Charlotte, N.C. – It wasn’t near the emotion Adam Morrison displayed in his final game for Gonzaga, as tears streamed down his face as he sat on the floor after being upset by UCLA.
But the NBA rookie’s shooting frustration in his early days with the Charlotte Bobcats caused him to verbally berate himself Friday night.
“The ball is not dropping for me right now,” Morrison said after scoring nine points in his first NBA start, a 99-85 loss to Seattle. “There is no one to blame but myself. It ain’t the ball. It ain’t the basket. It ain’t the coach. It ain’t the team. Blame me.
“It ain’t the defense. It ain’t the speed of the game. None of that has nothing to do with it. It’s me. I’m getting plenty of good looks. It’s the same looks I’ve got my whole life.”
Morrison led Division I last season, averaging 28.1 points for the Bulldogs and shooting 49.6 percent from the field.
But through five NBA games, the 6-foot-8, 205-pounder is averaging 13.8 points and shooting 34.9 percent from the field. He is actually shooting better from the 3-point line (40.9 percent) than 2-point range (31.7).
Against Seattle, Morrison was 3-of-12, all 3-pointers. He has shot above 50 percent just once, and shot 2-for-11 against Boston on Nov. 8.
“I’m not playing real well right now,” said Morrison, whose team faces the Nuggets tonight. “I just got to start putting the ball in the basket at a better efficiency rate. Right now, I’m not doing my job.”
Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff has one message for Morrison: Keep shooting.
“It’s just that simple,” the former Nuggets coach said. “His teammates want him to shoot it. We want him to shoot it. Shoot it. We like it when they go in. But the only chance it has to go in? Shoot it.”
The Bobcats selected Morrison with the third overall pick in this year’s draft over Tyrus Thomas, Brandon Roy, Randy Foye and Rudy Gay. Bickerstaff likes Morrison because he adds outside shooting.
“We wanted a shooter and his scoring ability,” Bickerstaff said. “That’s something that this basketball team needs. As far as our pieces, he’s the piece that fits. … It was a very deep draft.
“But we thought this piece (Morrison) could fit our needs for shooting. It opens up Sean (May), Mel (Ely) and Emeka (Okafor) down low. We need someone to space defense.”
Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony and Morrison are members of USA Basketball’s team and were in training camp in Las Vegas last summer. While Anthony led USA in scoring during the world championships, Morrison was not on the active roster. With so many players in camp, Anthony and Morrison said they didn’t have a chance to get to know one another well.
“We were all in (Las Vegas) trying to learn,” Anthony said Saturday after the Nuggets’ practice in Charlotte. “We tried to help him out as much as we could. But I always liked Morrison. I liked him when he was in college. I always was a fan of his.”
Anthony, who averaged 17.6 points in his first five NBA games (including two points in his second game), knows Morrison will find his shot.
“He’s only played five games. He just has to get used to (the NBA),” Anthony said. “All it is is making shots. It’s not like he can’t make shots. Everybody knows he can hit shots.”
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-954-1098 or mspears@denverpost.com.
