Morris can get that 15-16 footer almost every time, but i think his shooting form allows for a better banker from there. He should try it.
Patterson should start, as he is the most polished and consistent of the four PFs on the team. His help defense blows the others out of the water and the myth about his rebounding has been debunked now that Morris (a good rebounder) has shown the down numbers are more about the system the Rockets run, rather than the player. The other three have more upside, but just aren't ready yet. Morris is the most ready but is more of a three than a four.
Agree that long term, MM is more well suited at the 3. It's unfortunate that TJ and DM games are too raw at the moment. But you take what can help the team now. I'd say Rockets should give MM at least ten games. My problem with Patterson is not with his defense but with offense mostly. He doesn't have the skills to play like a true PF with his back to the basket and he isn't good enough playing outside either. You can't really draw a play successfully for Ppat. Not saying MM has a better post up game, but at least you have a guy who knows how to play outside like a combo sf/pf. The spots that MM pick happens to create better spacing on the floor for the other guys too. I would rather have 2 good sized SF (Parsons,MM) playing at the same time than a PF who cant play like one and isn't quite good enough to play like a SF which seems like what they are trying to do with him. IDK, I just really hate how Ppat plays hot potato with the ball. The minute a defender closes in on him, he would jack it up or flip one up at a blink of an eye. It's like the dude is scared of contact or getting blocked. He got no moves!
He already is, but frankly speaking, it wouldn't hurt. They both seem to play the same amount of defense and hustle. Patrick has longer limbs but Marcus seems more active. Marcus doesn't seem to take as many shots unless open but Patrick pretty much doesn't have the ball skills to do anything but jack the ball up when it comes to him. Ultimately, it will depend on Patrick Patterson once he recovers and Marcus Morris while he has the chance to start, who will be the better starter.
Morris is barely 6'8", does not rebound, has short arms and can not defend anybody. I'd stick with the 6'9" Patterson for now and tell him to start rebounding or else.
I posted this upthread but it bears repeating: http://www.82games.com/1213/1213HOU2.HTM Lin, Harden, Parsons, Asik + Patterson = -34 same but with Morris = +11 Those are team +/- numbers. Just by switching out Patterson for Morris, the team swings 45 points in the positive direction.
It's hard to really pin that when the Patterson combo has okc, miami, sa, mem, la on the list, and the morris combo has tor, nyk, phi.
PPat is only 23 with upside....why are so many ppl so quick to dismiss him? LOL. Is it because he plays soft?
That's one way to put it. Another way. The only thing that this team is missing for optimal synergy is a PF who either: a) can shoot the 3 and gets about 8 rebounds per game (a 5-type) OR b) can defend really well and get about 8 rebounds per game (a 10-type) The Rockets have, or are developing, all the other duo's and trios in their starting lineup: Harden (2, sometimes 8), Lin (7, sometimes 2), Parsons (8, sometimes 2), Asik (12 on a good offensive day) (Interestingly, by the paper, the easiest way for Lin to modify his playing to work best with Harden is if Lin plays like a high scoring, facilitating SG.:grin
^ Are you suggesting Lin should learn to play more selfish like Westbrook (without Westbrook's insane athleticism to boot)?!
That difference is roughly about 15 points difference per 48 minutes using the latest nba.com stats. I will say it is a small sample size. If the trend that the Morris lineup continues to win by 0.2 points per minute on average for another 4 or 5 games versus their opponent, the job is Morris's to defend.
Cluster-2 players tend to be guards (usually SG's) who have 21 PPG, 4 AST, 17 FGA, among other misc stats. Playing two cluster2's together has a positive influence on the team, with one exception: if there's a cluster7-type player. (ie. 2-2-7 lineups are bad) Cluster-7 are high assist, high scoring, high turnover PG's; the tricky part of this is that Parsons sometimes looked like a Cluster-2. So basically when Harden-Parson-Lin is playing like they're 2-2-7 (two high scoring medium assist players with a high assist high scoring high turnover PG), the team does worse. I THINK this might be negated by Lin playing like a 2 as well. OR Chandler can just play as a cluster-8 (16 PPG, 4.5 AST, 13 FGA, glue guy usually at the 3), because 7-8-12 is disproportionally good for the team. Asik, when he's scoring around 20PPG, is a 12. Again, this team has ridiculous synergy potential, if you go by that paper, and the only player they're missing from the starters is a PF with 8 rebounds per game that is either a stretch 4 or a defensive specialist.
Neither is likely in the future plans. At this point, I would like to see Jones and Motiejunas getting significant playing time (even if it comes at the expense of a couple of wins). I think those players actually have starter potential. Morris, if he improves on his weaknesses might have a chance, because this is essentially his rookie season. He eclipsed the number of minutes he played last season during the Miami game last month. Patterson has proven to be injury prone and limited as a player. If Morris could show more SF-like ability, he could stick around as Parsons' backup, but I like Jones and Motiejunas as the future at the 4. If Morris doesn't start developing as more of a hybrid forward that has distinct SF traits, I'd just rather see both guys packaged for a veteran SF with an expiring contract or short-term deal to come off the bench. Someone like Richard Jefferson who isn't playing much in GS and only has one year left on his deal after this season. The FA pool isn't that strong this offseason anyway. And we also have Royce White as a major wild card in all of this. His potential, on the court, far exceeds either player. Hopefully all will be well once he actually makes it onto the court. If he makes it onto the court....
PF's on our roster: ppat, jones, dmo Forwards that can play some time at the 4 for smaller lineups: Morris, parsons, white if he ever shows Almost all our rookies are bigs or tweeners. Right now we're a development team for Forwrds with too many to spread minutes around for. Best thing to do is develop ppat for a trade which means playing him more minutes when you can. Do the same for the rest until you find a starter/backup that fits long term and basically be a farming system for the others until we're in contention.
White is very wide and strong. He won't get pushed around at the 4. He is not a three. He is not a tweener. Jones, White, and DMo all have good size for the 4. Jones may be able to play some 3, but that is based on his athletism and not because he is a tweener. Morris is slightly on the small side for a 4 and the only true tweener. Parsons is a three that can play 4 if a mismatch is present.
I'm sorry but if you're not talented than at least hussel on Defense and Rebound by putting your body out there. I remember Dennis Rodman, however athletic he is of course is up for debates, but a guy at 6'5 defends Shaq as well as pgs, rebounds like a machine and hussels like one. We don't need an all star scorer at the 4, but we do need a huge defensive presence. Its just hardwork really.
I think it's pretty obvious by now Morris is so much better than Ppat at the starting line up. This shouldn't be the case (Ppat has Al Horford's body while Morris is like Paul Pierce/Metta with short arms), but Morris is so much more aggressive and active than Ppat. At the very least, he's not getting vastly outrebounded by the pg every single game (lol). I guess PP's better at positional defense, but MM gives out more effort and has a better "SF" skillset. This allows the rox to provide spacing and give Lin and Harden the room they need to attack the basket. Personally, I'd trade Pp for picks and just start MM at the four, with TJones playing backup SF and Dmo playing backup PF.
