Feb 17, 2007

Adam Morrison and J.J. Redick Watch: Feb. 17

Last night Morrison (and the other rookies) got torched by the sophomore class, 155-114. The greenhorns allowed 74.7% shooting, which pretty much means they stood around with their hands on their temples, squinting and willing the ball into the basket, come-on-you-can-score-on-us. To his credit, Morrison scored 16.

Elsewhere, ESPN runs down Morrison's struggles on the road.
"It's a mental thing. I feel like everybody expects me to make
everything," Morrison said of playing at home. "The fans have been great, but some of the expectations and some of the stuff I hear when I'm going up and down the court at home, it feels like I'm on the road."

The numbers back him up. Morrison, who scored eight points on 3-for-5 shooting in Charlotte's 100-85 home win over Chicago on Wednesday, is averaging less than 11 points and shooting a little more than 33 percent in 26 home games. Morrison is averaging 14.3 points and shooting 41 percent in 26 road games....

Morrison, who averaged a nation-best 28.1 points a game last season at Gonzaga, has struggled with inconsistency. He has 10 games of 20 or more points, but has reached that total only once in the past 22 games. Morrison has failed to reach double figures in five of his past six games....

Bickerstaff thinks Morrison, listed at 205 pounds, is being hurtby a lack of upper-body strength.

"We've got to get him in the weight room. He needs to do that," Bickerstaff said. "He has the mental courage, but you've got to have something to back it up."

Morrison vows to get stronger in the summer, and he remains confident he'll be able to become the consistent scorer the Bobcats counted on when they drafted him.
As Morrison absorbed another loss and meditated on his prospects in the second act, Redick stayed home and played canasta, biding his time and chuckling ominously.

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