Detroit Pistons Need Better Defensive Effort From Greg Monroe

Greg Monroe is all about winning. He doesn’t like the fact that the Detroit Pistons have started out 0-5 but Monroe is doing all he can to help his team get that first W.

Monroe had a big night in Wednesday’s 105-103 NBA loss to the Sacramento Kings.

But defensively, coach Lawrence Frank would like to see more from his players, including Monroe.

“The ball moves,” Frank said. “Greg is the hub who’s put together very solid games. I don’t want to make light of it because look, you have center who has a triple-double but at the same time we have to put defense first for every single guy. All these numbers are going to come through and be hollow until we all commit on the defensive end.”

Monroe scored 21 points and brought down 12 rebounds. But his most impressive stat might have been his 12 assists, giving him a triple double. He shot 8-of-15 from the floor and saw 40 minutes of court time, almost eight minutes more than anyone on the team. But he only had one steal and no shot blocks.

The 22-year-old Monroe has had a lot of expectations on him.

“I guess that’s fair, I take a lot of pride in my play,” he said. “This is an organization that is used to winning so I want to continue that. I’m one of the guys they’ve asked to do a lot. I take pride in it and enjoy it. I try to work as hard as I can. I’m still learning a lot about this league. It’s time for us to live up to the stuff people are expecting.”