Is Kieff dogging it?

[lilfishi22]

Marcus Morris has been playing great for us so far. Hopefully there's still some way we can get Kieff on our team too.

You can't put a price on "twin synergy"

*cough* Stanley Johnson *cough*

[Moochthemonkey]

The media just get fed those things by agents. Its just part of the song and dance that agents and teams play with each other. At no point was it ever going to happen.

Yes, the Spurs were the more immediately obvious, appealing choice for Aldridge but all the same no one knows what is going inside LMA's head except himself so don't try to play Nostradamus in hindsight and act like you objectively know his motives. The Suns met with Aldridge on July 1st, the same day the Spurs traded Tiago Splitter to make cap room for Aldridge. Before that, it is not a sure thing the Spurs would have been able to create cap-space.

[LukasBMW]

Keef hasn't been terrible, but I think it is still obvious that he wants out.

He doesn't look happy and he isn't playing with full effort. It really looks like he is going "preseason" speed.

After all the things he said in the off season, isn't it obvious?

We promised him a trade by the deadline and told him to show up and put the numbers up. That's exactly what he's doing. No more. No less.

Meanwhile, Marcus is on a tear.

It's really a shame that these guys play at an average or elite level based only on effort. That kind of attitude doesn't win rings though.

Get him out of here, but trade him to the eastern conference so he doesn't torch us.

[JacobHoward]

Keef hasn't been terrible, but I think it is still obvious that he wants out.

He doesn't look happy and he isn't playing with full effort. It really looks like he is going "preseason" speed.

After all the things he said in the off season, isn't it obvious?

We promised him a trade by the deadline and told him to show up and put the numbers up. That's exactly what he's doing. No more. No less.

Meanwhile, Marcus is on a tear.

It's really a shame that these guys play at an average or elite level based only on effort. That kind of attitude doesn't win rings though.

Get him out of here, but trade him to the eastern conference so he doesn't torch us.

The Suns never promised to trade him. In fact, there were actually reports during training camp that the Suns were refusing to trade him.

The Suns did post a video on YouTube a week or two ago where Hornacek talked to Tom Chambers. In the video, Horny mentioned the team was having a bad practice (the guys were tired and they were giving poor effort) and he said Keef was the first person to speak up about their poor effort. IMO, that's not something Keef is going to care about if he doesn't want to be in Phoenix.

I haven't caught a game yet, so I can't speak on how he's been on the court, but from what I've heard, he's had some very cold stretches, but he's also gotten warm a couple of times. I've also noticed his rebounding numbers are better despite playing alongside Chandler.

Personally, I'm of the belief the Suns will keep him whether he likes it or not.


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[Mulhollanddrive]

I'd say shooting 32% from 15 FGA a game is terrible, regardless of who it is.

I'd also say it's nearly impossible for Markieff to put up good numbers with his mindset the way it is, so this is going to come to a head sooner than later, all it will take is a few losses and he'll be Goodwin'd.

[bwgood77]

New poll added

[NTB]

I don't think he is dogging it. But there is definitely something that bothers Kieff and he is not forcing it. He doesn't concentrate. Maybe he is thinking about Marcus who doesn't care Markieff and just plays his game. If Hornacek knows that Markieff doesn't want to play here and won't play like himself, then he should bench him if Markieff doesn't help the team.

[Saberestar]

I think he is playing like last year, not better no worse. He is shooting a low percentage, but he will go better with more and more games. This year he is gonna shot more threes so probably he is adapting his game.

[bwgood77]

It's funny, just looking at his shooting %s so far this year, and so far he is shooting 35.3% from 3 and 31.1% from 2. That's interesting, especially considering many were saying he needs to stop shooting 3s last night. He'd need to shoot over 53% from 2 to justify that being a better shot than shooting 3s at a 35.3% clip.

[RunDogGun]

It's funny, just looking at his shooting %s so far this year, and so far he is shooting 35.3% from 3 and 31.1% from 2. That's interesting, especially considering many were saying he needs to stop shooting 3s last night. He'd need to shoot over 53% from 2 to justify that being a better shot than shooting 3s at a 35.3% clip.

I don't remember anyone saying he should shoot threes, just that he should stop shooting in general. He did pick things up in the second half, but missed key free throws and shots down the stretch. I questioned whether he is dogging things, because he is merely jogging out there.

He went 1-11 in the first half, and 6-11 in the second. But his shooting isn't all that worries me, he just looks to be putting in minimum effort.

[phnart]

I keep wondering the same thing...is he dogging it? Then I ask myself, "Is that what I want to see?" It's easy to go negative when it comes to either Morris and for awhile now, I've hoped they would trade him, but when it comes right down to it, I don't think he's dogging it. I'd like to see him dog it, sadly, because it validates the harsh feelings I've built up for him with all his bone headed antics, but do I want to see him dog it so much I'm going to mistake him coming off a hip injury in training camp and still getting his legs underneath him.

I think Morris is a part of a bigger problem...the players on the Suns with a sense of urgency are in the minority on this team, at least from my point of view watching on TV so far. Which guard is going to lead the team? Bledsoe seems to have the skills (although Knight has a better shot) but Knight has the shot, but plays too timid (which could also be a lack of physical strength for this league). Bledsoe is just not a leader, though, and doesn't seem to want to put the team on his back for any extended period of time. They don't have THE guy, unfortunately, who can do that...and it certainly isn't coming from Hornacek either.

[lilfishi22]

I have a hard time thinking he's packing it in already at this point in the season. We're competitive (aside from the 1st game against Mavs) in the few games we've played so far this season and I think Keff is just going through a rut. I think it's especially hard to consider that narrative just from looking at his his subpar offensive output so far.

[batsmasher]

Lol. This is Kieff we're talking about. He has no consistency to his effort at all. Exactly the same as last year.

I think he just needs a bit of a confidence boost to get him back on track. Once he gets his post game going again he'll probably start trying a bit more overall.

[RaisingArizona]

No, he's not. I think the 2nd half of last nights game should disprove the notion that he's half-assing it. Some night shots just aren't going to go in.

[RunDogGun]

No, he's not. I think the 2nd half of last nights game should disprove the notion that he's half-assing it. Some night shots just aren't going to go in.

I don't think it disproves much, in fact it seems to prove it more. He clearly has more gears that he just isn't showing. He was barely jogging in the first half last night, and then he was jogging in the second. There was never a sprint at all. He was pretty horrible on defense, and finally he he missed some easy shots down the stretch when he started to shoot better. Honestly, he is playing like he just doesn't want to be here.

[Revived]

No, he's not. I think the 2nd half of last nights game should disprove the notion that he's half-assing it. Some night shots just aren't going to go in.

Not really it means he's half assing it for half of games. That doesn't make it ok.

Anyone who watched yesterday's game could see he did play with much effort in the first half. I almost thought he was nursing any injury or something until I checked Coro's Twitter and realized no he's not.

[bwgood77]

No, he's not. I think the 2nd half of last nights game should disprove the notion that he's half-assing it. Some night shots just aren't going to go in.

Not really it means he's half assing it for half of games. That doesn't make it ok.

Anyone who watched yesterday's game could see he did play with much effort in the first half. I almost thought he was nursing any injury or something until I checked Coro's Twitter and realized no he's not.

I think he played like he always does, but his shots just were not falling. He has never been the type of guy that exerts all energy diving for balls or scrambling on D.

[RaisingArizona]

No, he's not. I think the 2nd half of last nights game should disprove the notion that he's half-assing it. Some night shots just aren't going to go in.

Not really it means he's half assing it for half of games. That doesn't make it ok.

Anyone who watched yesterday's game could see he did play with much effort in the first half. I almost thought he was nursing any injury or something until I checked Coro's Twitter and realized no he's not.

I think he played like he always does, but his shots just were not falling. He has never been the type of guy that exerts all energy diving for balls or scrambling on D.

This. My point about the 2nd half was that he didn't mail it in which is easy to do when it's clearly not been your night.

[kennydorglas]

He's dogging it...
I just want this **** to end.

[RunDogGun]

Not really it means he's half assing it for half of games. That doesn't make it ok.

Anyone who watched yesterday's game could see he did play with much effort in the first half. I almost thought he was nursing any injury or something until I checked Coro's Twitter and realized no he's not.

I think he played like he always does, but his shots just were not falling. He has never been the type of guy that exerts all energy diving for balls or scrambling on D.

This. My point about the 2nd half was that he didn't mail it in which is easy to do when it's clearly not been your night.

What choice did he have? He went from a very slow jog, to a jog. The effort was still very low. What it looked like to me is he went from being super depressed and uninterested to a oh crap, I have to at least make it look like I'm trying or coach is going to bench me. He made more shots in the second half, and put a little more effort, but it was almost non existent everywhere in the first. His defense was horrible in the first half. He left Blake wide open on many plays, and never sprinted back on defense, even if his man was the one who did. We must have had about seven mouse in the house switches for him, and took advantage of none of them. He was sufficiently guarded by Chris Paul, and often couldn't even establish good position to get the inbound pass. Could not seal his man. It was pathetic.

Ok, enough about Keiff. If he doesn't step up his game, then we need to either bench him or trade him. I'd rather see PJ and TJ in the forward positions. At least they try.