Markieff Morris

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Markieff Morris

Markieff Morris in December 2012
No. 11 – Phoenix Suns
Position Power forward
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1989-09-02) September 2, 1989
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 10 in (208 cm)
Listed weight 245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High school Prep Charter
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
APEX Academy
(Pennsauken, New Jersey)
College Kansas (2008–2011)
NBA draft 2011 / Round: 1 / Pick: 13th overall
Selected by the Phoenix Suns
Pro playing career 2011–present
Career history
2011–present Phoenix Suns
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Markieff Morris (born September 2, 1989) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball at the University of Kansas.

Early years

Morris was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Thomasine "Angel" Morris. He has four brothers, Donte, Blake, David and twin Marcus, who also plays for the Phoenix Suns .[1]

College career

He enrolled at the University of Kansas where he majored in American studies.[1] Morris and his twin brother signed with a sports agent from Los Angeles and announced that they would enter the 2011 NBA Draft.[2] He was picked to the Fifth Team All-America by Fox Sports after his junior season.[3]

College statistics

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2008–09 Jayhawks 35715.6.448.188.6504.41.00.40.74.6
2009–10 Jayhawks 36217.6.566.526.6225.31.10.41.06.8
2010–11 Jayhawks 383524.4.589.424.6738.31.40.81.113.6

Professional career

Morris was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 13th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. His twin brother, Marcus Morris was drafted by the Houston Rockets five minutes later. On January 8, 2012, Markieff gained his first professional double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in a blowout 109-93 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. On January 18, Markieff had his first professional start in the NBA against the New York Knicks. However, due to a stomach virus, Markieff only played for 5 minutes, scoring 3 points and grabbing 2 steals before Channing Frye took over the power forward position in a 91-88 Phoenix win. On February 8, 2012, Markieff was named to the 2012 Rising Stars challenge. This would be the first time since Amar'e Stoudemire that a Suns player would be represented in a Rookie Challenge.[4] Despite hoping that he would play for Team Chuck, Morris was selected for Team Shaq, recording 12 points and six rebounds in the game during the 2012 All-Star weekend. On March 25, 2012, Morris recorded a then-career high 22 points to tie Marcin Gortat as the game's leading scorer in a 108-83 victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Due to the 2011 NBA lockout, Morris had his first Summer League stint in 2012, during which he averaged 19.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. After this stint, he amassed 13 pounds of muscle while keeping his current weight of 245 pounds. After scoring a then-season high 16 points against the defending NBA Finals champion Miami Heat, Morris ended up getting his first starting stint since the end of the 2011-12 NBA season on November 21, 2012. He surpassed his season high in points by three, and tied Marcin Gortat with 7 rebounds in a victory against the Portland Trail Blazers. Two days later, Morris recorded a then-career high 23 points to lead the Suns to a close 111-108 overtime victory over the New Orleans Hornets.

On December 6, 2012, Morris pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds to go with 15 points in a 97-94 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. On February 21, 2013, Morris's brother Marcus was traded to the Phoenix Suns, reuniting them after two years of playing for separate teams.[5] This also marked the second time the Suns had twin brothers playing on the same team, with Dick and Tom Van Arsdale being the first twins to play together. [citation needed]

On November 6, 2013, Morris tied his NBA career-high in points with 23, and added 12 rebounds in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Morris' shooting average during that game was the highest for a Suns bench player since Eddie Johnson.[citation needed] Markieff posted a new career-high two days later, scoring 28 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in a 114-103 home victory over the Denver Nuggets. After scoring 23 points in a 101-94 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Morris became the third player since 1989 to shoot over 75% from the field in three consecutive games with at least 12 attempts each game; Dwight Howard and Charles Barkley were the first two players to accomplish this.[6] Morris was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for the November 4 to November 11, 2013 period after averaging 22.8 points, 8.0 assists, 2.0 steals and leading the league for field goal percentage (.698).[7] Morris would continue to have games like this off the bench throughout the regular season, including a game where he'd score 27 points and grab 15 rebounds in a 99-90 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. In that game, Morris would become the first player since Yao Ming back in 2002 to score at least 27 points and grab 15 rebounds in a game while playing off the bench.[8]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011–12 Phoenix 63 7 19.5 .399 .347 .717 4.4 1.0 .7 .7 7.4
2012–13 Phoenix 82 32 22.4 .407 .336 .732 4.8 1.3 .9 .8 8.2
Career 145 39 21.1 .404 .341 .725 4.7 1.2 .8 .7 7.8

Personal

Morris's twin brother Marcus Morris was selected 14th overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2011 NBA Draft. Markieff is seven minutes older than Marcus. His nickname is "Keef".[9]

The Morris brothers became NBA teammates on February 21, 2013, when Marcus was traded to Phoenix.[5] Markieff and Marcus Morris would be the second pair of twin brothers to play together on the Phoenix Suns, with the first pair of twins being Dick and Tom Van Arsdale during the 1976-77 NBA season. They became the first set of twin brothers to start for the same team on March 10, 2013, against the Houston Rockets.[10]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 University of Kansas (2011-04-08). "Player Bio Markieff Morris". Kansas Athletics. Retrieved May 3, 2011. 
  2. ↑ J-W Staff Reports (2011-04-08). "Morris twins sign with agent, will declare for draft". Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved May 3, 2011. 
  3. ↑ Goodman, Jeff (Mar 7, 2011). "Goodman's 2010–11 All-America teams". Fox Sports (Fox Sports Interactive Media). Retrieved June 21, 2011. 
  4. ↑ "Rookie Markieff Morris Gets The All-Star Nod, Will Represent Suns In Rising Stars Game". Bright Side Of The Sun. Retrieved 2013-11-19. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Suns Acquire Marcus Morris | The Official Site Of The Phoenix Suns". Nba.com. Retrieved 2013-11-19. 
  6. ↑ http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?id=400488969
  7. ↑ "Pacers' George, Suns' Markieff Morris named Players of the Week". NBA.com. November 11, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2013. 
  8. ↑ http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/20140128phoenix-suns-miles-plumlee-feels-hes-getting-back-form.html
  9. ↑ Bedore, Gary (2010-12-29). "Men's basketball notebook: Marcus’ nickname? ‘Mook’". KUsports.com. Retrieved 2013-11-19. 
  10. ↑ "Twitter". Mobile.twitter.com. Retrieved 2013-11-19. 

External links

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