I say T-Will. Got to give him a chance. Good defender. Slasher. He started for Nets for 2 seasons i think so more experience. Bud just got to work on Defense. Morris has to adapt to NBA style and get used to it.
Bud has proven that he can be an effective starter in NBA, averaging double figures as such (14, 4, 2.6) in 32 mpg and dropping 30 or more points on a couple occasions, His defense was very much improved to end the season, and his -4 on/off court defense per 100 possessions reflected as much. He's likely to avg, about 15-17 ppg, 5 rpg, and 3 apg as a starter next season with even better D. Not the type of player that is easily benched for an unproven rookie. Morris's career path is likely to follow the same path as all of our other rooks in recent seasons, buried on the bench for the first 2-3 months (especially with the effective Lee, Bud, Martin rotation making backup SF a non-crucial position), not starting by the end of the season, but getting some significant PT and showing what he can do.
Hard to say. Bud has proven he can start with what he did last year. I think most on this board would agree that Grant Hill is a quality starter and yet Buds numbers were as good or better than Grant's as a starter. My problem with Bud is his disposition. He is just not aggresive on most nights and sometimes gets caught just running plays but never calling for the ball or forcing the action. This is where I think Marcus has a huge advantage, I think he will be much more aggresive than Bud. I think he will be a better defender and rebounder than Bud. I think his offensive game will be as good if not better than Buds. I think Bud is your likely starter at the beggining of the season but Marcus could start at some point. I think it depends on if Bud takes the next step as a pro.
I don't think our team evaluates players based on the type of stats that you are talking about. Grant Hill is one of the top defenders in the league, and contributed greatly to his team. Chase Budinger is the REAL "net zero". I've seen a lot of Marcus Morris, and the difference between them isn't even close. Defensively, Marcus will need some time to adjust to playing the wing again, meaning he will only be marginally better closing out than Budinger. He will be a significantly better iso defender right off the bat. Offensively is where the real separation comes. Budinger is an average shooter, and below average slasher. Really he does nothing special offensively. Morris on the other hand will probably be an equal catch and shoot player right from the start, while being the infinitely better iso player and post scorer. In fact, with time, maybe a year or two, he will become the best iso option on the entire team. I'll concede and say we'll see how it plays out, but I think I see a much wider gap between the two players than most here. I wouldn't bet on Morris starting right off the bat, but I don't think you can hold back the talent for long.
Early on, barring a trade, it probably will be Budinger. Morris will have to earn his time in practice. He won't be handed anything just because he's the first round pick.
Grant is not one of the top defenders in the league. That is just not true at all. I don't neccesarily disagree with any of that.
I really appreciate your enthusiasm for Morris and I have to agree that in the end he will likely be a better player than Bud, but I saw plenty of him at Kansas, and right now, he has plenty of work ahead of him to catch up to Chase in certain areas. Right now he is definitely the inferior athlete, with similar lateral quickness, but lacking the explosiveness and leaping ability Chase has. He's going to have to study and learn the team defensive concept in order to become an overall asset on that end playing at SF, the same way Bud did after the ASB. He also does not move off the ball nearly as well Chase to get open shots and has a worse first step that needs vast improvement to be even adequate for a starting 3 in the NBA (seriously, he almost never got cleanly by his man, SFs or PFs, in college. Just about every drive ended with his man catching up, staying in front, and turning into a mini post-up, where Marcus used his interior size/skills to his advantage). Also, you kinda have to take the other starters into account. Yes, Morris's post/iso game is miles (MILES) ahead of Chase, but with Lowry/Martin needing space to drive, create, and draw fouls, and Scola working inside, not to mention the other big (likely Chuck) roaming the paint for rebounds/putbacks or working passing angles from the high post, what is most necessary out of the 5th starter is the the ability to create open shots and passing angles via spot-ups and off the ball movement. Chase has a leg up here due to a couple of years learning under's Rick's system, not being a Melo-like ball-stopper to create his scoring opportunities, plus being a faster and better finisher when we push the ball on the break. Morris's game works really well off the bench, where we have a couple bigs that are athletic, but don't post too often and shoot well from mid-range. Still, with an 8-9 man rotation and the effective swingman triumvirate that Martin/Lee/Bud has proven to be, minutes for T-Will and Morris will be hard to come by (I think Morris's ability to switch to the 4 give him the nod over Williams though). All this is to say, I agree Morris will still be the better SF in the end, but he has a learning curve to go through that is reminiscent of Landry, Bud, Brooks, and Patterson and will likely keep him from starting this 1st year. He's gonna turn some heads in the 2nd half of the season and I think will be a future all-star for us, but he's got some work to put in first. I hope that most realize this and temper their expectations so the kid doesn't get crucified when he doesn't set the world on fire right off the bat, but 'sigh', this is Clutchfans...
First off, let me just say I really appreciate your insight and opinion from a dissenting(sort of) point of view. I think in the end it very well may play out EXACTLY the way you describe it. However, the reasons why I believe otherwise are two fold: 1. Regarding his speed. Your observations are on point for him playing PF/C after molding his body into a post player. However, some of my projections are based on how I expect him to perform after getting back to SF weight and shape. We already see some of that in his workout videos, and from the times he posted at the combine. I think he will eventually get back to the speed/agility he was at before he got to Kansas and bulked up for the post. 2. Regarding his fit in the starting lineup. First off, I believe his catch and shoot abilities should match Budinger's off the bat. Remember, Budinger is no world beater himself in that regard. So as far spacing goes, I believe it would be fine. What he really brings to the table is his iso ability. That is something not only our starting lineup but our entire team needs. As efficient as our offense was last year, we lacked that guy to dump the ball to when the offense broke down. Most of the time it came down to Lowry taking off balanced 30 footers, which he did an incredible job at converting. But I don't think we should be counting on that, as it would not be playing to Lowry's strengths. While I don't think we will be counting on Morris as our go-to guy right from the start, I do believe eventually slowly but surely he will grow into that role. To a lesser extent his rookie year of course. But he has the best skillset in our entire roster to fit that role. That is why I believe he actually fits so well in the starting lineup. Again, I don't necessarily agree with you because of those two points, but I greatly appreciate the well reasoned response and observations.
I think MM will be the eventual starter, but people saying twill will take clee's spot I think underrate lee as a defender. his defense offsets kmarts lack thereof. he needs to become a more consistant shooter, but if he does that, it's not even close between clee and twill.
Agreed. And the 40.8% Lee shot from 3 last year pretty much shuts the door on Williams if it continues. Honestly, with Lowry and Dragic, plus the overall mentality of passing and sharing the ball that exists within the team, Williams' creative skills are redundant and borderline useless on this squad. We'll have to see on the offensive side. We scored a lot without a prototypical iso guy last year. Really, what is necessary is that Morris know how to move off the ball, create space, and keep the ball hopping for the 90-95% of the shot clock that we don't need his isolation skills. Though we disagree on what will happen, I sincerely hope your scenario is the one that comes to fruition.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU !!!! That is exactly what I have been trying to convey.......give the guy some time to find his way, lower expectations and hopefully he pans out. DD
I think that's a great point, and why Morris will have a hard time early taking the starting spot from Bud, unless Budinger is moved. I'm assuming, as most are, that there will be an "early" to the season. Hell, we may not have a first half of the season at all, if there's a long lockout. That gives Bud a big advantage. Morris still needs to go through summer league (cancelled), a training camp (??), and pre-season (???) before we even play games that count. He may not get an honest chance to compete for the spot until next season, which would be a hell of a thing. I'm excited about the guy, and like the pick by Morey, but as always (and I'm as guilty of this as anyone else), we go way overboard wth our expectations after drafting someone. Few are going to come into the league and bust the place open as a rookie like Olajuwon and Sampson did (to name a couple of superb rookie Rockets from the past). Don't expect too much from Morris early, and maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised.
Hey, I am not against tempering expectations at all. However, for me personally, I had these expectations of him since before the draft as you know, not all of a sudden because he is a Rocket. I think that gives me a little more credibility. I believe I am being realistic, based on what I have seen of him. Maybe I turn out to be wrong, but as a fan, there is nothing better than cheering for a guy to succeed. In any case, I am not expecting Lebron James here. Probably 12ppg and 4rebs as a rookie, on subpar shooting%, with his play picking up in the second half of the year.
