Markieff Morris Cracks the Top 20 of the 2011 NBA Draft with the Knicks Looking for More Size Behind Amar’e Stoudemire
The Knicks continue to follow Mike D’Antoni’s blueprint all the way to becoming a .500 ball club. If he wants to save his job, it’s about time the offensive genius started paying attention to the defensive end of the court.
A quick glance at the Knicks’ roster reveals D’Antoni doesn’t have the horses willing or able to play defense in the paint or crash the glass.
Enter Markieff Morris, the slightly bigger of the Morris twins who has the makings of a blue collar player the Knicks need.
Morris averaged over 13 points and eight rebounds in his junior season at Kansas, shooting 59 percent from the floor and happily deferring to his talented teammates.
With Amar’e Stoudemire focused on piling up the points, Morris is a perfect compliment capable of crashing the boards.
Kyle Nelson of draftexpress.com raves about Morris’ ability to defend the interior as a role player off the pine.
“His ability to defend his position energetically and rebound at a high rate are two very good things to build off, and if he can continue to improve his jump-shot, he could emerge as very solid rotation player for a team to bring off the bench”
Until Amar’e realizes he is a 6-10 athletic beast capable of grabbing more than six rebounds per game, the Knicks need to stockpile players willing to do the dirty work.
Pro Projection: Morris doesn’t do any one thing particularly great, but he has the makings of a solid NBA player.
Underrated athletically, he has enough quickness to matchup with the NBA’s more explosive power forwards.
Look for Morris to bounce around the NBA for years to come and make his presence felt.
For more NBA Draft projections, check out Bleacher Report’s NBA Draft hub page