Marquese “Mar-kweezy” Chriss put up some uninspiring statlines in the first three games of the season: 2/1, 5/6, and 7/1. But game one of the Jay Triano era saw him do considerably better with nineteen points, six rebounds, three blocks, and six personal fouls. Did this improvement occur because the Suns now have some semblance of good coaching, or because he was allowed to play bigger minutes despite his fouling woes, or because he just needed some time to get used to the NBA again? Or am I looking too much into it and he simply did well because the Kings’ defense isn’t very good?
The good thing about the NBA is they play 82 games in rapid succession, so I’ll know pretty soon whether Chriss is able to keep this up or if this is just a one-game anomaly before he goes back to regressing. Personally I hope he keeps bombing threes and converting on sick dunks because when he’s playing well, he’s basically a one-man highlight factory with chubby cheeks and a facial expression that looks to be perpetually near tears. If he does keep regressing, that probably means there’s more Jared Dudley in the Suns’ future, and Jared Dudley is about as far away from being a one-man highlight factory as you can get.