Darius Morris sent to the D-League
Darius Morris has been assigned to the LA D-Fenders in the developmental league.
In before "I told you so".
It's true that Michigan fans and many scouts were saying he should stay in school. But according to at least one trusted Michigan basketball insider, family members and "family advisors" were telling him the opposite. That's a lot of pressue on a 20 year old kid. I wish him the best.
And for the handful of jokers hoping he fails...the more successful guys we have in the NBA, the better it is for our program's future.
Too bad for Darius, but I can't say I'm surprised.
He's had a taste of the NBA. Hopefully he works hard and improves enough to get back.
Morris while he was getting pt and I noticed three things.
(1) Even when he was on the court I felt like nobody gave him a chance to prove himself. It seemed like players didn't want to play for him, and once the ball was out of his hands it always seemed like players would only give it back to him begrudgingly.
(2) They never ran the pick and roll with him, which was obviously his bread and butter.
(3) While he wasn't shooting terribly from outside, the lack of respect defenders showed was pretty obvious and that is going to be his biggest challenge going forward. When, as a PG, someone can guard you by playing 5 ft off the ball, you're going to have a hard time getting past anyone.
There are plenty good PGs in the league that have their defenders back 5ft off of them. Rondo, Tony Parker, Westbrook etc. Darius' problem is he is a PG that cant dribble with his left hand and he doesnt have elite quickness. Not only are defenders playing off of him, they are playing off and leading him to his left making him completely useless and turnover prone on the court. He is going to have to find a situation just right in order for him to stick around. To me, it's inevitable that he's going to get waived at some point in the future. I believe he was sent to the D-League so other teams can get a look at him and possibly give up something to get him or include him in some kind of package deal. He's being advertised...
His reply? "He's horrible. He turns the ball over all the time off the dribble. He's buried deep on the bench". And now this. Poor Darrius. Sure wish he would have listened to us about jumping to the NBA.
Is this ironic in the sense that it's the opposite of ironic? Like, post-modern irony or something?
Ironically unironic.
The reason a lot of these kids go earlier than we fans would like is largely because of who is in their ear when making the decision. Family members and agents, who both benefit greatly from the the go pro move, are usually have far more weight than the fanbase.
I feel bad for Darius but I cant say I'm terribly surprised. He doesnt have a left hand and doesnt have a decent mid to long range J. 6'5" or not.....those skills are critical to success in the NBA. The Lakers took a flyer on him cause they could - 2nd round pick isn't exactly betting heavy here - and so far it hasnt worked out.
Man, that's just too bad!
I'm not surprised. NBA PGs these days are all about quicks and Morris doesn't have them. To make up for that you better have a killer perimeter game and he didn't have that when he left Ann Arbor either. When all this fails you can make a roster as defensive specialist but again, Darius wasn't that when he left Ann Arbor. Heck, Stu was always assigned to the best offensive backcourt player when he played with Darius.
The Lakers site I looked at did not offer any salary or bonus money figures for him, which seemed strange because they had everyone else on the team.
spent a ton of time in D-League and look at him now.
Big PGs are the craze and they will spend tons of time onhim. I am hoping for the best for D. MO
I don't know if a ton of time is correct, but Lin is a good analogue as he was signed to an NBA contract (Golden State, albeit as a free agent) but sent down to the D-league for good stretches of his first season.
The other thing that happened to Lin is that he figured out (or had a coach who did) what his major flaws were and he worked on them over the off-season to mitigate them. There was a great article in the NYT a few weeks ago about how Lin worked with a series of private trainers over the summer to add muscle (he added 30 pounds), increase the "suddenness" of his leaping, develop a new jumpshot (the article makes it sound like he totally rebuilt his shot from the basic fundamentals up as he was previously shooting on the way down), and learn to survive hits in the paint and finish. It will be attendant on Morris to figure out what his flaws are (outside shot, left hand, strength, playing without the ball). He'll also need the good luck to end up on a team that requires a point guard with his skills (which is likely not the Lakers).
Everyone loved Morris last year and seems to forget if he made that shot we take Duke to OT in the tournament.
I don't remember many thinking he was ready for the NBA, but the young man had a chance to cash a big check an pursue his dream...good for him. Now he will hopefully learn and improve like he would have had he remained in school, except he's getting paid.