Marcus Morris takes leadership talents from Celtics to New York

Marcus Morris finished his pregame shooting routine and, unlike most of his teammates, he chose to get caught in Boston traffic on the way to the dressing room area Friday night.

The 6-8 banger paused to sign autographs and take pictures as he made his way down the path with stands encroaching on either side. There were a number of fans in Knicks gear, but Marcus Morris, two years a Celtic, is still quite popular in these parts.

Once he’d satisfied as many as the trip and time would allow, he turned right at the hallway to the visitors’ room and ran into the new addition on the Garden’s south side and found Rev. Robert Gray’s pregame chapel service.

The night’s message: “Peace amidst a storm is priceless.”

Funny, though, Morris was well known here last season for bringing a little storm to the Celts when there seemed to be too much peace and acceptance of a bad situation. He called things out: “When I look at us, I just see a bunch of individuals.”

He has evidently continued to step up with the Knicks, the club he signed with as a free agent when the Celtics expressed no interest last summer.

“His leadership has been unbelievable,” said New York coach Dave Fizdale. “And I just didn’t know that about him going into it. I knew he was a tough guy and I knew he could play, but the way he’s been leading has just been really unbelievable, one of the better leaders I’ve been around in this game – the way he approaches the guys, the way he never goes off on the guys.

“He just always kind of calls it for what it is. He never does it where he’s pointing fingers. He always owns it first, and then he tries to make sure he’s leading the group. It’s been a real thrill to have him.”

Morris knows that kind of leadership is part of his role, especially being a 30-year-old veteran of eight-plus seasons. He doesn’t think it’s a big deal.

“I mean, I did that here, so ain’t no different,” Morris said before heading out to take on the Celtics.

What stood out last season is that he was perhaps the only one to really stand out. Others on the club had strong feelings about the way a great opportunity to compete for something big was being squandered, but Morris said it in front of a score of pens, microphones and cameras last February.

“I just felt like I was in a position to,” he said. “You know, I’ve been around. I’ve been a vet. The respect level was very high, so I just felt like I was in a position to do that.”

While he didn’t bring up names at that time, he’s acknowledged that Kyrie Irving was an issue. Which begged a question when he stood outside the chapel service Friday and chatted with a reporter while wearing Kyrie Irving signature sneakers with the logo atop the tongue and everything.

“I’m still with Ky,” Morris said. “That’s my guy, a hundred percent.”

But wasn’t he a big part of the problem here last year?

“Yeah, I mean, everybody knows that,” Morris said. “But he’s still my guy. That don’t make me not like him, you know what I mean? We had issues, internal issues, and he was a part of it – I was a part of it, we all was a part of it. Not just him.”

As Fizdale said, he owns it first.

It’s one of the reasons the Celtics miss him, though it was clear he didn’t fit into the salary structure. (Jayson Tatum is making $7.8 million this season, Morris $15 million). And as much as the C’s could use what Morris brings, minutes had to be cleared for others, as well.

But, said Brad Stevens, “I think you enjoy having Marcus around. He’s a tough guy. He’s a competitive guy – made a lot of big plays here, and I thought really had a huge impact on a lot of big wins.

“You know, I say this all the time, that the toughest transition from the standpoint of the past couple of years to this year is we lost five guys that really helped us win a lot of games (Morris, Al Horford, Irving, Aron Baynes, Terry Rozier). And he’s one of the main reasons. He’s a tough guy to play against, good guy to have in your locker room.”

Morris was just outside that room less than an hour before the game chatting with Tatum and assistant coach – and fellow Philly guy – Jerome Allen. Morris no longer gets to engage in spirited one-on-one games with Allen before tipoff.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s one of the biggest things I miss,” Morris said. “I miss him more than Boston itself. But I’m in New York now. I’m happy to be there. We’ve got a great front office, great people, so it’s all good.”

He thinks the Celtics will be all good, too.

“I think they’ve got a great leader in Kemba Walker,” Morris said. “Kemba’s a good dude. I’ve known him for a while, and he’s always been A1.

“The rest of the guys are going to continue to grow, continue to get better. And Brad Stevens is a great coach, so they’ll get there.”

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2oFeMTl