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Marcus Morris: 2014-15 Phoenix Suns Player Grades

By Scott Chasen

Mar 21, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Marcus Morris (15) attempts to score during the third quarter as Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza (1) defends at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 21, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Marcus Morris (15) attempts to score during the third quarter as Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza (1) defends at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 15, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Nick Young (0) yells at Phoenix Suns center Alex Len (left) as forward Marcus Morris (15) and forward Markieff Morris (11) step in the middle of an altercation in the first half at US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 15, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Nick Young (0) yells at Phoenix Suns center Alex Len (left) as forward Marcus Morris (15) and forward Markieff Morris (11) step in the middle of an altercation in the first half at US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports /

Lowlights

While Morris did post career high’s in points, rebounds and assists per game, there were still some things he struggled with, starting with team defense.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Morris’ individual defense DEFINITELY improved from the year before. It was something he worked at over the summer, following some criticisms of his ability on that side of the ball, but the Suns as a whole were definitively worse on defense when he was in the game last year, at least in looking at the numbers.

Last year, Morris’ defensive rating was so bad that it fell behind roughly 360 other players that recorded at least a minute in the 2014-15 NBA season. Gerald Green and Archie Goodwin were the only Suns players to finish with a lower defensive rating, according to NBA.com.

Additionally, most of Morris’ percentages and metrics went down from the season before, as he posted a lower Player Efficiency Rating, True Shooting percentage, offensive rating and average of win shares per game on the season, not to mention there were some locker room/off the court/on the sideline issues.

As far as in-game lowlights were concerned, there weren’t too many bad ones. However, early in the year, there was definitely one play that stood out. The Suns were in a close game against the Celtics, and had the ball up with a little bit more than a minute left in the game.

Jeff Green stole the ball off of an errant pass, and went end to end, absolutely demolishing Marcus Morris with a poster slam. While Morris’ effort to hustle back and contest the shot deserved recognition, it’s no secret that the result was not what he was looking for. Just watch…

It’s actually kind of funny, but that, and the other real lowlight of his season on the court occurred in the first 11 games of the season. After all, a couple of games before the Jeff Green poster, Marcus Morris had an opportunity to go for a highlight slam of his own against the Nets.

Morris blew past Teletovic off screen from Gerald Green, and rolled to the hoop with bad intentions. However, one man stood in his way… Mason Plumlee.

And just like his brother had showed in Phoenix on a couple of occasions… Mason Plumlee didn’t want to get dunked on…

Next: Highlights

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