The other Marcus

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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I've noticed Morris take a lot of heat on this board and I'm curious as to why. He's kinda like Jae Crowder, cheap contract and solid play. His rebounding rate is at a career high and his shot selection looks more like it did in Phoenix than Detroit. Morris is a really solid bench player, especially at $5mil a year.

What do people dislike about him so much? He is kind of a chucker and on a team with Marcus Smart and Rozier (earlier on, at least), that could definitely wear thin on someone. I've mostly been impressed with Morris though, he's better than I thought.
 

luckiestman

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Jul 15, 2005
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I've noticed Morris take a lot of heat on this board and I'm curious as to why. He's kinda like Jae Crowder, cheap contract and solid play. His rebounding rate is at a career high and his shot selection looks more like it did in Phoenix than Detroit. Morris is a really solid bench player, especially at $5mil a year.

What do people dislike about him so much? He is kind of a chucker and on a team with Marcus Smart and Rozier (earlier on, at least), that could definitely wear thin on someone. I've mostly been impressed with Morris though, he's better than I thought.

I like him for what he is. The moaners seem to focus on his ball stopping & black hole shooting choices.
 

shaggydog2000

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Apr 5, 2007
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We could use another player just like him.
Are you hoping they would alternate injury stints? Because if they did, that would be really handy.

I like the offense he adds off the bench, the second unit can use it. He is exactly what the team is missing whenever he's out.
 

sezwho

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IWhat do people dislike about him so much? He is kind of a chucker and on a team with Marcus Smart and Rozier (earlier on, at least), that could definitely wear thin on someone. I've mostly been impressed with Morris though, he's better than I thought.
I don't dislike him so much, but I do dislike the bolded. I'm not sure where I saw the idea first, but that makes him great second unit player on this team but that approach on the first unit however is less welcome. He's better than I thought too though.
 

JakeRae

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Jul 21, 2005
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The team, on average, plays worse and looks worse when he is on the floor. This is backed up by his on-off of around -2.8 for the season. Of guys playing significant minutes, only Theis, Rozier, and Semi rate negatively in that stat. Theis and Rozier rate well by BPM while Morris doesn't. I think he can help this team win, but I don't think he has. He's not overpaid, he just also isn't very good.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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The team, on average, plays worse and looks worse when he is on the floor. This is backed up by his on-off of around -2.8 for the season. Of guys playing significant minutes, only Theis, Rozier, and Semi rate negatively in that stat.
So every impactful bench player other than Marcus Smart?
 

Imbricus

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The problem with Morris is, if he gets the ball within the three-point line, he basically goes into iso mode. The offense totally stalls. He could have four guys descend on him, and he's still looking for a way to shoot. I think I could count on one finger the number of times I've seen him pass the ball within twenty feet of the basket (I may not even need one finger). He's still useful, because when the shots are falling, he can kickstart the offense. But he doesn't fit well with the Celts' overall style of unselfish play.
 

Montana Fan

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Are you hoping they would alternate injury stints? Because if they did, that would be really handy.

I like the offense he adds off the bench, the second unit can use it. He is exactly what the team is missing whenever he's out.
If he was available, which of course he's not, I'd love to add his twin. In lieu of that, a player of his type, another 4 who is a banger who plays defense and isn't afraid to take a shot is what I think is needed to supplement Theis, Baynes, Al & Marcus. As you suggested, two of these guys have nagging injuries and need a day off here and there.
 

DJnVa

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Dec 16, 2010
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The problem with Morris is, if he gets the ball within the three-point line, he basically goes into iso mode. The offense totally stalls. He could have four guys descend on him, and he's still looking for a way to shoot. I think I could count on one finger the number of times I've seen him pass the ball within twenty feet of the basket (I may not even need one finger). He's still useful, because when the shots are falling, he can kickstart the offense. But he doesn't fit well with the Celts' overall style of unselfish play.
Yet he's 6th on the team in assist percentage, ahead of Theis, Baynes, Tatum and Brown. It's not a complete black hole.
 

Eddie Jurak

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Morris missed training camp, has had limited minutes, and has clearly been bothered by a knee injury during much of the time he has played. His level play has been up and down rather than consistent. As a result, I think the jury is still out on him and it doesn't make a wole lot of sense to look at his numbers for the year and assume that is just what he is. On a game to game basis, he's often been much better or much worse than the numbers would suggest.
 

chilidawg

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Morris missed training camp, has had limited minutes, and has clearly been bothered by a knee injury during much of the time he has played. His level play has been up and down rather than consistent. As a result, I think the jury is still out on him and it doesn't make a wole lot of sense to look at his numbers for the year and assume that is just what he is. On a game to game basis, he's often been much better or much worse than the numbers would suggest.
Pretty much this. His inconsistency of both performance and availability makes it hard to really gauge what he's going to be for the Celtics. I wouldn't put too much stock in any of the numbers at this point.
 

tbrown_01923

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Anecdotally - does anybody have a feeling on his defense? I haven't noticed him being lockdown, but haven't made it a point to watch him defensively (not that is is super easy to do on tv).
 

Imbricus

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Yet he's 6th on the team in assist percentage, ahead of Theis, Baynes, Tatum and Brown. It's not a complete black hole.
Interesting. Would expect him to be in front of Theis and Baynes, neither of whom seem like very good passers; as soon as Theis gets the ball, he's looking for someone to hand it off to. Being in front of Tatum and Brown surprises me though. I haven't watched all the games all the way through, but most of the times I've seen Morris, when he gets the ball, he's already in "shoot it" mode.
 

DJnVa

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Confirmation bias?

Or perhaps he does pass less than the others (his shots per 36 is 2nd on the team) but when he makes a pass he makes one to someone in a good spot?
 

the moops

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His AST% this year is right in line with his last few previous years. I think him being above those guys is more testament of how poor their percentages are and not anything to praise Morris for
 

DJnVa

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Dec 16, 2010
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His AST% this year is right in line with his last few previous years. I think him being above those guys is more testament of how poor their percentages are and not anything to praise Morris for
That wasn't my intent, and I never said he's improved. The insinuation that I was responding to is that when the ball goes to Morris he never passes. I pointed out his % was better than some other guys that get some PT. I wasn't saying he should or shouldn't pass more, just that there could be some confirmation bias when we watch him.
 

sezwho

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This did occur to me, and it's a good point.
It also follows that the established chucker in an otherwise balanced system would have more open teammates. On the off chance he passes it would seem likely to have a better than average outcome.
 

Koufax

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My impression is that he is a bad passer. It always seems that the ball goes to a spot where the recipient has to re-set in order to get a shot off.