Huckleberries Online

Ex-Zag Morrison Traded To Lakers

Posted by DFO

Feb. 7, 2009 12:58 p.m. • 37 comments

The Charlotte Bobcats sent struggling forward Adam Morrison and reserve Shannon Brown to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday for forward Vladimir Radmanovic. The move is the third trade the Bobcats have made this season in a roster shakeup under first-year coach Larry Brown. Morrison was the third overall pick of the 2006 draft and managing partner Michael Jordan‘s first major move since buying into the Bobcats. But Morrison had failed to crack the starting lineup and his minutes had declined under Brown. Morrison will give the Lakers an outside shooting threat, while the 6-foot-10 Radmanovic gives the Bobcats more depth up front/AP.

Question: Why have former Zags like Morrison & Dickau been less than stellar in the NBA but lesser college light Rodney Stuckey is making it big with the Pistons?

37 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

JohnA on February 07 at 1:19 p.m.
Talent can only take you so far. It takes a special drive and work ethic to make it on the highest levels. Stuckey has it all when it comes to that. Then, when you consider that an unheralded player has something to prove on the big stage, it’s a winning combination. John Stockton is another local example who took it to a higher level right out of a small time program (Gonzaga then) to the Hall of Fame.

BTW, the Morrison trade is just what he needed. He wasn’t going to play for Brown and now has a chance to be mentored by one of the best coaches of all time. It doesn’t hurt either that he’s going from one of the worst teams to the best. Hopefully, he work real hard to make a good impression with the Lakers and help them get the world championship.
Kage_Mann on February 07 at 1:40 p.m.
Sometimes you have to get lucky and get traded to a team where you will fit in best.At best Morrison will be a role player with limited minutes, but at least he will play IMO.

I thought professional basketball was more exciting in the 70’s,80’s and 90’s versus today.Today, nobody dunks like Dr.J
or Connie Hawkins or shoots a sky hook like, Kareem etc.I miss the 94’-95’ Houston Rockets and what a great team that was!

Rudy Tomjanovich:”Never,underestimate the will of a champion”
the coach of Houston said, after the Rockets won the NBA championship in 1995.
poolman on February 07 at 2:06 p.m.
“or shoots a sky hook like, Kareem” Kage

I don’t recall any player using a sky hook since Kareem? Too bad - that was a thing of beauty. Replaced by the Hakeem shake I guess. And when did everyone start shooting free throws “overhand”?

That Rockets team would only have Western Conference Champion banners to show for their efforts had MJ not taken his fantasy baseball sabbatical.

I really had high hopes for Morrison. I think ultimately his health has been the biggest obstacle. That and you just can’t teach speed. NBA forwards go around him like he is standing in mud – and he’s not physical enough to rebound. My all time favorite college player to this day however.
JamesBond on February 07 at 2:26 p.m.
Rod Stuckey was an elite player going into college, but he had issues that resulted in him being at Eastern.
Bob on February 07 at 3:22 p.m.
Ammo! Oh please. I’ve not wavered from my pre-drafting prediction that he would be a big fail in the NBA. And my talent appraisal of this big crybaby was remarkably prescient and precise.

I still stay he finishes his career gunning 3’s for some team of goons in Transylvania.

Ammo = fail.
hmoffsuite on February 07 at 3:29 p.m.
poolman >>” don’t recall any player using a sky hook since Kareem? Too bad - that was a thing of beauty.”

I happened to be going to WSU when he played. Cougs had a tough time finding a win back then. I saw more of his hooks than I would have liked.
hmoffsuite on February 07 at 3:29 p.m.
BTW, he was still Lew Alcindor in the program.
wheels on February 07 at 3:35 p.m.
Very simple.Although I’m a great Zags fan Dickau and Morrison could’nt carry Stuckeys jock.
poolman on February 07 at 3:53 p.m.
hmo - that would have been a real treat to watch some of those UCLA teams play in Pullman. Lucky!
poolman on February 07 at 3:59 p.m.
I only UCLA team I saw play in Pullman was led by Pooh Richardson. Who would name their kid Pooh?
Bob on February 07 at 4:42 p.m.
I went to WSU when James Donaldson was there. Tallest dude I’d ever seen. He was a business major and could barely cantilever himself into the normal people sized desks. He was a man among boys.
hmoffsuite on February 07 at 4:42 p.m.
poolman. As I recall, the prominent cheer at the time from us lowly Coug fans was ………. F U Cla !!
jkh2000 on February 08 at 10:36 a.m.
Could it be that you actually have to have not only talent, but be mature to survive and make it in the NBA? Morrison was a punk that had some talent, but cannot run with the big dogs. Dickau could have been a good player if he put out some efforts. Small time stars need a reality check when stepping up with the big boys. Being obnoxious like Morrison doesn’t cut it.
JohnA on February 08 at 12:30 p.m.
Kage, you probably remember when Alcinder laid 61 points on Wazzu at Pullman. Around 1969-70. Still a PAC-10 record.
poolman on February 08 at 1:01 p.m.
Here is Pargos line from last night…
24 minutes
1-6 shooting
2 points
3 rebounds
4 assists
5 turnovers

4 (points Gonzaga was favored by in Vegas)
Kage_Mann on February 08 at 1:48 p.m.
JohnA on February 08 at 12:30 p.m.
“Kage, you probably remember when Alcinder laid 61 points on Wazzu at Pullman. Around 1969-70. Still a PAC-10 record”

JohnA, 1969-70 was Lews first year in the NBA. Anyway, I didn’t start to really follow basketball until the early 70’s and It’s mostly
pro ball I watched.I was a sixers fan and well remember, the Lakers beating them for the NBA championships in 1980 and 1982.Finally, in 1983 with the trade of Darryl Dawkins for Moses Malone, the sixers and Dr.J finally beat Kareems team in a sweep.Later on, I became a Rockets fan.

One thing is for sure Lew and later Kareem was a scary player,
for the guy guarding him.
Escapee on February 08 at 4:54 p.m.
Whenever I read a mention of Adam Morrison, I instantly think of the Buckets of Tears he cried when Gonzaga lost out several years ago. What a thing to be remembered by. He cried. In front of all those people. Crocodile tears. Bah.
poolman on February 08 at 5:55 p.m.
Esc - I bet he cry’s once in awhile when he looks at his bank account balance also- tears of joy.
Bob on February 08 at 6:29 p.m.
Morrison and Dickau: Slow white dopes.

Here’s the thing, when you get in the NBA you have just left orbit and are re-entering the earth’s atmosphere at high speed and heat. If you aren’t fast and you aren’t strong and you aren’t quick, you just aren’t.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.