Big man Greg Monroe has quietly become a force in Detroit

Greg Monroe has rebounded 14.4 percent of Detroit's, a rebounding rate that would have ranked him No. 1 in the league last season. (Mike McGinnis/Cal Sport Media)

It’s early, and his team somehow ranks 28th or worse in both offensive and defensive efficiency, but after Thursday night, it can no longer be ignored: Greg Monroe is having a monster season. The numbers are ridiculous:

• Monroe is fifth in the league in Player Efficiency Rating, and one of the guys ahead of him (Manu Ginobili) will soon fall off the leader board due to a lack of minutes.

• He is shooting 59.7 percent from the floor. Only Nene shot better last season.

• He has rebounded 14.4 percent of Detroit’s misses, an offensive rebounding rate that would have led the entire league last season.

• He has assisted on 19.4 percent of Detroit’s baskets while on the floor Among players 6-foot-9 or taller, only Hedo Turkoglu and Brad Miller posted higher assist rates last season. One of those guys isn’t a traditional big man, and the other barely eked out 1000 minutes.

There are caveats beyond the fact that the 2-9 Pistons have been miserable overall. They rank in the bottom third of the league in assist rate, and they have recently been starting a rookie point guard (Brandon Knight) with an assist rate lower than Monroe’s. They also have Rodney Stuckey and Ben Gordon to handle and pass, but neither is an elite distributor. Someone has to rack up the assists, and Monroe, a good passer dating to his time at Georgetown, has filled the void.

You could make the same argument about Monroe’s rebounding, since the rest of the big-man minutes have been going to two so-so rebounders (Jason Maxiell and Jonas Jerebko, the latter a bit of a tweener) and Ben Wallace, still a very good rebounder, but one who doesn’t play much anymore. Detroit ranks as an average offensive rebounding team and a below-average defensive rebounding team, so someone has to grab the rebounds Detroit does manage to snare, and that someone is Monroe.

But you can’t ignore what a force Monroe has been on offense, and how he is getting those points and assists this season compared to last. Monroe is attempting twice as many mid-range jumpers as he did last season, and while you don’t want any big with his skills around the rim to get too jumper-happy (hi, Josh Smith), Monroe made just 12 shots from 10 feet and out all of last season, according to Hoopdata. He’s made nine such shots already this season. Any floor-spacing from a big man is helpful, and Monroe has already used the threat of his improved mid-range shot to build a face-up, off-the-dribble game. In torching the Bucks for 32 points and 16 boards on Thursday, Monroe gave Andrew Bogut fits with a face-up attack of jab steps, spin moves and sudden bursts to the basket.

Monroe isn’t explosive as a vertical leaper, but he has nimble feet, and he’s fast moving forward in the air even if he doesn’t jump high. He can squeeze through a small space and have that lefty layup on the glass before your bigger, more explosive center can quite reach the ball.

Then there’s this: Monroe is 26-of-51 (51 percent) on shots from post-up chances this season, according to the stat-tracking service Synergy Sports. He was just 29-of-80 (36 percent) on post-up shots in all of last season, when he relied on offensive rebounds and cuts for exactly half of his offensive chances. In other words, Monroe was a bit of a scavenger last season, even if there is art and skill in grabbing offensive rebounds and sensing where, how and when to cut into open spaces. Monroe has good court sense in that way, and he excelled last season in making himself available when his defender shifted away from him.

You can make a fine NBA career out of being a high-level big man scavenger with speed and touch. You can be a star if you add elite scoring ability and refined passing to those scavenging skills. That’s what Monroe has done on offense so far this season. Only about 28 percent of his offensive chances have come from cuts and offensive boards combined. Monroe is finding the right balance between individual and team, and both he and the Pistons will be better for it.

The obvious area of concern is defense, where Monroe is going through the same growing pains every young big man in the NBA experiences. He has the tools — those quick, shuffling feet, long arms, etc. — to be a good team defender in pick-and-rolls and other situations, but he’s not there yet. He can struggle to work his way through screens under the hoop, and he has been a part of some glaring rotation breakdowns.

He’s not getting a ton of help with this stuff, either. Detroit’s guards, especially Ben Gordon, are among the least enthusiastic help defenders in the league when it comes to those cross-screens under the basket, and when Maxiell and Monroe run at the same player during a series of rotations, the blame doesn’t fall with Monroe every time.

Team defense in the NBA is really hard. Kevin Garnett has talked repeatedly over the last few seasons about the importance of having two big men grow comfortable defending together — communicating, learning each other’s preferences, understanding when to switch and how to rotate. The Pistons and Monroe are far from this ideal.

But the raw material is here, and Monroe looks to be stouter in the post; opponents have shot just 11-of-33 against him in post-up chances this season after torching him for 50 percent shooting in the post last season, according to Synergy.

That represents progress, and it will come it fits and starts — and with setbacks — on both ends of the floor. But Monroe is one of the nice stories of the season so far.