When it comes to Gonzaga and star forward Adam Morrison, you can believe the hype.
Two months into the college basketball season, Morrison has emerged, along with Duke's J.J. Redick, as one of two realistic player of the year candidates. He's averaging 28.4 points, he's shooting 53 percent from the field (37 percent on 3-point shots), he has scored 43 in a game twice, and he can score from anywhere.
"You're walking on sacred ground when you compare him to Larry Bird," St. Louis University coach Brad Soderberg said, "Yet, I've heard people do that. At first, I scoffed, and then the more I watched tape, he's 6-8, he can pass, he can post up, he can shoot the 3 from NBA range, he makes clutch shots, he's a competitor. He's not as thick as Bird, but he's still relatively young. He's a great player."
No one has really figured out a way to stop Morrison this season, so SLU will be trying to at least slow him down a little tonightwhen the Billikens face eighth-ranked Gonzaga at Savvis Center at 7:30. In the crowd will be 14 NBA scouts, the largest contingent to come to a SLU game since Larry Hughes played there. It will be one of the toughest tests for the young Billikens, who have struggled on defense at times this season.
The focal point of the Bulldogs is Morrison, a junior with a wispy mustache, perhaps the one thing he hasn't mastered yet.
"He's special for a lot of different reasons," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "He's a highly, highly, highly competitive person; that's probably the thing that's most undervalued. He's a guy that can score in a lot of different ways, and there aren't many of those out there. There's a lot of one-dimensional players out there, and Adam's someone who can score in a lot of different ways."
A year ago, Morrison averaged 19.0 points, but those numbers are up this year despite a challenging schedule for the Bulldogs.
"He's made a ton of improvements," Few said. "He's grown up as a person. He's grown up as a student. He's learned to move without the basketball 300 percent better than when he first got here. He's gotten stronger. He's shooting the ball better."
Morrison shot at least 500 3-pointers a day in the offseason, worked on his midrange shots and did a lot of conditioning, as he expected defenses to be devoting a lot of resources to him.
"I knew I would be playing more minutes," he said, "and had to move without the ball because people were going to be draped all over me."
Morrison has diabetes, which forces him to constantly monitor his blood sugar levels, even during games. He will go to the bench, prick his finger, put a drop of blood on a testing strip and see how he's doing. If the levels are off, he'll give himself an insulin injection in his abdomen. He has had to give himself as many as three shots in a game.
"If you take care of it, it's not a factor," he said. "It's all about preparation on the court and off the court."
Morrison also has juice with him on the sidelines for help, and he learned in his sophomore season in high school how to arrange his diet to be ready for games.
"I've eaten the same meal for five or six years," he said. "Steak, a baked potato, a green vegetable. Same thing every time, at the same exact time before a game."
Soderberg plans to have freshman guard Tommie Liddell, who is 3 inches shorter but has long arms, defend Morrison. And Liddell will need help from his teammates, since everyone on Gonzaga is a threat to score.
"We'll just have to be conscious of where (Morrison) is," Soderberg said. "Don't let him get easy baskets, keep him off the glass and hope he misses."
Two months into the college basketball season, Morrison has emerged, along with Duke's J.J. Redick, as one of two realistic player of the year candidates. He's averaging 28.4 points, he's shooting 53 percent from the field (37 percent on 3-point shots), he has scored 43 in a game twice, and he can score from anywhere.
"You're walking on sacred ground when you compare him to Larry Bird," St. Louis University coach Brad Soderberg said, "Yet, I've heard people do that. At first, I scoffed, and then the more I watched tape, he's 6-8, he can pass, he can post up, he can shoot the 3 from NBA range, he makes clutch shots, he's a competitor. He's not as thick as Bird, but he's still relatively young. He's a great player."
No one has really figured out a way to stop Morrison this season, so SLU will be trying to at least slow him down a little tonightwhen the Billikens face eighth-ranked Gonzaga at Savvis Center at 7:30. In the crowd will be 14 NBA scouts, the largest contingent to come to a SLU game since Larry Hughes played there. It will be one of the toughest tests for the young Billikens, who have struggled on defense at times this season.
The focal point of the Bulldogs is Morrison, a junior with a wispy mustache, perhaps the one thing he hasn't mastered yet.
"He's special for a lot of different reasons," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "He's a highly, highly, highly competitive person; that's probably the thing that's most undervalued. He's a guy that can score in a lot of different ways, and there aren't many of those out there. There's a lot of one-dimensional players out there, and Adam's someone who can score in a lot of different ways."
A year ago, Morrison averaged 19.0 points, but those numbers are up this year despite a challenging schedule for the Bulldogs.
"He's made a ton of improvements," Few said. "He's grown up as a person. He's grown up as a student. He's learned to move without the basketball 300 percent better than when he first got here. He's gotten stronger. He's shooting the ball better."
Morrison shot at least 500 3-pointers a day in the offseason, worked on his midrange shots and did a lot of conditioning, as he expected defenses to be devoting a lot of resources to him.
"I knew I would be playing more minutes," he said, "and had to move without the ball because people were going to be draped all over me."
Morrison has diabetes, which forces him to constantly monitor his blood sugar levels, even during games. He will go to the bench, prick his finger, put a drop of blood on a testing strip and see how he's doing. If the levels are off, he'll give himself an insulin injection in his abdomen. He has had to give himself as many as three shots in a game.
"If you take care of it, it's not a factor," he said. "It's all about preparation on the court and off the court."
Morrison also has juice with him on the sidelines for help, and he learned in his sophomore season in high school how to arrange his diet to be ready for games.
"I've eaten the same meal for five or six years," he said. "Steak, a baked potato, a green vegetable. Same thing every time, at the same exact time before a game."
Soderberg plans to have freshman guard Tommie Liddell, who is 3 inches shorter but has long arms, defend Morrison. And Liddell will need help from his teammates, since everyone on Gonzaga is a threat to score.
"We'll just have to be conscious of where (Morrison) is," Soderberg said. "Don't let him get easy baskets, keep him off the glass and hope he misses."
