Sconnie Sports Talk

NBA Twins: Greg Monroe and Enes Kanter’s numbers are crazy similar this season

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Throughout the NBA, there are always multiple players with similar styles of play and stats. Each player brings his own unique signature to the league, as no two players are ever the exact same.

But, this year, we may have found near twins at the center position.

Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter and Milwaukee Bucks center Greg Monroe are literally having an almost identical season (no pun intended). Both offensive-oriented players, the two share vast resemblances in their stats this season and both play similar, but big, roles in each on each of their respective teams.

Listed below is the stats for the 2015-16 season per 36 minutes. Notice the narrow margin between a lot of the categories. Kanter is averaging just one more point than Monroe per 36 minutes. The only main difference here is Monroe has started in 50 games this season compared to none for Kanter, but both are coming off the bench at this point.

Traditional stats per 36 minutes (Basketball-Reference.com)

Player FG FGA FG% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB BLK TOV PF PTS
Enes Kanter 8.2 14.8 .551 4.0 5.2 .783 5.0 8.4 13.4 0.8 2.2 3.4 20.5
Greg Monroe 7.9 15.1 .520 3.7 5.0 .747 3.6 7.8 11.3 1.1 2.0 2.5 19.5

Wait, there’s more. The offensive and defensive ratings are used to estimate the amount of points a team produces per 100 possessions with the specific player on the court. As you can see, both players are more offense-minded. On the defensive end, well, they are exactly the same, not very good.

Offensive/Defensive ratings per 100 possessions (Basketball-Reference.com)

Player ORtg DRtg
Enes Kanter 121 105
Greg Monroe 113 105

If you need more convincing, their Player Efficiency Ratings (PER) are just one tenth of a point off. Obviously, both players do not play 36 minutes a game, every game. PER is used to determine the amount of production from a player in the amount of minutes he plays. Monroe averages just about ten more minutes than Kanter this season, but both have been equally productive to their teams. In addition, both players are grabbing 24 percent of defensive rebounds, only separated by two tenths of a point.

Advanced stats (Basketball-Reference.com)

Player PER TS% ORB% DRB% TRB% TOV% USG% OWS DWS WS
Enes Kanter 22.7 .601 16.1 24.4 20.5 11.4 23.0 3.7 1.3 5.1
Greg Monroe 22.8 .562 11.4 24.2 17.9 10.5 24.2 4.0 1.8 5.8

As previously mentioned, Kanter has played in every game this season coming off the bench. Conversely, Monroe was a starter for the first 50 games. On February 9, head coach Jason Kidd decided to switch up his lineup, moving Monroe to one of the first people off the bench. In his first game as a non-starter, Monroe put up 29 points and 12 rebounds in a 112-111 win over Boston. The Bucks are 4-1 since his shift to the bench.

The Thunder have been using Kanter all year off the bench, and are off to a 40-16 start, good for third in a competitive Western Conference. With the Bucks winning 80 percent of their games since the switch, it makes sense to keep Monroe’s role the same moving forward.

Stats aren’t everything, but the two are similar in more ways than just the stat sheet. Both players are 6’11”, and the two weigh in just two pounds apart. On the court, both are great at establishing position in the post and succeeding in a back to the basket style of play.

If only they shot with the same hand.

The Thunder and Bucks face off one more time this season March 6.

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