Season Report Card: Brady Morningstar
by Andy Edwards on Apr 2, 2010 7:00 AM CDT
in Kansas Jayhawk Basketball
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We now return to your regularly scheduled programming at RCT, after a short break yesterday for a few April Fool's jokes, with the next installment in the Season Report Card series. And, yes, this means that you'll have to continue reading me if you plan to keep coming back to RCT. My apologies.
Previous entries: Elijah Johnson, Thomas Robinson and Tyrel Reed
Perhaps more than any other player in the Kansas basketball program, Brady Morningstar is the most controversial among fans. Not because of his arrest for suspicion of DUI last October which cost him the entire first semester (9 games) of the 2009-10 season. No, not for that. But more for whether you believe Brady is a valuable asset to the team, or if you believe that his scholarship could have been used more wisely. It seems that everybody has their own opinion; whether it be pro- or anti-Brady.
Much like Tyrel Reed, Brady was given a far greater responsibility in 2008-09 as a sophomore than both he and Jayhawk fans alike probably ever expected during his forthcoming time at Kansas. Following a redshirt sophomore year in which the Jayhawks were crowned national champions, Brady played 30.4 minutes per game last year in a re-do as a sophomore. And, it was at that time that the Great Brady Debate began.
First of all, let's get the obvious out of the way. Brady will never be a flashy, highlight reel player. Nor will he ever light up the boxscore on a regular basis. That said, he had a very sub-par sophomore year, even by the forth set standards. He played the 30 minutes a game, but managed only 6.5 points per game. (In contrast, had Elijah Johnson played 30 minutes a game this year, he would have averaged 11 points per game, given his scoring rate this year. Just sayin'.) The thing that kept the pro-Brady crowd believing in the fluorescent white wonderchild was his efficiency, good decision making and "doing all the little things." (Whatever that means.) He did shoot fairly well, (41.2 percent from the field and 42.0 from three.*) so you have to give him that. His assist to turnover ratio, though, was the best on the team at 1.96. Is that the "little things"?
Anyway, this year Brady didn't overwhlmingly shut his critics up. Actually, he did little to do so.
*How does one shoot higher from three point range than from the entire field? Best wise-crack joke wins 5 RCT points.
When Brady returned from suspension on December 19 against Michigan, head coach Bill Self inserted him right back into the rotation like he had never been gone. He took all of Elijah's early minutes away and relegated him to the end of the bench, rarely to be heard from again. Score one to the anti-Brady crowd for stunting a younger, higher potential player's growth. In turn, he ate up those minutes and was not much more than mediocre for the vast majority of the year. His points per game average stayed right on line with last year, dropping by a third just as his minutes per game did. 4.1 points and 2.3 rebounds in 21.4 minutes per game hardly screams, "I deserve all these minutes!" Yet, coach Self continued to play him game in and game out. To his credit, his assist to turnover ratio jumped nearly 50 percent up to 2.82 this year. There's just too many statistical facets to the Great Brady Debate, so we're going to leave much of that to Warden next week to do his masterful statistical analysis.
Defining Moment
(Click it if it doesn't play right in your page.)
I hate to point to an embarrassing moment such as that one for Brady, but that seemed to really be a turning point in his season. Leading up to the game in Austin, he was playing good basketball, mixing in a game here and there with 7 points and a the occasional three pointer. After that disaster moment, five straight games without a three, going a combined 0-8 and 4 points in five games. Now, Brady's not going to be a scoring machine, as we've already accepted. But, that's bad, even for him. Things didn't get a whole lot better after those immediate five games, either. Turnovers started to creep up more and more as his shooting percentages fell. By the end of the season, his minutes joined his shooting, falling from the graces of 25+ per game down to 8 in the season finale against Northern Iowa and only passing the 20 minute mark twice in the last ten games.
| MIN | PTS | REB | AST | TO | A/T | STL | BLK | PF | FG% | FT% | 3P% |
| 21.4 | 4.1 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 1.0 | 2.82 | 1.1 | .1 | 1.6 | .402 | .636 | .396 |
On the season, Brady appeared in the 27 games he was eligible for. As discussed above, his numbers were about what you'd expect from him.
There's just far too much gap between the minutes and points to justify the playing time he received.
Brady did chose an opportune time to step up for his best game of the year and by far the high of his season, though. His 14 point, 3 steal performance on 4-5 shooting in Manhattan on January 30 was a big reason why the Jayhawks won. His defense on Denis Clemente was was even bigger that night, holding the Kansas State guard to 13 points on 4-15 shooting in 43 minutes.
Final 2010 Grade: D+
Call me an anti-Brady-ist if you will. But, the fact remains, at least in my mind, that having a player on the court that much during a game that basically leaves you playing four against five offensively hurts you far more than any of the "little things" that he can do will help you.
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I'm in the anti-brady crowd at the moment
I was pro-brady earlier in the year, and at the start of Big12 play he was playing well. Making outside shots, occasionally getting to the rim on a break, feeding our bigs etc.
If not for Brady we wouldn’t have won that first game against KState in Allen Fieldhouse Octagonial West.
However he played very poor at the end of the season. Didn’t shoot well, just disappeared as you mentioned on offense. As a result Reed started to steal a lot of his minutes.
I think the jury is still out on Morningstar. He could continue to slump and lose his minutes to a younger player or Reed next season or hopefully he rebounds and can be a big contributor his senior season. Either way, he is going to play a lot and be counted on a lot next year, especially early on in the season. Lets see if he can step up
Shit happens when you win championships
Exactly
my thoughts on Brady as well. I always liked Brady and seems like a good guy(despite the DUI fiasco) and I really wanted him to do well. In all fairness he will never be much of a scorer, but it’s all those other little things that made him so important to the team – best lockdown defender, excellent post feeder, and overall just doesn’t make alot of mistakes. However towards the end of the season it just seemed like that he had lost a step and was having trouble keeping up with faster opponents, inability to make shots, and mental lapses that caused turnovers.
I honestly hopes he gets his act together over the summer and works his butt off, and for the love of god get rid of the awful undershirts. Maybe if he could put on some muscle and spend some time in the sun, he wouldn’t feel as ashamed to show off his guns. If the Hawks are going to make any noise in the tourny next year, Brady’s leadership and experience will play a key role, let’s just hope his game can too.
Everybody hears, but few listen.
He's got to be better offensively.
Mainly he has to be able to hit open shots. Being able to feed the post doesn’t help if the guarding him doesn’t have to respect his shot.
I also find it really amazing how he really did seem to fall apart after that free throw debacle. Someone pointed that some time ago in a comment and there’s almost a clear line of acceptable performance to bad performance.
Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
I'm pro-Brady just because he was a vital part of one of my favorite basketball teams
That team that defended the title was so much fun to watch. Just putting it on the line and surprising everyone not from around here. And that team didn’t win the title without Brady. I know he really took a step back at the end of the season, but up until the last 10 games he was one of our most consistent players and one of the best at feeding the post – still his most underrated attribute.
I’m all in favor of him getting less play next year so he can be more effective, but I agree that when he’s not making shots its tough to stick up for him.
by 2.1 seconds left on Apr 2, 2010 10:47 AM CDT reply actions
brady's a glue guy
and we need players like that on the team. he was fine until “the embarrassing free throw.” i hope he gets over it by next season.
I don't think the FT
had anything to do with it. He played well early in the 08-09 season then went in the tank for the last 1/3 of the season. Then he started out 09-10 the same way, making all the little plays that make a team click. But again, when the going got tough Brady melted into nothing the last half of the season. I’ve seen enough. We’ve got our dead-eye bomber and hustle guy in Tyrel. I’ll be ok seeing Brady on the court for 10 minutes per game max next year, though I’m sure it will actually be more than that.
Last season
Tyrel wasn’t shooting as well as he did this year, so Morningstar and Reed’s shooting was closer to even. However if Reed continues to shoot close to 50% from three there is no way he couldn’t steal a good chunk of Morningstar’s minutes
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on Apr 2, 2010 12:15 PM CDT up reply actions
Old Man Brady
Like any player person, Brady Morningstar is both more and less than the sum of his parts. It is juvenile of us to pass judgement on his value to the team based only on one or two aspects of his play:
• he is older (by 2-5 years) than anyone else on the team, thus closer to his “up-side” potential than the others — both career and early vs late-season;
• he values team success more than his own ‘rep’ to a greater extent than most (any?) other Jayhawks — no one completely gets over the “way they wuz brung up”;
• his defensive strength isn’t “lock down”, but “deny touches” variety because he knows he can’t match up as well as he can anticipate and hustle;
• the free throw debacle had less effect, coming off the bench more effect than most realize.
Demotion is humiliating and had to bruise both pride and confidence. Brady was much better at establishing things for Tyshawn to step into than he was at righting things Tyshawn neglected early in games. Everyone who said being the starter “won’t matter” to Brady was only half right — he handled it better than Tyshawn could, but it had to matter. Self made the decision that TT’s self-esteem needed the bolstering more and the season ended as we saw.
We have seen Brady at (or very near to) his best and that has been good enough to contribute more to team success than many fans appreciate until they learn more about team sport in general and basketball in particular. I, for one, expect more of the same for next year.
RRROOOOCK CHAAAALLLK! JAAAAYYYHAAAAWWWK! KAAAAYYY UUuuuUU!
I've always been anti-Brady, pro-Tyrel.
I am glad Reed has been shooting so well, it makes him tougher to ignore. But I think the main issue is the handicap that Brady is offensively. He just isn’t a threat. If we are going to play someone that isn’t an offensive threat, he better be special defensively. I know Bill always says Brady is our best perimeter defender, but if that really is the case, we are in trouble. I think he defends well off the ball (read:getting through picks), but he gets blown by so often it is ridiculous.
Give me more EJ, CJ, and Tyrel please.
Brady is the best perimeter defender and post-feeder.
No one comes close on this team. Take that for what it’s worth.
Johnson didn’t play last season because of his poor defense. CJ won’t be with the team. Tyrel is simply a spot-up shooter (important, but he shouldn’t be out there for more than 20 minutes a game).
I’m hoping for rapid improvement from our guards and the addition of one or two premiere prospects. The current state of the back-court concerns me greatly.
The whole "best post-feeder" thing to me is a joke.
Everyone should be able to capably feed the post. To treat it as a skill that leads to playing time is ridiculous. Teach your players to feed the post, and then play the best players. I understand not playing EJ a ton last year, but I am talking about next year. We don’t know CJ won’t be on the team, so, assuming he is, I hope he sees the court more. I think we have seen that Tyrel is reaching a comfort level that he has become more offensively than just a spot up shooter. And currently, even a spot up shooter is more than Brady currently is. Finally, defensively, I do not believe that he is definitively our best perimeter defender. I saw him get blown by on defense numerous times last year. My whole point was that if you are going to be a handicap on offense, you had better be stellar defensively. And even if he is our best, he is not hands down better.
Everyone should be able to feed the post
But they don’t. Passing the ball well leads to points. That results in more minutes. Turning the ball over every other possession or getting in foul trouble quickly is why we saw less of the other guards and more of Brady. Sometimes it’s better to play solid defense, make a few good entry passes and not score much than it is to turn it over often, not pass well and score around 10-15 points.
I can almost promise you CJ will be gone as long as Xavier doesn’t hurt himself or something crazy happens. I have a good source, but it isn’t exactly a secret in Lawrence that the two are leaving at the same time. CJ knows he won’t be on the floor next season, so why should he stay. Give Europe a try or become Xavier’s manager.
I don't get this "post-feeder" thing.
How effin’ hard is it to feed the post? Maybe it’s because I’m not a collegiate level athlete, but it just seems weird to me that it apparently takes sooooo much skill to throw the ball to an open post player.
I'm not sure it's all skill.
I think a large part of it recognizing matchups and being willing to pass the ball to another guy so they can score. I think the “feed the post” thing is almost as mythical as Brady being a stellar defender.
Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
by Warden11 on Apr 2, 2010 11:20 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
I'm Brady-agnostic.
In general, I do feel like “the little things” matter in basketball. Moreso than in baseball, where almost everything can be objectively measured due to the nature of the game. Eventually there may come a time where we have great measures of everything someone does in a basketball game, but I just don’t think we’re there yet. Things like tipping a ball backwards so that another teammate can get a rebound, or properly executing the scouting report on how to defend a player on ball screens don’t show up in any stat book…yet.
To me, it “feels” like the team plays better when Brady’s on the floor. The only way to really look at that is to look at his traditional plus/minus for the season. My suspicion is that a player that shoots a good percentage and has the highest AST/TO ratio on the team would have a pretty strong rating.
But I don’t know if I can put myself in the Pro-Brady group. The DUI thing mattered. A lot. Not only because it’s incredibly stupid and dangerous, but because it showed a clear lack of discipline on his part, and was basically a slap in Coach Self’s face after he had just a day or two before that publicly “laid down the law.”
I really didn’t like how Brady was just handed his old spot in the rotation after his suspension was up. As noted, other guys were playing well. Brady should have had to earn those minutes back, IMO. Not only would that competition have (probably) led to better play, but also better chemistry. Furthermore, I’ve shared my concerns on here before about how dangerous it is from a recruiting standpoint for KU to get the reputation that freshman don’t get PT. Handing Brady 30 mpg on a platter after doing something so incredibly stupid and dangerous only reinforces that.
"Here are our top priorities: recruit, beat Missouri, recruit, win the North, recruit, win the Big 12, and in most cases if you win the Big 12 then you're playing for a National Championship. And then we're going to recruit."
by KennyGregoryRockThaCradle on Apr 2, 2010 2:18 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Can't one be Pro-Brady
But want to see less of him on the court next season? He’s a valuable member of the team and always gives great effort. Without some of his heady plays we’d have a few more losses the last two seasons. But he simply shouldn’t be playing more than 10-15 minutes a game when he refuses to shoot the ball.
by jayhawk79 on Apr 2, 2010 5:27 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
I think very few people are truly agains Brady as a person or basketball player even.
At least for me, by saying I am anti-Brady I simply mean i think he should see fewer minutes than the status quo.
Thats how I feel really
I’m anti-Brady in the sense of sacrificing other player’s minutes (mostly Reed and the Prophet) but Pro-playing him and letting him do his thang, just not 30 minutes a game
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on Apr 3, 2010 10:19 PM CDT up reply actions
yes you can
be pro-brady but want him to have less minutes. that’s the camp i’m in. i don’t want him to be a starter. 10-15 mins is about right.
He can be a starter for all I care.
He could be like Luis Colon at KSU. Minutes are my only concern.
I think most of us agree on this.
He does some things well but if he’s about 25 minutes a game, he had better be shooting lights out.
Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
Oh and to answer the question about shooting better from 3 pt than the everywhere else on the court-
the sleeves restrict him from having a quick release. Therefore, he’s more likely to get contested shots close to the basket. As he moves farther away, the sleeves slowing him down has a smaller effect.
Anyone remember the games he went sleeveless? I’ll run the numbers to back me up.
Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
In the OGT we all shat ourselves
Like wtf is this? Where are the sleeves.
If you play basketball and your arms are smaller than mine somethings wrong
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on Apr 3, 2010 10:20 PM CDT up reply actions
Interesting poll
At no point did it ever reach a 3 vote lead one way or another. In fact, I think the current 88-87 pro-Brady lead is the first pro-Brady lead of the poll.
This is a really tight one. (I meant to do that.)
"Not to be cliché or anything, but I’m Jayhawk born and Jayhawk bred and when I die I’ll be Jayhawk dead." - Ovechwin
I think it has to do with minutes
I’m willing to bet if the poll said “in favor of giving Brady majority minutes” or “give more minutes to Reed/Johnson” the later would hold a more significant lead yanmean
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on Apr 4, 2010 11:02 PM CDT up reply actions
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