Marcus Morris joins the team, will play tonight vs Philly
After being found not guilty of assault charges earlier this week, Marcus Morris has joined the Boston Celtics and will see the floor in tonight's preseason matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers:
Brad Stevens confirms that Marcus Morris will play Friday in Philadelphia.
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 5, 2017
Morris joined the C's yesterday for the first time since training camp began last week. He noted yesterday when speaking to the media that it was difficult for him to not be with his new team right from the jump, as he's eager to get to know his new teammates. Via Taylor Snow of Celtics.com:
“I love playing basketball,” said Morris. “And for me, coming to a new place and not being able to be there and be one of the first guys there to just learn everybody is really tough.
“But it’s behind me,” he added. “I’m ready to get going. I’m ready to play.”
Morris believes he already has a good grasp of coach Brad Steven's system, and doesn't see himself behind in terms of learning to play in it:
"[It's] pretty easy," Morris said. "I'm a veteran now in this league. Brad's stuff is really simple. It's motion basketball. It's really easy. For the most part I know everything. It's just some things, watch a little film, I'll get it real easy."
He plans to bring a bullish edge to his game, and he's relishing on serving as "The Protector" for his fellow teammates:
“Competing against these guys over the years, I think they know what I can do,” Morris said of his Celtics teammates. “I’ve gotta be the tough guy on the team. I’ve gotta be the protector. [If] guys [are] knocking my guys down, I can’t have that. It’s going to be my role to be the bully, and I’m going to accept it.”
While Morris played a lot of small forward with the Detroit Pistons last year, Stevens plans to use him at the bigger power forward more this season. Coach Brad loves the quickness the Morris possesses for a guy his size and plans to use that as an advantage when he's matched up against slower guys at the 4.
Photo Credit - @Celtics Twitter
Follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkAL401