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Markieff Morris: One Red Flag The Suns Must Address

By Michael Dunlap

Apr 7, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris (left) and forward Marcus Morris (15) are shown on the bench in the fourth quarter of their game against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 96-69. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 7, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris (left) and forward Marcus Morris (15) are shown on the bench in the fourth quarter of their game against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 96-69. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Phoenix Suns would be wise to address one major red flag in Markieff Morris‘ game

The 2014-15 season will be memorable for a number of reasons for Markieff Morris. The Phoenix Suns forward racked up 15 technical fouls to coach Jeff Hornacek‘s chagrin, he lambasted the Phoenix fans for not providing a home-court advantage and he was accused (plead not guilty) of felony aggravated assault.

Despite those issues, there’s a much bigger elephant in the room — one that relates to Markieff’s evolution as a player.

Ask 10 Suns fans about Markieff and you’re likely to get 10 different opinions on the future. Some believe he’s peaked, some believe he’s the most clutch player on the team, some think he’s immature and yet others will be more positive, pointing towards his increasing numbers and reasonable contract.

I’m a bit more bearish on Morris, largely because the picture I see is of a player falling in love with jumpers, who has stopped going to the basket as often as he once did. The Suns aren’t characterized as a team that gets to the foul line often (21st in attempts) and in my eyes, it’s a major flaw in their game. Markieff is one of the big offenders — but why? First, let’s look at the numbers.

PLAYING TO INDIVIDUAL STRENGTHS

As his role increased, he began taking more shots, but not all shots are created equally. Markieff had worked his way inside more and more over his first three seasons, culminating in an average distance of 11.4 feet per shot in 2013-14. He went to the basket more often, taking 28.8 percent of his shots inside three feet, making 65.8 percent.

As a result, Markieff drew more fouls (129 shooting fouls drawn) and rebounded much better (8.1 per-36 minutes) than he did in 2014-15, when his minutes went up by 428, yet his shooting fouls drawn dropped by 25 and his rebounding rate hit a career-low of 10.7 percent.

Instead of getting closer to the basket last season, Markieff began working his way further out, averaging 12.5 feet per field goal. To his credit, Morris got himself to his comfort zone more often, as he took more 10-to-16 footers (24.6 percent) and made them at a terrific rate (50.2). To his discredit, those jumpers meant he wasn’t getting as many offensive rebounds (1.3 per game) and wasn’t getting to the foul line (2.8 per game).

Markieff spent 65 percent of his time at power forward and 35 percent at center (per Basketball Reference), and having a real lack of rebounding and free-throw attempts from one of your primary big men just isn’t ideal.

IS IT A QUESTION OF FIT?

This is a tough question to ask. On the surface, who wouldn’t want a 6-foot-10 forward who is just one of nine players to average more than 15 points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal per game? Look at the company that Markieff keeps:

TotalsShootingPer Game
RkPlayerSeasonAgeTmGMPFG%3P%eFG%FT%TS%PTSTRBASTSTL
1Anthony Davis2014-1521NOP682455.535.083.536.805.59124.410.22.21.5
2Russell Westbrook2014-1526OKC672302.426.299.455.835.53628.17.38.62.1
3LeBron James2014-1530CLE692493.488.354.535.710.57725.36.07.41.6
4Kawhi Leonard2014-1523SAS642033.479.349.520.802.56716.57.22.52.3
5Paul Millsap2014-1529ATL732390.476.356.518.757.56516.77.83.11.8
6Greg Monroe2014-1524DET692137.496.496.750.54915.910.22.11.1
7DeMarcus Cousins2014-1524SAC592013.467.250.468.782.54524.112.73.61.5
8Markieff Morris2014-1525PHO822581.465.318.491.763.52315.36.22.31.2
9Carmelo Anthony2014-1530NYK401428.444.341.482.797.53124.26.63.11.0

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/8/2015.

But, therein lies a big problem. Davis, Westbrook, James, Cousins and Anthony are the focal points of their offenses. Leonard and Millsap play with veteran teams who share the ball as well as any other in the league. That leaves Monroe — who is a back-to-the-bucket player without question.

Markieff is the odd man out. He’s not like Davis, as he’s without the ability to take his man off the dribble, and he’s not like Monroe,  as he’s limited with his back to the basket. It’s almost as if Morris doesn’t quite know what he wants to be and yet the team continued to feed him. Markieff’s usage rate of 23.3 was just short of Bledsoe’s 23.7 and well above Dragic and his 21.5 through his 52 games.

It’s no coincidence that the Suns badly want a tough, rebounding veteran to fill in at the four and five. It’s not that Markieff is a poor player, it’s just that he didn’t fill what the team needed last season.

LOOKING AHEAD

There are two ways this can go, but regardless of which way it goes, we need to realize one thing — 2013-14 Markieff made a greater impact and was a greater team fit than 2014-15 Markieff. This team needs help rebounding, they need to get to the foul line and they need Markieff to trend back towards his 2013-14 form.

Either coach Hornacek and his staff gets through to Markieff and gets him to work inside more often, or he’ll continue to flourish at the cost of his team not improving.

Next: How The Suns Must Learn From Playoff Teams

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