| Out Of Ammo Authored by Nicholas Creech - February 10, 2009 - 1:34 pm
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Just two weeks earlier, basketball legend and North Carolina native Michael Jordan bought a share in the ‘Cats, and— despite his previous shortcomings in the Wizards’ front office— expectations were high that “His Airness” would finally bring in the missing talent that would allow the Bobcats to rise out of the Eastern Conference cellar.
While Bargnani and Aldridge screamed potential, what the team needed was a proven commodity, a “can’t miss” player.
University of Washington standout Brandon Roy, Villanova’s explosive combo-guard Randy Foye, freshman phenom Tyrus Thomas, the high-flying Rudy Gay, and National Player of the Year J.J. Reddick were all available; however, Charlotte fans clamored for a 6’8” mustachioed kid out of Spokane, Washington, who reminded many of Celtic great Larry Bird. Not only did this kid have superstar written all over him, but his marketing potential was undeniable. Soon enough Bobcats fans’ dreams were answered as David stern approached the podium and uttered the now-infamous phrase, “With the third pick of the NBA draft the Charlotte Bobcats select Adam Morrison.”
Although it has been only a little over two years since Adam Morrison was drafted by the ‘Cats to be the face of the franchise, it seems like ages ago for both Charlotte fans and executives alike. On Saturday, Morrison’s stay in Charlotte, a tenure marred by inconsistency, injury, and disappointment, came to a quiet end. The Charlotte Bobcats agreed to send Morrison and guard Shannon Brown to the Los Angeles Lakers in return for forward Vladimir Radmanovic.
After leading the nation in scoring as a junior at Gonzaga University and finishing second to J.J. Reddick in one of the more memorable Collegiate Player of the Year races in recent memory, Morrison made the decision to forgo his senior season and enter the 2006 NBA draft. Expectations were high as many could not help but draw comparisons between Morrison and Larry Bird: both players came from small time colleges, had over-the-head, high-arching shots, led the nation is scoring while in college, etc. Heck, both even wore mustaches and goofy socks. It seemed the whole world was sold on Morrison. Many scouts believed it might take him awhile to become acclimated to the NBA game, due to the lack of quality opponents in the WAC; however, even those scouts couldn’t ignore his scoring average of 28.5 points in Gonzaga’s 11 games against ‘major’ conference opponents such as Michigan State, University of Washington, Oklahoma State, UCLA, etc. Even the Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls seriously entertained the idea of taking Morrison as a top-two pick.
As predicted, Morrison came into the NBA struggling. Not long after the season started “Ammo”, as he would come to be called, became the ‘Cats designated sixth man, losing his starting spot to the undrafted Matt Carroll. Despite his inconsistent play, Charlotte fans were given occasional glimpses of Morrison’s potential as a high volume scorer. Throughout the course of the ‘06-‘07 season Morrison scored 20+ points twelve times, including a career-high 30 point outing against the Indiana Pacers. Although he failed to live up to the hype as the third player drafted in his first season, optimism remained high that Morrison could improve upon his unimpressive rookie numbers (11.8 ppg, 37.8% fg, 2.9 rpg, 2.1 apg).
Going into the ’07-’08 season, reports out of Charlotte indicated that Morrison had put in an unbelievable amount of work heading into his 2nd season, working to improve on his athleticism, shot release, and defense. Hopes were high that maybe Morrison could still evolve into the player that so many envisioned he would be coming out of college; however, in a preseason game— coincidentally enough against the Lakers— Morrison tore the ACL in his left knee, effectively ending his sophomore season before it even begun.
Since then it has been a downward spiral for the man that many once considered Number 33’s heir apparent. Despite returning to the team for the ’08-’09, Morrison was not able to carve out a spot in new head coach Larry Brown’s rotation. All season rumors have had Morrison on the trade block, as his lack of defense and inability to stretch the defense have found him on the bench and in Coach Brown’s dog house for most of the season.
With Saturday’s trade to the Lakers, one has to ask the question, “How will Morrison be able to find a spot in the Laker rotation if he was not able to crack the line-up in Charlotte?” Much like Brown, Phil Jackson stresses defense, making it even less likely that Morrison will ever see any meaningful playing time for the defending Western Conference champions. After all, the Lakers just traded away Radmanovich because of his inability to guard opposing small forwards, and Radmanovich is taller, more athletic, and a better shooter than Morrison.
As unbelievable as it would be for a former top three pick, Morrison looks to be heading down the path to finding himself out of the league in a few years. The fact is that nobody has any need for a slow, unathletic small forward who can’t stretch the floor, shoots under 40% from the field, and averages less than 3 rebounds per game. Only time will tell what direction Ammo’s career will take, but for now it looks like we will have to get used to seeing him permanently wrapped up in those purple and gold warm-ups. |
