Morris and Ppat were both juniors and their ceilings were set. There was some potential for Morris as a SF, though an older, established one. Donte Greene was a younger player, and Dmo too (though the Rox are okay with drafting Euros and not bringing them over). I want at least one underclassmen with 14 or 16. It could be Sullinger, Harkless, Wroten, Q. Miller.
Recently I saw a good example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyA4BXKwfuA&feature=player_embedded Of course you can improve your legs working at it.
I believe age matters, but to a lesser degree. Players like Lowry, Hayes, Billups improved at older ages(to a point kind of exceeded their perceived ceilings before entering the league). I don't think anyone can forsee Nash having a ceiling of two time MVP when he was drafted. Patterson's measurements is similar to Robinson, and he has good work ethic. He's clearly not himself this year, but he showed tremendous athletic ability as a rookie. I fully expect him to break out in the next few years. I hold my judgement on Morris, but obviously he's not in an ideal position with Bud/Parsons playing well ahead of him. By the way I like Wroten and Q. Miller mid to late first round.
one of the things i'm struggling with is this notion that because we have drafted a bunch of young players in recent years, and because we have some good veterans on our roster, that we can't double down on this draft and use a bunch of picks on 1st rounders. That's total bull IMO. As good as Bud is, we are not gonna pay him after next year, so that opens up a SF spot. Same thing at SG. Martin has no future on this team, so that opens up a SG spot. Same thing at PG. Lowry wants out, and even if we retain Dragic, we are still gonna need another PG, so that's another draftable position. Lastly, we all know we need a center; hell, two centers. PF is the only position where you could argue we don't have minutes for a rookie. I agree we need to give Pat another year. D-Mo will need minutes. Scola's contract is gonna be difficult to trade. Morris appears to have no real NBA position. But my point is that I think we could find a roll for three 1st round rookies, and there seems to be a prevailing mentality that our roster is too full to double down on this draft. NOT TRUE. If there's 16 guys in this draft we like, i really hope we find a way to grab three of them. After all, we are rebuilding!
What are you talking about? Quickness is not a genetic trait. People very much can improve their foot speed through agility drills.
A bit, but most quick players already are quick and most that are slow are not going to gain that much of an advantage. Morris is slow footed for a SF, he will never be quick or have that quick first step, he is just not quick. DD
I would say not quick for a SF. He has some ability to create, but has not adapted to the quicker NBA yet. He may never adapt, but I would not toss him out yet.
He has Sullinger 20th in his new draft. I understand the back issue. I understand the Rockets PF issue. I understand Sullinger's lack of a perfect body and athleticism. But when you look at the history of the draft, and the number of players that have been drafted in the top 20, and the number of those that were just major question marks, to have someone like Sullinger so low is mind-boggling. Sorry, but to me the chances of Sullinger having a worse career than someone like Meyers Leonard seems really really small. That's the draft for you. Ignore what people actually did on the court.
Granted it's hard to tell exactly how quick he is, but I don't view Morris' problem as lack of quickness. He's not the Brazilian Blur out there, but neither is Melo. His problem, quite clearly and obviously, was his head. He was either confused about his general role as a SF, or lacked the confidence in his game. In the d-league, his confusion didn't matter and he knew he was better than many of those guys, so he played quite well. Unfortunately, my guess is that Morris tweener body and mindset will prevent him from being what he otherwise might have become, but you never know.
I followed him since he began dominating college ball two years ago. He is a monster, literally one of the most dominating players in college basketball in the past decade.
You don't think he was exposed in the Kansas game playing against future NBA players at the 4 and 5? Their length and quickness seemed to take the air out of his game.
He may have had just an off shooting night, combined with facing better front line defenders for a rare time. Against the same Kansas squad, Anthony Davis - you know the consensus, no brainer # 1 guy, Tier 1 guy, whatever - shot 1-10. Was he exposed? Davis put up solid - heck, great - stats in the other categories. Just like Sullinger, who also put up great stats in the other categories. Thought certainly not as great as Davis did. But he still grabbed 11 boards, 2 assists, 3 blocks and a steal. you know my position on the dude. I think top 6 is out of the question, but that he falls into the category of guys from 7-20 no doubt. He did dominate college ball. He isn't as undersized or unathletic as people thought. And he's lost weight and gotten in better shape since his season ended. He's a hard worker. I'd be very happy if the Rockets PF's next year were D-Mo and Sullinger. I recognize that it is completely green, but Scola and Patterson aren't exactly all-stars.
Can someone please post this? http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/blog...a-draft-royce-white-draft-promise-plus-rumors Chad Ford tweeted: @chadfordinsider Draft Rumors: Celtics, Pistons, Bucks, Rockets more … I'm sure it's the same shiz as always, but I'm really bored at work and wanted something to read haha
Im jumping in a little late on the MM "speed & the SF position" debate that is going nowhere, but here's my take for what its worth. Marcus Morris never has, and never will base his offensive game off of taking his man off the dribble. If you watched any Kansas games previously you will know what Im talking about. However, he does have a fantastic post game, with a wide variety of face up, and turnaround jump shots that were very affective on the college level. The Melo/ Paul Pierce comparisons were more or less just in comparison to his size and physical stature more that anything. Those two stars have athletic talents that Marcus does not have. However, that doesn't mean he cannot be affective in a similar manner without that first step quickness those other two guys have. -That being said, yes it is humanly possible to gain quickness with proper training, and agility drills. Good training can make someone that would runs a 5.0 second 400M run it at 4.8, but it cant make someone that runs a 5.0 second 400M run at 4.4 seconds. There are God given talents and then there is just plain hard work. Combine the two and you have something special. Marcus Morris has more than enough offensive talent to be a decent scoring SF/PF in the league already. If he works hard enough he can make himself into a very good scoring SF/PF. Maybe not superstar level, but there is no reason why he cannot score at a high level in the right system. He doesn't have the freakish athleticism of a Lebron James or Kevin Durant, but he isn't just some bum that sits on the couch playing Halo all day and night. If he works hard enough, and maximizes his abilities on both ends of the floor athletically, and mentally, he will be a damn good player. Its all about the work he puts in to hide the holes in his game, and being put in the right offensive system to be in a position to succeed.
obviously. but that's also why he's a trade asset. Do you want to pay him the $4 mil per he'll get in free agency after the season? Precisely my point. That's why you trade him and make way for a talented rookie.
