After receiving the 6th most votes in NBA Rookie of the Year voting, Greg Monroe was snubbed again by receiving the 6th most votes for All Rookie First Team voting. Blake Griffin, DeMarcus Cousins, Gary Neal, Landry Fields and John Wall beat out Monroe to round out the All Rookie First Team. Monroe was "honored" with All Rookie Second Team placement, joined by Wesley Johnson, Eric Bledsoe, Derrick Favors and Paul George.
Unlike the Rookie of the Year voting, All Rookie Teams are voted by NBA head coaches. This is surprising, because you'd think NBA head coaches watch the games they coach. They must have seen John Wall's inability to find the basket and absolute brilliance at turning the ball over. They must have seen DeMarcus Cousin hitting rim after rim and fighting with his coach. I doubt any NBA head coach would want a soft-spoken, confident, efficient, hard-working and coachable young big man over either of those two clowns.
Yeah, I'm sore about this. I'm sore for Greg Monroe, who was arguably the most productive, most valuable rookie selected in the 2010 NBA draft. I'm sore, but I don't think this is entirely a bad thing. If there's anything the Pistons have dealt with as a franchise, it is the constant, repetitive dismissal the media and the league have given them. With these two snubs, Greg Monroe now feels what it's like to be counted out, to be ignored, to be dismissed by those who massage public opinion.
If he's like the Pistons we've celebrated over the years, he'll take this as fuel to fight even harder next year, to prove who he is as a basketball player, a teammate and an individual. Greg, there's something very rewarding about being glossed over in this way. Nothing feels better than to rub in it their faces by proving just who you are on court. I'm glad we've got a long road ahead of us to watch you do just that. Go get 'em, big fella.
Update: Greg Monroe reacts to the news on a conference call, via the Detroit News:
"I guarantee, every rookie wanted to be rookie of the year," Monroe said Wednesday on a conference call. "But that wasn't possible, of course. I would have loved to be on the first team, but to get on the second team, I don't say it was a disappointment or that I was snubbed. It's just something I'm very grateful for."
[...] "It's not a disappointment. I don't believe in individual accolades at all. I never played for those. I just play to win," said Monroe, who had 21 double-doubles. "Anything that comes with that, I'm grateful for. I take all the extras, but my focus has always been on winning."