Morris Attitude Problem?

Submitted by Fresh Meat on

So does Darius Morris have an attitude problem?  I saw him getting really chippy tonight, talking a lot of smack and seeming to be a bit of a jerk out there.  Even the play where Sullinger slapped the ball Darius was sticking the ball in his gut and chirping in his ear.

But beyond that, I've seen him have a few run ins with Belien, at least in appearance, on the sidelines.  I've seen him refuse to look at JB when he's talking to him and then tonight JB grabbed Darius by the jersey to pull him over and Darius knocked his hand away.  Fairly disrespectful if you ask me.  Anyone else notice this stuff?  Anyone know something I don't about this?  It would seem to make a little sense of his benching earlier this season.

willywill9

January 12th, 2011 at 10:05 PM ^

I have only seen games on TV but i have noticed yhe "not looking at the coach" thing. I was trying not to read into it, but looks like it might be an attitude thing. Hope he snaps out of it bc he is a solid ball player.

IPFW_Wolverines

January 12th, 2011 at 10:10 PM ^

that is the case but he needs to realize that he is part of the problem. To many times Michigan has  a chance to make a run and he throws the ball into the 5th row. He's young and still makes those type of mistakes. Hopefully he has the right people around him. 

TIMMMAAY

January 13th, 2011 at 8:27 AM ^

But I really wish people could get "too" and "to" correct, it's a major pet peeve. Seems like nearly half the time lately people get it wrong. That, and they're, their, there.

/end rant

mgoSk

January 12th, 2011 at 10:07 PM ^

Sometimes the camera's in the right place at the right time and stuff like that stands out. Darius has more responsibility than any player on the team right now, he's the leader, so you'd want a better attitude, but he's still a sophomore. I say much ado about nothing.

Born Blue

January 12th, 2011 at 11:54 PM ^

Check the culture, many of the youth these days don't like you to "square up" on them, you know, stay outta their grille.  If he's a competitor, then I think his coach has already figured out how to deal with him, that's why he's the coach and the kid is allowed to play.  I've coached a few of them myself.

FGB

January 13th, 2011 at 1:04 AM ^

many of the youth these days don't like you to "square up" on them, you know, stay outta their grille

Wow, that's...um....stereotypical would be the nice way of putting it.   Let me guess, you keep them off your lawn too?

Just Maize

January 12th, 2011 at 10:07 PM ^

I've noticed this too. He also mysteriously didn't get the start the other week. I hate to say it because he has so much potential to lead this team to great things but this definitely has shades of Manny. One of the biggest things that held our team back the last few years, imo, was Manny's attitude (it was at the very least counterproductive). I hope DMo snaps out of it soon, this team has tons of potential for the next few years.

Steve in PA

January 12th, 2011 at 10:37 PM ^

When they were at PSU last year (or the year before can't remember) I saw Manny during a timeout not being part of the "huddle" and later in the same game walking between the coach and the players during a timeout while JB was talking to them.

Morris needs to remember that he isn't bigger than the team.  Hopefully the older players like Novak will handle it before it gets bad.

GoPackGo

January 12th, 2011 at 10:08 PM ^

to not always look at the coach if you're getting chewed out., players often look down, at the game etc...slapping his hand away would be disrespectful, but I liked what I saw with him showing some fire during the game and talking a little bit to the OSU players...Mich needs that...

rman247

January 12th, 2011 at 10:08 PM ^

Unless you know what he is saying, or someone who knows what is truly going on tells the public, don't worry about. Belien is a smart man. He sees great potential in Morris, and has been around long enough to know how to coach very different kind of player. Don't read to much into it.

jmblue

January 12th, 2011 at 10:10 PM ^

The weird thing about this is that he actually spent Christmas with the Beilein family, because he didn't have a chance to fly home in time.  Then for the Dec. 28 game he didn't start because of a violation of team rules, and their relationship has seemed slightly off since then.  Did something happen while he was at JB's house?

PhillipFulmersPants

January 12th, 2011 at 10:18 PM ^

stale. Can't serve a young man five-week old breakfast cereal. Relationship killer, that.

I'm with some of the other comments here that I trust JB probably has a good feel of how to bring him along and that while some of these things raise eyebrows here and there, Morris is going to continue to mature and we'll see less of the petulance when he's an upper classmen. He's shown some great moments of leadership already, IMO. Just need to continue to develop that part of his role.

bryemye

January 12th, 2011 at 10:11 PM ^

I don't know how many times you've had someone scream at you from a foot away but looking away while it's happening is pretty common.

I trust Beilein to nurture their relationship the right way.

BlueintheLou

January 12th, 2011 at 10:12 PM ^

Aside from him brushing Beilien's hand off his jersey, its much ado about nothing. Of course he isn't going to look at the coach when he is getting chewed out or talked to because he probably just did something ill-advised. Odds are he is as angry or more angry with himself than Beilien is.

As for the "skirmish" with Sullinger, I love it. I want to see these guys get chippy with kids (not too far, of course), but yeah, take some trash, show some swagger. I love the confidence. Keep bring it, Darius.

oHOWiHATEohioSTATE

January 12th, 2011 at 10:18 PM ^

We are talking about a 19 year old kid. OSU shot 26 free throws. We shot 7. He is frustrated! He wants to win! If Beline would f#cking stand up for his players and take a GD technical like the elite coaches in this conference maybe we would get some damn calls and he would not be as frustrated!

BlueintheLou

January 12th, 2011 at 10:21 PM ^

Come on. Beilien is always yelling at the officials. We're not not getting calls because Belien won't get a technical. Good teams always tend to get better calls, it's just the way it works. Tonight was heavily skewed and there were a lot of questionable calls, but do you really think its because Beilien never took his yelling and harping too far and got a technical? I think not.

The boys just need to keep this stretch of solid ball going and have it translate. I'd hate to see them only play like this against tough competition. Let's see them play like this and run IU out of their own gym.

oHOWiHATEohioSTATE

January 12th, 2011 at 10:44 PM ^

Over the last 3 and a half years but I have seen at least 80 percent of them. Yes Beiline talks to the officials when he dose not like a call, but he almost always smiles and accepts what ever they tell him. I have seen him take 2 techs in 3+ years. I like him as a coach but once in a while he needs to let the refs know he just isn't going to take it.

Tater

January 12th, 2011 at 10:21 PM ^

Morris is young, and much improved over last year.  Every kid is going to have "growing pains;" if they didn't, they wouldn't need coaching.  It's all part of the game, and it's all part of a player's growth. 

bronxblue

January 12th, 2011 at 10:21 PM ^

Can't we all just relax for a day and not read too much into everything?  He just saw another winnable game against a top-5 team slip away, and he's a little annoyed.  I like to see that fire versus complete indifference.  He'll be fine.

Fresh Meat

January 12th, 2011 at 11:10 PM ^

Absurd? I want our players to be respectful to their coach. I'm not on here taking shots at his game or his effort, but slapping the coaches hand away is disrespectful and shouldn't happen. And despite what other people on here say, I don't like him talking so much crap. It looked like Craft was in his head if you ask me. I want him fired up and passionate, but that doesn't have to carry over into poor sportsmanship. It doesn't have to carry over into him staring Lighty down after Darius made a layup and then walking past the team huddle to chirp some more at Lighty and have Bartlestein (sp?) have to go get him and bring him back to the huddle. Those kind of things have no place in the game if you ask me and aren't the kind of things I want representing the team. Again, I want fire, I want passion, but those things aren't necessary in order to have that.

Fresh Meat

January 13th, 2011 at 9:56 AM ^

OHHHHH, oh ok.  All I have to do is say "That's what I thought" and that means I agree with you and you are right.  I think there is a different situation when football is a violent sport for starters, and also the contact to start with was legal and then Woodson was defending himself.  That is a different situation from starting something with someone who didn't say a word to you or touch you like Darius did several times, don't you think?  That's what I thought.

Bb011

January 12th, 2011 at 10:48 PM ^

Morris was chippy? Did you even watch the game? OSU was EXTREMELY chippy...Craft was by far the worst though, he was bothering me so damn much and I wasn't even playing. It may not have been noticeable from watching it on TV but it sure was at the game.

MGoChippewa

January 13th, 2011 at 1:11 AM ^

I didn't know Daniel Horton posted on mgoblog!!!!  Have you ever played basketball before in a competitive setting?  If you're a truly competitive person the smallest thing can set you off if things aren't going well.  Being in the midst of a tough stretch of the schedule, I'd rather see him out there kickin ass instead of getting walked all over.

Gus_possessive…

January 13th, 2011 at 3:18 AM ^

Coach grabbed his jersey and Darius yanked on another part of his jersey to get rid of Beilein's grip. I didn't like it one bit but it's nowhere as bad as actual hand-to-hand contact.

bleuadams

January 13th, 2011 at 3:21 AM ^

boys will be boys, and whatever d-morris is as a sophomore...its nowhere even close to what manny was as a junior.  im confident belien will be hard on him, and turn him into a gentleman before it's all said and done.

or maybe he will go to jail in 15 years on six accounts of fraud.  who knows!?