LAWRENCE | Kansas sophomore twin forwards Marcus and Markieff Morris were asked the same question: If you were a fan, would you have enjoyed watching yourself play last season?</p><p>&ldquo;Umm &hellip; if I was a fan &hellip; some games,&rdquo; Marcus said.</p><p>&ldquo;Umm &hellip; at times I would,&rdquo; Markieff said.</p><p>You see, the Morris twins are not as oblivious as some might think. They know they were inconsistent as freshmen, and they also know that they didn&rsquo;t endear themselves to their fan base.</p><p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re critical all the time, but that comes along with being a Kansas basketball player,&rdquo; Marcus said. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t use youth as an excuse, like a lot of fans have done for us at Kansas. We came to win; we came to play. Being young is not an excuse.&rdquo;</p><p>Markieff said: &ldquo;I want the fans to be happy. I take whatever they are saying about us and try to take it into consideration and get better every day.&rdquo;</p><p>The Morris twins weren&rsquo;t alone in hearing the criticism. KU coach Bill Self has spent the first month of the 2009-10 season heralding the twins&rsquo; offseason work ethic and offering his view on their up-and-down freshman campaign. </p><p>&ldquo;From a fan&rsquo;s perspective, they could be frustrating at times to watch last year when they were young, because they were inconsistent,&rdquo; Self said. &ldquo;But when Julian (Wright) and Mario (Chalmers) and those guys were inconsistent, we had some other guys. They didn&rsquo;t have to be in there as much. I feel like we kind of expected (the twins) to be beyond their years, when there&rsquo;s a natural thing that has to take place. And it happened with those other guys, and certainly I think it&rsquo;s happening with (the twins) right before our eyes.&rdquo;</p><p>The twins were productive enough alongside center Cole Aldrich last season to help KU to a fifth straight Big 12 title and a trip to the Sweet 16. Marcus played 18.5 minutes per game and averaged 7.4 points and 4.7 rebounds. Markieff played 15.6 minutes per game and averaged 4.6 points and 4.4 rebounds.</p><p>Wright and Darrell Arthur were regarded as better prospects than the Morris twins when they arrived at Kansas. As freshmen, both played more minutes as the season wore on, and their numbers back up Self&rsquo;s observation: Wright played 20.1 minutes per game and averaged 8.5 points and 4.6 rebounds. Arthur played 19 minutes per game and averaged 9.8 points and 4.7 rebounds.</p><p>For the twins, it may have been a simple case of overexposure. They had to play significant minutes from the start, and they had no backups.</p><p> Throw in the fact that they qualified late and therefore missed summer workouts and the exhibition trip to Canada, and they were a step behind from the start. They had to learn the basics in front of 16,300 critics.</p><p>&ldquo;I personally don&rsquo;t think I could have done as well as they did last year my freshman year,&rdquo; Aldrich said. &ldquo;I was fortunate enough to learn behind three really good guys that taught me a bunch of things in practice instead of just throwing me out to the lions.&rdquo;</p><p>The twins look tired just thinking about 2008-09. At this time last season, the 6-foot-8 Marcus was playing at 217 pounds, the 6-foot-9 Markieff at 215. Marcus is now 231, Markieff 235. </p><p>&ldquo;I was running up and down the court during the exhibition game (Tuesday) and was like, &lsquo;Man, I had to stay out here (last year) when I was tired,&rsquo;&ensp;&rdquo; Marcus said. &ldquo;Soon as I got tired (Tuesday), I asked for a blow, and (Markieff) or (Thomas Robinson) came in and got me. Last year, I looked for a blow and coach would look at me like, &lsquo;Nah, you gotta stay out there.&rsquo;&ensp;&rdquo;</p><p>Markieff said he would get so tired last season that he would choose not to dunk to conserve energy. (Yes, he really said that.) On Tuesday in the exhibition win over Fort Hays State, Markieff dunked with authority the first time he touched the ball.</p><p>&ldquo;Last year, we didn&rsquo;t even know if he could dunk,&rdquo; Self joked. &ldquo;He could, but he didn&rsquo;t play very strong. He and Marcus have both improved tremendously in going after the ball.&rdquo;</p><p>Self said Markieff is the Jayhawks&rsquo; most improved returning player. And it&rsquo;s clear that Self plans to use Marcus at the No. 3 position and the No. 4 this season.</p><p> So if you&rsquo;re currently not a fan of the Morris twins, you might want to consider keeping an open mind. </p><p>&ldquo;They are fun to coach,&rdquo; Self said, &ldquo;and I do feel like they were probably a little bit underappreciated last year. They did more than what most freshmen do, but the expectations were high.&rdquo;