After negotiating a buyout with the Detroit Pistons, like his brother Marcus, Markieff Morris took over to Los Angeles, but to sign with the Lakers. It is never easy to join a team in the middle of the season, and when your reputation precedes you that might not make it easy. But the interior was able to benefit from the very precious help of a player so that his integration was done in the best possible way.
“JD (Jared Dudley) really helped, he’s my 3rd team with him. He made it easier for me when I was Phoenix. He also made it easy for me when I was in Washington. I know how people perceive me and my brother and what they see on television. So there may be prejudices, but it’s still basketball. You see what I mean. It was easy for me to get to know these guys and then JD let them know that we are great guys and not everything that is said about us is true. ” Morris
He barely had time to find his bearings since after 8 very average games (4.8 points at 38.9% including 28.6% at 3-pts in 14.7 minutes) the season was suspended. Then he missed a good part of the training camp, because he arrived in Orlando late. Not the best conditions to take its marks, but collective training during the break of the season, although not recommended by the league, helped.
“My adaptation to the team was really delayed. I had to stay in California because I had things to do. But I knew that at some point I was going to be there and we were going to get back to the groove we had before the suspension. You know, we spent some time together in the hall before we came here, so I got to play with the rest of the team. ” Morris
The old Wizard is on the rise. Established in the last 2 games of the second round against the Rockets Small Ball, he was good, and in Game 1 against the Nuggets he helped set the tone with his 3-point banderillas. He finished the game with 9 points at 3/4 to 3-pts in 16 minutes. Over the last two games he shoots at 7/8 at 3-pts and at 12/21 over the last 5 games (10.4 points at 57.1%), a very valuable and rather surprising skill from afar, he who is only 34.5% in career.
“It’s just repetition, doing the same thing over and over again every day, being a little more on the pitch, figuring out how to play with the guys who are on the pitch with me, finding the spots where I’m most up-to-date. ‘easy. But I was shooting 40% at 3-pts when I was in Detroit (38.6% to be precise), so that’s nothing new. ” Morris
In Game 1, if he returned to the bench he was the first interior to come into play, proof of Frank Vogel’s confidence. He should continue to have an important role in the internal rotation for the rest of the playoffs.
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