Adam Morrison vs. Devean George Work Out

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">MacLean's goal is to get Morrison in top shape, while also working on his quickness at the defensive end. But more than anything, he wants him to react against the better competition and learn the nuances of playing defense in the NBA.

"No one is going to expect Adam to be a lock-down defender," MacLean said. "At the end of the day, he's going to get 25 a night. He's one of the guys who makes more shots in competition in 2-on-2 and full court than he does [in] shooting drills by himself."

MacLean has Morrison running off screens and he has relatively no problem getting his shot off against George. Conversely, Morrison isn't locking down George, either, but he is going toe-to-toe with a three-time NBA champion who has to guard Kobe Bryant in practice on a regular basis. Morrison does get his shot blocked once, but on more than a few occasions he gets George up and out of the play with a pump fake and then strokes a mid-range floater.

"Adam will be a very, very good scorer, but he won't be a pure isolation guy like [Tracy] McGrady or Bryant," said MacLean, who played for UCLA from 1988-92, was a second-team all-American in '92, and then played in the NBA from 1992-2001 for seven different teams.

"They'll run a lot of stuff for him but they won't clear a side for him and say, 'Get a score for us,' " MacLean, who ended his career as a Bartlestein client, said. "They'll run him off screens and he'll find ways to get his shots. The one-legged runner is usually a terrible shot for most people, but for him it's a good shot."

George stops a few times to instruct Morrison on angles defensively. He said Morrison has good foot speed but more than anything "needs to know what is legal and illegal [defensively]"

"Honestly, I thought I was a great defender in college, but I was lost the first half of the season," Granger said. "Once you learn the tricks, you'll be better."

Sweat dripping off him after the workout, Morrison continues to chirp with MacLean and New York Knicks forward David Lee, another Bartlestein client. Lee was nursing an ankle injury, so he didn't go in this session. Still, Morrison is a sponge for information, just like he says he'll be in July when he's one of two rookies (J.J. Redick of Duke is the other) who will be a part of the USA National Team trials in Las Vegas.

"This is great to go against an NBA veteran," Morrison said. "Every day, I've got someone pushing me. [In July], I'll be going against LeBron and Kobe and all the greats and I'll learn as much as I can."

Over lunch, Lee fills Morrison in on off-the-record stuff about daily life in the NBA. Mintz reminds Morrison that Lee was in a unique situation with the Knicks, arguably the league's most dysfunctional team this season. Lee does tell Morrison not to worry about the travel, since everything is first-class from the plane to the hotel. Morrison said he already had been briefed by former NBA player Chris Dudley, a diabetic, about not needing to fret about staying on his necessary meal schedule.

After a break, it's down to the weight room, where the compact, bald Jade Molina is waiting.

"He needs to improve his strength and power," said Molina, who is the sports performance director at 360. "We're doing a lot of exercises to develop his core stability. He needs a stable core so he can get up on different athletes that are bigger than him."

Morrison currently weighs 205 pounds. Molina wants him at 215 by the start of the season, but he doesn't want to mess with his weight before team workouts.

"We're getting him ready for the draft, not game day, yet," Molina said.

"This is a good program, and you can see that because obviously I'm tired and sweating right now," said Morrison after an hour in the weight room. "This is my job and I've got to step it up a bit."

There's an hour break and then the group meets up at Tower Records, where Morrison is interested in getting the latest Ultimate Fighting Championship DVD. If you're not familiar with UFC bouts, it's essentially two men in shorts with bare feet and pads on their knuckles knocking the crap out of each other in an octagon-shaped cage. Morrison knows all the characters in the sport, having seen some of the previous bouts.

He lets us know that in the "old days," nothing was off limits -- as in eye gauging, groin punching and the like. These days, it's apparently the cleaned-up version, maybe a bit more PG-13.

Regardless, Morrison still loves the intensity. This is coming from a guy who wears his emotions out for everyone to see -- a trait never more apparent then during the Zags' collapse against UCLA in Oakland when Morrison ended up crying with a couple of seconds still remaining. He essentially was spent emotionally on the final possession, a last-gasp 3-pointer by teammate J.P. Batista that missed.

"I put my whole heart into that one season and I let my emotions get to me, but I don't regret it," said Morrison, who shared the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Year with Redick after leading the country in scoring at 28 points a game. "Some people make a big deal about it, but I guarantee that every guy that lost in the Tournament cried in the locker room. I couldn't hold it in. I've been told, 'Don't let that emotion leave,' and hopefully it doesn't. I use it to my advantage and play with that emotion every night. I hate losing and I'm competitive every night."</div>

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It's not really Laker related, Morrison and George share the same agent so he's had the opportunity to go one on one with him in workouts. Also the Lakers have been looking to move up in the draft. Working out as many players as possible is to the team's benefit.

 

I would watch for the Lakers to trade up into the lottery to nab Morrison. They love this kid. Kobe's great friends with him and Turiaf has connections with him. If he's intent on improving his condition and his game, I'm all for him. We need someone who can stroke it from anywhere on the court. He'll be able to give Kobe some relief on offense.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting philip2136:</div><div class="quote_post">ya but a'lot of teams have their eyes on AM</div>

And that's why I said they'd trade up to get him...

C'mon man, read!

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting philip2136:</div><div class="quote_post">and trade for who chris mihm for the 4th pick?
i dont think anyone would be dumb enough to trade for anyone in the lakers besides kobe</div>

Phil, Kobe love the kid. That's enough for Mitch to trade anybody on the team to get him: Lamar Odom, the 26th for Tyson Chandler and the 2nd. Would I like it? No. But it's something that Mitch would do.

As for the Bobcats and Gay, he had a very solid workout for them. I think they take him over Morrison.

 

The Lakers would have to acquire the 1st or 2nd pick in the draft to get Morrison OR Morrison has to have his agent let Charlotte know his client doesn't want to play for the Bobcats.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting The Prophecy:</div><div class="quote_post">Say no to Morrison! He has diabetes, and that will definitely slow him down in the NBA because of the level of competition. He will no longer be a good scorer, and his defense is subpar.</div>

Because someone has diabetes, they can't be a good player? You don't think before you speak, do you? If you take care of it, diabetes can have very minimal effect on you. You just have to stay on top of it. What does having diabetes have to do with him being able to score? He's a pure scorer. He can drive, spot up, catch and shoot, create his own shot. It didn't effect him in HS, it didn't effect him in college, why now all of a sudden will it effect him in the NBA.

About his defense, so what if it's sub par? How many scorers have sub-par defense: Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade, Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison (below par), Tracy McGrady...do you want me to continue?

I suggest you re-read what you post and make sure that it won't offend anybody. One time you're going to post something and someone's going to take it completely wrong and make you look like a jerk-off on the boards. C'mon, get your posts together. Read what you post and don't post anything testy.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting notMuchgame:</div><div class="quote_post">You're going overboard. While his thoughts may be unpopular, they are valid.

You dont think teams are concerned about his medical condition? While you may not like it, it is a legit reason for concern. Other players have played in the league with diabetes before so I'm sure it can be done. However, it's a condition that gets progressively worse and even Morrison was quoted as saying one of the reasons he left school early was because he knows he may not have that many competitive years in him due to his condition.</div>

Medicine is advancing constantly, I don't think we have to worry about Morrison and his diabetes for awhile.