Stan Van Gundy Slams Markieff Morris’ Postseason Accomplishments

The Phoenix Suns earned a hard-fought victory when they traveled to the Palace to meet the Detroit Pistons.  Hard fought both figuratively and literally.

On the 10th anniversary of the infamous Malice at the Palace brawl between the Pacers and Pistons, there was plenty of trash talk and shoving as Detroit tried to assert themselves physically.

But in the end it was the Phoenix Suns who scored in the closing seconds with runner to take the lead by one.  The Suns ended up with a 88-86 victory over the Pistons but the victory wasn’t enough for Markieff Morris. He added insult to injury by questioning the heart of second year guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Morris’ blast was no doubt in response to the words exchanged by he and Caldwell-Pope in the second quarter. That started the trash talk and technical fouls that littered the rest of the game. At one point the official even used replay to determine who started the smack.

When told of Markieff Morris’ comments, Detroit Piston’s Coach Stan Van Gundy who has been known to call out players himself (usually his own) came to the defense of his shooting guard with a salty blast of his own.

"“I’m not quite sure – maybe he knows – I’m not quite sure what Markieff Morris has accomplished in the league that gets him to the point of mouthing off,” Van Gundy said after today’s practice. “I mean, I don’t like the mouthing off anyway. “It seems to me you should at least participate in a playoff game before you do. But maybe not, maybe that’s not the standard anymore.”"

The comments should add a little extra octane to the game when the Pistons visit the Suns on December 12th.