Yeah, I think about the Thompson Twins. They sang one of the 1980s most epic cheese ballads. And yeah, I think about the Minnesota Twins, specifically the 1987 Minnesota Twins, who were one of the raddest teams ever, especially on RBI Baseball. And what was the deal with the Wonder Twins? Who decided to come up with superheroes where one could turn into animals and the other forms of water? How is that helpful at all to anyone?
But I never gave the Morris twins’ story much thought beyond, “Hey, that’s pretty cool that twin brothers play for the Phoenix Suns.”
But since Markieff Morris has gone on another one of his runs where he just might get back on track to being a star-caliber player, a few things have dawned on me.
Like, why would you want twin brothers on your team? Especially when Marcus Morris is a 6-9 power forward and Markeiff Morris is a 6-10 power forward who both share basically the same skill set. And both come off the bench.
And one, Markieff, is now clearly better than the other, so why would you have a not-as-good copy of one guy eating up a roster spot? Are you holding onto him as a possible replacement? Are you trying to confuse the other team? Did Jeff Hornacek’s brain get fried from all those years playing in the desert in Phoenix and up in the high altitude of Salt Lake City?
Markieff is the real star of this here column, and up until now he has been neither boarder nor blocker. He’s only averaging 5.8 rpg and 0.5 bpg on the season.
BUT … his 27-point, 15-rebound, 1-block outburst last night in Cleveland showed just what Markieff is capable of. That’s the kind of line that another 6-10, 230-ish pound power forward from Philadelphia was capable of on the regular.
He’s averaging 20.5 ppg over his last six, and he can hit the three. And given that he was averaging more than 8 rpg in his last season at Kansas, I can see Markieff getting close to 10 boards per game in the pros if given the minutes. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but I can see it.
I was into the Miles Plumlee story early on, but he needs to go back to the bench. Not just for fantasy’s sake, but for Markieff’s sake, and for the Suns sake, and for HUMANITY’S sake, for crying out loud.
How is he only 36 percent owned in Yahoo and 38 percent owned in ESPN? You can change that. Get to it, and when you get back, check out what else I saw in the paint last week:
DeMarcus Cousins – The sprained ankle is still ailing, and given the sorry state of the Kings I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t take a little extra time to heal, if you know what I mean. DMC’s not even traveling with the team, which means it’s a good idea to roster …
Derrick Williams – His 22-11 last Wednesday indicated that he would actually be taking advantage of an opportunity for once, but then a 7-11 against Indiana on Friday and a vintage Williams line of 12-7-1 last night against the Nuggets showed he might be about to blow it again. Still, Williams is worth owning for his rebounding ability and the chance he might have a random explosion. And if you can’t get Williams, you should get …
Jason Thompson – Three 10-rebound efforts in his last seven games, and he’s hovering around 8 per in that time frame. He could get to double digits whether Cousins is in there or not, but, like Williams, there’s always a chance he could have a big one in the current situation. It should be said here that Thompson is one of the NBA’s great enigmas.
Rudy Gobert – Gobert Mania runnin’ wild! In a home-and-home against the Timberwolves last week, the gangly Frenchman went for 2-3-2 and 8-6-3. The D-League obviously did this guy some good, or else Tyrone Corbin just decided to use him, or the Jazz have been getting blown out, or all of the above.
Dewayne Dedmon – Earned a second 10-day contract from the 76ers by doing what he was expected to do: Bump people under the rim, stick his long arms in the air, and basically be a 7-footer. I watched him close during Philly’s game with the Raptors last week and he basically did nothing in five minutes. Still think he could do a lil’ somethin’-somethin’ if he can get some minutes.
Zach Randolph – Marc Gasol is back, and that’s great news for the Griz, who are 10-2 in 2014. It’s not-so-great news for fantasy squads containing Randolph, as Zach is back to gettin’ down and dirty and helping the team win however he can. This means, yeah, he’ll post a 20-20 and pile up double-doubles, but he’ll also go single digit in points and/or rebounds and it won’t matter. As much as I love him, I might try and move Randolph while you can.
Anthony Davis – Nevermind that he was playing the Seven Dwarfs – aka the Orlando Magic frontcourt – in Disney World last night. That 22-19-7 says The Brow is back for real yo.
Marcin Gortat – The Polish Hammer, one of our preseason favorites, has had double-doubles in four of his last five games and is averaging 2.5 blocks over his last four.
Kris Humphries – Back to Humphin’ the bench after his nice run as a starter. He’s good for a stream if you need some rebounds with a chance for a block or two, but he should really only be on teams playing in deeper leagues.
Larry Sanders – Gotta hand it to the Colonel. You’ve taken crapping the bed to a new level when you manage to score just one point, stumble into four rebounds and block ZERO shots in 20 minutes of “work,” as he did Saturday in Atlanta. This is about as low as a buy-low can go.
John Henson – Only had seven more minutes than Sanders in the same game and had a 10-10-2. It’s only a matter of time before the Bucks can unload Larry and get Muppet Man his full run.
Pau Gasol – He’s basically a lock for 20-10, or close to it, with a handful of blocks, every single night. The good news is the Lakers are his team are his team until Kobe Bryant gets back.. The bad news is that team stinks on ice.
Derrick Favors – Averaging a beastly 12.4 rpg over his last six, but only 13 ppg and less than a block per. The guy’s no good for you. You gotta end it with him.
Andrew Bogut – 11.2 rpg, 4 bpg, 1 scary bout of knee soreness over his last four games. Feels like an injury, or at least gobs of rest time, is inevitable. Same as Favors above, it feels like it’s time to break up with this bloke, right?
Little Big Man of the Week – John Wall. Sick triple double against Boston last Wednesday – 28-11-10 – and then had six rebounds in a horrible outing on Saturday in Utah. More than 4 rebounds per from a 6-4 point guard who pretty much does it all … just one more reason to love John Wall. I’m coming up for music to this right now.
