Pistons' Morris shows hustle in scrimmage
Auburn Hills — Marcus Morris showed Detroit fans some serious hustle during the Pistons' open scrimmage at The Palace on Saturday.
He played with fire and attitude. He hit outside shots and he bulled inside for buckets to the delight to about 6,000 Pistons fans. Team Hustle beat Team Grind 72-64 in a game that started nicely but deteriorated into a glorified scrimmage that ended 36 seconds early because of attrition.
"We had to end the scrimmage with 36 seconds or I had to play," joked Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy. "So we ended the scrimmage."
The Pistons will take Sunday off to heal a new set of injuries, which left the team light players at the end. None of the new injuries appear to be long-term issues.
Morris tore the nail off his big toe. Ersan Ilyasova has a hip flexor, which might keep him out of Monday's practice. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope got popped in the mouth and spit blood. And Adonis Thomas, who hopes to make the team, had pain in his Achilles tendon.
Other observations from Saturday's scrimmage:
More on Morris: Morris is more than just a solid pro. He brings badly needed attitude to the Pistons. Morris is playing like he doesn't plan to give up his starting spot to rookie Stanley Johnson anytime soon. He dominated offensively early, and then finished up with nice defensive stops before ripping off his toe nail following an awkward shot attempt.
Morris means business.
"You know man, I want to be that emotional leader," Morris said. "Every team needs that. Every championship team has a guy like that, every playoff team has a guy like that and it is a perfect fit for that role for me."
Morris learned some of that attitude from former Piston Rasheed Wallace.
"Sheed is my man and we talk quite a bit," Morris said.
Drummond stalls: Andre Drummond did not have a good offensive game. He missed his first three shots and still appears limited in his offensive moves. That is not important now. The problem is he stalls the offense in a way that Adrian Dantley did when he played for the Pistons.
Drummond will get away with it early in the season but teams will adjust and choke him with quick double teams if he can get his offense together. Drummond then must prove that he can find open teammates quickly or the Drummond experiment will stall again.
"His energy on the offensive end will lead him to easy baskets," Van Gundy said. "He did not get himself into enough pick and rolls today. He did not roll hard. He did not seal. His skill level has improved. He had a tough day today. That is no big deal but he's a guy who can dominate the game simply with his energy and athleticism if his mindset is right."
Rookie mistake: Johnson made one of the cardinal sins that can get a player into Van Gundy's doghouse. He missed an open dunk, then stared at the bench and shrugged. He failed to recover and run down the floor on defense. Chalk it up as a rookie mistake.
Smooth operator: Ilyasova is more than a shooter. He can shoot, for sure, and on Saturday knocked down his first 3-point attempt. But he is also a facilitator. Ilyasova found open teammates, passed out of double teams and made his team's offense run smoothly. The offense can run through Ilyasova through the post.
"Ersan had a really good week," Van Gundy said.
Dinwiddie's blocks: Spencer Dinwiddie had two big blocks Saturday, against Jackson and Johnson. He was called for a foul on the Jackson block but it sure looked clean.
Camp stars: Van Gundy said the four best players during camp have been Reggie Jackson, Johnson, Morris and Caldwell-Pope.
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