Assuming they are still on the team.. Next season will be huge in determining the status of our young players.. Morris PPat (Rookie year or Sophomore Year Patterson) Parsons (Role player or more?) Earl Boykins (All Star or Hall of Famer)
He was almost draft a bit low to be colossal bust. Most of the hype came from Clutch fans, he was not expected to be an exceptional player by many scouts. Again for him at this point, Morris having a Corliss Williamson type career would not be a bad thing.
Who was that poster that was talking about how Marcus Morris was gonna be rookie of the year, that he was a small forward, and that hed end up being one of Houston's best draft picks? I distinctly remember being disappointed in the pick only to see Kansas fans overwhelm the board, blowing sunshine up everyone's ass, hyping up Morris. Reveal yourself!
With the position change from PF to SF I believe that Morris was drafted as a multi-year project. Give him time. Who knows?
I think we have a pretty good idea of what we're looking at here. He was taken with the 14th pick...I saw a ton of him in college...we're asking him to adapt to the NBA while also switching positions. I'd say the chances of him becoming a force are pretty low.
I didn't have him as ROY but I did think he was significantly better than Leonard and the second best SF in the draft (Derrick Williams #1) with a shot at being the best SF in the draft. I haven't changed my thoughts on him yet. I still believe he's going to be a very good player in this league. He does remind me a lot of Melo.
I'm not arguing with you, because you saw what you saw....but I'm not sure how you would have been able to rank him as a SF considering he never played that at Kansas. I watched the guy play a lot of games, because I watch a LOT of Big 12 basketball...I had zero idea what to expect from him as a SF.
He's too short to shoot over defenders, too unskilled to create separation, so what he's condemned to be in the NBA-- unless he works his tweener asterisk off and proves me wrong; I'm not a MM hater, I'd love to see him prove me wrong-- is a high volume, low percentage, ball-stopping chucker.
I watch a lot of Big 12 ball myself. What I saw was a guy with a very good handle in the open floor, a guy that has great post-up skills against smaller, lighter defenders, and a guy that can flat bomb from the outside or take his man to the perimeter and blow by him if the opponent puts a 7-footer on him. He's a big SF. And.....just like Melo, he may actually shine at the PF spot on the right team. Melo played his best at the 4 last season for the Knicks, stepping way outside and forcing other bigs out there to get bludgeoned by the jumper or the drive. Morris and Melo are very, very similar. That doesn't mean Morris is on Melo's level. He's not...at least right now. But they're the same size with the same skillsets.
Maybe, maybe not. Here's the problem with Morris: From a historical perspective, this looks to be (yet) another reach by the Rockets that so far hasn't panned out. Especially with them passing on Leonard who ended up playing so well for SA while Morris barely made it on the court. He may remind folks of Carmelo but until he shows it on the court against live competition, that will be all he ends up doing: remind folks of Carmelo.
Morris is superior to Leonard. Nothing has changed in that regard. In fact, Parsons is superior to Leonard.
can you elaborate? My concern is you don't hear the right things coming our of the coaching staff and front office about MM's development. Didn't Morey or someone say they were just hoping he could become a rotation player this season? Talk about lowered expectations.
i don't RECALL seeing Morris face up to defenders and penetrate with great success. i'm not saying he never did that...but it wasn't his game. his game was back to the basket. he did that very well in college, but he's undersized for that in the pro game. he shot the 3 ball some for sure...he hit at about a 33% clip at the college stripe. that's good for a PF; but i don't see his game as a penetrator scaring wings in the NBA enough to back off him and give him space to hit that shot regularly. i guess he could be a catch-and-shoot rotational player, though. but i don't see him being a plus player or better than Leonard. look, i hope i'm wrong. i hope you're right and he's Carmelo Anthony waiting to happen...but I don't see him in that mold at all.
J.B. Bickerstaff on Marcus Morris. This was from mid-April. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=6805855&postcount=932
Thats debatable, but most wing players are not comfortable defending the post, and thats not debatable. With Morris playing with two other post players (one who can preferably stretch the floor) you can create enough space in the paint for Morris to get the ball in the paint where he has an excellent ability for scoring in the post. So is 6'9"/235 big for a 3? probably not. Can he still be a matchup problem for other teams? Yes.
Leonard is a defender who takes out the garbage and can shoot the 3 on the spot-up if left wide open. Morris can shoot the 3, can turn and face and shoot the 3 right in the grill of a defender, he can post up and take his man in the block, can pass out of the block, and he can handle the basketball. He has a superior basketball skillset to Leonard.
