For the past two offseasons, we have been looking at players coming to the NBA after playing at least as season overseas. With the lockout, we are going to have plenty of time on our hands.  With that being said, I plan on doing scouting reports for each of the 30 first round picks from this past draft.

Past Editions: Kyrie Irving (#1) | Derrick Williams (#2) | Tristan Thompson (#4) | Jonas Valanciunas (#5) | Jan Vesely (#6)| Bismack Biyombo (#7) | Brandon Knight (#8) | Kemba Walker (#9) | Jimmer Fredette (#10) | Klay Thompson (#11) | Alec Burks (#12) | Markieff Morris (#13)

Immediately after his brother Markieff was selected by the Phoenix Suns, Marcus Morris was drafted by the Houston Rockets.  It is hard to tell the Morris brothers apart just by looking at them, but when you look at their game, it is obvious that they play differently, even when they both have success doing the same thing.

Strengths

Post Play

Much like his brother, who was selected one spot higher, Marcus Morris scored at an elite rate this past season when playing in the post.  Out of the 155 post up possessions, Morris scored 182 points, posting a PPP of 1.174, placing him in the top 3% of all NCAA players in the post, while shooting 61.5%.  Unlike his brother, who is also great at playing in the post, position doesn’t really matter to Marcus, because he is much better when facing up out of post situations.  While facing up, Morris is able to use his shooting ability and his quickness to put a lot of pressure on the defense, resulting in a lot of success.  When he faces up, Morris posts a PPP of 1.18 while shooting 64.3%.  Maybe more impressive is the fact that he draws a ton of fouls when facing up, drawing contact 21% of the time:

There are a few reasons why Morris is successful when facing up.  First, he’s quick for his position.  One of Morris’ favorite move is catching with his back to the basket, a quick sweep as he faces up, and then attack the baseline.  It’s a great move and before the defender knows it, Morris is usually by them.  However, but what really makes him effective is that he has the ability to counter that move and attack the middle if the baseline is taken away.  Combine that with his ability to face up and knock down a jumper if you play off of him, and Morris is very hard to stop on the block.

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This offseason, we are going to be taking a look at this offseason’s coaching vacancies, the new coach stepping in, and what they can bring to their new team.  We already spent time looking at the Los Angeles Lakers’ new staff, and today we are going to look at the Houston Rockets.

Despite not coaching a full season in the NBA (two partial season stints with the Minnesota Timberwolves for a total of 94 games), Kevin McHale was Daryl Morey’s choice for head coach after Rick Adelman left the team (or was fired, depending on who you believe).  While it seemed like a curious decision at the time (and to some it still does), McHale does bring some interesting offensive sets that can work with Houston’s roster.

Dribble Handoff Clearout

One of McHale’s biggest tasks on the offensive end is to put Kevin Martin in positions to score.  With that said, this play could turn into a favorite in Houston:

The play starts with the point guard bringing the ball down the sideline and as this happens, Mike Miller comes off of a pindown screen to the top of the key so he can receive the basketball.

Once Miller does get the basketball, a pindown takes place on the opposite side of the court and Miller quickly swings it to the man coming off of the pindown.

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A team’s performance after a timeout may be the best way to judge a coach’s Xs & Os knowledge, and his ability to draw up plays. The Clipboard Awards is a competition where I choose the top three post-timeout plays each night, adding up the scores over the course of the season.

Play 3 (1 Point) – Jay Triano/Toronto Raptors

Coming out of a SLOB set, the Raptors get the ball into Jerryd Bayless.  Bayless gets the ball into Andrea Bargnani, and it looks like the Raptors are working a two man game (in fact they ran this play to start the game).  However, this is not the case as Sonny Weems cuts through the middle and Leandro Barbosa comes off of a pindown screen open behind the three point line.

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Last night, against the Houston Rockets, the San Antonio Spurs dropped their sixth straight game, losing in overtime.  While the first five losses weren’t really anything to worry about considering the injuries and the opponents (the first four had all or some of the Spurs’ big three sitting out, the fifth loss was to the Boston Celtics), this one was a little more worrisome.

With the Lakers breathing down the Spurs’ neck for the first seed and while playing a non-playoff team, the Spurs were really going for the win, but they were unable to get it due to a number (nine to be exact) of really bad mistakes made in the final minute of the fourth quarter and throughout overtime.  Mistakes that you don’t really see Gregg Popovich coached teams make:

Mistake 1: Turnover In The Backcourt

Up by three points with 1 minute left in the game, the Spurs play fantastic defense, forcing the Rockets into a tough shot that is missed.  After securing the rebound, the Spurs could have realistically ran the clock all the way down to 30 seconds looking to get a basket and turn it into a two possession game.  The Spurs never get that chance because of some sloppy play.  Manu Ginobili throws a pass to Tony Parker without really looking.  This forces Paker to tap the ball to Tim Duncan just to avoid a turnover. Duncan quickly gets the ball to George Hill who now has to rush the ball up the court to avoid an eight second violation.  As soon as Hill crosses the half court line, he is trapped, the ball gets deflected, and it leads to a turnover.  Once that results directly into a fast break opportunity for the Rockets.  This turnover all comes down to the lazy pass thrown by Ginobili.  If he hangs onto the basketball and brings it up himself, a turnover probably doesn’t take place.

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A team’s performance after a timeout may be the best way to judge a coach’s Xs & Os knowledge, and his ability to draw up plays. The Clipboard Awards is a competition where I choose the top three post-timeout plays each night, adding up the scores over the course of the season.

Play 3 (1 Point) – Doug Collins/Philadelphia 76ers

Here, Doug Collins uses a standard cut off the post, one that looks like it is creating an ISO on the block, to create a wide open shot in the lane.  The play starts with Spencer Hawes getting the basketball in the post from Jodie Meeks.  After Meeks makes the pass, he cuts through.  However, instead of going to the opposite corner (which is what normally happens in these situations), he sets a screen for Thaddeus Young.  Young comes off the screen, gets the ball in the middle of the paint, and knocks down the easy floater.

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A team’s performance after a timeout may be the best way to judge a coach’s Xs & Os knowledge, and his ability to draw up plays. The Clipboard Awards is a competition where I choose the top three post-timeout plays each night, adding up the scores over the course of the season.

Play 3 (1 Point) – Rick Adelman/Houston Rockets

A simple, yet effective set here for Kevin Martin.  Lowry brings the basketball up and gets it to Brad Miller on the elbow, then Lowry and Jordan Hill get in position and set a staggered screen for Martin.  Martin comes off of the screen, makes the catch, and knocks down the three.

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A team’s performance after a timeout may be the best way to judge a coach’s Xs & Os knowledge, and his ability to draw up plays. The Clipboard Awards is a competition where I choose the top three post-timeout plays each night, adding up the scores over the course of the season.

Play #3 (1 point)- Rick Adelman/Houston Rockets

Over at SBNation, I looked at the sets that the Mavericks use to get Dirk Nowitzki the basketball in the post.  It is real simple stuff designed to get the defender off of Dirk’s back as he posts up.  That is exactly what we have here with Luis Scola.  Scola uses the double screen to get the basketball in an area where he likes to work, and he is able to finish after getting the basketball.

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Against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Houston Rockets trailed by two points with about 50 seconds left.  The Timberwolves had the basketball, and if the Rockets were able to get a stop, they would be able to have a chance to win/tie the game.  Unfortunately for them, that didn’t happen.  The Rockets’ defenders got mixed up when defending a pick and pop and it left Kevin Love wide open for the three:

The play starts with Kevin Love trying to set a screen for his point guard, Jonny Flynn.  Flynn however does a terrible job of using the screen, leaving way too much space between his man and the screener (in addition to hesitating for 5 seconds or so).  Love doesn’t set the strongest screen either.

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When teams go up against strong players in the post, they go into games knowing they are going to have to double team the post.  With that, they develop a strategy for their double teams (double on the catch or on the first dribble, from the middle or from the baseline).  Whatever a team decides, everybody needs to be on the same page.  Against the Houston Rockets, the Grizzlies saw what happens if you aren’t on the same page when sending a double team:

The play starts with the Rockets looking to get the ball into Luis Scola on the block.  Darrell Arthur, Scola’s defender, is playing him over the top, trying to get his hand in the passing lane to keep the ball out of Scola’s hands.

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A team’s performance after a timeout may be the best way to judge a coach’s Xs & Os knowledge, and his ability to draw up plays. The Clipboard Awards is a competition where I choose the top three post-timeout plays each night, adding up the scores over the course of the season.

Note: With the Super Bowl fast approaching later today, I am just posting the video clips of these plays with a short summary.  No extensive breakdowns today.

Play #3 (1 point)- George Karl/Denver Nuggets

We have seen the Nuggets set up in this formation before coming out of a timeout, and again, they come out running the same action out of it.  The only different?  The use of Carmelo Anthony as the screener.  It is a nice little switch, because nobody is ever going to leave Anthony, even if they should to hedge the screen.  That is what happens to Corey Brewer, he is forced to decide to stay with Anthony or hedge off of him.  Brewer stays, and Nene gets a wide open look out of it.

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