Author Topic: Marcus Morris says "There's always room for a versatile bully"  (Read 4586 times)

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Re: Marcus Morris says "There's always room for a versatile bully"
« Reply #15 on: July 27, 2018, 11:51:00 AM »

Offline saltlover

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Marcus Morris was fine, statistically.  His TS% of .541 was only a little off the team number of .552, he didn’t turn the ball over much (granted he didn’t pass much, but still), he was a good defensive rebounder for his position, and he generally played good defense overall, albeit with some lapses.

On the other hand, like everyone else, I hated his shot selection and the fact that the ball stopped at him way too much.  I think he does have his use on this team, but there is an open question as to how much.  He could really be anywhere from about 6th to 9th, or even 10th in minutes.  And that ultimately is the question about whether he should remain on the roster.  If he’s in line to be your 6th or 7th man, then he should stay and you should eat the tax.  If the Celtics look at it and determine that he’s really going to be behind Smart, Rozier, and Baynes, and fighting with Theis for minutes, then he should be moved and those minutes given to a combination of Semi, Yabusele, and Bird.

This is something they may wait a bit to decide (you really want to make sure Hayward and Kyrie are truly able to go at the beginning of the season, and to a lesser extent, the same is true with Theis).  But while you don’t have to trade him until February, the longer you wait, the fewer options that may be available to move him to, and the less value he will have (and potentially it will be negative value).  It feels like the prime time to move Morris, assuming the team is trending that direction, would be in September, leading up to training camp.

Getting back to his comment, there is room for a versatile bully.  Although I would argue that Smart also can fit that description, and I’m not sure we need a team full of them.

Re: Marcus Morris says "There's always room for a versatile bully"
« Reply #16 on: July 27, 2018, 12:29:02 PM »

Offline Green-18

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Not a big fan.
Takes a lot of shots. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't.
The league-wide FG% is probably less than 50%, so he's pretty typical.

What's your opinion on his other 50% of the game (defense)?



I don't like his game. Look at his stats against Cleveland in the playoffs. He completely disappeared.

I completely understand why you don't like his game.  Many of us were frustrated that Morris couldn't translate his clutch shot making into the postseason.  His struggles look worse because he hit a bunch of big shots during the regular season.

As for the Cleveland series, it tells us nothing other than the fact that Morris is a streaky shooter.  Case in point, Morris averaged 18 PPG on 46.8 % fg and 38.9 % from three in a first round playoff series with the Cavs in 2016. 

To summarize Morris, he is a solid NBA player who yields diminishing returns if relied upon as a primary scoring option.  The good news is that our depth will allow Brad to play Morris less in games where he is struggling from the field.  Ultimately he should be a valuable player throughout the grind of an 82 game season.  The law of averages also says that he will have a couple of big playoff performances this time around.


Re: Marcus Morris says "There's always room for a versatile bully"
« Reply #17 on: July 27, 2018, 01:15:12 PM »

Offline Vermont Green

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Seems like he has a good sense of himself.  He is versatile.  He does play tough.  I like him.  I hope he stays healthy and plays a big role with the team this year.

Not sure the details of his injuries last season but I think they played a factor all season.  Hope he is clean this season.

Re: Marcus Morris says "There's always room for a versatile bully"
« Reply #18 on: July 27, 2018, 01:30:47 PM »

Offline CF033

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I can take or leave him. Like others I'm really not crazy about his offensive game, at least not on this team. I agree that timeout by Brad right before he took that shot against the Sixers in the playoffs was brilliant. We all knew he was about to chuck up a very low % turnaround shot.

He's a pretty good defender and looks like the type of player that can get under the opposition's skin. But we have Marcus Smart for that.

Re: Marcus Morris says "There's always room for a versatile bully"
« Reply #19 on: July 27, 2018, 01:39:39 PM »

Offline bogg

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When it comes to complaints about Morris' offense I just can't get around the fact that if he were to move on then the player who'd be filling the role Morris currently occupies on the team is Semi, who still looks largely lost on offense (I like him long-term, but he needs another year). If forced to choose between Morris' offense and Semi's offense, I'm going Morris 10 times out of 10.

Re: Marcus Morris says "There's always room for a versatile bully"
« Reply #20 on: July 27, 2018, 02:03:03 PM »

Online SparzWizard

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He was supposed to shut down LeBron James in the ECF but to no avail  :'( After all, he was known to be one of the best LeBron stoppers in the NBA.

Instead, we got smoked by Jeff Green in the Garden. We definitely need some more versatile bullies.


#JTJB (Just Trade Jaylen Brown)
#JFJM (Just Fire Joe Mazzulla)

Re: Marcus Morris says "There's always room for a versatile bully"
« Reply #21 on: July 27, 2018, 02:21:45 PM »

Offline knuckleballer

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I couldn't agree more with Morris.  It's great to have a goon on the team.  Let him stand up to or bully other team's players so that softer, high level talent like Hayward, Irving, and Tatum don't have to.  Let them focus on what they do best and let Morris and Smart, to an extent, do the dirty work.

Re: Marcus Morris says "There's always room for a versatile bully"
« Reply #22 on: July 27, 2018, 02:50:30 PM »

Offline 86MaxwellSmart

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Does it bother anyone else about as to how casually players and commentators not only refer to players as "bullies" and "bully ball", but that such is done in a positive light? Sorry, but I just don't think that that makes for a good look, to put it mildly :-\.

You wouldn't have liked 80s NBA
Larry Bird was Greater than you think.

Re: Marcus Morris says "There's always room for a versatile bully"
« Reply #23 on: July 27, 2018, 02:57:42 PM »

Offline DefenseWinsChamps

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Does it bother anyone else about as to how casually players and commentators not only refer to players as "bullies" and "bully ball", but that such is done in a positive light? Sorry, but I just don't think that that makes for a good look, to put it mildly :-\.

You wouldn't have liked 80s NBA

Yeah. This is probably a generational thing. More and more, "bully" has a very specific negative connotation. 20-30 years ago, "bully" could be negative or positive depending on context.

The insinuation is not that Morris is verbally or physically cruel to weaker individuals. The insinuation is toughness. As a player, even though he might be lesser talent, he will not back down from elite talent. He will not shy away from contact or be intimidated (the Raptors could have used him against the Cavs this year). In fact, the insinuation is that he will enforce his will on the game defensively and offensively, and perhaps even get into the heads of other opponents, making them play tentative and scared.

Words sometimes need to be defined as they take on new meanings in an every-evolving culture.

Re: Marcus Morris says "There's always room for a versatile bully"
« Reply #24 on: July 27, 2018, 02:59:26 PM »

Offline saltlover

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Does it bother anyone else about as to how casually players and commentators not only refer to players as "bullies" and "bully ball", but that such is done in a positive light? Sorry, but I just don't think that that makes for a good look, to put it mildly :-\.

You wouldn't have liked 80s NBA

Yeah. This is probably a generational thing. More and more, "bully" has a very specific negative connotation. 20-30 years ago, "bully" could be negative or positive depending on context.

The insinuation is not that Morris is verbally or physically cruel to weaker individuals. The insinuation is toughness. As a player, even though he might be lesser talent, he will not back down from elite talent. He will not shy away from contact or be intimidated (the Raptors could have used him against the Cavs this year). In fact, the insinuation is that he will enforce his will on the game defensively and offensively, and perhaps even get into the heads of other opponents, making them play tentative and scared.

Words sometimes need to be defined as they take on new meanings in an every-evolving culture.

With Morris it really is a bit of both, tho.  He did just go through an assault trial 10 months ago, and, while found not guilty, the charges didn’t seem completely far-fetched.

Re: Marcus Morris says "There's always room for a versatile bully"
« Reply #25 on: July 27, 2018, 03:03:52 PM »

Offline DefenseWinsChamps

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Does it bother anyone else about as to how casually players and commentators not only refer to players as "bullies" and "bully ball", but that such is done in a positive light? Sorry, but I just don't think that that makes for a good look, to put it mildly :-\.

You wouldn't have liked 80s NBA

Yeah. This is probably a generational thing. More and more, "bully" has a very specific negative connotation. 20-30 years ago, "bully" could be negative or positive depending on context.

The insinuation is not that Morris is verbally or physically cruel to weaker individuals. The insinuation is toughness. As a player, even though he might be lesser talent, he will not back down from elite talent. He will not shy away from contact or be intimidated (the Raptors could have used him against the Cavs this year). In fact, the insinuation is that he will enforce his will on the game defensively and offensively, and perhaps even get into the heads of other opponents, making them play tentative and scared.

Words sometimes need to be defined as they take on new meanings in an every-evolving culture.

With Morris it really is a bit of both, tho.  He did just go through an assault trial 10 months ago, and, while found not guilty, the charges didn’t seem completely far-fetched.

Maybe. I don't know him personally and haven't seen enough close-up personal interactions. He definitely might be, but I can only speak to his character on the court, and in that context, he is a "bully," but what is meant by that is more about toughness and irrational confidence than mean-spiritedness.
« Last Edit: July 27, 2018, 03:10:17 PM by DefenseWinsChamps »

Re: Marcus Morris says "There's always room for a versatile bully"
« Reply #26 on: July 27, 2018, 03:33:31 PM »

Offline SHAQATTACK

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thats what I'm talk n bout  ;D













More Marcus s , less KO

Re: Marcus Morris says "There's always room for a versatile bully"
« Reply #27 on: July 27, 2018, 03:39:13 PM »

Offline 2short

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I think he will take minutes from Theiss who will in turn take some of Al's minutes.  I see Brad keeping Al's minutes in check for regular season.  If a good trade comes and Morris needs to be part of it not a problem to me, likewise if we have to let him walk after this season that is fine as well.  He will be paid to start somewhere in league and he deserves the pay check and minutes.  Let him add depth this year, toughness and good vet presence (hopefully) for the young ones.

I personally don't think he's that much of a bully, more he won't back down and plays hard. 

Re: Marcus Morris says "There's always room for a versatile bully"
« Reply #28 on: July 27, 2018, 07:06:55 PM »

Offline mgent

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Smart is our Garnett, Baynes is our Kendrick Perkins, and Morris is our James Posey.

Now we just need a Rondo, Tony Allen, Leon Powe, and PJ Brown.   ;D
Philly:

Anderson Varejao    Tiago Splitter    Matt Bonner
David West    Kenyon Martin    Brad Miller
Andre Iguodala    Josh Childress    Marquis Daniels
Dwyane Wade    Leandro Barbosa
Kirk Hinrich    Toney Douglas   + the legendary Kevin McHale

Re: Marcus Morris says "There's always room for a versatile bully"
« Reply #29 on: July 27, 2018, 07:16:40 PM »

Offline JHTruth

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Does it bother anyone else about as to how casually players and commentators not only refer to players as "bullies" and "bully ball", but that such is done in a positive light? Sorry, but I just don't think that that makes for a good look, to put it mildly :-\.
It would bother me if it were the '80's. In today's NBA there is little chance with the flagrant foul rules in place. You can still be physical and we have guys that do that. I wish Baynes would be a little more aggressive but we already have a couple of guys that are aggressive that walk the fine line. We don't want retaliation against our guys, especially someone like Kyrie, who is on the small side but still takes the ball to the hole a lot. Don't want any cheap shots taken at him. Admitting to being a bully in this era is different . He's not dirty.

Baynes entire "talent" is being a big, strong lug. He should be laying the wood to anyone who enters the lane.

OTOH, One thing I hate about Baynes is that he's always getting posterized. There's effective aggression and just getting embarrassed. Sometimes just let the guy have 2 points and play on.

Mook is actually not a very good defender. His role is to try to get buckets, that's it..