No, Morris will get the back up minutes before D-Mo. Don't see D-Mo getting in the rotation any time soon
Looking forward to seeing Marcus Morris at the PF spot, actually. Been hearing about his 3pt shooting (and saw some of that in preseason videos before he got hurt). Be interesting to see how thing work with a "spread 4." Also, I imagine Smith is in front of D-Mo as the backup 5 if they need some bulk. As for Patterson: I don't know what people are celebrating. The Rockets are a worse team without him.
I think Patterson should have earned his job. He's had two years, and he hasn't done that. Better to give it to Jones, and force Patterson to take it back, if he can.
Yeah, Pat's gotta be careful here. He's starting the second season in a row injured. Last year it lingered to the point that it set him back the rest of the season. And now this season he has WAY more competition for his minutes. He played well in the preseason, but not well enough to just re-claim his starting job once he's back from injury. If TJones plays as well as he played in the preseason and develops chemistry with the other starting 4 quickly, then Pat's got a big hill to climb. Being injured is really not a good way to kick off any season. And with the start of this season, he's about to earn himself a label as injury-prone.
With so much drive & kick in the works with Lin/Harden, Morris might actually be a better option as a floor spacing 4 in this case. Interested to see how he plays for sure. Glad to see he's finally going to get his big shot. From everything you here, he has the talent, work ethic, and he's been stiffled on the bench for such a long time. Lets see what he can do. As much as I like T Jones so far, he's a rookie and he's going to get his chance in the future. Same goes with D-Mo. Its time for Patterson and Morris to show what they have or move on.
