Gone largely unnoticed in an earlier training camp report was the comment that Morris seemed to have really been working on his jumper, and was amongst the best players at practice. Now we have another little taste of what might come. And I say that, if he plays up to his considerable ability, Terrence Morris is our best fit at small forward...Not Glen Rice, not Kenny Thomas, and not (yet) even Bostan Nachbar, although I really like this guy...nope, Terrence Morris. I know what you're saying..." Terrence Morris!?!? I mean....Terrence Morris!?!?!?" But allow me to explain my position. 1) Defense: Our greatest weakness, according to almost everyone, including Rudy T, has been defense. Morris is the only potential lock down defender we have, at least on the perimeter. The value of having a guy who can take on the opposing team's better or hotter scorers is a luxury we haven't had since the days of Elie and Horry, and it's a huge one. It doesn't show up in the boxscores as much, except maybe the last column...final score. We were too easy to score on last year, and making it a lot harder for at least one of the other team's ugys to do so would be huge, especially with our potential shot blocking inside. 2) Playmaking: There have been numerous " Francis isn't a true point guard ." threads in here, and several others taking shots at Mobley and Francis for not involving their teammates enough. While I am not trying to either attack or defend these criticisms, I will say there is probably something to them, if not to the extreme that they are often taken. That said, and with froncourt players like Taylor, Griffin, and Yao needing their shots, what do we need more out of our small forward, another shooter/scorer, or a guy who can score, but can also bring up the ball, penetrate and dish, and generally make it easier for his high-powered teammates to do their thing? Francis, Mobley, Yao, and Taylor or Griffin are all the primary scorers we need in the starting lineup. We need diversity, and Morris brings that more than Rice or Thomas, and his defensive potential gives him the edge over Nachbar at this point. Do I excpect a groundswell of support for this argument? In a word, no. Unlike Thomas or Rice, Morris doesn't have, and indeed hasn't yet earned, a vocal and strident support group in here, and I fully expect those supporters of the above to give me the rolleyes, or whatever, and I also expect thsoe guys and others to put forward some valid arguments like... " One good pre-season game isn't nearly enough to go giving this stiff the starting role.." and " One of our biggest problems last year was guys missing opne shots...We need finishers." etc.. To the first argument I would say I agree, but then refer them to the first word in the title of this thread. Obviously this entire argument is based on the supposition that Morris HAS significantly improved his shooting, and will play up to his other abilities rather than emulate the proverbial deer-in-the-headlights as was so often the case last year. To the second I would also say two things...Yes, i agree that shooting was another weakness last year, but that this assumes Morris is shooting ok, and the addition of Yao Ming, etc. reduces that weakness, and secondly, I would suggest that defense was a more glaring and less easily solved problem, and in support i would cite Rudy. Rice seems to be in better condition and frame of mind, and even though I was amongst the biggest opponents of acquiring him, I would be as happy as anyone if he makes a turnaround this year. But coming off three successive injury plagued years, and his age, I would be very happy if he were to be our off the bench bomber this year, and asking for much more neither addresses our primary weakness, nor is it the best way to keep Rice around and productive for a while. Thomas....Kenny, I don't know what to do with, but if Taylor isn't healthy, I'd have to keep Kenny in mind in the frontcourt rotation. If Mo is healthy, I still say that Kenny will get us decent return in a trade, and now is the time to do it. Nachbar is hard to overlook, and in addition I happen to really like what I have seen and heard about this guy, but I think we can afford him developmental time if Morris is really improved, and I would envision him getting significant pt at the 3, 4 in small lineups, and 2 in big lineups, for a rookie. If Morris isn't that much better than before, this is my guy. We're going to lose our 1st round pick for Morris this year, and I for one would like to see if we can get some return on our investment. We could just assume that Steve just wants to hang with his buddies, but maybe he knows that Morris complements him well, and I say that if his shooting and confidence have made a turnaround, and if he plays up to his abilities, Morris is our best fit at small forward.
T-MO>Kobe Yeah, I agree that if Morris could get his shoot consistant, like yesterday, he would be a nice fit. Too bad that's a big if, though.
I am not sold on Morris quite yet. He was one of the best players in College basketball his first 2 seasson at Maryland, but then he just did not improve. He could be the "next" Cuttino Mobley steal of the draft but it is too early to judge. I think KT or Rice should start at the 3 because if Ming, Griffin, and Morris start in are line up we will be too young.
Macbeth, great job. I would not trade anybody. Ridiculous as it sounds we cannot improve this team with a trade. The most significant improvement will come from within. No wonder there is a broad smile on Rudy T's face.
Tmo "the other Kobe stopper" Tmo has all the skillz. All his weaknesses are in his head. When he decides he can play with anyone, he will be atleast our sixth man.
this is just preseason. i hope Tmo can carry this into the regular season, but im not going to get my hopes up right now.
BTW, we aren't losing our pick this year for Morris. We basically received Morris for the Mirsad Turckan pick in the '98 draft (#18). This year's pick is going to Memphis, which is the final piece of the Francis trade. The '98 draft was quite a building draft for us. Even though we didn't take Lewis, we drafted Dickerson, Drew, Turckan, and Mobely, then sent Dickerson and change to get Francis. We also traded Drew for 2 second round picks to NY, and maybe a first rounder from them. So, we netted Francis, Mobely, Morris and 2 future #2's from that draft.
We should sign him for around 6 years, at say, $42 million. Seriously, though, the kid had a great game and I hope he continues to play like he did last night.
He did play well, considering that it was thaught that he would only make the I/R! I still think that MacBeth is still jumping to too many conclusions after just ONE PRESEASON GAME! Lets be content to see what the COACH decides to do!
I AGREE OUR BIGGEST WEAKNESS IS DEFENSE -- WHY NOT GO AFTER THE BEST LOCK DOWN DEFENDER IN THE GAME. RON ARTEST! HE PROVIDES THE CLAMPS FOR THE KOBES', MGRADYS', PIERCE, AND CARTER'S OF THE WORLD. WE NEED RON ARTEST!!! T-MORRIS WOULD MAKE A NICE BACKUP ON TALLER SMALL FORWARDS. BOSTJAN AND RICE WOULD COME IN WHEN WE NEED OUTSIDE SHOOTING.
with tmo's defensive presence he is a perfect fit but ONLY if he can knock down the j consistently. if he can make the little 15-20 footers and hit an occasional 3 than we have the ability to throw a tmo,griffin, ming great wall out on defense. not too shabby.
I never got the chance to see Morris in his first couple of years at Maryland when he was considered #1 material. How would anybody who did see him say his game compared to Lamar Odom (in style not effectiveness)? Can he run an offense? How are his handles?
UT, I am not sure if he is like Odom or not but I will tell you that he has the ability to do alot of things on the floor. If he had Gooden's or Kenny's attitude, he would be unstoppable.
TMo's defensive presence is existent only down low on the block and on weakside help. The guy is not really that quick laterally, and got beat off the dribble consistently last season by stars and role players alike. I like the guy, and I wish the best for him, but I don't really think he is a very good perimeter defender (if such a thing exists).
I don't remember much of the style of Odom's game in college, so I'm not sure where to draw the comparison. After his sophmore year, he showed a lot of potential to develop into a player like Pippin was for the Bulls. In reality as a sophmore, Morris was Pippin to Francis' Jordan. The only signifigant differential was that Scottie had a much more developed ball-handling talent, and consequently could be used as a playmaker and distributer. Morris was never called upon to develop that part of his game, but he showed at times he was capable of taking advantages of mismatches off the dribble. Especially when he was covered by big opposing 4's and had an advantage in quickness, while always being aware enough to pass to the open man. I think it showed enough to Coaches/Scouts to prove that he could develop those skills at some point. I don't think Morris was ever a legitimate #1 prospect but after his sophmore year he was definately considered one of the best Small Forward prospects for the NBA. He had a pretty good post up game to use against smaller players, and a respectable ability to take his man off the dribble. All the while being able to hit from behind the arc with good accuracy. He didn't really excel in any particular aspect but rather showed developable talent in every facet of his game. He also showed a commitment to the defensive side of the ball, and natural ability to block shots. That all having been said, potential is potential, and production is production. I'm glad to see Morris have a good game, but I'm not ready to shout his triumphant return just yet And I want him to succede more than most of ya. I think that if he keep his shooting percentages fairly high, he'll be able to make a good contribution this season. I do wonder if he's tried to develop his perimeter D and quickness. Like people have complained before, he's not an outstanding perimeter defender in part because he spent the majority of his time in college defending the post. I'd be interested in the opinion of those who can watch the games as to his developments in that area.
