Marquis Daniels

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Marquis Daniels
Position	Shooting guard/Small forward
Nickname	Quis
League	NBA
Height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg)
Team	Indiana Pacers
Nationality	USA
Born	January 7, 1981 (1981-01-07) (age 27) Orlando, Florida
High school	Edgewater (Orlando) Mt. Zion Christian Academy
College	Auburn
Draft	Not drafted, 2003
Pro career	2003–present
Former teams	Dallas Mavericks 2003-2006

Marquis Antwane Daniels (born January 7, 1981 in Orlando, Florida) is a 6'6" (198 cm), 200 lb (91 kg) shooting guard/small forward for the National Basketball Association's Indiana Pacers. Daniels was an undrafted guard who emerged as one of the year's prized steals in the 2003 rookie crop.

1 High school career
2 College career
3 NBA Draft
4 NBA career
5 Player profile
6 Awards/achievements
7 Tattoos
8 References
9 External links

[edit] High school career

Daniels attended Edgewater High School in his hometown Orlando, Florida, before transferring to Mt. Zion Christian Academy (the same school as current NBA star Tracy McGrady).

[edit] College career

Daniels was mostly low-key throughout his college career up until Auburn University reached the Sweet 16 in the much-awaited "March Madness" wherein he averaged 23.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in three games, including an impressive 27-point, nine-rebound performance in a close one-point loss against the eventual national champion Syracuse.

Daniels graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Sociology in just three-and-a-half years. At Auburn, he averaged 18.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game as a senior and was named to the All SEC Second Team as a senior and team MVP as a sophomore, junior and senior.

[edit] NBA Draft

Projected as a second-round pick, Daniels waited for his name to be called. The Mavericks' head coach Don Nelson initially planned on using their 2nd rounder to select Daniels (whom they accidentally discovered while watching game tapes of Josh Howard) but his son Donnie Nelson convinced him to trade the pick to Denver instead and assured his father that they would get him one way or the other. As the calls started pouring in on Daniels' agent's cellphone (among the callers were Magic head coach Doc Rivers), it was later revealed that they had a gentleman's agreement with the Mavericks that his client would sign with them in the event that he did not get drafted.

After a remarkable stint at the team's summer league games, Daniels was signed to a one-year, minimum contract.

[edit] NBA career

Daniels was mostly a third-stringer during his rookie season, used only when victory was all but sure. In the short minutes he was on the floor however, he showed flashes of brilliance. When Steve Nash was out with a stomach flu, Nelson plugged in Daniels as the starting point guard and the rookie delivered with a near triple-double finishing with 14 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists followed by a 16 point, 7 rebound and 8 assist game in a loss against the T-Wolves the next night.

Although his reign as a starter was cut short, Nelson grew tired of the team's lackluster play following their third-straight loss and decided to bring back the classic small ball line-up that he innovated in a 118-88 triumph over the Orlando Magic. This line-up had the 6'9" Antoine Walker at center and Daniels at the two-guard position and was the permanent starting five until their post-season demise. Daniels averaged 19.7 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists during that 10-game stretch. Daniels signed a 6-year, $38-million contract with the Mavs in the 2004 off-season.

On July 6, 2006 Marquis Daniels was traded to the Indiana Pacers for Austin Croshere^[1]

He has seen about 20 minutes of action per game in Indiana throughout the 2007/08 season, averaging 8 points, 2 assists and 2.5 rebounds. In a press conference after the 2008 trade deadline, team president of basketball operations Larry Bird criticized his team for being inconsistent, and cited Marquis Daniels as his example: "I look at Marquis Daniels and Marquis is not playing at a level I thought he would play at. He's been up and down. Just consistency throughout the year; guys have not played on a consistent level the way they should be playing."^[2]

[edit] Player profile

Described by TNT announcer and former head coach Doug Collins as a "silky smooth player that makes the game look so easy", Daniels is a long and agile guard that plays with a calm and almost emotionless demeanor. He can slash, post-up, rebound, defend, and, if needed, play the point, and do all of it at least adequately.

His most glaring weakness for years now is his jumpshot. Although his range extends to the three-point line, his jumpshot is noticeably poor. Another problem that seems to plague Daniels is his health. After signing a long-term extension with the Mavs, Daniels has never played more than 62 games because of the recurrence of various injuries.

[edit] Awards/achievements

NBA All-Rookie Second Team: 2004

[edit] Tattoos

Daniels is noted for having several tattoos inscribed on different parts of his body. The tattoos range from an extremely detailed map of Florida that covers his entire back, a disturbing caricature of a man blowing his head with a shotgun on his lower right arm, and Chinese characters on his other arm which were apparently intended to represent his initials, but when translated into English, it actually reads "healthy woman roof".[1]

http://homepages.nyu.edu/~ajw239/marq1.jpg http://homepages.nyu.edu/~ajw239/marq2.jpg http://homepages.nyu.edu/~ajw239/marq3.jpg