Darius Morris 1st Career Playoff Start

Submitted by Cam57 on

Albeit in a blowout loss, Darius Morris pieced together a nice game in his 1st career playoff start. His line finished like this:

36 minutes. 9/15 from the field. 24 points. 6 helpers. 2 boards. 3 TO

Nice to see him have some success, knowing that Laker fans are looking for anyone to blame for this debacle.

dc22

April 27th, 2013 at 1:07 AM ^

Ooops didn't see this when I created my thread. Great game for D Mo though. One more good game and he can stay away from the D league next year.

drewz05

April 27th, 2013 at 3:22 AM ^

I don't see any benefit for them not making the playoffs this year.  They don't have a 1st round draft pick, so their draft position isn't a consideration. 

If there is no benefit to missing the playoffs, I would think that you are always better off making the playoffs, at least giving yourself a chance to win in at all.

kehnonymous

April 27th, 2013 at 1:13 AM ^

They won't be a Finals contender with Kobe on the shelf but with anything resembling a healthy roster they should be able to make the playoffs.  Being in lower bracket playoff purgatory isn't necessarily a good thing, but it's not like they'd have had lottery picks anyways.

Morris will still be the #3 PG if Nash and Blake return (and both are under contract to do so)  and justifiably so - Blake has played very well as of late.  They should still keep Morris on the roster though next season - because at this point they will need warm bodies, period.

dc22

April 27th, 2013 at 1:11 AM ^

Another thing not reflected in the stats was that he played improved defense in the second half - not so much in absolute terms but much better than whatever the rest of his teammates were playing.

1464

April 27th, 2013 at 1:14 AM ^

My thoughts on watching him play meaningful minutes:

He has this weird way of kind of gliding around that makes him look way slower than the other players.  But he was very smooth and was able to create his own shots consistently.  He doesn't have much wasted movement, it is very deliberate.  The best comparison I have of this effect, unfortunately, is Terrelle Pryor.

He still has an ugly shot (prettier than that sniper from SA though), and seems better served by driving.  But he had some very good drives.  This gives me hope for Burke, as Burke's knock is that he isn't laser quick.  But he looks a lot quicker than Morris, and Morris has had some decent play of late.

allintime23

April 27th, 2013 at 7:52 AM ^

I think it's terrible that Bryant went down the way he did. I'm not really a fan and I've never cared much for the lakers but damn, they're really bad without him. Would this team have won 40 games if he hadn't played this entire year? Dwight Howard is very over rated and they'll be looking for a new coach in two days.

MI Expat NY

April 27th, 2013 at 10:04 AM ^

Generally, I don't really think you can take much from a blowout loss.  I doubt anyone in the Lakers organization is going to think much of a perfromance where he scored 16 of his 24 points after they were down 20 in the second half.  I wish him the best, but I just don't see him making the leap to a true NBA contributor.

Needs

April 27th, 2013 at 10:32 AM ^

I pretty much agree with this. He just doesn't do any one thing at an elite level, which is what you need to do to be a meaningful NBA contributor. He's decent defensively, but struggles against the pick and roll, which is killer in a league where that's the main offensive set. He doesn't really turn the ball over but can't consistently threaten the defense off the dribble. He doesn't really bring the kind of infusion of energy you'd like to see from a backup point guard. And his outside shooting is still subpar for an NBA guard.

He's certainly capable and can absorb minutes on a team that needs that. He won't actively hurt his team, but it's hard to see him ever getting to the point where he's a valued piece that a team depends on as part of a regular rotation.

He will probably be back with the Lakers next year, given their apalling salary situation, even if they decide to just dump salary in hopes of clearing room to make a run at LeBron the following year (ie, amnesty Kobe, don't resign Howard, trade Pau). Don't think they can do that though, as fans would absolutely kill Jimmy Buss, who they already think is an idiot.

tbeindit

April 27th, 2013 at 10:59 AM ^

I think most people have come to terms with the fact that Morris will probably never be a solid starting point guard in the NBA.  However, it was nice to see him actually play the point.  When they put him in the last game, they kept putting him out on the wing, which didn't make much sense at all.

However, these type of games and performances can at least keep him in the NBA.  Even if he isn't a major player, staying in the NBA for another year or two is a pretty big achievement for him and the program.  As much as people rip on non-contributors in the NBA, it's very difficult to make a roster and you have to be REALLY good.  With this in mind, I think this was a pretty big game

dc22

April 27th, 2013 at 11:20 AM ^

I agree that he has a ways to go to be a solid starting PG in the league, but not that far to go to ensure a roster spot for a few years. If he was on a team that did not have a superstar but rather had good shooters who didn't hog the ball, he could function very effectively by setting up plays for them. Also a big man like Gasol is better for his play than is Howard.