Something has happened to Marquese Chriss. He had been, up until a few games ago, been playing like total unadulterated booty. Like, I was seriously wondering what was going on with him because of how bad he was sucking. Not just kind of passively noticing like I usually do. This really concerned me. Was he on drugs? Was he pouting because of transgressions perpetrated on him by haters? Was he fat?
I think it was that last one. Coming into the season out of shape is a common occurrence around the league, and it often leads to assitude, mostly in the form of stupid fouls because you’re too slow to adequately contest shots. Or, in Chriss’ case, because you jump for EVERY SINGLE pumpfake that is presented to you.
So, he sucked, and now he’s getting a little better. No more concession-stand goodies during the quarter breaks. More rebounds, some threes. Fouls are still a problem, but will they ever not be for him? In any case, he asserted his will in this one, especially with a super-clutch block on a game-winning lob attempt with 6 seconds left. I actually should’ve gone with the Hawks announcers on that one; they were freaking out hard. Way harder than they should’ve been considering it was their dude who got stuffed at the rim.