"Morris broke the U-M season record for assists with 235, becoming just the third Wolverine to record 200-plus assists in a season. He recorded the third triple-double in U-M history with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists against Iowa (Jan. 30). Morris tallied seven double-digit assist games, including a career-best 12 helpers against Concordia (Dec. 6) and Bryant (Dec. 20). Overall, Morris led the Big Ten with 6.71 assists per game, putting him fifth in the nation."

Morris brings a sweet combination of size and assists. At 6'4 he has the size to see the court but the best part is the quantum leap he made from his freshman to sophomore season at Michigan.

He is tutored by Chauncey Billups, who could use an understudy to lessen his minutes. "Morris is a terrific passer at the point and will help run this Blazers offense. He needs to get better as a shooter and use his athleticism on the court a little more, but there is no denying his ability to make any pass from anywhere on the floor."

He is also a strong defensive player. The jump shot can be developed with work and his steep learning curve indicates that is a realistic possibility.

Grab him.

Nothing will benefit Amare and Carmelo more than having a player who can make passes from anywhere on the floor. The addition of a floor manager will upgrade the Knicks offense and also allow D'Antoni to change the tempo. The bonus is that you also create an alternate shiftline with Chancey running as a complimentary ballhandler, if needed. Billups firepower compliments the ball-handling of Morris.

If the individual workout is satisfactory, Donnie will consider building on the strengths of the rotation and give his head coach another crayon for his potent offense.

misterearl wrote:Postscript

Nothing will benefit Amare and Carmelo more than having a player who can make passes from anywhere on the floor. The addition of a floor manager will upgrade the Knicks offense and also allow D'Antoni to change the tempo. The bonus is that you also create an alternate shiftline with Chancey running as a complimentary ballhandler, if needed. Billups firepower compliments the ball-handling of Morris.

If the individual workout is satisfactory, Donnie will consider building on the strengths of the rotation and give his head coach another crayon for his potent offense.

not to mention having a competent backup at the point would allow chauncey to rest and even take some games off on the second night of back to backs. if we want chauncey playing in april and possibly may in year, he needs a real backup point. i'm happy with toney as a tweener backing up either G spot, but a true PG is needed. if this guy can play, i'm all for it.

this is reportedly a "weak" draft so the knicks should be on the prowl for buying a few extra picks. we need all the help we can get.

misterearl wrote:CrushALot - Faried fills a need for rebounding and I get that. But missing Chauncey in the Boston series showed how much the Knicks missed in rhythm.

This point of view is about maximizing our two best resources. Amare and Carmelo. Morris makes Amare better in the pick and roll (please watch the ease and timing that he makes the pass in the Michigan video posted above by bigsmOOth) and gets Carmelo the ball in his sweet spot. Imagine Carmelo also being relieved from playing point forward to compensate for the shortcomings of Toney Douglas.

The Knicks offense suddenly starts to move and groove.

You take Faried and you potentially run the risk of redundancy in the front court with size and a limited offensive skill set. Dude is 6'7. Unless he is able to play defense against guys 6'10 and taller it is not a wise move. What he got away with in college must be applied to playing against grown ass men. Big men. I worry about that....

misterearl wrote:BigSmOOth - I got no beef with Faried but he is NOT a center. Nor is Amare. The wear and tear of banging against bigger bodies is not pretty.

You take Faried and you potentially run the risk of redundancy in the front court with size and a limited offensive skill set. Dude is 6'7. Unless he is able to play defense against guys 6'10 and taller it is not a wise move. What he got away with in college must be applied to playing against grown ass men. Big men. I worry about that....

right, i hear ya. i haven't done much research but from what i've seen, it doesn't look like the C's are that promising.

we played STAT at C a bunch last year, I'm not expecting faried to be a C. but if he can come off the bench and give us 25 minutes of good rebounding, hustle, and overall tenacious play i'll take it, even if he's only 6'7.

Darius Morris: A Pure Point Guard

By Ed Ziti
Tue, 05/10/2011 - 5:00am

There are a lot of great point guards in the NBA right now, but there are only four who can consistently get you ten dimes a game, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Rajon Rondo. As the position has evolved, many teams are seeking the point guard that can hit the three, but historically, the great ones have always gotten you double digit assists. As we continuously label and relabel the position, different systems have different wants and needs, but to me, first and foremost, I want a guy that can distribute the ball.

In essence, we have the combo point guard, the pass first point guard and the shoot first point, but what teams really want is the win first point guard. Darius Morris is the kind of player that makes everyone around him better, and if you followed Michigan this year during the regular season and in the NCAA Tournament, you know that coming within one basket of taking defending champion Duke off the grid is nothing short of miraculous.

Morris has the ability to score 20 every game he plays in, but chooses to run the offense instead. His decision making ability is solid, but may be misunderstood, simply because he doesn't have the options that Brandon Knight and the other point guard prospects do.

Some point guards limit their passing to their buddies or the guy most apt to score, but Darius Morris does not discriminate. He seems to leave that up to the coaches. If you're in the game and open, you better be ready. On countless occasions this year, and sometimes while he was 30 feet from the hoop, you'd see that right hand pick up the dribble and throw a Roger Clemens fastball to a wide open Michigan player underneath. Few pros can do this well, so when I see a twenty year old doing it, the future looks very bright.

What's even more exciting for the puritans of the game like myself, is watching Morris on the fast break. His look away passes are like Magic, and instead of beating guys with athleticism; he beats them with guile. Someone taught this kid to play the game the right way, because not only does he take what the defense gives him, but he allows his team to score in the simplest manner possible, As Red Holzman once preached, he “gets the ball to the open man.”

Another thing Morris does that is basic but successful is, he gets the ball to the player that's hot. Any player that has hit a couple of shots in a row, can be assured that the kid is looking for him. He has no problem deferring to anyone that can put the ball in the hole. This maximizes an offense's potential as any baller knows that shooting percentages and stats don't matter when someone's hot, and no one in college basketball today knows that better than Morris. His basketball IQ is off the charts.

A huge advantage for Morris is his size at the point guard position. At 6'4, he has the ability to beat his defender to the spot and rise up for quick pull up jumpers and passes. Usually this happens in the middle of the court, where he'll penetrate and pull up at the elbow. If he develops a better three point shot, this move will always be available to him at the next level. At Michigan, whenever his teams needed a basket, this has been his signature move. His mid-range game is already at a very high level, and the fact that he doesn't finish with a Jordanesque dunk isn't a problem, because he's a point guard and it allows him to stay in control and pass the ball at the last possible second. He's always in control of what he needs to accomplish.

Another major strength of Morris is something you see in players at the tail end of their career, is his ability to change speeds. He has the ability to start fast on a dribble drive, slow down and then finish fast. He does this to keep the defender on his heels and to create space. If you consistently beat guys with speed, what do you do when you play a faster player? Like Greg Maddux did on the pitchers mound in his prime, Darius Morris is constantly changing his speeds and just as important, the cadence on his dribble. This prevents him from being pick pocketed and allows him to get wherever he wants to on the court.

The key to Morris's value to a professional team is clearly his ball distribution. Most assist guys are pass first point guards, because they can't score or at least not at a high enough level. That's not the case with Darius as he could start for quite a few teams as a shooting guard. The fact that he can score so well should make him an even better player in the pro's, as he's capable of both, but mentally just plays the position the right way naturally. No one had to convert him.

Defensively, he has the knack of being in the right place at the right time. He has a sixth sense when it comes to players in trouble and gravitates to the spot on the floor where turnovers and bad passes occur. He's tall enough to bother most point guard's perimeter shots, and stays with them nicely on dribble drives as well.

There are two things Darius needs to work on to have a solid start to his NBA career. Number one, he needs to get in the gym and hit the weights. For a guy under 200 pounds, he is surprisingly unmovable on his drives and forays to the hoop. On incidental contact, he just doesn't' get knocked off the ball. In order to have that same success in the pro's he's going to need to add about 15 pounds as everyone is bigger and faster.

He also needs to develop a three point shot as soon as possible. I would recommend the Gilbert Arenas workout where he practices taking three point shots one handed. This increases a players range, while also teaching them to keep the elbow straight as they can't rely on the off hand to balance the ball. Morris also squares up a little too much on his shots, so a tilt to the side Ala Larry Bird should help his percentages.

Overall, the prospect for a successful pro career is in the offing for Morris. He has the ability to be a solid assist guy at the next level, and if he develops that aforementioned three point shot, a high caliber performer in a point guard rich league. He reminds me of Michael Ray Richardson without the baggage. In fact, with his attitude and leadership skills, he has a chance to be the biggest sleeper in the entire 2011 draft.

really like what i read about this kid and the tape seems to back it up. great passer and distributor but has a knack for scoring. him and toney off the bench would be a great backcourt bench. as mr. earl said, this team could use a distributor in the second unit.

BigDaddyG wrote:I like Morris, but he's still a couple of years away. We could buy a second round pick and use it on Cory Joseph out of Texas, who also has a good amount of potential as a point guard and still use that first round pick on a rebounder like Biyombo or Faried. We could also pick Morris with our first rounderand buy a second round pick to use on an athletic big like Jeremy Tyler. It depends on your draft philosophy. Faried and Biyombo, but I'm gonna use that dreaded word, upside. Faried and Biyombo are probably career role players. Nothing wrong with that, but some of you out there might want to swing for the fences and get a guy with more potential, kinda like Zeke did with Wilson Chandler.

i'd much rather have a career role player than swing and miss on a guy. we have stoudemire, we have carmelo -- 2 of the elite players in the game. just give me a rotation and lets move, we don't have time to draft a guy like biyombo and wait 4 years for him to learn where to be on the court, we need players who will contribute DAY 1 to this team's 9-10 man rotation.

If we go big, its Keith Benson, imo. If we do 6-8 6-9 its Chris Singleton. Thats pretty much it from where I stand.