Marcus is on the D-League homepage right now. Maybe some of you already knew. Here's the link: http://www.nba.com/dleague/news/the_draft_and_what_comes_after_2012_06_27.html
I'm tired of people saying he needs more minutes. He will get minutes if he can prove he deserves the minutes by playing well in practice. If he was playing great in practice then I'm sure McHale would get him in the game. Budinger is gone now, so now he'll have to beat out some rookies for playing time.
Morey needs to stop drafting these types, if you have a tier of guys rated about the same then why keep drafting the one position, it's all he does. Then you have guys wasting away never realizing whatever potential they have. I am just about done with Morey as GM, give me a basketball mind who knows something about building a team over this guy who thinks he's playing fantasy basketball with the entire roster.
In fairness to Marcus Morris, he's still viewed by the organization and the coaching staff--McHale's "tough love" aside--as a potentially reliable scorer as a "power 3". I don't think the Rockets drafted Royce White and Terrence Jones BECAUSE they lacked confidence in Morris. Hearing both Morey and McHale completely rave about White's skillset--which is very different than Morris's skillset--it is clear that White was the BPA on the Rockets' draft board at 16. Meanwhile, it seems like the Rockets either (a) had Zeller rated above Jones on their board and were hoping he'd fall to them at 18 or (b) had Jones rated above Zeller and were confident that the Mavs would take Jones at 17, allowing Zeller to fall to them at 18. Either way, it seems that the Rockets wanted Zeller (who, amazingly enough, is a CENTER, not a SF/PF hybrid!) at 18. However, when Zeller was off the board, Jones was clearly the BPA on their board. As any draft expert will tell you, you NEVER take an inferior player just to fill a positional need. Had Zeller and Jones both been there at 18, I think Morey takes Zeller. So, the point of all this for purposes of this thread is, the Rockets' draft haul was not necessarily a reflection on their opinion of Morris as much as it was the product of taking the BEST PLAYERS AVAILABLE at their respective draft positions. Here's hoping that Morey can pull off a trade or two for a couple of top players, clearing up some minutes for Morris (or another top young prospect on the roster right now).
So basically a rookie who hasn't touched the floor or seen a second of pt makes a 2nd year player expendable? Im not sure this way of thinking is smart The logical thing to do is give Morris a real opportunity to prove himself next year. Last year he never got that chance from the coach. With a full training camp & the confidence from Mchale, I predict Marcus morris has a solid year.
We do not have many minutes of him playing in the NBA to go by. He skills at this level are largely unknown to all but the handfull of people who have seen him practice. From what i did see, Morris : (1) appeared to lack the lateral movement to stay in front of 3s. While Adelman would still play someone like this, if they can score, McHale is unwilling to. (2) on the other hand, in one second half of one game late in the season, he showed some terrific offensive skills, and a nice shot. From either perspective, this is not much data to go on.
I am not sure about Marcus Morris. I haven't given up on him because I haven't seen enough yet to make a good judgement. BUT, what I do know is that Marcus Morris and Chandler Parsons were both drafted at the same time (no summer league / limited training camp), and Parsons came into camp and beat out all of the other SFs (Budinger, Lee etc) to eventually obtain the starting SF position. Marcus Morris did not do this and my expectation is that he would. So this kind of says something.
Inconclusive at best. I think Morris needs to focus being a three, getting his weight down to that level, and just being dominant at it. I think he can be a Beasley-like 3 if he puts his mind to it. A real crafty scorer, and a solid rebounder.
Chandler Parson's played great last year. BUT, Marcus Morris played good in the few games in the preseason then was prematurely placed to the D-league by the coach
(1) Bud was benched for awhile until he picked up his defense. (2) That inability to defend help lead to this --> Bud will not be seeing the light of day for the Rockets next season
I like Morris, I just wish he had an actual chance to play and develop his game because I feel he didn't get that last season. Budinger started last season and then was benched. He only saw the floor after a few injuries to Kevin Martin because they couldn't play without a scoring option coming off the bench with Lee being moved to the starting line up.
id like to see him play a significant role first before casting him off. clutchfans is so kneejerk about every single decision. calling him a bust? lol the same people that were kissing pattersons ass his rookie year are the same people who now cant wait to trade the guy..
Yea, but the point is if Budinger can get PT and have absolutley no defense whatsoever. Then Marcus Morris can't be any worse than him. We saw Bud get torched night in and night out last year. Would you rather have Bud getting scored on every play or Morris out there developing his game?
