Is Marcus Morris the Problem?

Marcus Morris has struggled for much of the season thus far, but is he the biggest reason the Detroit Pistons have been losing?

Stan Van Gundy has simply run out of answers. His young Detroit Pistons squad has experienced some growing pains as of late, and although he has tried multiple lineup changes to try and spark the team, even the surprising move in playing Aron Baynes beside Andre Drummond, however nothing seems to work.

Writers all across Pistons nation are pointing fingers at various members of the starting five, but after analyzing the disappointing loss to the Sacramento Kings where the Pistons blew an 18-point lead and tough losses against the Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz, Marcus Morris deserves to firmly be on the hot seat.

Over the past three games, Marcus Morris averaged 14.7 shots per game, while shooting an abysmal 20 percent from three, and had a net rating of -20.8 during that stretch. These numbers simply aren’t good enough for a player that has a 20.3 percent usage rate.

Related Story: Ranking the Pistons' untouchable players

Morris is also posting the lowest field goal percentage, three point percentage, and true shooting percentage since his rookie season where he only played 17 games.

Using the eye test, many possessions seem to end when Marcus Morris receives the ball in isolation and he often takes a contested mid-range shot, or drains the shot clock and quickly passes it off to someone else to take a contested shot. Ball movement suffers when Marcus Morris is on the floor.

On the season, the Pistons’ shooters in the starting lineup (Jon Leuer, Tobias Harris, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Reggie Jackson) shoot a better field goal percentage with Marcus Morris off the court than with him on the floor.

Although he might not be sole source of the Pistons’ woes, it is imperative that Marcus Morris play better basketball down the stretch in order for this team to come out of the slump that they have found themselves in right now.