We forget that Morris has played less games than Lin. We're not talking about a seasoned Vet here, you could say this is still his rookie season. It's growing pains in my opinion.
For a short while, Morris' shooting made up for his poor...well, everything else at the 4 spot. Of course it couldn't last, but McHale truly loves playing people out of position to the detriment of the team. I would much rather go with a Motiejunas, Patterson, Parsons platoon at PF.
with all due respect to Carl Herrera, this is already our third most used lineup. http://www.82games.com/1213/1213HOU2.HTM McHale know's what his is doing, wrt to getting Delfino and Parsons on the court together.
It seems like to me that Morris is having his rookie season, and his sophomore slump expedited into one half season. By all accounts this is his rookie season, and on top of that, he sees the pressure of having another starter PF, and 3 young/high upside PF's behind him in the rotation waiting to get their shot. That's quite a bit of pressure to perform, and most likely he's putting even more pressure on himself. I guess all Im trying to say is I do sort of feel bad for the guy, and understand as an athlete how that internal pressure can make you perform like crap when you really just need to relax and play your game. I mentioned this in another thread but is bears repeating here. The Front Office isn't stupid. They know they have 3 high upside PF's(and capspace to go after a borderline all-star PF next Summer in free agency) on their roster waiting for that chance to get PT. However, they have a significant amount invested in Morris and PatPat, and they want to see what they have invested for at least the first half of this season. If the PF spot doesn't improve in the next 5 weeks, I can guarantee you that there will be some sort of move to either upgrade that position in the future, or make an acquisition to help down the stretch.
Except that we've been destroyed in rebounding when push comes to shove. Sometimes Delfino doesn't box out, and sometimes it doesn't even matter, he gives up the offensive rebound and an easy basket. He made Thad Jones look like Dennis Rodman last night. There's no way we're starting that unit.
Just read page one, but I'd be worried about our defense with Delfino starting. Completely agree with Clutch though on Morris's being out-sized at the 4, which is just terrible to see, especially when he isn't doing anything offensively. Haven't been able to watch some of the past few games, but Sullinger killed us off the bench in the Celtics game. He just doesn't seem to have a fluid / natural/intuitive movement/game. He's not getting as many open 3 looks either.
Agree with you, and sure, it's a great developmental experience for this young team and for the young players (Morris effectively a rookie as you say) to gain experience and improve, only with that playing time. Though I think McHale will tend to put in who is performing the best for in-game adjustments. And sure, perhaps we're building up their "asset value". I think Morris will come back even better next season if motivated to work on it. A few of the issues I have with him - just doesn't seem to have fluid/natural mobility/movements (though he that sick dunk a few games ago), is too small against bigger 4s (basically useless in the paint at times), and doesn't seem to hustle (for example, when inbounding the ball, it's like everyone waits for him to walk over so he can pass it in; perhaps he's expected to go down the court for easy transition opps, but just seems odd to me that he doesn't run/hustle to spots but instead is seen walking slowly a lot... perhaps conserving energy, or just personality). And of course, we all know we're looking for an upgrade at the 4, right?
I think the combo of MarMo sucking along with decreased minutes and increased sucking from Toney Douglas has contributed mightily to the Rockets recent scoring woes.
that was my point. McHale uses the lineup, but not too much. we're just going to have to stick with Morris and PPat, and I like Morris starting, because he is a better fastbreak player than PPat is. He is one of our best passers on the break for sure.
You haven't seen a lot of Terrance Jones playing time this season have you? Neither Morris or Patterson have played so badly I would start any of our rookies yet.
wished like hell that the rockets would just start greg smith at the 4, and bring d-mo and jones off the bench. people want to complain about smith and asik clogging rthe front court, but the 2004 pistons and 2010 lakers won two facking championships starting two 7 footers in the front court. so all you lames constantly saying playing smith and asik in the front court will clog up the lanes really don't know what the ***** they are talking about.
And Rasheed Wallace of the 2004 Pistons. Z-Ro&Trae, Greg Smith is currently getting 13 mpg Asik is getting 30 mpg Their combined total doesn't even cover one position. You might as well leave Smith as the backup center, because no matter how you slice it, the minutes require Coach to field MMorris and PPatt with Asik, unless you intend to substantially increase Smith's minutes.
