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I can't quite figure out why Avery Johnson decided to chain Anthony Morrow to the bench this year, especially post Gerald Wallace trade.

This has been something that has been bugging me for quite some time, as if you look at the role Avery has MarShon Brooks playing and you then look at the role Avery has Anthony Morrow playing it appears that their roles are reversed

MarShon had success early in the season because injuries allowed him to go through stretches where he could dominate the ball. The book on Morrow has remained largely unchanged since years past, give him a sliver of space and he can knock down a three with the best of them, but ask him to put the ball on the floor and you're going to be in trouble.

Right now as a member of the starting lineup MarShon is being asked to cut back on his isolations and act as more of a spot-up shooter - something he's not very good at right now - while off the bench Morrow is essentially being asked to carry / create for the second unit despite the fact that he struggles to create his own shot...

It just makes more sense to me to have Morrow starting so he can take advantage of Deron + Wallace's penetration skills and to let MarShon come off the bench and be the go-to scorer for the second unit...

:-/

(The only positive I can say about Avery's stupidity on this matter is that Morrow has developed a surprisingly effective game in the post. He only has 1 or 2 moves down there but he typically generates good looks from them, especially against smaller defenders.)

Is this serious ?

Morrow is basically a poor man's Michael Redd, he doesn't have any upside

Especially in a 22-41 team

There are several factors for why MarShon is playing:

1) With so many injuries and not really being able to drastically change our draft standing, Avery is playing the young guns more.

2) With D-Will and Wallace having limited availability due to injuries, the Nets have needed ballhandlers on the floor that can bring the ball up and actually run plays. Outside of D-Will, MarShon is the best ballhandler on the team and without our main PG, Avery is going to have him play a lot of minutes so are offense can function.

3) MarShon's ceiling is much higher than AmMo. We already know what AmMo does and he's not going to get any better at it. The more Brooks gets playing time, the better and more adjusted he should become towards playing and starting on a team. He's got a lot of room to grow.

I actually don't think Avery is being stupid with this. Morrow should be a bench SG anyway. I'd rather have Brooks starting and handling the PG role adequately than watch Morrow dribble the ball 30+ mpg.

I'm not complaining about right now. I'm talking about the trend for the entire season, dating back to around February Morrow and MarShon were forced into the wrong roles and that cost the team numerous games this season.

Part of the reason we've seen such **** shooting performances from Deron this year is because there's no reliable release player in the starting 5. I like MarShon Brooks but he's a sub-par catch-and-shoot player whose best trait at this point in his team is ability to isolate and hit tough shots from the post.

Assuming Deron and Wallace return there is no logical explanation for starting MarShon over Morrow (barring significant improvement from MarShon's) next year. From a fit standpoint it just doesn't make sense...

This is probably the wrong time to be pointing this out but it's something that has been eating at me for a while... It's miscues like this why I doubt the team will ever be able to make the playoffs under Avery.

*Note: Your point about MarShon's ball-handling is exactly why when everyone is healthy I want Morrow in the starting 5 and MarShon off the bench.

AVERYbigmistake wrote:there is no logical explanation for starting MarShon over Morrow
.

You're right, there's no logical explanation for starting a better player

LOL

RolloTommasi wrote:

AVERYbigmistake wrote:there is no logical explanation for starting MarShon over Morrow
.

You're right, there's no logical explanation for starting a better player

LOL

James Harden is arguably the 2nd best player on his team, but he comes off the bench. Ginobili was the 2nd best player on the Spurs for years and he came off the bench.

Sometimes, you bring the better player off the bench in order to give the 2nd unit some offense, especially when the 2nd unit is offensively challenged.

We're not nearly as good as the Thunder or Spurs, but that's the rationale...we need a solid ball handler/playmaker/scorer off the bench. Also, with everyone healthy, Marshon doesn't really have a role in the offense when Deron/Lopez/Wallace are out there. If he's the main guy who comes in with the 2nd unit, he can find his niche.

Green should be the starting sg.I like Brooks off the bench running the 2nd unit to.It makes more sense to me with his style of play.Morrow can back up the sg/sf positions since he doesn't play defense anyway.

AVERYbigmistake wrote:*Note: Your point about MarShon's ball-handling is exactly why when everyone is healthy I want Morrow in the starting 5 and MarShon off the bench.

therealbig3 wrote:We're not nearly as good as the Thunder or Spurs, but that's the rationale...we need a solid ball handler/playmaker/scorer off the bench. Also, with everyone healthy, Marshon doesn't really have a role in the offense when Deron/Lopez/Wallace are out there. If he's the main guy who comes in with the 2nd unit, he can find his niche.

Which is why he came off the bench when we were finding our groove. Now that it's garbage time and everyone is banged up, they're giving him minutes. He did come off the bench for a while and he struggled big time.

Maybe with all of the minutes he's getting he can find how to play when playing with a second unit (which he's pretty much doing anyway) on a Ginobili/Terry/Harden type of pace. I wouldn't worry about it too much guys, at least not yet.

Plus, they can very well be showcasing his talent for other teams.

Morrow's defense is an engima, pretty much all advanced stats paint him as an average defender but I waiver back and forth on that conclusion...