I think the management still feels that Morris may have a higher ceiling than Patterson and Patterson's contract extension will come sooner than Morris'. This is probably part of the reason why Morris is starting.
call me crazy, but i hope we trade them both and put t jones and donuts at the 4 and smith as the back up center. what do yall think about that?
Well, Patrick is playing much more better than Morris is but we do need Patrick's scoring and defense off the bench as well. Since the Rockets with Morris at the starting line up has been doing so well even though Morris has been a non factor in a majority of the games, Patrick bringing his game off the bench with Delfino and Douglas is the kind of spark the Rockets need in case their starters starts off slow footed. Lately, Morris has been shooting pretty bad the last few games. Its like he always starts off 0-5 or 0-7 FGA and he often make some silly mistakes at times. But he does hit a shot every now and then when the Rockets are in need of a big shot.
Quoted for truth. 2pat is a player that needs motivation to play well and hustle, he has a tendency to get lazy when he's comfortable.
We're 10-3 with Morris starting with wins against Memphis, New York, Chicago, and Atlanta (all pretty good teams). While the Toronto loss was horrid, if you think starting Patterson would have made a difference in the losses against the Thunder and the Spurs, you're probably kidding yourself.
I completely agree with you OP. it's only a matter of time until he's back in the starting spot. IF HE'S HEALTHY, he's the better pf. People forget quickly how Patterson put up some impressive numbers before getting injured (and attempted to play through it) and he started playing less aggressively. I love PPats long term potential. With that said, if it ain't broken, don't fix it. We're on a 5 game roll with this lineup. He will be the starter again, but now is not the time. I'm of course assuming Patterson regains his health close to 100% this season. If that doesn't happen forget everything I've said.
I say don't touch the rotation until we stop winning games. PPat off the bench may be a crucial reason why we're winning games now. Insert him back as a starter and we lose his scoring punch.
Morris is better putting the ball on the floor. That's really what the starting line-up needs if they want to keep playing at this unbelievable pace with the drive and kick. Morris is getting better at pumpfaking and getting into the lane if the shot isn't there(Parsons for that matter as well). His decision making will improve as the season goes Ppat can cover up some of Greg Smith's defensive lapses and help on the boards now that he wants to with the second unit. His improved hook shot would just go to waste with the starters.
Actually, IMO it's time to insert Terrence Jones into the starting PF slot, use Patterson as the sub and trade M2 for a draft choice. Motiejunas still needs work with the Vipers, but he is looking better all the time.
While this is the time to expect Jones and/or DMo to get some pt, I don't expect it will be as a starter this season.
These are minutes played between PPat and Morris in last 5 games. Both don't play in Garbage time. It doesn't matter who start because guess what Mchale giving them about the same amount of minutes. MP MP 19 20 26 22 21 25 23 21 19 26 --- --- 108 114
Normally, I would agree that it's too early for a Jones starting role, but he can't be worse than M2 (or is it 2M). Patterson does seem to fare better against other teams' second strings, but 2Pat is still better than Morris.
I don't know the answer to OP's question. I do believe the competition for minutes is improving our overall team performance.
