Jamal Crawford, Jarred Jack, JR Smith, Kevin Martin, Manu and our very own bearded one (last year) are clearly the best SG's in their respective teams. All of their teams are on the top of the standings. It's no coincidence that the methodology of having a good 6th man gives you more wins. These guys also are in the game during the closing minutes when games are close. It's not how you start, it's how you finish that's important. Ppat seems to be the one playing during the closing minutes of the 4th.
The team is young, give them the freaking team to play together and figure this out. It is like teaching children, you cannot force them to do your way, you have to give them guild line and allow them to figure things out.
Like I said in another thread, the two are pretty even overall. I wouldn't mind either of them as the starter. Their minutes are about the same now anyway. Shooting: Morris = Patterson (Morris better at 3; Pat more consistent) Rebounding: Morris > Patterson (both are below average) Transition: Morris > Patterson Defense: Morris < Patterson Low post: Morris < Patterson (neither is very good)
Not excited about either Pat or Morris. I think they are both slightly above average players who do certain things well, but they're not complete players. They both have holes in their games, and neither are strong enough to defend the low post. However, you've gotta play with the guys you've got. Pat does seem to be a spark off the bench and we've won a lot of games with the current rotation. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Looking forward to the eventual maturation of D-Mo and Jones. I think the 4 spot will be thinned out quite a bit by then.
I am not advocating either way. But for those who say we're winning with Morris starting, don't forget that we keep falling behind at the starting of games. This is probably more the issues with the back court than with the PFs. But just saying the "don't fix it if it ain't broke" logic might not fly.
i was impressed with morris' turnaround baseline J last night....it looked pretty much smooth, confident, and routine for him, almost like his real go-to shot that he's most comfortable with.....if matched up against 3's, he can be effective in the post down the road
Morris is the better spacer, better mover off the ball, and can actually handle the ball. But he's a much worse help defender than Patterson (and I haven't been kind to Ppatt w/r/t his help defense). If Morris can fix his shooting slump, I think he'll be fine. McHale is pulling Morris out quickly cause he's not boxing out, providing zero help defense, and not rebounding - and that must be messing with his confidence. Hope he gets it together soon cause when he plays well that starting line-up is great.
that was most impressive. I'd like to see that move consistantly, but it did get my attention. No doubt he should be able to post up on 3's but it's the 4's i'm worried about. He just seems to get bullied. He always looks weak to me defending other 4's.
Holy play the schedule in front of you! Before this season did you really expect us to compete for a playoff spot? Because I didn't! I was content with the rebuild! So just sit back and enjoy wherever the ride takes us
i like ppat coming off the bench. He is like a black, less agressive carl herrera with a jump shot and less sexual innuendos, also.
If you want to know the reason why Morris should start, look for further than the highlights posted in the Rox-Lakers thread, specifically the one where Harden passes through Sacre's legs to Morris. That play happened because Morris cut to the basket. Here's how the scenario would play out if PP was there: 1. PP would drift to just outside the 3 pt line 2. Harden would pass to him 3. PP would take the open mid-range shot. Morris is jsut more active than PP, that's why you're seeing more things happening when he's on the court. PP has been beasting lately, but he's still passive and not getting to the line. I'd still have MM have the bulk of the mins.
That's because he did that at Kansas all the time. One of his specialties and he should do it more often.
Best way to end this debate is to trade Ppat for Markieff. Let them switch jerseys every once in a while so we don't know who really started the game.
I think Morris is the most underrated part of our team's gelling. Its not all about individual stats. I've noticed Morris on the court is a great compliment specifically to Lin's game. I love his motor, his aggressiveness, and further if you look at Morris' strengths they match the team's strengths. Speed, the ability to put up numbers quickly seeming out of the blue, intensity, fearlessness, constantly coming at you, not knowing where he is on the floor i.e. always moving. Love it. 2Pat is a great compliment, as he is stronger but not as fast, but still a good floor spacer. More of a solid feel and less of a speed oriented player. Love em both.
Patterson has been doing well since his return but my position stands. Morris should still start. The team has been winning lately and that's all that matters. What really impresses me is I've noticed the Rockets have had some slow starts but finished strong down the stretch to bring home the W. The team would dig themselves out of a hole by the second half and stay close within striking distance for Harden/Jlin to bring it home. Sure beats coming out with a big lead just to let it slide in the end or have a big first half followed by an epic failure the whole way. (How Rockets have played for who knows how long.) Morris has been struggling with his shots lately but like what others have mentioned, his aggressiveness and spacing still helps the offense rolling. He still hit some big shots and was able to create something out of nothing at times which is huge when Jhard and/or Jlin is in a funk I'm really impressed with how Patterson has played since his return. He's been hitting the open shots and being more assertive on defense. There seems to be an extra edge to his game since coming off the bench probably because he knows that he got to earn his spot back. Patterson has also been taking better shots selections or moving the ball quicker to keep the offense going and not bog it down. These were his main problems prior to his return that really irked me. I believe only Lin, Harden, Parsons, or Delfino should hold the rock for longer than 5 seconds. Everyone else on the team should either take a good shot or keep the ball moving. (PG Douglas included lol) Momentum is building, Rockets are winning. I'd say we keep things the way they are. Comparing stats is cool and all but at the end of the day, I just look at the W/L. Shouldn't really matter who gets the spot ultimately because I have a hunch one of them will be dealt sooner or later. Now on to the bigger reason why Rockets been smoking HOT. Carlos Delfino!
PF is our weakest spot in the starting 5. I don't think it matters an incredible lot the invididual performance of either Patterson or Morris. For the 5th spot, it's more important to look at how the 5-man unit is doing. There was an article posted recently that said the Morris unit was doing better, but was falling back to Earth. I don't know which one will be better in the future, but I'll let McHale figure that out. Given the role of PF on this team, I'm not going to agitate for any of the candidates, even if all their advanced stats point at one guy. The PFs should get their minutes according to how well they complement the rest of the guys and the scheme they run.
I am still wondering if they will continue the Morris-as-3 experiment. He can definitely punish smaller guys posting up. But I doubt he can do that effectively against bigger 4s.
Marcus Morris just flat-out SUCKS. His defense is NON-EXISTENT and he has low BBIQ. Makes the dumbest plays, takes terrible shots, and is shooting 20%FG in the last 5 games.
