Markieff & Marcus Morris: "Suns have worst fans in the NBA"

[slinslin]

Kief with a stellar performance tonight. A technical and a flagrant 2 ejection. He was playing well too, his selfishness costs this team yet another game.

The team was an embarrassment tonight. Techs everywhere, Len ejected, Kief ejected, I thought Marcus was going out forsure as well. Yeah I really wanna pay to go watch these guys blow up.

His flagrant was just a foul really...

 

[Bert]

Len is the only one I would defend. Watch the replay if you get a chance.

You are absolutely right. That was gnarly. Miami was playing like punks, but at the same time, the word is out on the Suns, they can be gotten to and Miami got to them big time tonight. Just cant happen.

 

[sunsfan88]

https://twitter.com/ScottHoward42/status/572084533836689408

 

[mojorizen7]

https://twitter.com/ScottHoward42/status/572084533836689408

Who is Scott Howard?

 

[sunsfan88]

Who is Scott Howard?

Bright side of the Sun blogger and season ticket holder.

 

[ozzfloyd]

Who is Scott Howard?

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images

 

[BC867]

Len is the only one I would defend. Watch the replay if you get a chance.

That is my concern about the development of Alex Len.

Surrounding him with a light Power Forward who draws technicals and a floor full of Point Guards, and the wuss reputation of the team with the league, the refs, the Press and the fans, are going to continue to hinder his ability to stay on the court, close out games and reach star status.

Potentially the best of the mediocre is not the same as growing with a balanced unit.

 

[Bufalay]

Great post. All this whining about "the fans" is laughable. I grew up 30 mins outside Manhattan. Went to college 45 mins outside of Boston. Lived in Dallas and Chicago. And now Phoenix for the past 14 years. And I find the fan situation here in Phoenix not unlike anything I've seen in previous places where I lived. With the exception being the Cubbies and to a much lesser extent, the Blackhawks, Bruins, Red Sox, Giants, Bears and the Rangers, and to an even lesser extent the Cowboys....
But make no mistake, the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Devils, Islanders, Jets, Bulls, White Sox, Mavericks, Stars, Texas Rangers, all of the Houston teams, Celtics - all suffer from dropped attendance when their teams suck.

The part about the Knicks is not true. Crowds at regular season marbury era crap fests were more into the games than suns playoff crowds. Also msg doesn't get packed with fans of the other team like usac.

 

[sunsfan88]

Great article on Markieff, I would actually apply it to both Morris twins. I especially LOVE the last sentence

The issue isn't the negative comments about the fans; the issue is the pattern of behavior from Markieff Morris.

He doesn't get the calls from the refs. To him, his lack of consistent aggression taking it to the hole or his incessant whining on every shot has nothing to do with the lack of calls, it's the refs' fault.

Morris ranks second in the NBA in technical fouls. To him, his head coach doesn't stick up for him and earn a technical himself to protect the players. It's Jeff Hornacek's fault.

Morris ends up with five fouls and as many rebounds as turnovers in a game against the defending World Champions. To him, the fans didn't bring the energy that he could feed off of to do his job. It's your fault.

The three biggest weaknesses of Markieff Morris are inconsistent effort, not getting to the free throw line and technical fouls. To Markieff Morris, that's the fans' fault, the refs' fault and his coach's fault.

To label Markieff Morris as a non-championship player is not a slam on his character. Morris' comments about us does not make him a bad guy. However, if any player thinks fans owe him something, he can't muster the focus it takes to defeat their enemy. If Markeiff can't get fired up on his own against the defending World Champions -- who also have the player (Kawhi Leonard) you were drafted ahead of that has completely outplayed you throughout your career -- he's not someone that can be counted on going forward.

The Suns have won three of their last 12 with two of the wins coming against teams that are 12 games and 19 games below .500, respectively. Consistent losing, his paycheck, competition, the defending World Champions in the building, Kawhi Leonard, pride as a man, or the playoff push weren't enough motivation. Morris needed you to bring the energy for him.

Morris said it's not fair that he has to wave his arms 15 times to get the crowd up. In the offseason, the Suns only need to wave once.

http://arizonasports.com/58/1812221/Markieff-Morris-is-not-a-championship-player

 

[overseascardfan]

To be honest, PHX solved only half their chemistry issues at the deadline. The twins should have been dealt as well because now their toxic attitude is going to rub off on this team until they are gone. When Horry threw the towel in Ainge's face, he was gone. Marcus Morris publically blows up at Hornacek and he is still on the roster. That sends a message to the players that that type of behavior will be tolerated. I don't care if teams were only offering a bag of basketballs, the twins should have been dealt to remove the cancer and start fresh. Yeah we probably lose more games the remainder of the season (at this point it doesn't matter) but that only improves our draft position. Hopefully they are gone at the end of the season even if PHX has to eat some of their contracts it would be worth it.

 

[AzStevenCal]

To be honest, PHX solved only half their chemistry issues at the deadline. The twins should have been dealt as well because now their toxic attitude is going to rub off on this team until they are gone. When Horry threw the towel in Ainge's face, he was gone. Marcus Morris publically blows up at Hornacek and he is still on the roster. That sends a message to the players that that type of behavior will be tolerated. I don't care if teams were only offering a bag of basketballs, the twins should have been dealt to remove the cancer and start fresh. Yeah we probably lose more games the remainder of the season (at this point it doesn't matter) but that only improves our draft position. Hopefully they are gone at the end of the season even if PHX has to eat some of their contracts it would be worth it.

Even if I accept your assumption that the twins are the cancer, I disagree with giving them away. I couldn't care less about losing more games this season but I wouldn't move them for less than fair value. We are not likely to improve our draft position by much whether they play or they don't.

Steve

 

[slinslin]

Everything known about the twins actually indicates that they are the opposite of locker room cancers.

Markieff Morris actually cares about this team. They are more emotionally involved than any other player on this team. Maybe too much even. Those two are the definition of team players though. Say what you will but these guys have always stepped up for teammates.

 

[overseascardfan]

Even if I accept your assumption that the twins are the cancer, I disagree with giving them away. I couldn't care less about losing more games this season but I wouldn't move them for less than fair value. We are not likely to improve our draft position by much whether they play or they don't.

Steve

What's fair market value for a inadequate rebounding, scoring PF?

Everything known about the twins actually indicates that they are the opposite of locker room cancers.

Markieff Morris actually cares about this team. They are more emotionally involved than any other player on this team. Maybe too much even. Those two are the definition of team players though. Say what you will but these guys have always stepped up for teammates.

He cares about this team? A guy who asks teammates to step up their rebounding because he says he lacks the size to be a descent rebounder. A guy who can't keep his cool in games getting technical after technical, complaining about calls he's not getting.

Would you call publicly yelling at your coach who is trying to calm you down caring about the team? Shouldn't there be some respect there towards the coach? What example does that set for teammates? That kind of behavior can be detrimental to team chemistry.

 

[Absolute Zero]

What's fair market value for a inadequate rebounding, scoring PF?



He cares about this team? A guy who asks teammates to step up their rebounding because he says he lacks the size to be a descent rebounder. A guy who can't keep his cool in games getting technical after technical, complaining about calls he's not getting.

Would you call publicly yelling at your coach who is trying to calm you down caring about the team? Shouldn't there be some respect there towards the coach? What example does that set for teammates? That kind of behavior can be detrimental to team chemistry.

Well, he put up 23 points tonight, including a key shot late in the game when Orlando was threatening, was +14, grabbed 6 boards and had zero T's. Sure he can be a knucklehead, but he is also a very solid player and still improving. As for his bro, I am not so impressed and would rather see TJ gethis minutes.

 

[AzStevenCal]

What's fair market value for a inadequate rebounding, scoring PF?.

I have no idea. I was just responding to your idea that we should get rid of him, cost be damned. We aren't going to win anything right now, I see no reason to discount one of our players. Trade him for value, fine, trade him for a bag of basketballs, I'll pass.

Steve

 

[Phrazbit]

Dumping Marcus would be addition by subtraction but Markieff's ability to deal with the Suns shipping off his brother is... suspect.

We need to send in some ****** to drive a wedge between the twins, little love triangle to cause a rift. Like Kim Basinger in the Natural... or Kim Basinger in LA Confidential... basically we need Kim Basinger.

 

[KloD]

Dumping Marcus would be addition by subtraction but Markieff's ability to deal with the Suns shipping off his brother is... suspect.

We need to send in some ****** to drive a wedge between the twins, little love triangle to cause a rift. Like Kim Basinger in the Natural... or Kim Basinger in LA Confidential... basically we need Kim Basinger.

Don't we all....

 

[Covert Rain]

I have no idea. I was just responding to your idea that we should get rid of him, cost be damned. We aren't going to win anything right now, I see no reason to discount one of our players. Trade him for value, fine, trade him for a bag of basketballs, I'll pass.
Steve

This. We have a young team and still acquiring assets. This isn't a team trading for the last piece or retooling. The last thing we need is to be impatient with any asset we have and give it away for nothing even if that value is suspect.

One thing about the NBA....there is always a stupid team out there willing to give up something for somebody.

 

[3rdside]

Yah I like markieff at $8m - that's good value, knucklehead or not. I kinda liked IT at $6m as well considering his efficiency so not sure he needed to be traded after dragic left but maybe the FO knows something more about his character than we do (I assume they've learned the lesson on 'team (not asset) building'. Definitely got one eye on a Boston board to see how he goes (and to gauge further my view on the FO in view of this).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AzStevenCal]

Yah I like markieff at $8m - that's good value, knucklehead or not. I kinda liked IT at $6m as well considering his efficiency so not sure he needed to be traded after dragic left but maybe the FO knows something more about his character than we do (I assume they've learned the lesson on 'team (not asset) building'. Definitely got one eye on a Boston board to see how he goes (and to gauge further my view on the FO in view of this).

We wanted to keep Goran more than we wanted to keep IT so we shopped IT for more than a couple of months despite the fact we were playing our best ball once we upped his playing time with the starters. IT didn't like being shopped like that, remember his tweet about "it being time to go when the respect isn't there"? When Goran gave us his ultimatum, we had already burned our bridges with Thomas. The end result, we are a less talented team today than we were a month ago.

Steve

 

[BC867]

We wanted to keep Goran more than we wanted to keep IT so we shopped IT for more than a couple of months despite the fact we were playing our best ball once we upped his playing time with the starters. IT didn't like being shopped like that, remember his tweet about "it being time to go when the respect isn't there"? When Goran gave us his ultimatum, we had already burned our bridges with Thomas. The end result, we are a less talented team today than we were a month ago.

Steve

If only it were as simple as 'less talented'.

But it's . . . Point Guards -- bring 'em, ship 'em out, bring 'em in . . .

A team taking stabs in the dark. When will it end?

 

[Errntknght]

If only it were as simple as 'less talented'.

But it's . . . Point Guards -- bring 'em, ship 'em out, bring 'em in . . .

A team taking stabs in the dark. When will it end?

I think one of the problems is that none of the guys we've had, except for Ennis, have been true PGs. Its like Jeff has forgotten one minor detail about his playing days with the Jazz - his running mate was one of the best pure PGs in the history of the league. And there was never any question that Stockton was the man in charge.

I wouldn't say its impossible to have two combo guards working together on a contending team but, IMO, Eric and Goran never came up to that level and it seemed to be a rather fragile pairing - well, I suppose there's some hindsight in saying that, in light of the denouement. But I was uneasy and I thought it was mistake to break the bank retaining Bled. (In order to justify paying them 28 million they'd have be a lot better together than they were last year, and that seemed improbable to me.)

I didn't foresee the problems that would ensue from adding IT, but I it did something worthwhile to my way of thinking - IMO, Goran would not last long enough to be of much use by the time the team could contend and given Sarver's feeling about him, he'd have paid him at least as much as Bledsoe and for as many years. Goran wanting to leave was the only way out.

Unfortunately we seem to have leapt from the frying pan into the fire in acquiring Brandon Knight - and losing Ennis in the deal. Without Ennis how is Jeff ever going to see that a real PG is what the team is lacking? He may not have seen it with him but, at least, it was possible. We have a couple of months to see whether Bledsoe/Knight can surpass Bledsoe/Dragic and also reach harmony but I think its highly improbable - they're both young guns who want to be 'the' man.

What I fear is that McD will pay Knight next summer in spite of the results of the pairing.

IMO, Ennis was the best player - for the Suns, at least - involved in that deal but thats another, sad story.

 

[Phrazbit]

I don't know how much better Bledsoe and Dragic in 2013/14 could have played together. The Suns record with the pair was superb and the Suns on court rating with the two painted the picture of an elite pairing.

If Bledsoe didn't get hurt they make the playoffs easily. The failings of that team were up front.

 

[Mainstreet]

I think one of the problems is that none of the guys we've had, except for Ennis, have been true PGs. Its like Jeff has forgotten one minor detail about his playing days with the Jazz - his running mate was one of the best pure PGs in the history of the league. And there was never any question that Stockton was the man in charge.

I wouldn't say its impossible to have two combo guards working together on a contending team but, IMO, Eric and Goran never came up to that level and it seemed to be a rather fragile pairing - well, I suppose there's some hindsight in saying that, in light of the denouement. But I was uneasy and I thought it was mistake to break the bank retaining Bled. (In order to justify paying them 28 million they'd have be a lot better together than they were last year, and that seemed improbable to me.)

I didn't foresee the problems that would ensue from adding IT, but I it did something worthwhile to my way of thinking - IMO, Goran would not last long enough to be of much use by the time the team could contend and given Sarver's feeling about him, he'd have paid him at least as much as Bledsoe and for as many years. Goran wanting to leave was the only way out.

Unfortunately we seem to have leapt from the frying pan into the fire in acquiring Brandon Knight - and losing Ennis in the deal. Without Ennis how is Jeff ever going to see that a real PG is what the team is lacking? He may not have seen it with him but, at least, it was possible. We have a couple of months to see whether Bledsoe/Knight can surpass Bledsoe/Dragic and also reach harmony but I think its highly improbable - they're both young guns who want to be 'the' man.

What I fear is that McD will pay Knight next summer in spite of the results of the pairing.

IMO, Ennis was the best player - for the Suns, at least - involved in that deal but thats another, sad story.

It's too early to tell but I think the Suns drafting Ennis was a miss. IMO, he is only a slightly better version of Kendall Marshall.

 

[WildBB]

Well you know we don't have that BEAT LA thing going this year. You can't judge it by one year! Anyway the push is NOW! The team has had plenty of luls, the fans deserve some respect for 40+ years!