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Suns owner Blames Team’s Struggle on Markieff Morris

By Brendan Kennealy

Nov 6, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris (left) against identical twin brother Detroit Pistons forward Marcus Morris at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Pistons defeated the Suns 100-92. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 6, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris (left) against identical twin brother Detroit Pistons forward Marcus Morris at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Pistons defeated the Suns 100-92. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Phoenix Suns have cooled down mightily after jumping out to a 7-5 start to the 2015-2016 NBA season, as the Suns find themselves sitting at 12-25 as we approach the mid-way point of the season.

The Suns were sitting just a few games out of the 8th spot, with a record of 12-19, in the Western Conference when they hosted the Philadelphia 76ers, who had just one win to their name entering the contest. The 76ers would go on to defeat the Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena and eight minutes into the game Eric Bledsoe tore his meniscus in his left knee, abruptly ending his season.

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The Suns have added five more losses to their losing streak since their loss to the 76ers and are now 12-25 with a nine-game losing streak. Phoenix has Charlotte, Miami, Indiana, and Boston on their schedule over the next 11 days and can easily see themselves with a 13-game losing streak in due time.

Suns owner Robert Sarver has come out and spoken about the team’s hardships and blames the majority of the team’s woes on power forward Markieff Morris. Carver also puts the blame on himself, but mostly focused on the “millennial culture” of today’s NBA players.

“I’m not sure it’s just the NBA,” Sarver said, during an interview with The Arizona Republic “My whole view of the millennial culture is that they have a tough time dealing with setbacks, and Markieff Morris is the perfect example. He had a setback with his brother in the offseason, and he can’t seem to recover from it.”

Sure, Markieff and Marcus Morris are really close, but at the same time you must move on as a professional. That goes for any profession, not just a professional sport. Markieff has put up decent numbers this season when head coach Jeff Hornacek plays him, in which Morris has averaged just over 10 points and 4.7 rebounds in 23 minutes. Morris has appeared in just 23 of the Suns 37 games.

It seems that year-in and year-out the Phoenix Suns always have lower-end lottery picks, outside of the 2013 NBA Draft. Since 2008 the Suns first round draft picks have included the 15th pick (2008), 14th pick (2009), 13th pick (2011), 13th pick (2012), 5th pick (2013), 14th pick (2014), 13th pick (2015).

With a possible NBA superstar in Ben Simmons coming out of Louisiana State University, it wouldn’t be the worst of ideas for the Suns to simply “tank” the rest of the season and better their odds of landing Simmons.

Next: Arizona State Suffers Cactus Bowl Defeat

In 13 games this year for LSU, Simmons is averaging 20.5 points, 13.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 2.1 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 57.4 percent from the field and 74.8 percent from the free throw line. The 6’10”, 19-year-old power forward would be a great addition to the Suns organization that boasts a great number of up-and-coming youngsters.

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