Listing him among the 'Big Sliders' (players who have slid 10 or more spots since July 1), Ford said:

Greg Monroe, F/C, Georgetown

Monroe has always split the opinion of scouts and GMs. Some have loved his high basketball IQ, low post skills and unselfishness. Others have wrung their hands over his pedestrian athleticism and a perceived indifference on the court.

While Monroe's numbers have improved a bit as a sophomore, more and more scouts and GMs are focusing on his weaknesses and questioning whether he's a lottery pick. Monroe began the season ranked as the No. 5 pick on our Big Board, he's since slid to No. 15 and could be in for a worse fall in the coming months.

There's not much that he can do about his athletic ability (which is good but definitely not great) but the perceived indifference is something that can and should be changed - we've seen moments this year but everyone believes that Greg should be dominating every game as he did against Butler.

Obviously, this is always the danger in coming back to school - it's easy for the scouts to question motivation (if he really loved the game, he would have headed to the league) and nitpick to find things wrong with his game. I believe that players have to leave as early as possible (particuarly if they're on their way to the lottery) but am sure that Monroe got plenty of advice - good and bad - on the decision.

Assuming he stays at 15, here are the last 5 players to go in that slot:

• 2009: Austin Daye, Pistons (4.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.3 apg)
• 2008: Robin Lopez, Suns (3.2, 2.1, 0.1)
• 2007: Rodney Stuckey, Pistons (12.5, 3.3, 4.1)
• 2006: Cedric Simmons, Hornets (2.2, 1.9, 0.2)
• 2005: Antoine Wright, Nets (5.2, 2.2, 1.0)

If past is prologue, 15 doesn't look to be the ticket to longtime NBA stardom. Silver lining is that Chad Ford is notoriously off on his rankings, with odd affinities for international players.

Documented.