Marcus Morris believes he should've started for Suns over Tucker
Just when basketball fans thought Markieff Morris had done enough talking this offseason, his twin brother chimed in with a head-scratching statement of his own.
Speaking with Pistons.com's Keith Langlois on Thursday, Marcus Morris chose not to share his opinion on the messy circumstances which led to him changing zip codes this summer.
"I'm in Detroit. I'm here. I don't even think about that stuff anymore. I'm here," he said when asked about his July trade from the Phoenix Suns to the Detroit Pistons.
He did, however, discuss his use - or misuse, as he sees it - as a member of the Suns.
"In Phoenix, I thought I should have started at the three," Marcus said. "The guy that's there now (P.J. Tucker) might have been a better defender, but as an all-around three, I thought I was the best we had. And I thought a lot of players thought that, too."
Seemingly throwing Tucker under the proverbial bus, Marcus suggests his overall skill set was strong enough to usurp last season's starting small forward.
Based on statistics, it appears both players produced similarly in 2014-15.
| Player | MPG | PPG | TS% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morris | 25.2 | 10.4 | 52 | 4.8 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 13.7 |
| Tucker | 30.6 | 9.1 | 54.1 | 6.4 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 12.5 |
While Marcus played a shade under five minutes less, the Kansas alumnus put up a higher scoring average - in part, due to his superior 35.8 percent mark from beyond the arc compared to Tucker's 34.5 percent.
Marcus also believes the Suns failed to take advantage of his size when up against smaller defenders.
"With being a big three, I've got to utilize that," he said. "I don't want to stand out on the wing and I've got a smaller guy on me. That tended to happen a lot in Phoenix where they didn't utilize the mismatches."
As one of the newest members of a revamped Pistons squad, Marcus is looking forward to a fresh start and the possibility of cracking the starting lineup.
"There's a lot of opportunity here," he added. "I have a chance to come in and start right away. I've been in the league for five years. It's nothing new to me. I have started my share of games. It's not like I'm new to it."