Guard Monte Morris’ success off the bench proving doubters wrong.
Serial winner. Quiet rock star.
Whenever someone asked Fran Fraschilla about Monte Morris, the longtime ESPN analyst would get this 24-carat twinkle in his eye.
Then the gushing started, compliments flowing like a chocolate fountain in volcano mode.
“He had a humble confidence,” Fraschilla told The Post. “He was such a great kid, such a great teammate. I said, from his sophomore year (of college) on, ‘This kid will play in the (NBA). He’ll be a 12-year guy.’
“Every team in the league has to have a really good backup point guard that can play big minutes, and he has to accept his role and just be a guy that helps a team win. Monte, his personality fits that to a ‘T.’”
Through the Nuggets’ first 18 games, Morris is averaging career bests in points (11.1), 2-point field goal percentage (60.2) and minutes per game (26.4).
He’s the glue and anchor of a second unit that’s needed time to gel, either because of new faces (JaMychal Green, Facundo Campazzo, Isaiah Hartenstein) or COVID-19 protocols (Michael Porter Jr.). And he’s one of the big reasons why, despite a revolving door of personnel, the Denver bench went into the weekend outscoring opponents at a clip of 39.8-31.8 per game.
Just like old times.
“We know it’s a tough Western Conference, but I feel like we’re figuring it out,” Morris, who signed a three-year, $27-million extension in December, recently told reporters. “We just have to keep going. The sky’s the limit for this team.”
Too slender. College wonder. Morris was an acquired taste for some pundits coming out of Iowa State four years ago. They saw a guy rocking killer handles and an Einstein hoops IQ but with a frame — 175 pounds then, 183 now — that might not stand up to NBA banging and the 90 to 100 games of the NBA grind.
Hindsight is 20/20, even in 2021. And count Pete Gillen among those thrilled to have been proven wrong.
“Denver has done a great job evaluating talent the last twothree years,” said Gillen, the CBS Sports analyst and a former mentor of Nuggets coach Michael Malone. “I’m very impressed with Monte. He’s a big part of that team. You need a bench. You need depth. Especially with COVID around, you never know what’s going to happen.”
Gillen, a longtime college basketball coach who’d steered Xavier, Providence and Virginia to the NCAA Tournament, watched a lot of Morris at Iowa State.
He admitted that, based on the eye test, “I thought (Morris would) be a borderline pro … a very good college player. I thought he’d play in the pros for just a cup of coffee.”
Only in Starbucks terms, Big Game Tae has played more like a venti. A trenta. A 31-ounce jolt of pure dynamite.
Morris was the 51st player taken in the 2017 NBA Draft, a secondround flyer out of the Big 12. But among the guys in his class, as of late last week, the Nuggets point guard ranked No. 16 in career points, No. 6 in career assists, No. 6 in career 3-point shooting percentage, No. 7 in BasketballReference Career Win Shares and No. 8 in Basketball-Reference Career Plus-Minus.
If NBA front offices had to do 2017 all over again, Morris might well be a lottery pick.
“He just resonates winning,” offered Iowa State basketball coach Steve Prohm, whose Cyclones averaged 23.5 wins, won the Big 12 tournament and reached a Sweet 16 during Morris’ last two college season in Ames. “He helps your culture and he’s about the right things.
“I’m not surprised at anything he does. He’s a starting point guard for sure in the NBA. But the great thing about him is, he loves Denver and he loves being a part of a great organization and winning and doing things the right way. And man, he’s found a great niche there.”
The Nuggets have racked up 77 NBA postseason victories, alltime. Morris has already had a hand in 16 of those — that’s 21% of a franchise’s historical playoff booty.
And he’s 25.
“Monte is one of those guys that just has ‘emotional intelligence,’” stressed Fraschilla, who first met Morris when the latter was a freshman under then-Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg.
“He figures out what his role should be and he not only plays it to a ‘T,’ but is always going to make his teammates better players. He’s just always going to be uplifting and positive, rooting for the other guys. The NBA can be cutthroat, especially when you’re trying to hang on and have a career. Monte is just a guy that you want on your team. If you don’t like Monte, you just don’t like people. It’s just that simple, really.”
The good ones don’t forget their roots. Or their champions. Prohm got a text from Morris just a few days ago.
Fraschilla said that he still corrals a few nice notes from the Nuggets guard, too, from time to time.
“You don’t look at him and see Russell Westbrook,” the analyst continued. “You don’t see Trae Young or De’Aaron Fox. You just see a rock-solid pro. A rock-solid pro.
“When I think of good teams in that league, they all have quality backup point guards who can be in your top eight and are going to help you win. I also said about Monte, ‘He’ll be on playoff teams his entire career.’ If and when he leaves the Nuggets, a team is going to say, ‘We need a guy like this to back up our crazy-talented, (young) point guard.’ He’ll succeed anywhere.
“Whatever Monte wants to do, he’ll be successful at. He’s just a great human being.”
Serial winner. Quiet rock star. They don’t build statues to recognize the Morrisses of the NBA. Or chocolate fountains. They put up something better: Banners.