Morgan Tuck

[Lawrence]

She had 17 points in last nights game with Dallas...in 17 minutes of play time...not bad.

 

[eebmg]

Hope she keeps it up. Would love to see her finish strong and also have an impact in the playoffs.

 

[Blakeon18]

I don't follow the Sun closely...so some help requested here.

Morgan seems to get very little time with little production for several games in a row....maybe more than several at times. Then there is an outlier game like this one.

What gives? Health issues [new or olde]...match-up difficulties on most nights...other?

 

[psconn]

I don't follow the Sun closely...so some help requested here.

Morgan seems to get very little time with little production for several games in a row....maybe more than several at times. Then there is an outlier game like this one.

What gives? Health issues [new or olde]...match-up difficulties on most nights...other?

Morgan appears to be very healthy and fit. She's strong and skilled, but at this level, she's a half step slow for her position. This leads to reaching and fouling. She gets called for traveling on her initial step way too often. She's been inconsistent across her pro career. Last night's Morgan shows up once in a while and it's a great thing to see.

Here's hoping Morgan can build on this performance for the rest of the season. Not only would the Sun benefit, but she might raise her stock in free agency.

 

[UConnCat]

Morgan appears to be very healthy and fit. She's strong and skilled, but at this level, she's a half step slow for her position. This leads to reaching and fouling. She gets called for traveling on her initial step way too often. She's been inconsistent across her pro career. Last night's Morgan shows up once in a while and it's a great thing to see.

Here's hoping Morgan can build on this performance for the rest of the season. Not only would the Sun benefit, but she might raise her stock in free agency.

Is Morgan slower than Stricklen?

 

[JoePgh]

Is Morgan slower than Stricklen?

Probably not, but she can't hit 3's like Stricklen can. Morgan hasn't had any significant health or injury issues this year that I am aware of. I think she has been available for every game. However, since she gets fewer than 10 minutes in most games, that probably hasn't taxed her knees very much.

Actually, I disagree with psconn's assessment that she is half a step slow. Remember that she is backing up Alyssa Thomas at the 4, and "AT" is a good enough player that it would be difficult for anyone who is behind her to get a lot of minutes. I think the other difficulties that he mentioned (such as the traveling calls and inconsistent 3-point shooting) are the result of not getting enough in-game time (for understandable reasons).

I think if Morgan got anywhere near the minutes that AT has gotten, she might be equally effective (assuming that her knees could hold up), although not in the same way. AT has absolutely NO 3-point shot (not even really a 15-foot jump shot), so she has to do all her scoring a few feet from the basket, which is hard to do at 6-2, but she does it. Morgan can play in the paint as well (she rebounds at least as well as AT and perhaps better), and she also has a midrange and 3-point game which AT lacks. But she can't handle the ball nearly as well or pass as accurately, and she doesn't play with the same swagger as AT.

It's possible that AT will be one of the casualties of the salary cap and/or free agency. If that happens, I think Morgan is ready to fill her shoes in the starting lineup, and (always assuming that she remains physically OK) the Sun will be able to move into 2020 with no shortfall at that 4 position.