Personality and Technicals
Chriss’ pentiant for complaining has become somewhat legendary within the Valley of the Suns, the one thing that fans of the franchise and Chriss himself have complained about more than anything else involving this team.
And rightly so. A player of Chriss’ athletic ability that cannot stay on the court because he cannot keep focused is absolutely maddening. Like a starting pitcher that cannot get out of the fifth inning, being able to only count on a player for short period of time before they break down, can only last in a rotation, and on roster, for so long.
Phoenix Suns
Yet Chriss appears to be turning the corner in this regard, most specifically not racking up the technical fouls that he had been so prolific at receiving in the past. He too seems to not be allowing those personal fouls called against him with which he disagrees, that in the past would cause him to lose focus and thus mentally take himself out of a game forcing the coaching staff to physically do so.
There is no doubt in my mind that those thoughts, emotions, and natural reactions, will all slowly creep back up and bubble over from time to time. The currently somewhat somber Marquese Chriss cannot last.
But let’s not think that this is necessarily a bad thing.
I have often compared Marquese Chriss to Charles Barkley in this regard: he has a natural, competitive fire, to him that is unquenchable.
What separates the two is that Barkley was one of the greatest players to ever play the game, and he became this way, in part, because he used his natural fire and aggressiveness to dominate others around him. Barkley would only lose his cool to the point of detriment on more limited occasions, and rarely in situations when it would truly hurt the team.
Sure, in a way Barkley competed against the referees as well as his opponents, but he took it as a challenge to compete (and win) playing five on eight, rather than attempt to compete to the three zebras, ignoring the five true opponents o the opposing team.
Who knows what Chriss’ ceiling is and how close to Barkley he can actually ever become. But the one thing he should absolutely take away from Barkley’s game is the way he harnessed this energy and competitive fire for good, and how Chriss can actually emulate this and use it to make him better, and not allow the fire to absorb him in a way that hurts his team.