Overview
The word fiery doesn’t quite seem like it does Marcus Morris justice, but that’s the word that best sums up who he is. As a player, he’s passionate and unafraid to make his feelings felt. As a person, he’s not going to sit by and be satisfied with mediocrity.
As you scroll through this player grade, you’ll see examples of exactly this. Examples of how Marcus Morris took criticism to heart and made a change. Examples of how his emotions boiled over in a way they really shouldn’t have during an ESPN broadcast. Examples of how he actually cares about the way his team plays and looks to outsiders.
And in a way, that’s kind of refreshing.
Morris wasn’t afraid to talk about the fans, and he wasn’t afraid to make his feelings felt about something he didn’t agree with online. And while that sometimes (most of the time…okay, all of the time), led to problems, it was certainly different.
After all, who could forget the one word that Marcus Morris tweeted that became strongly associated with him shortly after, at least on Twitter…
@BrightSideSun foolishness
— Marcus Morris (@MookMorris2) January 4, 2015
Now, as far as the on-court product is concerned, Morris certainly had his fair share of ups and downs, but he actually provided a fairly strong option for his team off the bench, at least for a significant part of the season.
There were definitely areas where Morris showed plenty of room to improve, but he was still a really productive bench player, and paired with his brother (Markieff), he helped keep the Suns in the playoff race until the last couple weeks of the season.
Given the injuries the team dealt with, I don’t think it’s “foolishness” to say that in of itself, that’s pretty impressive.
Next: Weaknesses