Marcus Morris says patience is key to return

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Marcus Morris says patience is key to return Empty Marcus Morris says patience is key to return

Post by bobheckler Sun Oct 08, 2017 11:39 am

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2017/10/celtics_notebook_marcus_morris_says_patience_is_key_to_return



Celtics notebook: Marcus Morris says patience is key to return



Steve Bulpett


Sunday, October 08, 2017




Brad Stevens was ready to give Marcus Morris a little run in Friday’s preseason win over the 76ers in Philadelphia, but according to Morris, it was he who pulled the plug on that idea.

“I actually told him I needed a couple more days to get my feet up under me a little bit more,” said Morris, who didn’t join the Celtics until Thursday, two days after he and his twin brother Markieff were acquitted on assault charges in a Phoenix court.

Morris, acquired from Detroit in the Avery Bradley trade, went through an individual workout before practicing with the C’s Thursday.

“I didn’t get gassed, but I realized I needed more work just to get my movements right,” he said. “I mean, I did miss training camp and part of the preseason, so I need to just get a couple more practices up under my belt to get moving a little bit better.”

Told that Kyrie Irving, after dealing with him in a Cavs-Pistons playoff series, was looking forward to playing with him, Morris said, “Yeah, man, it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be an exciting year. I’m excited to get out there.”

The Celtics were excited to have Morris as a teammate Friday. The Philadelphia native treated the C’s to cheesesteaks from his favorite local spot, Max’s.

“Man, I’ve been eating these things all my life,” he said as mates walked by his locker to thank him.


Captain, no captain

Irving is very much on board with Stevens’ continued plan to not name a team captain.

“Oh, I’m with that 100 percent,” he said. “I mean, I get it. Probably when I was in fifth grade or sixth grade or eighth grade, team captain or having a big “C” on your jersey for everyone to know and identify you as the captain of the team when it’s kind of well known that individuals have to bring a lot of their talents to collectively make sense and collectively for us to be successful. I’m with that 100 percent. . . .

“We all have leadership within ourselves. We have to police ourselves, at the end of the day, and then make it make sense for our team. And if we remain growth oriented and have that humility to continue to get better and know where we come from and know what we bring to the table, we’ll be fine.”


Familiar with Tatum

Rookie Jayson Tatum got the start against the Sixers (though Stevens said not to read too much into it) and did well with nine points and five rebounds in 22 minutes.

“I don’t know how many other quotes I can give you guys about Jayson,” said Irving. “He’s just such an awesome kid, and he’s like a big kid. He’s just going to continue to get better every (day). He values that, as we all do.”

While the 76ers traded up to the No. 1 spot to draft Markelle Fultz, they, too, looked at Tatum.

“We actually met with him — they said it was a private meeting; it became public quite quickly — in Los Angeles,” said coach Brett Brown. “The thing that stood out most to me is, when you just sort of talk with him and look at him, he’s a solid person. In the workout, he was skilled. He had sort of a different type of NBA game, where a lot of his workout was at that sort of Carmelo (Anthony)-isolation-18 foot spot where he could turn and face and have a series of moves that you felt like actually could translate to the NBA. And then he started picking and popping and shooting NBA 3’s, but his offensive abilities stood out and the person stood out.”


Imitate Horford

Guerschon Yabusele doesn’t have to look far to find a model for his game. The Celtics would like the rookie to play like Al Horford.

“He’s been great. He’s very smart,” said Stevens of Yabusele. “He’s been trying to figure out where his spots are, like any other rookie would. But we ask a lot of our bigs, we ask a lot of our 4’s and 5’s, and he’s going to have to play both spots.”

Just like someone else.

“I think we know what his strengths are,” Stevens said. “We know what he brings to the table, so, again, it’s matching him up with the right guys around him. But he’s got to be a guy that can kind of be a playmaker a la Al for us, where he gets the ball at the top of the key and can be a passer, he can shoot it, he can drive it.

“I think his greatest strength is seeing the floor and passing the ball, and sometimes at this age or stage when you’re first starting in an NBA season for the first time, the game is moving so fast that you miss some of those opportunities. And as he continues to get more opportunity and practice more, then I think that’ll just show itself.”


Around the corner

With just two more preseason games and a handful of practices remaining before the regular-season opener in Cleveland on Oct. 17, Stevens is still getting his rotation in line. Even with some of his established players, he’s got to decide how best to use them.

“I think that that’s the fun part about coaching at this time of the year is figuring out who fits together and everything else and how to accentuate the strengths of your team,” Stevens said. “Kyrie brings a lot to the table that he’s able to do. I think being able to play him on and off the ball and play him as a cutter, being able to play him as a pick and roll ballhandler, be able to play him coming off screens, in isolation — there’s just a lot of things he can do. So it’s fun to figure that out on the fly. And then everybody else, learning those strengths, as well, and then trying to put them in the best position to succeed.”




bob
MY NOTE: Brett Brown met Tatum, saw him work out, and still traded the #3 pick and another high pick for Fultz. Danny's not the only one who is going to be looked at very hard if one of those two players busts. I'd love for Tatum to be like Carmelo, just not the ME-baller part of him. I don't see that happening, not as long as he's a Celtic and Brad Stevens is the coach.

I have to stop focusing on what Brad says about players, just like I have stopped listening to Danny when he talks about players and injuries (I've just had more years to get used to Danny). Brad is a Little Mary Sunshine, which is great if you're a player and want to feel inspired and feel like you have the confidence of the coaching staff, not so much if you're a fan trying to interpret the tea leaves being spread out before us. I'd rather have Little Mary Sunshine than The Master of Disaster but an injection of a little bit more reality and tempered expectations of what to expect from a player might be nice once in a while...



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