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Morris Makes Quick Leap From NCAAs to the NBA
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Saturday, March 24, 2007
The New York Knicks signed free agent center Randolph Morris to a two-year contract yesterday, about a week after he played for Kentucky in the NCAA tournament.
The Knicks made the signing thanks to an unusual provision in the NBA's collective bargaining agreement.
Morris, Kentucky's leading scorer this season, declared himself eligible for the 2005 draft following his freshman year but was not selected. He decided to return to school and played two more seasons.
Because of a condition in the bargaining agreement, Morris was not eligible to reenter another draft. He had free agent status throughout his junior season but decided to play out the year with the Wildcats, who were eliminated from the NCAA tournament last weekend by Kansas.
The Knicks are battling for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and jumped at the chance to add a player for the future.
"We said all along that in terms of building this team we would have to find unconventional ways to try and find talent and get out and beat the bushes," said Isiah Thomas, the Knicks' coach and director of basketball operations. "This is a very unique situation and I don't know if there has been something similar to this. The rules allowed it, and here we are."
Thomas said Morris will soon join and practice with the Knicks, who love his potential -- and his size (he is 6 feet 11, 260 pounds).
"It's another guy we can add to our young core," Thomas said.
Oden: A Big Target
Greg Oden was 6-6 in sixth grade, so he long ago learned that being tall in basketball can sometimes be a disadvantage.
"When you're 7 feet and you're under the basket and you get a foul called on you just because the other guy is 6-9, there's definitely a big difference," Oden said. "When you stand in the lane and the guy is little and he takes it in there and he bounces off you, that's not your fault. I mean, it's a big man's game."
Oden's size -- and the NCAA tournament referees' unfamiliarity with it -- has led to a rash of foul trouble for him. He fouled out of Ohio State's second-round overtime win over Xavier in the final seconds of regulation. Then, in an 85-84 victory over Tennessee on Thursday, Oden played only 18 minutes after he was called for four fouls.
