I think people need to get off Morris' back and give him a chance to develop. When I see him on the floor, he just oozes natural basket talent to me. People get so deranged about his jump shooting. I think that will naturally come around, just as Tim Duncan has turned around his abberational, poor free throw shooting. Morris can hit the outside jumper. Once he gets more comfortable and puts his due diligence in practice, I firmly believe he can showcase that sophomore year that that had scouts drooling. I think the biggest thing he showed in the Celtic game was his ability to make adjustments. In the game at Boston, Paul Pierce was eating him alive. But in today's game, he was just shutting down Pierce every time he guarded him, and that was very telling to me. In his second go around in the league, it appears he is learning from his initial mistakes and really making adjustments. If you saw him in the 2nd half, where he pumped faked Pierce and drove baseline to find a cutting K. Thomas(who ended up getting fould on the play), that is what natural basketball ability is all about. TMorris knows how to play the game the right way. He, like a lot of small forwards that pass through Houston, gets confused in the early going about his role offensively. The SF's initially relegate themselves as purely outside shooters. But once they finally figure out that open jumpers are merely one of many options that can be taken advantage of in our system, they can thrive. With due time, Shandon Anderson for a few weeks in his first season really took advantage of the driving lanes that were opened up in our offense and stopped settling for the jumper. During that time, he played his best basketball of his career. You can see in the last few game T-Mo has really made a conscious effort to take the ball in the paint to either score or create. Him being active on the offensive end has given him the confidence to find his outside stroke. I still believe with the right preparation and circumstances, Morrris can be a major contributor on a championship team. Hopefully, in the last 2 months, he'll show that promise on a consistent basis that he onced showed in college.
Man, you are right. Just Friday I had to caution a poster about calling Tmo a waste. I told him that if our motion offense is going to get going, he is going to be a key to that. I think I have a good read on Tmo and to me his only unfavourable quality is his tendency to shy away from the attention. However, that could be considered a great quality on this team which has Mobes, Francis and Moochie.
TMO needs to settle for a defensive role on this team. The only somewhat consistent offense I have seen, is layups & put backs. He should stay with what works, until he can learn to shoot the outside shot. Outside of layups & put backs, he is probably shooting about 15% from beyound 15 ft. He just needs to work on the outside shot, in the off-season. He reminds me of a (shorter) Robert Horry, without the outside shot.
DearRock, If that is the only deficiency that you have seen in TMo, then you must have missed his shooting percentages. FG% 33.7 3pt% 19. I could care less that he shys away from the media. He could be a mute and it would make no difference to me. In Rudy's offense, this is not going to cut it from our SF.
On the contrary he is probably uniquely skilled to be the SF in this offense. He is going to make all his teamates better including the backcourt. Rice and Williams, one dimension players did not do too much better. It is not that I am not concerned about his shooting but I just happen to be one of those who expect that to come around. The whole team is shooting 42% so he is not that far behind. I also disagree with the suggestion that Tmo concentrate on defense. That is unjustifiably limiting. He does too many things well. He is an impressive rookie. Do not forget that I told you so.
For someone who's condescending, you make some ridiculous remarks. Morris has most certainly not been impressive. Whether or not he may have potential, is a different matter entire. But his production, coming from a college senior, has been miniscule.
Of course! Any college senior should contribute immediately in the NBA - especially so when they average 15 minutes a game! Stats can be deceiving - but they can also be informative. Morris has average 2.9 boards per game. A pretty low amount wouldn't you think? But that's come in just 15 minutes, which means in 30 minutes he averages almost 6 rebounds per game; not terribly bad for a genuine small forward. I like the fact that Morris brings a rangy 6'9 frame to the court, and that he looks to hustle! I'm not convinced that he can guard the quicker (and especially the smaller) 2-guards, but he is certainly a match-up for the larger small forwards, something that has been sorely missed in the Rockets defensive rotations over the past few (Walt Williams) seasons! Morris also has great shot-blocking timing from the weakside. He also moves in the offense and doesn't command the ball - thus becomes a bail out target for the driving players; and when he has the ball tends to do the right things with it. Don't expect Morris to develop into the sort of player who averages 15 points per game, but I'd be thrilled if he became a backup option at SF and PF (in smaller lineups).; he's the sort of player who does the unheralded things well.
DaMan thanks for the recap, and enjoyed posts by DearRock and DrN (agree with stats, obviously the per minute stats tell more than per game). Below is a nice article on TRock in the Frederick Post a while back for anyone who missed it: http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sports/display.cfm?storyid=18535
I dont really understand why everyone is hyping T-mo so much like he is the best thing to happen to the Rockets since Hakeem Olajuwon was drafted. The guy is average at best, and I really dont see the potential in him at all. Given the fact that the Rockets have a SERIOUS logjam at the Forward, especially when Rice and Taylor will be healthy next season, I dont see him getting more than 5 minutes a game next season. Does anyone else think he looks like Sleepy Floyd's overweight taller little brother?
If Terence can find a decent stroke (certainly possible, rookies often struggle most in the area of FG%), he wil be an above average player for a long time. How can you not see potential in a ROOKIE? terence=rookie rookie=room for development room for development=potential if a=b, b=c, and c=d, then a=d Maybe you could say you don't think Terence will live up to whatever potential he has, but to say you don't see any is (literally) nonsense.
Ive said it many times before and I will say it again: The Rockets have a SERIOUS logjam at the Forward position, especially when Rice and Taylor will be healthy next season. I really dont see him getting more than 5 minutes a game. How much PT do you honestly think he is going to get with Rice, Taylor, Griffin, and Thomas getting the majority of the minutes next year???
5 minutes at most. But there's two possibilities that could result in Terence getting significantly more time. 1)Rice not being healthy--it's possible his career is, in effect, over. If not, his minutes may be extremely limited due to injuries, etc. 2) Thomas gets traded for a non-forward--certainly possible, maybe even likely. That leaves Taylor, Griffin, and Terence, unless Houston drafts a forward, which may or may not happen.
I don't disagree with you that there's a huge logjam at the forward spot. But I do think there will be some sort of off season move to make room. With the players you've listed, I'm concerned that there won't be nearly enough shots to go around. Looking at FG attempts for each player and averaging them out per game, someone's going to have to take a back seat in the offense eventhough they probably don't want to. Taking each players attempts per game, Cato, Francis, Mobley, Noris, KT, and Taylor, as well as making 2 assumptions. First that Rice will want close to 10 shots a game, and second that Griffin will need just about that many to continue his offensive development. It comes out to 89.6 shots per game, and I just don't see the rockets being able to do that. That doesnt' include whatever shots Torres, Morris, and a backup center will need.
TMO is not our answer at SF. He hasn't been that impressive in my opionion. If Morris is the Rockets SF of the future, then that position is going to be a major weak spot for years to come. He can be a pretty good role player, but come on, some of ya'll are pumping him up like he is going to be one of the best players in Rocket history. Morris has been getting his fair share of minutes lately, and he shows no consitent offensive game. That's important for a SF. His defense is not all that either. I've noticed that he's foul prone. Someone mentioned earlier that he would be a key contributor on a championship team. Yeah maybe on a CBA or NBDL championship team. He would be the twelth man on a championship contending team in this league. I'm sorry, I just can't see what some of you see in Morris.
as a second round draft pick with limited playing time i don't think it's possible to call tmo a bust or even a dissapointment. i also wouldn't say he's been too impressive. but when he plays with confidence he looks pretty nice out there particularly as a defender. if he can work on the shot, i'd be happy with him as a really nice backup to hopefully lewis or odom. i was wondering how many years did kt go to new mexico, because like bill always says, players usually make or break in their 3rd year and kenny is blossoming now. is tmo any different in talent level now than kenny was as a rookie? they seem to have similar demeanors.
By God, if Kenny Thomas can learn to shoot from 20 feet after all those ugly bricks, so can Terence Morris. Of course, that's what Rudy said about Rodrick Rhodes . . .
Why is it that everyone's so eager to give up on players? I'm a huge Morris fan and I don't see where all this hate comes from. The majority of the posts in favor of Morris have to do with people happy to see him doing well and looking at the potential he has, not to be a superstar on the team, but a credible starter and a talented 4th option in an offense. How is that overhyping a player? What signifigant flaws has he shown this year that aren't able to be addressed over time? Does he shoot the ball well? Does he hussle on the court? Does he play good defense? Does he work hard for rebounds? Does he show effort on the defensive end? Is he a leader? Is he a team player? Does he make the extra pass? Does he run the floor? Does he get back on defense? Does he work within the offense? Is he a coachable player? Is he a troublemaker? Does he work well with his teamates? Does he put the team ahead of himself? Does he work to improve his game? All these are questions I'd use to judge most any player, and I think most everyone would agree you'd want a player that answers yes to most of the questions, everyone but the troublemaker one. For Morris, shooting the ball, being a leader, and being a troublemaker are the questions he would answer no to, IMHO. But frankly he hasn't ever wanted to be the leader of a team, it's just not his mentality. As for shooting, he just isn't shooting the ball well. It sucks but it's true, but that hardly means he'll never get that consistancy in his shot. Assuming that he gains that consitancy, I can see him putting up numbers similar to ones he had at Maryland his junior year; 15.8ppg, 2.1 blocks, 1.6 steals, 8.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists. He won't be a superstar by any strech, but he can easily develop into a reliable starter, who gets his points in the flow of the offense.
