wavedashkoala

I would actually argue that Morrison could be at least a second scoring option on our team. From what I see, running an offence through him could make Bosh look a whole lot better as well.

When Morrison was on Gonzaga, he was causing all kinds of problems for defenses, giving Batista open looks on almost every position. The way I see it, is that Morrison is the type of player that can score a ton of points, and can play relatively well while double teamed. Bosh has better offensive outings when he's got a defender iso-ed.

But thats considering that Morrison's game translates into the NBA.

I also don't see what the huge fuss is about not being a great defender. How many guys do you see as being lock down defenders in their first year? Defending is only partly about foot speed and lateral movement, a big part of it is ball IQ. The only problem that I can see is having a coach that feels defense can't be taught.

l2owen

the big issue here is the type of defense being played. Larry Bird for instance was never a good man to man defender. going one on one he was not a defensive stopped. much like adam . however what larry bird was really really good at was playing TEAM defense, and ANTICIPATION of what the defender was going to do . he could see offensive sets play out before the other team already started them and would assert himself and his whole team to match that.

the similarity between bird and adam is this. neither of them were or ever will be ( in case of adam) one to one defensive stoppers ala AI2 or the old Rodman. but what the two do share is an incredibly high basketball IQ , incredible game instincts and the ability to see plays happen before they do . adam will have no problem playing team defense. hes got the smarts, hes got the wingspan to play off of players, and hes got some nice shotblocking to rely on from charlie v ( who i think has the potential to be a fantastic blocking machine if he trains himself right ) and of course chris bosh who is extremely atheletic and will get you a good ammount of blocks . in the nba team defense is the most important , not individual defense. especially with the new zones that allow teams to cover up a players weakness.

The Mad Viking

Why the **** are people even mentioning Adam Morrison in the same sentence as Larry Bird?

Defence? Bird averaged nearly 2 steals a game and a block a game in the NBA, until he got hurt at age 32.

Morrison can't even average 1 steal and 1/2 a block in a weak conference in the NCAA.

In college Bird led the nation in scoring AND rebounding - 30ppg and 15 rpg.

Bird was an all-star every season he played (excepting his injury season where he played just 6 games. He was MVP 3 straight times.

Adam Morrison is just a scorer in the NCAA. A fantastic scorer, but that's it. He rebounded ok, and in no way projects to be a rebounder in the NBA. He will probably get more assists in the NBA than he did in college, because he will have more options to pass to, and better defenders covering him. But there is nothing to suggest he will EVER approach Bird's WORST season: at age 35, crippled with a herniated disk, he was 20 -10 with 7 apg, and better steal/block numbers than Morrison had last year with 'Zaga!

Just say NO to Bird comparisons.

__________________
With the first pick in the 2010 draft, the ... select, Ricard Rubio of Spain.

Minstrel: There's no such thing as a "proven loser." Teams win and lose, not individuals.

no_free_baskets

having a high bball iq at one end of the court doesnt neccesarily translate to the other end...steve nash has a high bball iq on the offense end but does that mean he has a high one on the def. end too? obviously not...similarly, b. wallace has an extremely high bball iq on the def. end, but does that mean he has a high off. bball iq as well? nope...

team d is overblown on the t.o board...i dont think its disputable that the majority of the time (at least 70+% imo) teams are running a man d in the nba, so how does team d become more important then how an ind. d's up a guy one-on-one when thats the majority of defense the guy will be playing?

also, to play effective team d, yes you must have a coach that can implement and make you believe in that system, but you must also have the players that have the sufficient defensive bball acumen (i.e being at the right place at the right time, when to switch, etc, etc...) and sufficient skills to make said system work...the raptors simply put, dont have those players...who on the raps do you think has a high bball iq on the defensive end and/or are good def. players?? i personally cant count too many....

no_free_baskets

yeah, the morrison bird thing is kind of crazy...morrison is good, but bird is one of the all time greats...youre talking about probably the best shooter of all time plus probably also one of the best passing sf ever...he was just a sick passer...

believe me, if morrison was a young bird, he would have been easily considered #1 months ago...

GuelphRaptorsFan

I didn't say calling him the "best college player" is absurd, I said that calling him "far and away" the "top player in the draft" is absurd. In case you missed the memo, being the best college player in the draft doesn't make you the best NBA prospect.

speedythief

I wrote the memo!

http://www.basketballboards.net/foru...5&postcount=77



As for him being the best "far and away" Tom Cruise-style, obviously that's JMO. But I personally think he is miles ahead of guys like Aldridge, Gay, Roy, etc., who are all good players who have all underachieved to various degrees. The second best player on the Zags was JP-freaking-Batista and Ammo almost got them to the Elite Eight. Thomas would be the obvious exception.

GuelphRaptorsFan

Fair enough. I don't personally agree, though. Perhaps its my dislike of one-dimensional players. One thing the Zags did have was a team that could let him get away with coasting on defense. I would agree that Gay and Aldridge underachieved but I don't personally think Roy did (he's a natural distributor, nor a natural scorer), Williams took his team within a hair's breath of the Final Four and did it in solid fashion all the way along. Is Morrison the best offensive threat right now? Absolutely. Is he the best player? I have my doubts. Is he far and away the best player. No, not in my mind. All he'd have to do is *try* to play defense on a consistent basis and I might agree, but I haven't seen that yet.

speedythief

^ He's trying. Between workouts he's been putting in hours with Devean George and Danny Granger, mostly trying to fine-tune getting his shot off against long, athletic NBA players, and defending them in turn.

You can read about it here. Is it spin? Partly, but regardless, he's trying.

GuelphRaptorsFan

^ Well, he might *say* he's trying, but it doesn't sound like the critics agree:

The full article is
here

GuelphRaptorsFan

^ And while we're quoting DraftExpress, here's another one:

To be fair, "most polished and NBA ready player" doesn't really translate seamlessly to "top player", but it certainly makes an argument for it, working on the assumption that "top player", being differentiated from "top prospect", means the top player right now.

speedythief

The knocks on Roy, besides being a little smaller than people would like, are about the same as the knocks on Josh Howard when he came out, but obviously the 2003 and 2006 drafts are hard to compare. And Howard has turned into a very good pro.


Anyways, one thing worth mentioning is that Morrison is also the only natural vocal leader of the top picks, which is something our team sorely lacks.

The Mad Viking

For most people, being a vocal leader is only possible when you are the best player on a team.

As soon as Morrison joins the NBA, he will have to shut his feathery lip the hell up.

Part of projecting how a player will do in the NBA (or in any new situation) is looking at how he was used in the old one.

Morrison was the go-to guy. He was expected to take the ball and make the shot. And he was very, very good at it.

Rudy Gay worked within a structured UConn system. He had rules to abide by, when to drive when to pass, when to shoot. It can be your opinion that he underachieved, and you might be right. But it is more likely the role and the system.

Or do you think that Boris Diaw and Raja Bell were simply chronic underachievers until this year, and suddenly started trying?

__________________
With the first pick in the 2010 draft, the ... select, Ricard Rubio of Spain.

Minstrel: There's no such thing as a "proven loser." Teams win and lose, not individuals.

speedythief