “shooting guard”. I think Monk is the best “point guard” on the team and does a great job of getting people involved. Fox is better as a shooting guard.
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To me, Fox has never been a true PG; he has been more like a combo guard. Monk's versatility in both positions is a huge bonus. They are made for each other regardless of their positions.
 
C

Caccia

Starter
#20
#20
Caccia said:
With Monk now starting for the Kings, interest from other teams has picked up. No surprise there, but it does speak to how Malik has taken advantage of the opportunity. Fortunately, there is no indication the front office has any plans to trade him.

https://sactownsports.com/nba-sacra...ento-kings-could-consider-trading-malik-monk/
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No sooner do I write that than he goes out and shoots 3-14 and 1-8 from deep with 5 turnovers. Let's hope this is the bottom for Malik and for the team.

Do you suppose all the sudden talk about Fox being traded has upset the team's equilibrium, Monk included?
 
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