Suns To Use Markieff Morris At Center Some This Year

Suns to use Markieff Morris at center some this year
Kurt Helin Oct 3, 2014, 8:30 AM EDT




Last season, the Suns had a lot of success going small at times.

They played Channing Frye as a sort of stretch five, which spaced out the floor and opened driving lanes for Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe. Frye was a dangerous pick-and-pop partner for the Suns impressive backcourt.

Now Frye is spacing the floor for the Orlando Magic (and cashing in some checks). So enter Markieff Morris.




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"Coach told me I'll play the five a lot when we need to speed it up." - @Keefmorris #SunsCamp powered by @Verizon
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Morris, who just signed a big new contract extension, was fourth in Sixth Man of the Year voting last season for the energy and 15.8 points a game he brought off the bench last season.

But what he didn’t bring was three point shooting — 31.5 percent from beyond the arc. To be fair, he did shoot a very respectable 42.9 percent on long twos and he reportedly has been working on this part of his game.

We’ll see how Morris fits this new role, but Jeff Hornacek isn’t afraid of the unconventional lineup. We’ll likely see Morris and Anthony Tolliver trying to stretch the floor for the Suns.





bob
MY NOTE:  Man, what does this say about #5 pick 7'1", 265# Alex Len?  Or is it just Hornacek being guard-happy?  For sure he has some great ones but wow! Maybe Horny wants his bigs to run, like Stevens does, and Len is more of a slower half court bruiser?



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sam wrote:Is "Horny" really his nickname or just a Heckler invention?

Sam

sam,

This is from Jeff Hornacek's Wikipedia page:

Coach Jerry Sloan and Jazz announcer "Hot Rod" Hundley referred to Hornacek affectionately as "Horny"

The fact that it saves me a few keystrokes helps too.



bob



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