Markieff Morris stands by his criticism of Suns home crowds

MIAMI – Markieff Morris did not back off his criticism of Suns home crowds despite a backlash for his comments.

"You could say it was bad timing because we lost but these are my feelings toward the fans," Morris said after his Suns team's Monday shootaround in Miami. "I'm passionate about winning. You could say it was bad timing because we got beat bad (101-74 to San Antonio) but we still felt like that.

"As a team, like I told you, I'm not just speaking for myself. I'm speaking for me and my teammates that we all feel the same way. Like I said, you have your genuine fans. I'm not talking to those guys. They know who they are."

After Saturday night's loss, his twin teammate, Marcus, also said the sell-out crowd was not energetic and it felt like there were more Spurs fans than Suns fans. In that game, the Suns set a franchise record for fewest points scored in a half, 24 in the first half, and matched their largest margin of defeat this season.

Markieff noted that it was not just about Saturday's crowd, expressing frustration that Suns crowds pale in comparison to crowds on the road and that Suns fans do not stand or react when players try to prompt them to make noise.

The twins' Saturday comments,which are sentiments shared by teammates, drew media and social media criticism with some fan backing.

"I don't think we have a home-court advantage," Markieff said Saturday night. "It does not feel like a home-court advantage at all. Some games are going to be bad. You can't win every game. That comes along with sports. Nobody wins games. We need the support. We need, as a team, to know that our fans are going to be behind us and I don't feel like this year they're behind us enough."

Suns coach Jeff Hornacek had a translation for the Morrises' critique.

"It's tough," Hornacek said. "What these guys want, and it goes both ways, is they have to put in the effort. I think they're looking for the night that they don't have any gas, that they maybe they can get a lift from the crowd and that's what I think Markieff was looking at."