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BOSTON – Seeing Celtics center Greg Monroe put on his hard hat and go to work Sunday afternoon in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at TD Garden brought back good memories for Bucks coach Joe Prunty.
Milwaukee’s recently appointed head coach spent two-plus seasons working closely with Monroe in Cream City, and the veteran big man made quite an impression on him both on and off the court.
“Moose is a professional that works hard,” Prunty said Tuesday morning after Bucks shootaround at TD Garden. “We had him in a lot of different situations. He started some, he came off the bench some. But he always came to work. He’s a talented basketball player, obviously, but his character is high. He’s a good man and he battled every night.”
For two-plus seasons, Milwaukee reaped the benefits of Monroe’s hard-working nature and veteran presence. Now, down 1-0 in their first-round series against the C’s, the Bucks are trying to figure out how to best combat him.
Monroe didn’t cause the Bucks much trouble during Game 1 Sunday afternoon, tallying just one point and three rebounds over 10 minutes of play. However, the three previous regular-season matchups he had against his former team, were a different story, as he averaged 16.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
Prunty is concerned that the latter version of Monroe could surface Tuesday night during Game 2 at TD Garden.
“He’s a big body, so you’re going to have him on the block and you’re going to have to worry about him there,” said Prunty, who took over as head coach midway through the season after the Bucks parted ways with Jason Kidd. “And then there’s all the little things that he can do throughout the course of the game – offensive rebounding, just banging on people, rebounding, passing. The passing, think that’s one of his underrated skills. Whether he’s in the high post or the low post, I know he wants to score like everybody, but he’s more than willing to share that thing. He’s a talented player for sure.”
Milwaukee shipped Monroe and a pair of draft picks to Phoenix less than a month into the 2017-18 season, receiving highly-skilled point guard Eric Bledsoe in exchange. Monroe experienced a short stint with the Suns, appearing in just 20 games, before being waived and then picked up Feb. 8 by Boston.
The 27-year-old center appreciated his two-plus seasons with Bucks, but he has a lot of motivation to knock them out of the Playoffs considering the way they cut ties with him.
“I definitely won’t forget it going into this matchup,” Monroe told the Boston Globe before the series tipped off. “While I was there, I enjoyed playing there. The people in the city were great. My teammates were great. But that’s behind me now. It’s the business. I’m just focused on now, especially on this matchup.”
That level of desire and commitment is one of the things that Prunty loved most about Monroe during his time with the Bucks. Now, however, the coach has to figure out how to stop the Moose if the Celtics let him loose for Game 2.
“He’s a good man, a good character, and I wish him well for sure,” Prunty said, before letting out a soft chuckle. “Just not in this series, of course.”