I never said he was an elite shooter. I said he can shoot, as in, teams aren't going to treat him like he's Chuck Hayes out there. Mostly the discussion was about his shooting ability vs Jones'. I posted the video to show his shooting form and not to play up one 20 point performance in preseason play. He has good form and can make it. All signs point to him psyching himself out in actual games though. With that lineup, leaving Morris doesn't necessarily mean the opponent doesn't respect his shot. The other guys are just bigger threats and the way Harden was playing, and as good as Lin is in the pick and roll, they pretty much have to double. Put Jones in there and it's the same situation, as far as doubling off of the PF spot. However, if Morris gets back the ball, I would say the defender comes back closer to him than he would with Jones. He'd look to defend the drive more with Jones. There's no argument about having a great pf vs Morris. We'd all prefer a better player.
He deserve some PT to get developed. His value is so low, anything on court will probably add value to him, such as those rebounds. This season is suppose to be a tank season to develop the youngsters, adding Harden on the team doesn't change that.
He had a few moments of good play... I have a feeling that he is doing well in practice that we aren't seeing on the game floor yet. Was that his first NBA start last night? He definitely looked rattled, especially at the beginning of the game
I was a MM hater before. I watched most of his game last season (including D-league games). He didn't have any significant improvement for the whole season, and all I heard about him was laziness and battling. I was very disappointed with him until the summer league. He showed me that he was belong to this league and he was eager to play in the SL games, and McHale also said in an interview that he was working hard in the summer. So, I believe MM deserves this chance. Furthermore, in a rebuilding status, I really see no harm in playing with a larger rotation.
I feel like these were the first significant minutes he's played for the team. I think Morris will become a serviceable player once he gets over the jitters.
This... Jone and DMO would beat morris in a 3-pt shooting contest! the dude was out of his league out there on the floor
I agree with your assessment... rooks gotta earn their minutes....and thats how it oughta be! ....but let everyone else keep arguing about this player vs that player, they're playin checkers - while Mchale is playing chess...
We have plenty of time to see our Power Forward rotation work itself out. While Terrence Jones is my current favorite to start, it's too early to come to conclusions.
He looked like a bumbling idiot at times.Having said that,i thought his defense improved in the latter parts of the 3rd quarter but McHale went with Delfino at the SF and Parsons at the 4 spot and thank god he did.
jones didn't play simply because mchale is an old school hardass with a preset hierarchy in his head about rookies needing to start out at the bottom of the totem pole. meanwhile, detroit's rookies shot lights out against us and portland's rookies were b****slapping the fakers.
Wow. The Marcus Morris hate is strong on Clutchfans today. So much hate for a player that was a lottery pick a little over a year ago. Amazing that posters on here actually think(or want to believe) Terrence Jones is better 3 point shooter than MM. If that's your case as to why Jones should have played minutes on Wednesday.... You really need to start actually WATCHING Rockets games instead of just making up nonsense that you are blindly guessing about. If Marcus was such a bad 3 point shooter, then why was the defense guarding him like a hawk the other night? Marcus being a decoy from 3 point land actually was a big reason why the spacing was so good for Harden/Lin. Marcus was nervous and hadn't played in weeks. It was a bad first game, but he still served his purpose. The thing Im most interested in is whether or not, McHale will have Patterson stretch out the the 3 point line. Patterson was a halfway decent 3 point shooter in college. He could be surprising this season from outside if he gets used in that way. At this point Jones/D-Mo will work better in this set as the 5 man that is the player screening and rolling to the basket. Neither player has shown the ability to consistently knock down 3 point shots. Patterson/Morris aren't proven either on an NBA level, but at least they have the form and track record from before they were in the NBA. The rooks are going to get their shot as time goes on. Lets just see what we got in the 2nd and 3rd year players before Morey & McHale have to make a decision on their careers with the Rockets moving forward after this season.
Exactly.It would also upgrade that mess of defense.best post yet.We need a coach to hell with a trade.
Much love for the Clutchfans armchair coaches. That damn McHale has screwed us again playing Marcus Morris, any idiot (like the ones in the GARM) can see that Tjones or Dmo are FAR better options because...uh umm... WELL just because DAMNIT.
I recall Scola being asked to develop a 3-pt shot before he was traded. In the thread "Morey says this small line-up will destroy a lot of teams", the line-up is basically McHale playing Parsons at the 4 in place of Morris, and Delfino at the 3 to further stretch the D. Fortunately both Parsons and Delfino are good rebounders at their spot (and both the the boards hard in the 4Q), and Parsons at least has some height to defend the 4. I would actually chalk that up as a good coaching move. I would also imagine this small-ball lineup won't be employed too much when the game is tight or when the Rockets are leading, but when they're trailing and have little to lose from firing away ... this may be the way to go. I think most of us agree that Terrence Jones probably has more upside/potential than Morris, and could even be better than him right now. But's he a rookie, and it's the first game of the season, and McHale gave it to a second year player who had a terrible first season but busted his behind in the off-season and by all accounts improved. Not too much wrong with that. And while Morris missed a couple of passes, missed a lay-up, and in general didn't play well (rusty, back from injury), he did hustle well, racing down the floor on fast-break and moved to spots to get open, as well as get 7 boards. The effort was there, and I think the game will come around once the nerve dies down.
