Micheal Morris spent three seasons searching for the best position to exploit his considerable athletic skills on the court for Colorado State. He played a shooting guard who could play above the rim, as capable of blocking shots as leading the Rams in assists, but was often forced into duty at the point or small forward.
The 6-foot-4 senior couldn’t be matched for versatility, but never found his niche until he had to reinvent his game to fit CSU’s revved-up attack. Junior college transfer Cory Lewis is the true point guard the Rams had missed since Milt Palacio vacated the job after 1999. Morris’ brother Sean, a sophomore, is the shooting guard, with a lift from freshman Stephan Gilling off the bench. Micheal Morris has taken over as the third guard and defensive specialist.
Instead of checking the box score for career highs of 11 assists or five blocked shots, the senior is concentrating on making opponents disappear.
“That’s what I have to do to get more minutes with this team,” Morris said. “I’m using all my athletic ability, and I’m not as explosive as I used to be. I had to tone my game down. When I was spraining my knees every other week, it takes a little away from my jumping.”
Colorado guard Richard Roby, who lit up St. Mary’s for 29 points Saturday, scored just 10 points against the Rams on Nov. 12 in an uncharacteristic 22 minutes. Denver guard DaShawn Walker came in averaging 16.3 points and was held to five while turning the ball over six times in CSU’s 64-58 win Saturday.
“I told Micheal he was our defensive stopper, and I don’t know if you could have described him that way in the last three years,” CSU coach Dale Layer said.
The Rams test their 4-0 start tonight at 7 against Auburn (2-0), a rare visit from an SEC team. It’s a special game for the Morris brothers. Their father, Chris, was an All-American at Auburn and the fourth player taken in the 1988 NBA draft. He won’t be at the game because he’s playing basketball in Egypt.
And before anyone can finish asking what an NBA veteran with two sons in college is doing playing international basketball, Micheal Morris interrupts: “He’s only 39.” The bigger concern for him is anyone playing in that incendiary corner of the world.
“He was staying a hotel three blocks down from a bombing,” Morris said.
The Rams will be the biggest test to date for a team that hasn’t gone on the road yet. The Tigers are coming off a 70-43 rout of Gardner-Webb, which earlier lost at North Carolina on a last- second shot.
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-820-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
