Phoenix Suns: Marquese Chriss’ future is on defense
Phoenix Suns fans may not like that Marquese Chriss is not a legit offensive threat yet, but on defense he is making strides.
It’s no secret that the Phoenix Suns are the worst defensive team in the NBA allowing 116.2 points per game. Beyond a handful of players actually having some semblance of defensive skills, the Suns roster really doesn’t have any good defensive players. Except for a well passed his prime Tyson Chandler, who really has lost a step on defense while in Phoenix. However, not all hope is lost on defense for the Suns. Power forward Marquese Chriss is showing signs of developing into a very good defensive player.
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Make no mistake, Chriss is still far away from being a consistent defender. Part of that is due to the fact that he has less than two seasons of experience under his belt. The other more alarming thing is the lack of consistent effort. It appears that interim head coach Jay Triano is slowly making headway in that department of Chriss’ game. Don’t let Chriss’ inconsistency fool you, he has all the tools to be an very good defender. In the Suns’ win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Chriss showed what he could possibly become defensively. Here is all five blocks he had in that contest.
Chriss blocked the three best players on the Timberwolves roster, which is pretty impressive.
Futher evidence of Chriss’ defensive skills can be seen in his stats. Chriss increased his blocks average from his rookie to sophomore season from 0.9 to 1.3 per game. Beyond that advanced stats show that Chriss has increased his defensive box plus/minus (DBPM) score from zero to 1.6 from his first to second season. Chriss’ 1.6 DBPM ranks second on the whole roster with only Derrick Jones Jr. ranking higher. Jones Jr. has only appeared in five games, so his numbers may not be a fair representation to players that see minutes regularly. With that in mind, Chriss has the best DBPM of players that are in the regular rotation.
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Chriss is making strides to become a very good defender for the Phoenix Suns. If Chriss can work on his consistency and effort, the Suns should be happy with how he develops.