Whenever a struggling player begins to play better his team must ask the question, can it last? The Phoenix Suns face that question with Marquese Chriss.
For most of this season, there has been a negative stigma surrounding Phoenix Suns power forward Marquese Chriss. Chriss has played unmotivated and out of shape this season, which are the main reasons why his stats have dropped this season. Recently Chriss has played much better, which happens to coincided with the absence of injured star Devin Booker. Chriss’ uptick in stats isn’t just a consequence of Booker’s injury, but it’s also because Chriss is in better condition.
It appears now the reason why Chriss started out the season slow was because of his conditioning. The good news is that according the Chriss, he’s in the same shape now that he was during his first season. Any basketball player knows that anytime a player is out of shape they won’t play as hard. This explains a lot behind Chriss’ down season.
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Now that Chriss is back in shape, fans are starting to see the results of an healthy and more experienced Chriss during Booker’s recover. In the two games since Booker’s been gone, Chriss has averaged 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 0.5 blocks and 1.0 steal, while shooting 58.8 percent from the floor and 50.0 percent from the 3-point line. His point and rebound totals during this span are almost identical to his college stats. The other games that Booker did play in during the month of December Chriss’ averages were much lower. In those three games with Booker, Chriss averaged 3.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.6 blocks and 0.3 steals. His shooting was down during this stretch as well, he shot 37.5 percent from the field and 25.0 percent from behind the arc.
Booker’s absence has shown to give Chriss an added boost. In the past two game since Booker has been out of the lineup, Chriss has scored in double digits consecutively for the first time this season. Naturally, Chriss has been more relied upon now that Booker’s out of the rotation and that should give him a much needed confidence boost. His confidence and energy can been seen in highlights of the two games without Booker.
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The combination of Devin Booker’s injury and Marquese Chriss’ better fitness has helped Chriss play to his draft level status. Chriss’ better conditioning would lead to the belief that once Booker does return to action, Chriss should be able to maintain a high level of play. As long as Chriss remains physically fit and confident, the Phoenix Suns should continue to see him develop this season.