What are you talking about? Where did he become a solid shooter all of a sudden. He shot 30% last year. 12% from three. Yes, limited sample size, but you shouldn't get much of a chance to play when you can't be more efficient. Fine, what about the D-League. Surely he was a better shooter against lesser competition? No, he shot 26% from the 3 point line (which of course makes his overall FG% just ok, too). He has absolutely no history of ever proving he can shoot well from distance on the court. So now we have to go what has been said about him? I'll give McHale a short leash on this one. Morris got injured in preseason, maybe a little rusty, maybe he is clearly the better option in practice. But as Iverson said... "Practice!! We talking about practice!!" There's a world o difference between practice and gametime. Morris has had a mental block in that regard since day 1.
Morris' confidence hasnt been there during games. You could argue the Pistons would know that and let him shoot, but they also know he's capable of quickly regaining his confidence and finishing 5 from 5 from deep. The shot is there. Jones? Jones is what he is. He isn't struggling mentally. His best is still worse than Morris' best from that distance. As a coach, are you honestly going to tell your players to ignore this guy out on the perimeter? <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DB0UZwz5J5M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KmwfM_6DxkQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> A jumper that's not that good due to form won't be solved by having a breakout game. However, a jumper that's off because of confidence, definitely can be. That's why you give Morris the benefit of the doubt.
My point was that if you are a rookie PF in their first NBA game and you are sitting at the 3 point line you are GOING to be ignored. At least until you hit 3 out of 5 open threes. It is a matter of respect. That is not what the Rockets coaching staff wanted to see. It really had nothing to do with who could hit more threes.
Seriously, a preseason game? Kelvin Cato says hi. The Pistons pretty much left Morris alone - he scored most of his points on bunnies and running the court. This idea he's some sort of elite shooter is mind boggling. I think jtr's idea has a lot of merit though - it's not like Jones or Motiejunas have shown any better, so Morris was the best of a series of sub-optimal options. Curious to see what happens to the rotation with the return of Patterson - will McHale continue to use Morris as a stretch 4, and move him back to the 3?
All evidence thus far points to the contrary. Don't overrate form. It's fabulous if you have it. But you can have great 3 point shooters with strange form and bad 3 point shooters with beautiful form... in the NBA. If I'm an opposing team, and I'm playing a lineup of Lin, Harden, Parson, Morris and Asik, and I'm forced to double off someone, I'm ABSOLUTELY hoping I can do so off of Morris. Asik will be in or near the rim. Don't leave him. Harden and Lin can fill it up. Parsons will be cutting. If you can leave Parsons open at the 3, maybe it's a push with Morris. But that's a problem. Parsons needs to shoot the 3 a lot better, too. I'd much rather have a great PF, then a PF who at best "might" have an average 3 point shot.
In a radio interview today McHale said that he wanted Morris to play closer to the basket and that him hanging out farther was a mistake and not what he coached. So using Morris as a stretch four was not the strategy. Not only because it is ridiculous to think anyone would respect his shot but because he was not supposed to be out that far.
Well we have 2 other options that might be marginally worse now (inexperienced, whatever), but both of whom have 1,000x more of a chance of getting there than Morris has of being average. And, frankly, I wouldn't put it past TJones to have an all star-like season in him at some point. He has a very intriguing mix of a decent outside shot, ballhandling and crazy athleticism, while being a good rebounder. Sorry... I just don't like Morris as a player... at all. LOL. It's not rocket science. Morris is not a 3. He just can't be. I feel bad because he needed to go to a spot like his brother did and just try to make it as a 4. Even then, it's a backup 4, but might at least be a future there.
I think Morris was nervous as hell in that game. You already know Morris is not used to getting that much playing time.
I would give credence to what McHale said, but it would have been such an easy game time adjustment. "Play 14 feet from the basket" is such a simple statement and Morris would have known immediately where to play. That leads me to believe that the radio interview had some sort of spin. Just my opinion. Also I would like to point out that at the 3 point line Morris was rarely sagged off of during the game.
I would rather see DMo get the minutes as the "stretch 4". I still think that if there is a PF of the future currently on our roster, it is him.
The Rockets aren't contending this year, and so the rotation probably is going to be larger this year. They are still working hard to upgrade the roster. Their salary space will only be available till the end of this season, and it is reserved for sign a semi-star or star player from the free agent market. Then the Rockets will have to turn their focus to the bench, noticeably, the backup PG and SF positions (it also depends on which free-agent they are signing). However, with no cap space, the team will have very limited resource in upgrade it. Definitely, they are more interested in playing MM, because he is older, and he is likely the one being traded as well.
If you're a good player..you can attack in either sf and pf position. So he can't blame what position he's in on his performance. If anything..he's undersized for PF then he will have weakness on defense, not offense. He just has no inside game so far and his outside shooting sucks too. It's time for the conventional PF like terrence Jones who is polished offensively to get playing time. Jones will suck on positioning on defense but the Playing time is important for his experience because he has loads more potential than Marcus Morris.
I feel bad piling on Morris but who thinks of him as a three point threat. Mchale was a great player but I think he's a terrible coach. I think Jones should be starting. At least give him some minutes.
Sorry for my grammar. At this moment, the Rockets are interested in increasing the overall value of the prospective project group rather than an individual player. Therefore, I was not surprised that even Cook got some playing time last game.
I think there's a simpler answer. Here's my theory: McHale is old school. He doesn't believe in giving PT to rookies that haven't paid their dues. Giving PT at the beginning of the season makes players feel entitled. Smith and Morris both paid their dues last year in the D-League. While I'm guessing he sees that TJ is better than both of them, I don't think it's a coincidence that he didn't play any rookies in the first game. He's just trying to establish his authority and set the expectation in his players, especially rookies, that PT is earned not given. And as Lowry found out after Goran took over last year, PT can be taken away if someone else performs better. My guess is TJ will start working his way into the rotation in a couple weeks.
I believe Morris played last nite due to the fact he chose rock, and jones n donuts chose scissors. We'll see who wins the next round??
Parsons is better than Morris at the 4. That's why when Delfino got hot, we won in the 4th quarter. If Delfino didn't play well, McHale would have to move Parsons back to the 3 and played a real PF.
