Sometimes father does know best
When it came time to reset his shot, UBC’s Conor Morgan turned to his old man
If Conor Morgan’s basketball career came complete with a dashboard full of gauges and dials, he might have noticed the gas tank was running a little low on fuel and the maintenance light was flashing red.
So what do you do when you’re mired in a shooting slump the likes of which you’ve never experienced?
In the case of the UBC Thunderbirds’ third-year guard/forward, the answer was simple: Find a mechanic and get a complete overhaul.
And so for four days over the holidays, Morgan found himself in his old Victoria neighbourhood, working out in an empty high school gymnasium with his dad Dave, the 1968 B.C. high school championship MVP with the Oak Bay Bays and later his high school coach at Mt. Douglas Secondary.
“I had to hit the re-set button,” Morgan said. “Sometimes, back in Grade 12, my dad and I would clash on the bench. But over Christmas, I listened to everything he had to say. I felt like I had nothing to lose.”
Now, coming off his back-to-basics boot camp, the new and improved Morgan is primed and ready to lead the CIS No. 9-ranked Thunderbirds (6-2) into the second half of a Canada West campaign that begins this weekend (Friday 8 p.m., Saturday 7 p.m.) with a crucial two-game set against the division-leading Lethbridge Pronghorns (5-1) at War Memorial Gymnasium.
How apparent has the improvement been for Morgan, who along with guard Jordan Jensen-Whyte and forward David Wagner comprise the team’s veteran leadership core?
Prior to the Canada West winter hiatus in early December, Morgan, a 6-foot-9 multi-positional threat, was shooting a crooked 36 per cent from the field, while clunking home his free throws at a numbing 48-percent rate in conference play.
But after spending quality time with his dad, he’s left his conference averages of 11.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in the dust.
During the Birds’ three-game post-Christmas exhibition tour of California against nationally ranked NAIA schools, Morgan averaged 27 points and 11 rebounds, shot 58 per cent from the field, 39 per cent from three and a sizzling 87 per cent (20-of-23) from the free-throw line.
So what was the key to those holiday sessions? For starters, it’s important to note Morgan’s early development came through a guard-based mindset, with the elder Morgan’s approach similar to the one Ken Olynyk used in his introduction of the game to his son, current Boston Celtics star Kelly Olynyk.
Morgan, who grew six inches between grades 10 and 12 and has a 7-foot-2 wingspan, always had to pay strict attention to his shooting mechanics, just because of the length and leverage of his moving parts.
In addition, UBC head coach Kevin Hanson tweaked Morgan’s role within the offence this season by having him play more in the paint with his back to the basket. In the process, bad habits crept into his shot delivery and those just continued to snowball, culminating in an 0-for-7 night from the field in a late-November game against Calgary.
“The old saying is you begin to rest on your laurels,” Dave Morgan said. “You start to take things for granted and when things don’t go well you hang your head. So we tweaked things.”
Still, so much of it was dead simple.
“Like widening my base on free throws,” said Conor Morgan, “getting my elbow under the ball, getting more lift on my shot, getting more backspin for a friendly roll. It was about not cutting corners and having more respect for the game.”
But it was also about getting into a different environment and working with the person who was his first mentor.
“My dad wanted to show me that there is more to life than basketball and that I need to have fun with it,” Morgan said with a laugh. “I think I even smiled a couple of times.”
He was definitely smiling as UBC wrapped up its California tour with an 82-67 win over Hope International, which last season placed third at NAIA Div. 1 nationals. In that game, Morgan went 14-of-19 from the field and finished with a career-high 34 points and 11 rebounds.
“The best coaching move I’ve made all year was to text Dave about Conor,” Hanson said with a laugh. “I look like a genius. As a coach, sometimes you have to step back and realize that a father knows his son the best, emotionally and physically.”
The UBC women’s team (2-6) also plays host to Lethbridge (0-6) Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (5 p.m.).
After this weekend, there are two more regular-season home weekends remaining. Regina is here Jan. 22 and 23 and Winnipeg visits Feb. 19 and 20. As the host, the UBC men know they will play in this CIS Final 8 national championships, set to run March 17-20 at the Doug Mitchell Arena.