Suns' Sophomore: Markieff Morris

Last year Suns’ rookie Markieff Morris showed some promising signs as a young power forward, he demonstrated his ability to make NBA 3s, toughness, rebounding, and defensive effort. His stat line overall this season though can be somehow viewed as poor.

His field goal percentage was under 40, during his 5 starts the Suns went 1-4, and he also hit his rookie wall rather quickly and had a string of bad games. However he did show some promising signs. For the Suns’ fans who watches nearly every game such as myself can see that Morris is tough, he isn’t afraid to bang with the big boys and he sure as hell isn’t intimidated. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfhZx2rs65A(Morris shows his nasty!) .He also showed a nice turn -around jumper in the post, during the few time he was put there.

Many are curious of his ceiling, well wonder no longer; it’s LaMarcus Aldridge. The chances of him getting there aren’t high but if he works hard and fully dedicate himself to the game he has a great shot. If you look at Aldridge and Morris they both have similar characteristics, both good shooters with fine touch, both decent rebounders, both show toughness, and both are low key players. Morris in my opinion has already gotten farther than Aldridge in regards of his toughness, Morris unlike Aldridge isn’t bothered by contact.

Now I hope I didn’t excite anyone by giving the hope that Morris might be LaMarcus Aldridge next year, should he ever get there we’ll be lucky and if he falls short to be a Jason Thompson we’ll have to understand; as long as he’s not Channing Frye 2.0 I will say my prayers. But here is what he needs to do now to become Channing Frye 2.0.

- Put on more muscle, Morris was one of the strongest players in college basketball but obviously that’s not the case in the NBA. He’ll need that strength to be a force in the post.

- Patience is the key; Morris showed flashes of brilliance during the few times he was put in the post this year. He was able to knock down some pretty impressive turn around shots which is a great sign for a big. But he also rushed a few times which lead to a missed shot or turnover. He has to learn how to read the defense before making his move. 

- Stop drifting on the perimeter, a four that does nothing but drift on the perimeter? Remind anyone of someone?

- Improve foot speed, Morris isn’t exactly Dwight Howard so he has to compensate for not being able to jump of the gym by sliding his feet better so he can be a strong factor on the defensive end.

I expect a solid improvement from Morris this year, I expect him to spend a lot more times in the post because he’s too good to just drift on the perimeter. It’s a travesty that the Suns’ haven’t moved Frye to give him more minutes because at this Channing Frye although a good player, has no place on a rebuilding team. He’s turning 30, he’s not a great rebounder, he’s basically a 3 in a 4’s body. Morris needs those minutes that Alvin Gentry is giving to Frye night in and night out so that Morris can become a player of Aldridge’s caliber and not a player of Frye’s caliber.