Hornacek on Morris: ‘We can’t put a guy out there that’s not going to do his best’
Jan 5, 2016, 5:13 PM | Updated: 5:45 pm
Phoenix Suns' P.J. Tucker, Markieff Morris and Eric Bledsoe, from left, sit on the bench late in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz on Monday, Dec. 21, 2015, in Salt Lake City. The Jazz won 110-89. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Markieff Morris’ 2015-16 season has been a lot of low’s, especially with his playing time.
After averaging 31.5 minutes per game in the 2014-15 season, Morris is only playing 23.4 minutes per game this season and that includes nine games he did not play in due to coach’s decision.
Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek was asked on Doug & Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM about anything left for him to do regarding the situation with Morris.
“We talk about things,” Hornacek said. “Do we look at starting him and playing him the 35 minutes and then see what happens? We’ve tried that back and forth a few times this year.”
Indeed they have. Morris averaged 27.6 minutes per game in the first seven games of the season, shooting 36 percent from the field. More playing time later in November brought similar results.
Then, after those string of DNP-CD’s in December, Morris played in four games in a reduced role and the results were nearly the same. Averaging 16.2 minutes per game, Morris shot 33 percent from the field.
Morris was suspended for the following two games for throwing a towel at Hornacek and has only made one appearance since, a 20-minute 2-for-4 shooting night against the San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 30.
Hornacek brought up what he believes to be the problem.
“We got to feel that he’s 100 percent in to be in in Phoenix and whether there’s a trade or anything that happens, I’ll keep repeating it: I don’t think Markieff’s ever not tried hard.
“It’s just when your heart’s not in it for a team or an organization you’re not going to play your best and we can’t put a guy out there that’s not going to do his best.”
