Markieff Morris mired in shooting slump
Mar 5, 2012, 10:50 PM | Updated: 11:01 pm
Markieff Morris played 38 games his junior year at Kansas.
He just played in his 37th game for the Suns and there are 29 more to come.
“I’ve been playing basketball my entire life so I just got to suck it up and keep pushing through it,” Morris answered when asked about possibly hitting a rookie wall.
Whether or not he has, this much is certain: he’s not hitting his shot. Over the last six games, Morris is shooting 17.4% (8-for-46).
“Just missing shots, basically,” Morris said. “I’m getting the shots that I want, that I have been making all year and I’m just missing them. (I’m) getting in the gym, getting extra shots up and trying to find my rhythm again.”
Morris spent additional time after practice Monday with assistants Elston Turner and Igor Kokoskov along with Mark West, the team’s vice-president of player programs.
Morris, who earlier in the season went through a 7-for-28 stretch, does not see defenses playing him any different.
“I’m getting the shots I want,” Morris re-stated. “They’re just not going down for me right now but they will start again.”
Head coach Alvin Gentry believes a step or two closer to the basket might help Morris regain his touch.
“I do think that he’s shooting too many 3s. He can step in,” according to Gentry. “It doesn’t have to be a three-point shot.”
Morris has missed 11 of his last 13 attempts from beyond the arc, yet his 38.6% mark is eighth-best among rookies.
The one thing Morris won’t do is stop shooting.
“That’s the only way you can get out of it,” Morris explained. “You don’t stop shooting or they’ll stop guarding you and you lose confidence. I can’t do that. I just got to keep attacking and keep playing hard.”
