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Celtics Basketball => Celtics Talk => Topic started by: rollie mass on October 11, 2018, 04:19:13 AM

Title: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: rollie mass on October 11, 2018, 04:19:13 AM
Last year Morris came straight from a summer of court issues, to a new team full of new players and suffered a series of lingering injuries.
Morris might wind up the most improved player,the scoring anchor of the 2nd unit and a rugged defender with Smart, Baynes and Rozier.That 2nd team can consistently add points,grow leads or make up for cold starts
Title: Re: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: Surferdad on October 11, 2018, 06:55:08 AM
Meh.  It's a hit-or-miss league.  Any of those bench guys can go cold and several at a time is very possible.

I love the BWA, but let's not kid ourselves.  They need another scorer like Jamal Crawford for certain situations.
Title: Re: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: Androslav on October 11, 2018, 07:36:43 AM
Meh.  It's a hit-or-miss league.  Any of those bench guys can go cold and several at a time is very possible.

I love the BWA, but let's not kid ourselves.  They need another scorer like Jamal Crawford for certain situations.
A scorer would be a nice but IMO it is not a necessary addition.
These needs can be resolved with good rotation management and we have the best man alive for that task in CBS.

Jamal is a seriously overrated player. Especially now when he is this old. In truth, he is physically weak, can't defend, and isn't much of an off-ball threat.
People act like he is 27 and not on his last legs. That guy could help us.
Guys that just do one thing, score with the ball in their hands, are easily overrun.
I always thought that it is the 9 deep teams consisting of versatility win a playoff series and titles.
Not the ones with one trick ponies.
Title: Re: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: Celtics4ever on October 11, 2018, 08:14:54 AM
During the preseason, I thought several bench guys like Smart and Morris looked better than the starters because they came to play. 

Unearned nicknames are well, ridiculous.
Title: Re: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: Vermont Green on October 11, 2018, 08:18:59 AM
Last year Morris came straight from a summer of court issues, to a new team full of new players and suffered a series of lingering injuries.
Morris might wind up the most improved player,the scoring anchor of the 2nd unit and a rugged defender with Smart, Baynes and Rozier.That 2nd team can consistently add points,grow leads or make up for cold starts

I think this is correct.  Morris is a valuable player who seemed to be injured all last year.  I don't know what his durability will be like this year but he should play a valuable role.

I guess he is a swing but I expect he will see major minutes as a big.  He is not a great rebounder but can defend bigger players.  He will not give us rim protection (a phrase I actually hate, it really just means a good team defender who knows how to help).  If he could improve on the team defense and rebounding (which could mean just keeping his man off the boards) even a little, I think he could start as the second big alongside Horford (in place of Baynes if they decide to start two bigs).  He will likely come off the bench but I suspect he will see good minutes.

Our big depth is thin.  Morris is a major part of the big rotation, for better or for worse.
Title: Re: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: td450 on October 11, 2018, 10:13:07 AM
I don't know any more than anyone else what Stevens will do this year, but I would have to guess that the team has a new set of problems that are best solved by having the starters spread out more, and taking on more of the shots for the second unit.

It just isn't good for the franchise to have Brown and Tatum taking 10 shots or less a game.
Title: Re: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: droopdog7 on October 11, 2018, 11:13:04 AM
I'm not as high on the bench as many around here.  I think they should be good defensively but offensively they depend on three inefficient players in smart, rozier, and morris.  Performance is more about the sum of the parts, and I have questions about their offensive identity.
Title: Re: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: Birdman on October 11, 2018, 11:18:13 AM
This team does not have a shooter on the bench who can score..if hayward or Irving goes down like last year, we in trouble..defense is great but still got to score to win
Title: Re: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: knuckleballer on October 11, 2018, 11:30:02 AM
Meh.  It's a hit-or-miss league.  Any of those bench guys can go cold and several at a time is very possible.

I love the BWA, but let's not kid ourselves.  They need another scorer like Jamal Crawford for certain situations.

I think Rozier will be able to fill that scorer off the bench this year.  He was inconsistent and often looked uncertain of his role coming off the bench last season and then flourished as a starter.  I think that will carry over to his bench role this year.  I liked what I've seen from him in the preseason.  Of course with Hayward back, their offense will be stronger anyway... eventually.
Title: Re: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: rollie mass on October 11, 2018, 11:36:51 AM
I think we will miss Shane Larkin -a pest on defense and a change of pace point guard.Not very excited with our guards after Marcus and Rozier.
Title: Re: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: JBcat on October 11, 2018, 12:14:50 PM
Morris for me was disappointing last year in the playoffs, which was surprising as he had several high scoring games towards the end of the regular season.  He may just be a streaky player, but as long as the D is always there that’s fine as we should have plenty of scoring anyway.
Title: Re: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: nickagneta on October 11, 2018, 12:23:36 PM
As others have said, I think Stevens will rotate starters into 5 man groupings with the bench to give the highest quality of play across all 5 man groupings. If Stevens uses a 10 man rotation, I seriously doubt we will see all the starters out and all the bench guys into unless it's the 4th quarter of a blowout.

I could easily see Brown and Tatum playing lots of the 2nd and 4th quarters with both starters and bench players and see players like Smart, Morris, Baynes, Rozier, and Ojeleye get switched in the 1st and 3rd quarters to get run alongside Hayward, Kyrie and Horford.

That way all 4 main scorers Kyrie, Hayward, Brown and Tatum will be able to get the most good shots possible.
Title: Re: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: Hoopvortex on October 11, 2018, 12:27:53 PM
I think we will miss Shane Larkin -a pest on defense and a change of pace point guard.Not very excited with our guards after Marcus and Rozier.

Loved Larkin's ball pressure, and how he pushed the ball early in the clock; but his size got exploited on defense and he was a mediocre finisher. With Wanamaker, Danny has kind of gone the other direction; at his size, he has a better chance of standing his ground.
Title: Re: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: rocknrollforyoursoul on October 11, 2018, 01:21:25 PM
As others have said, I think Stevens will rotate starters into 5 man groupings with the bench to give the highest quality of play across all 5 man groupings. If Stevens uses a 10 man rotation, I seriously doubt we will see all the starters out and all the bench guys into unless it's the 4th quarter of a blowout.

I could easily see Brown and Tatum playing lots of the 2nd and 4th quarters with both starters and bench players and see players like Smart, Morris, Baynes, Rozier, and Ojeleye get switched in the 1st and 3rd quarters to get run alongside Hayward, Kyrie and Horford.

That way all 4 main scorers Kyrie, Hayward, Brown and Tatum will be able to get the most good shots possible.

I think it's a good idea to have at least two of these four on the court at all times (except in blowouts).
Title: Re: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: Surferdad on October 11, 2018, 01:23:23 PM
Meh.  It's a hit-or-miss league.  Any of those bench guys can go cold and several at a time is very possible.

I love the BWA, but let's not kid ourselves.  They need another scorer like Jamal Crawford for certain situations.
A scorer would be a nice but IMO it is not a necessary addition.
These needs can be resolved with good rotation management and we have the best man alive for that task in CBS.

Jamal is a seriously overrated player. Especially now when he is this old. In truth, he is physically weak, can't defend, and isn't much of an off-ball threat.
People act like he is 27 and not on his last legs. That guy could help us.
Guys that just do one thing, score with the ball in their hands, are easily overrun.
I always thought that it is the 9 deep teams consisting of versatility win a playoff series and titles.
Not the ones with one trick ponies.
Okay, fair point about Crawford, FWIW I didn't put a lot of thought into picking a scorer, but hopefully you seem my point:  I think it's more than "nice" to have such a guy, I believe DA may get someone before the trade deadline especially if Hayward continues to look like a slow recovery.
Title: Re: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: GreenShooter on October 11, 2018, 01:25:10 PM
Meh.  It's a hit-or-miss league.  Any of those bench guys can go cold and several at a time is very possible.

I love the BWA, but let's not kid ourselves.  They need another scorer like Jamal Crawford for certain situations.
A scorer would be a nice but IMO it is not a necessary addition.
These needs can be resolved with good rotation management and we have the best man alive for that task in CBS.

Jamal is a seriously overrated player. Especially now when he is this old. In truth, he is physically weak, can't defend, and isn't much of an off-ball threat.
People act like he is 27 and not on his last legs. That guy could help us.
Guys that just do one thing, score with the ball in their hands, are easily overrun.
I always thought that it is the 9 deep teams consisting of versatility win a playoff series and titles.
Not the ones with one trick ponies.
I don't think he meant present day Jamal Crawford. Only a modern-day Jamal Crawford-like scorer. We are lacking that someone that can drop 10-12 points like nothing. I would like a Lou Williams like scorer but that's not happening. There's only a handful or guys like that and none are available as far as I know.
Title: Re: MARCUS MORRIS-competitive practices," bench with attitude"
Post by: Hoopvortex on October 11, 2018, 01:48:20 PM
Meh.  It's a hit-or-miss league.  Any of those bench guys can go cold and several at a time is very possible.

I love the BWA, but let's not kid ourselves.  They need another scorer like Jamal Crawford for certain situations.
A scorer would be a nice but IMO it is not a necessary addition.
These needs can be resolved with good rotation management and we have the best man alive for that task in CBS.


There's a sort of "equal and opposite" conversation going on about how the Celtics are going to keep all of their scorers happy, since Rozier/Brown/Tatum got so many shots in the playoffs and will now have to cut back on their touches. There's a mainstream concern that those guys will get all disgruntled by their unsatisfied appetite for shots.

I agree with you that managing the rotation is all that's needed to keep scorers on the floor. Hayward, for example, would make a good pairing with Rozier, since he can run a pick and roll as the secondary ballhandler with Terry off the ball.