So where in the heck did that come from, Markieff Morris?
The Kansas Jayhawks big man went from zero to hero in the span of six days. On Monday, KU basketball was shocked in an upset loss to the Kansas State Wildcats. In that game, Morris had just three points and zero rebounds in 20 minutes. It was a frustrating game just watching him because you know he's capable of so much more.
Fast forward six days and you've got a good example of what Morris is capable of. On Saturday against the Colorado Buffaloes, Morris responded with 26 points and a whopping 15 rebounds. He simply owned the boards (and when he didn't, his brother, Marcus, did).
Here's what a few people had to say about Markieff in practice this week:
Bill Self: "He's been our best player in practice this week and certainly he played like that today."
Marcus Morris: "I could tell that he was going to play well based on the way that he was practicing. He was totally dominating in practice and was dunking everything around the rim. Like coach said, practice refers to the game and that's exactly how he played. He dominated in practice, and he dominated in the game."
Markieff Morris: "I think that as a team we had something to prove this game. It was embarrassing losing to Kansas State, and we do not want to do that again. We just got to get better and I guess it starts with me."
Brady Morningstar said the day after the Kansas State game it was "intense" around the team. Obviously Markieff took some of that intensity and applied it to practice. If the Jayhawks have the Morris brothers playing like this, it's hard to see many teams beating them.
Check out Rock Chalk Talk for more on the game.