From when he took over for the injured Patrick Patterson (12/16/2012) up to the end of the calendar year (9 games), Marcus Morris averaged 14.0 points on a blistering 52.4% shooting and hit 46.3% on his threes (19-41) in 30.4 minutes. Obviously those numbers aren't very sustainable, but Morris was a big reason the Rockets' offense took off to an even higher level and we knew that when Patterson got back, it could make for a tough decision for McHale. Patterson got back on 12/29/2012 and played spot minutes, then had a strong showing on 1/2/2013. This month (7 games), Marcus Morris has remained in the starting lineup and is averaging 5.9 points on 33.3% shooting in fewer minutes (21.0) and is just 5-20 (25%) combined from three-point range. (It's not like Patterson has been giving you much lately either... after his 3-game burst, he has cooled off considerably the last four.) But a big reason why the Rockets exploded offensively is because they've had a stretch four knocking down threes, making it costly for opponents to leave them to close on Harden and Lin drives. When he's not hitting, defenses can pack the paint and force you to shoot from 20+ (which the Rockets did 31 times per on this road trip, making just 28.3%). I don't know if a starting lineup change will happen or not, but this is a problem right now.
As suggested in Carl Herrera's recent thread, one attempt at a temporary solution might be to move Parsons to the 4 when matchups allow, with Delfino starting at the 3. We are still lacking a deadeye shooter from the bench, though. I thought Morris was terrible today, except for one dunk. Hesitated all the time on open threes, then tried to drive, traveled, didn't do much on defense, either. Patterson is not the solution. We need an upgrade at the 4. Regardless of position, we need better shooters. Novak, Budinger, Courtney Lee...would all be nice to have right now.
I'm pretty convinced that there was a switch and we now have Markieff Morris instead. Except that whoever playing in Phoenix is not playing well either...
lol.... what do Morris and PPat have in common.... both are 14th picks of the draft, both appear and disappear, both can shoot, both have marginal post up games, and both are not experts in rebounding
I made a thread about this exact same issue just a few days ago, and now it's vanished into thin air. The only responses it garnered though was "We're winning so who cares" which was wishful thinking, anyone could see that the last few wins where we came back from double digit deficits wasn't sustainable long-term. Marcus Morris is playing poorly, and it's not just a shooting slump either, he just doesn't look like he belongs out there. He's always outsized in the front-court, he struggles to box-out and compete for rebounds, he's good for a few exceptionally bad decisions per game with his limited possessions and he has bad shot selection on top of constantly losing his man on defense. We need some production at the 4. Patterson needs to start, and I'm aware he hasn't played too great the last few games after he's fallen back to earth from his red hot return, but he's still looking good. Patterson has competed for offensive boards, he's usually in good position on the offensive glass, he's composed and usually takes good shots, while being capable of posting up. He'll never be Josh Smith on defense but he's being really underrated around here, he's played with much more grit since returning. If it's an injury issue and a concern about managing his minutes, than we should look into playing Terrence Jones or someone else, it's as simple as that. Marcus Morris just does not belong in the starting line-up and he needs to earn his rotational minutes again given how awfully he's been playing.
Can't shoot consistently. Can't finish in traffic. Can't post up. Can't defend. Can't REBOUND. Ladies and Gentleman, our starting power forward!
To be honest we should be doing this anyway, how much bigger is Morris than Parsons, really? Parsons is too much of a streaky shooter at the 3 we need Delfino to start there, or even Douglas over Lin. Simply, we need some outside shooters to knock down open shots and get ourselves rolling to start with. We've got a lot of talent, but it's redundant talent in the starting line-up i.e. the facilitating, ball-handling and driving games of Lin, Harden Parsons meanwhile Lin can't hit a three Parsons is streaky and Harden needs to get into a groove.
Except he discussed the consequences of Morris and Patterson struggling. Teams are packing the inside, closing the lane for Harden and Lin and only compounding the offensive issues the Rockets are having.
Great post. You really added a lot here. It's not a single game reaction -- it's a trend. Read it or don't... but don't waste our time.