Editor's note: Originally written at the beginning of the season, Morland's joining was Liaoning's most important signing of the season and has now proven to be extremely successful. Morland is about to become the second player in history to have both CBA and NBA championships, and he's moving infinitely closer to lifting the FMVP. Life is colorful, and it should be sweet at the moment.
No. 25 is the jersey number of Liaoning's new foreign player Eric Moland, which he wore when he first entered the NBA. Liaoning is the eighth team of his career in 7 years, the rainbow jersey is missing a touch of green, last season Liaoning Chinese version of the jersey of the vibrant green.
Orange: Oregon State University's passion
In 2010, Oregon State University, a century-old school in Corvallis, tolerantly accepted a proud but somewhat frivolous basketball teenager who was not yet 19 years old, that is, Morland from Texas. He attended High Tower High School in Houston in high school, and was teammates with DJ Auguste and Daniel House, averaging 15.5 points and 2.6 blocks per game in his senior year of high school, and was recruited by the Beavers.
He had promised to join the University of Oregon, but after graduation, he went to the University of Texas at El Paso. Coach Tony Babi left the team, with Derek Karakot (2010 overall 58 overall picks) and Arnette Mortree (Xinjiang), was eliminated in the first round of UTEP, coach Tony Babi left the team, and Moland's scholarship disappeared.
He held hands with Oregon again in May and was granted a one-year exemption from the redshirt by the NCAA in August, but unfortunately only played three games due to a left elbow injury. From the start of the 11-12 season, Morland showed his inner strength in the Beavers' orange ocean, averaging 20.5 minutes per game and ranking first in the team with 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.
In the talented Pacific Twelve Schools Alliance, the Beavers are never in the spotlight, but just as orange represents vitality and vitality, Morland seems to have endless energy. In his junior year, he averaged 9.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.5 blocks, so he was nominated for the division's best defensive player.
In his senior year, he averaged 8.9 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 2 blocks per game, but unfortunately met Jordan Bachensky, who was horrified that year. Jordan, who is 218cm tall from Canada, really Jordan can't carry him that year, averaging 4.03 blocks per game, and 133 blocks in a single season to break the division record he set in the previous year.
In college, Moland's personal honors were completely unattractive, leaving only the record of 184 blocks in school history, while 762 rebounds can also rank 5th in school history. Despite this, he was defeated in the 2014 NBA Draft, and his hometown team Houston picked Nick Johnson, the player of the year in the same division, with the 42nd pick, and disappeared from the NBA in just one season.
Morland's lack of offense, coupled with the older draft, are the reasons for his failure, and secondly, too many divisional geniuses really hurt the Beavers. After he graduated, Gary Payton II transferred to the Beavers, where his father had played, and won the best defensive player in the division that year, but he also lost in 2016, going around and turning around, and only this season was he shining in the Golden State Warriors.
This article was originally a collection of the jerseys of Moland's career, representing orange should be the Phoenix Suns, Desert Sunset Orange, which he later played for. But because he only played 1 game and didn't wear that jersey, he put the Beavers orange jersey over, which also happened to be a smooth article related to his entire career.
Purple: The Sorrow of the King of Sacramento
After losing the election, Morland was naturally unwilling, and the Las Vegas Summer League became a stage for him to win opportunities, and the Kings threw him an olive branch. On that team, he met college teammate Jared Cunningham, opportunity-seeking Marzanne Brooks, Derrick Williams, Quincy Essy, ray McCollum, all of whom have played in the CBA.
Both Morland and Essie are good at grabbing rebounds, and the two are direct competitors, and in the last 4 games, Morland rebounded in double figures 3 times and became the team's rebounding king. In six games, he delivered 3.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks in 19.2 minutes, and in the end, he was signed by the Kings as he wished.
However, his NBA debut came a little late, and before that, he was sent to the NBDL Renault Bighorn, averaging 13.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.6 blocks in 7 games, shooting 59%. This time, he managed to send himself to the NBA.
The Kings had a large number of interior lines such as DeMarcus Cousins at the time, and Morland had a hard time getting a chance. But the Kings were heartwarming, and on November 27, 2014, in the final 34 seconds of the away game in Houston, Morland replaced Cousins and completed his coveted NBA debut in his hometown, which was indeed a wonderful moment except for the loss and the empty data column.
A few days later, Morland was reimbursed for surgery on his left scapula. His king years were full of teenage courage, but also shrouded in purple sorrow, summer leagues, development leagues, NBA, injuries (left foot surgery for two months in the 15-16 season), he repeated almost the same process in two years, and then left Sacramento.
Cyan: Challenge for the Detroit Pistons
Saying goodbye to Sacramento's purple, Morland wore an orange jersey in the 16-17 season, which was the color of the NBDL Canton Stormtroopers. In the 2016 offseason, the defending champion Cavaliers signed him to a training camp contract, but cut him before the start of the season, not even playing in the preseason.
Leaving the NBA, Morland single-mindedly pounced on the NBDL in the 16-17 season and played the storm troops all season. He averaged 12.8 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.7 steals and 2.7 blocks per game, and made it to the Development League All-Star, Best Three-Team, All-Defensive Team, and his outstanding performance also brought him back to the NBA.
By the way, in the Stormtroopers, he met a delegated rookie who averaged close to 30 points and 6 assists per game. A year later, the two became teammates again in the Pistons, if it were not for this time to Liaoning, passing by, the teammate fate between the two would be continued in the CBA.
His next stop was Detroit, where Motor City had a turquoise jersey in Grant Hill's day, which, though Hill disliked, was a classic. Morland did not catch up with the retro version, put on a blue-gray and a blue-and-ink jersey, losing its intense color, but like the accumulation before the eruption of a volcano.
After staying with the Pistons, he moved into the rotation, averaging 12.1 minutes per game for the season, averaging 2.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.8 blocks per game. On January 7, 2018, he replaced the injured Andre Drummond and ushered in the first start of his career, and the opponent was Houston, who scored 8 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, and the Pistons won the upset.
He then scored his first double-double against the Bucks, started again at the end of the season, scored consecutive double-doubles, and set a career record with 16 points and 17 rebounds against the Bulls, opposite Cameron Payne, who later briefly worked with him at Shanxi. At that time, he was 27 years old, and he thought he was bitter.
Morland's challenge ultimately failed, and despite playing a full season with the Pistons, he did not enter the room and sit firmly in the atrium. At 208cm in height, the center's playing style does not have stable low-post technology, nor has he developed a long-range projection, everything seems to tell him that with only a passion, it is not far from the day he bids farewell to the NBA.
Red: The glory of the Toronto Raptors
As Kawhi Leonard crouched on the ground and watched the ball jump above the basket, Toronto seemed to have a hunch that the ball would make or break the season. Just to Leonard's left, Morland, with a towel around his neck, seemed to be a crowd of people entering the place, dancing excitedly, while Jeremy Lin was opening his eyes in anticipation of luck.
In the 18-19 season, Leonard snatched philadelphia in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and that goal propelled the Raptors to the top of team history and rewrote the careers of Moland and Jeremy Lin. In the end, Morland, who played only 28.2 minutes in the playoffs, won the only championship of his career, Fulfilling his dream of Toronto.
Rubbing the championship, people often describe the fringe players in the championship team, but to be the championship scraps, not everyone has a chance. That was Morland's second entry at the Raptors, he was cut before the start of the season, but he did not give up, but went with the United States to play the 2019 World Cup qualifiers, averaging 6 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 1.5 steals and 1 assist in 2 games.
He was subsequently signed by the Suns, but was cut again after playing only one game against the Warriors. In March, the Raptors sent him a 10-day short contract, and he tried his best on the court to show his rebounding ability, and finally stayed on the team. It seems that fate has given him the admiration for perseverance, and it is also the last splendor of his NBA career, a touch of tearful red.
Blue: Farewell to the Oklahoma Thunder
The status of the championship member does not hide Morland's shortcomings, and that long season with the Pistons actually proved that he was no longer a good fit for the NBA, but only met the luck of falling from the sky before leaving.
In the 2019 offseason, after Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul swapped owners, the turbulent Russian city signed Morland with a training camp contract. However, by the start of the season, the Thunder still cut him, leaving the younger Justin Barton, and it was time for the 28-year-old Morland to say goodbye to the NBA.
Blue represents melancholy, but it also represents sanity, and Morland's attempts in the NBA have been enough to challenge him that he can't become another person overnight. It is wiser to decisively choose to let go when it is not appropriate, looking for another battlefield that suits him, and Morland decides to go far.
Yellow: The splendor of the Shanxi Raptors
Across the ocean, Morland came to the CBA, and the team he joined happened to have the same name as the Raptors he won Chinese. What's even more interesting is that his replacement of foreign player Malcolm Thomas is Leonard's teammate at San Diego State University. Thomas averaged 15.7 points, 13 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1 block per game, and the stats are actually good.
However, Shanxi does not like this big foreign aid, he loves to shoot three points too much, the shooting rate is not high, there is a passing ability but not top, a little sticky ball. Or rather, they have Jamal Franklin and would prefer a blue-collar interior who can eat pie, defend better and is athletic, and obviously Moland fits in.
Moland's fame battle in the CBA was on November 24, 2019, against the defending champion Guangdong, Franklin was absent, and Shanxi, a single foreign aid, unexpectedly lasted. The combination of Moland and Ren Junwei played for 43 minutes, Dawei blasted down 33 points and shot 5 three-pointers, while the unknown Morland scored 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting, while contributing 22 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals, and became famous in one game.
In the CBA, Moland played his strengths to the fullest, excellent physical fitness, good at eating cakes and high success rates, playing hard, and the data is very comprehensive. In the 19-20 season, he averaged 14.5 points, 14.8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.9 blocks per game, shooting 60.3% from the field.
Last season, in the absence of Franklin, Shanxi's record declined significantly, and Moland exposed his problems as the boss of the team, such as the lack of stable offensive means, too violent temper, low free throw shooting rate and so on. But even so, in less than 30 minutes, the all-round data of at least 14 + 11 + 2.9 assists + 1.6 steals + 2 blocks per game is still the top blue-collar team in foreign aid.
Yellow is a symbol of warmth, splendor and hope, the so-called tree to move to death, people to move to live, Morland's career began another legend around the corner. In the two seasons of Shanxi, he had a very happy time, and when they were separated, he said: "Thank you Shanxi not only for treating me as a player, but also for accepting me as a family, and it is a pleasure to fight with you, I will never forget those memories." ”
Green: The vitality of the Liaoning flying leopard
Moland, Han Dejun, Zhu Rongzhen, Fu Hao, Li Xiaoxu, Liaoning will have an inside line that is proud of the league, which is an incredible lineup from any perspective. Of course, Morland's first inevitable is to compare with Jeremy Taylor last season, interestingly, as early as 2014, the kings, the two briefly worked as teammates, but soon Taylor was squeezed out.
In the CBA, Taylor also joined the Shanxi team, 14-15 season, in less than 30 minutes similar to Morland, averaging 22.8 points, 11.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. Although the two are of the same height, they are very different types of players, Taylor has a heavier tonnage, a more traditional interior play, a lack of defense, and Morelander has better rebounding, defense and strategy.
In terms of shooting percentage, Moland is also more efficient than Taylor at his peak, which is his advantage as a top blue-collar worker. Of course, Taylor who came to Liaoning last season is not the same thing as 7 years ago, and it is completely incomparable with Moland. In terms of individual ability, Morland is undoubtedly qualified, and the real challenge is only to integrate with the team.
Although the Liaoning official jersey is only black and white, it cannot hide the joy of jumping. Liaoning has reached the CBA Finals for two consecutive years, and this strong team is looking forward to reaching the throne and looking forward to the addition of new vitality, while Morland's ability to play above the basket and the ability to cruise the restricted area are obviously the kind of colors worth looking forward to.
Life and jerseys are colorful, and you can walk through the winter to enjoy the vibrant green of the spring in the coming year.