Right now, Morrow and Washington Mystics standout Kiki Iriafen are the only rookies to be ranked in the Top 20 in rebounds this season in the WNBA (Iriafen is ranked No.5 and Morrow is No. 13, respectively). In Connecticut, Morrow has approached her role the same way she goes about holding her own and boxing out bigger and taller opponents in the paint: with total confidence.
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“I’m here for a reason. They call me Nees the Beast for a reason. I have to hold my own inside. It doesn’t matter about being undersized. It’s about who wants the ball the most, especially when it comes from being in the boards. Who gonna do the work early,” Morrow told The Next back in July, right before the Sun faced the Las Vegas Aces. “That’s been the biggest thing for me, mainly, my whole career. But that has to be an approach when you come here on the pros, some of the best players, playing against very efficient players. A lot of people that know how to get to their spots, they know how to get there earlier. They’ve been doing it for years.”
After being sidelined for almost all of training camp due to pain in her right knee, Morrow had to start the season playing “catch up,” as assistant coach Roneeka Hodges put it, when it came to adjusting to the Sun’s systems on both ends of the floor. It was then that the Sun coaching staff saw just how committed Morrow is to learning as much as she could.
“I think that she had a chance to learn by watching first,” Hodges told us. “And I think that was super beneficial for her, to have a chance to see the game before she actually plays.”
After averaging just 11.8 minutes in the first 11 games of the season, Morrow took advantage of the moment — and her playing time — against Seattle on June 27 when she notched her first career double-double that night, scoring a season-high 20 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes. She then followed up that performance, just two nights later, with another double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds against the Minnesota Lynx. “Your confidence comes from experience,” Hodges added. “I think she’s gained experience, and the more you see her play, the more success that she has.”
By mid-July, Morrow had gone from the bench to a consistent starter, all while establishing herself as prominent force helping lead the Sun’s resurgence. When the Sun posted their first win against Golden State, it was Morrow who led the team on the boards with 11 rebounds. Her impact on the team is something her teammates, including veteran leader Tina Charles, has noticed. “Your role changes as a team changes, but one thing that you can always count on is just Aneesah being on the boards, providing that tenacity, getting a rebound when we need it [and] going off in transition and getting an and-one and bucket in the open court,” said Charles, who is currently the WNBA’s all-time leading rebounder. “So it’s just really great to see her as a rookie, to just keep who she is and what she’s known for coming out of college.”
As she’s grown into her role, so have the expectations Morrow places on herself. When the Sun lost to the Phoenix Mercury in August, Morrow went scoreless and had just four boards. Looking back, it was a performance she called “unacceptable.”
“I feel like, when you in this league, like, you can’t bow down to nobody. You have to be aggressive. You have to be determined,” she said.
By the time Connecticut faced Phoenix again in September, Morrow, on a minutes restriction after suffering a chest injury against Chicago three nights prior, came in to the game with a “certain mindset,” she says.
I have to get on the board.
By halftime, Morrow saw she only had three rebounds and set a goal for herself: get 10 more.
Nobody could keep me off the board, she told herself.
It’s about my positioning and how determined I am to go get.
In the 87-84 win, Morrow was just shy of a double-double and finished with 9 points and 13 rebounds. Just like she said she would.
What we’re all witnessing now, in real time, is a young player perfecting her craft with tenacity and confidence. When the ball bounces off the rim, Morrow can pinpoint not only where it is, but anticipate exactly where it’s going next. Her timing? Impeccable. Her athleticism? Next level. She doesn’t just jump, she levitates up into the air when she goes for a rebound.
“When you speak about roles, we’re always putting numbers on it …,” Chaz Franklin, head of player development for the Sun, told The Next. “There’s been a lot of speculation about what Aneesah is, what number she is. I just call her a warrior. I don’t care what number she is, go get the ball. And boy, she go get it.”
It’s a skill she learned not only on the basketball court, but during the years she spent playing volleyball in high school. It was there that Morrow — who says she played every position throughout her freshman, sophomore and senior years — learned how to track the ball with precision to spike the ball (which also might explain why she has major hops, too). At one point, Morrow says she even thought about playing volleyball in college, but ultimately decided not to because she felt like she “started a little late.”
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“When it comes down to rebounding, I do feel like it might be overlooked,” Morrow told The Next after the Sun defeated the Phoenix Mercury. “It’s a skill, it’s a talent. It’s the same as making a three, but I feel like it’s harder. You can stand out on the 3-point line and wait for the ball to come to you, have [a] screen set — but rebounds, you have to go get them. They don’t just fall in your hands, and if they do, then you’re just lucky. But you have to, every night, go and do it. And when people know that you are a rebounder, like, they make adjustments on you, they’re a lot more physical.”
Many of the best rebounders in the WNBA played volleyball, including Angel Reese and A’ja Wilson, to name a few. Morrow is now one of them, too, and ranked No. 13 in rebounds per game this season.
“If I’m being completely honest, she has a knack for the ball,” Hodges said. “She has a knack for rebounding. That’s something that, as a coach, you can’t teach … That’s part of the reason that she is so successful, and why is so impactful.”
Going into the offseason, Morrow told the media in the Sun’s exit interviews that she plans on “staying present in the moment and enjoying myself on being around my family,” and also plans on playing in Athletes Unlimited in February.
As for her goals for next season, Morrow has every intention of continuing to dominate on the boards and bring that same energy and elevate her offensive game, too.
“Just taking my time around the basket, finishing [and] being able to guard the three and play the three is my biggest goal,” she said.
