Morrison dominates Day 2 in Maui
posted: Wednesday, November 23, 2005 | Feedback

LAHAINA, Hawaii -- Adam Morrison looks more like Billy Crudup in the film "Almost Famous" than like a basketball player.
But Tuesday in Maui, when the ball was tipped and the game got under way, he quickly proved that it's going to be tough to find a better offensive player in college basketball this season. After going off for 25 points on the tournament's opening night, Morrison really turned it on in Gonzaga's win over Michigan State, dropping in an EA Sport Maui Invitational-record 43 points.

Morrison was, in a word, awesome. He scored from everywhere. One minute he was launching a 3. The next, he was taking his man off the dribble and weaving his way to the basket. Then he'd pull up for a sweet, 15-foot jumper. Then he'd drive and drop in a beautiful floater.

Morrison hit several clutch shots for the Zags in their triple-overtime victory and made all of his free throws down the stretch to seal the 109-106 victory. It was one of the best college games I've ever seen, and Morrison was a big reason why.

Afterwards, several NBA scouts and GMs were buzzing.

"At the end of the day, your team needs to score to win basketball games," one NBA executive told me. "He has the potential to be a 20-point-a-night scorer in the league. He's so versatile, defenses may be able to take away one or two scoring avenues, but not all of them."

Scouts uniformly love the intensity, swagger and, occasionally, downright nastiness with which Morrison plays the game. The 6-8 forward doesn't have the physical skills of some other top prospects, but few players have the feel for the game he has.

While most NBA scouts and GMs here believe he's a lock for the top 10 (many think top five) if he declares for the draft, not everyone feels that way.

Said one NBA executive, "Someone's going to take him real high because they're in love with the charisma with which he plays the game. But the truth is he's probably worthy of a mid-first-round pick based on how his skills will translate to the pros."

"He won't be able to guard his position in the pros," a different NBA GM told me. "He's not quick enough to guard threes and not strong enough to guard fours. Fans may love him, but I know a lot of head coaches who won't. You've got to be able to play defense in the NBA, and I don't think he can."

Morrison was repeatedly burned by Michigan State's Shannon Brown and Maurice Ager when Gonzaga switched to man-to-man defense. At one point, after Ager blew by him for a layup, Morrison actually turned to Gonzaga head coach Mark Few and made a signal to him to start playing zone.

However, both Brown and Ager possess exceptional quickness and project as two-guards in the pros.

Another GM defended Morrison's defensive ability.

"He'll struggle with super-quick small forwards," the GM told me, "but he'll be just fine with most of the guys in the league. He's long, he's not afraid to get physical and he has a motor that constantly keeps working. There are ways to hide any individual deficiencies that he has. The bottom line is that the positives outweigh the negatives with him."

What else were scouts saying?

Michigan State's Maurice Ager has made a major impression on scouts so far in Maui. The 6-5 shooting guard had a great opening night, scoring 23 points and shooting 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.

He followed that up Tuesday with a 36-point performance, including seven 3s. Three of those 3s were in the last minute of the second half, the final one at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime. As good as Morrison was on Tuesday, Ager was, for the most part, his equal.

Ager did miss 10 of his 17 3-point attempts, but he hit all the clutch ones when it mattered. Couple that with good athleticism and the ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the rim, and it looks like we have Ager rated way too low on our Top 100.

Several NBA scouts and executives in Maui are projecting Ager as a mid-to-late first-round pick if he continues playing at this level. It's clear that head coach Tom Izzo is giving him the green light to shoot away, meaning Ager could put up big numbers this year.

Michigan State's other two intriguing draft prospects, big man Paul Davis and combo guard Shannon Brown, were also good.

Davis, a 6-11 forward/center, has been projected as a top prospect since a breakout freshman season. But he never progressed the way scouts had hoped.

Davis has great size and good athleticism for a big man, but he's never been as assertive as his talent suggests he should be. That changed some during the NCAA tournament last spring, and it seems to be carrying over to this season. Davis had 16 points and 13 rebounds versus Chaminade in the opener and followed up with 26 points and 13 boards against Gonzaga. Davis was aggressive with the ball and had a number of dunks (and an impressive five offensive rebounds).

While he still projects as a second-round pick right now, this type of production will clearly move him up into the first round.

Brown is more of an enigma. He is built like a tank, plays good defense and is a phenomenal athlete, but he's undersized to play the two in the pros and doesn't possess real point-guard skills. He's averaging 18.5 ppg in the tournament, but he's shooting just 4-of-12 from 3-land. Right now he's a second rounder at best (and maybe undrafted).

I made a big deal out of Rudy Gay's dominant, 28-point performance against Arkansas on Monday. On Tuesday, the bizarro Rudy showed up instead. After posting the best game of his career Monday, he was two late free throws away from posting the worst game of his career Tuesday. He was tentative on both ends of the floor, his shot looked awful, he committed four costly turnovers, and he drew the ire of head coach Jim Calhoun repeatedly during the game.

What's going on? While it's clear that Gay has all the physical tools to be a great NBA player, the old concerns about him bubbled to the surface late Tuesday.

"Maybe we were all a little punch-drunk after that performance on Monday," one NBA scout said. "As good as Rudy could be, he's not totally there yet. He still doesn't know how to play and sometimes it just looks like he doesn't have the drive to be a great player. Great players show up for every game. I didn't think he showed up tonight."

Scouts who were calling him the undisputed top prospect in the draft on Monday began hedging on Tuesday. They pointed out that he's reluctant to put the ball on the floor. His jump shot is inconsistent. He always hesitates when he passes. He doesn't move all that well without the ball. He seems to lose his confidence when he doesn't get it going early.

I can't wait to see him go head-to-head against Morrison in the championship game on Wednesday.

A few random notes...


Scouts all love the potential of Arizona freshman forward Marcus Williams, especially after he gave Gay problems on both ends of the floor.

UConn senior Hilton Armstrong is long and athletic, and the 6-11 forward/center had a breakout game against Arizona, scoring 14 points and grabbing eight boards. He's got a lot of talent, but his head is a big question mark.

Ronnie Brewer's shot might be ugly, but it's still going in. Arkansas' 6-7 junior guard scored 23 points in Tuesday's 65-64 win over Kansas (going 3-of-6 from 3-point country). He scored 25 points in Monday's 77-68 loss to UConn.

Kansas freshman guard Brandon Rush had a good game against Brewer, scoring 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Of the four super freshmen at KU, he plays with the most maturity right now.

The 3-of-16 shooting by Arizona senior guard Hassan Adams in the Wildcats' first-round win over Kansas had one scout dub him the "next Greg Buckner." No, that wasn't a compliment.