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TallDude wrote:

Jiipee84 wrote:

madvillian wrote:
Good. I've been of the mind for awhile that between his national team commitments, his young child and wife, and his level of celebrity in Finland (I'd imagine he's recognized constantly) he needs some time to just relax and lay low and get his mind and body right for the 82 game grind.

Lauri won't play any games in Finland's national team before 2021 Eurobasket tournament starts.
FIBA announced last week qualification round games to 2021 Eurobasket tournament starts next February.
Only Bulls player who's playing national team this season is Tomas Satoransky in FIBA world cup tournament.

True. Why that is not a problem for Bulls fans? I would love to see Lauri and rest of the Team Finland at worlds. It was so close. Well good for Bulls.

PR and fanwise yes, but Lauri hasn't shown he is a durable player. For him, less is more during the offseason.

I am still not convinced he trains the right way in the offseason. I definitely think he is a hard worker, but I think he power lifts too much and flexibility/agility/endurance trains too little (I'm not sure what his mix is, but I only see lifting on social media).

sco wrote:

TallDude wrote:

Jiipee84 wrote:
Lauri won't play any games in Finland's national team before 2021 Eurobasket tournament starts.
FIBA announced last week qualification round games to 2021 Eurobasket tournament starts next February.
Only Bulls player who's playing national team this season is Tomas Satoransky in FIBA world cup tournament.

True. Why that is not a problem for Bulls fans? I would love to see Lauri and rest of the Team Finland at worlds. It was so close. Well good for Bulls.

PR and fanwise yes, but Lauri hasn't shown he is a durable player. For him, less is more during the offseason.

I am still not convinced he trains the right way in the offseason. I definitely think he is a hard worker, but I think he power lifts too much and flexibility/agility/endurance trains too little (I'm not sure what his mix is, but I only see lifting on social media).

Hard to say. Last year was kinda a freak accident imho. He might be like me and go too heavy (messed up both rotator cuffs being young and dumb) but I woukd think he has to have someone giving him better advice than I got.

Butler4thewin wrote:

Mk0 wrote:

PaKii94 wrote:From his QA he said he wears 24 after Kobe. Random fun fact

You mispelled Brian Scalabrine

You missed spelled Michael Jordan

You mist pelt Harold Miner

Finnish Yle has a story about Markkanen today: https://yle.fi/urheilu/3-10913993 (in finnish).


The headline reads "Lauri Markkanen is tired of losing in NBA, has has set tough goals: "I'll be disappointed if this doesn't work out"

He wants the Bulls to be a playoff team, and to be a superstar.

Since the end of the season he's spent time in Finland, the first four weeks away from basketball. (I happen to know what Markkanen was up to through friends. He told a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago that he hasn't had much basketball activity. Another guy I know works at a gym that has a basketball court, and said Markkanen had been there for a few hours every day shooting the basketball. I guess that's "away from basketball" for him...)

- I have concentrated on developing my body. Althought I have spent a lot of time hitting the weights, I'm not aiming at gaining mass. I've also been shooting a lot, to become more consistent, every shot should be the same. I've been working on improving my ballhandling too, Markkanen says.

He has been healthy the whole time.

Markkanen is aware of the expecations on him as a key piece in the Bulls' rebuild.

- The pressure is always there, but it's a good feeling. I play my best under pressure. It's an unbelievable feeling. The person putting the most pressure on me is myself. I'm aiming at being the best version of myself, I give everything in the practices and on the court, and outside the court I try to do things as well as possible. Leave no ifs.

His presonal goal is making it to the All Star -game.

- It's been my goal for a long time. If I don't make it in this year, I'll be disappointed in myself. There's a bit of extra motivation for the season there. But team comes first. The only way in to the All Star team is to win, and winning is a team effort. I'm tired of losing, we've lost enough. You never get used to losing, and you shouldn't either.

Markkanen has been somewhat inconsistent, and he is aware of that.

- It's one of the greatest challenges of NBA, how to keep a high level of game night in, night out. I have been working on how to keep the same standard of quality every day, both mentally and physically. NBA has the best players in the world, you just can't give any handicap.

The goal of the team, according to Markkanen, is to make it to the playoffs.

Axolotl wrote:Finnish Yle has a story about Markkanen today: https://yle.fi/urheilu/3-10913993 (in finnish).


The headline reads "Lauri Markkanen is tired of losing in NBA, has has set tough goals: "I'll be disappointed if this doesn't work out"

He wants the Bulls to be a playoff team, and to be a superstar.

Since the end of the season he's spent time in Finland, the first four weeks away from basketball. (I happen to know what Markkanen was up to through friends. He told a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago that he hasn't had much basketball activity. Another guy I know works at a gym that has a basketball court, and said Markkanen had been there for a few hours every day shooting the basketball. I guess that's "away from basketball" for him...)

- I have concentrated on developing my body. Althought I have spent a lot of time hitting the weights, I'm not aiming at gaining mass. I've also been shooting a lot, to become more consistent, every shot should be the same. I've been working on improving my ballhandling too, Markkanen says.

He has been healthy the whole time.

Markkanen is aware of the expecations on him as a key piece in the Bulls' rebuild.

- The pressure is always there, but it's a good feeling. I play my best under pressure. It's an unbelievable feeling. The person putting the most pressure on me is myself. I'm aiming at being the best version of myself, I give everything in the practices and on the court, and outside the court I try to do things as well as possible. Leave no ifs.

His presonal goal is making it to the All Star -game.

- It's been my goal for a long time. If I don't make it in this year, I'll be disappointed in myself. There's a bit of extra motivation for the season there. But team comes first. The only way in to the All Star team is to win, and winning is a team effort. I'm tired of losing, we've lost enough. You never get used to losing, and you shouldn't either.

Markkanen has been somewhat inconsistent, and he is aware of that.

- It's one of the greatest challenges of NBA, how to keep a high level of game night in, night out. I have been working on how to keep the same standard of quality every day, both mentally and physically. NBA has the best players in the world, you just can't give any handicap.

The goal of the team, according to Markkanen, is to make it to the playoffs.

Good to know he's lifting for strength and not size. Hopefully he is over his elbow injury. I want his shot to be consistent.

He's saying the right things but now he has to consistently show it on the court. Year 3 is where players usually blow up. I'm expecting big things from him.

Axolotl wrote:Finnish Yle has a story about Markkanen today: https://yle.fi/urheilu/3-10913993 (in finnish).


The headline reads "Lauri Markkanen is tired of losing in NBA, has has set tough goals: "I'll be disappointed if this doesn't work out"

He wants the Bulls to be a playoff team, and to be a superstar.

Since the end of the season he's spent time in Finland, the first four weeks away from basketball. (I happen to know what Markkanen was up to through friends. He told a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago that he hasn't had much basketball activity. Another guy I know works at a gym that has a basketball court, and said Markkanen had been there for a few hours every day shooting the basketball. I guess that's "away from basketball" for him...)

- I have concentrated on developing my body. Althought I have spent a lot of time hitting the weights, I'm not aiming at gaining mass. I've also been shooting a lot, to become more consistent, every shot should be the same. I've been working on improving my ballhandling too, Markkanen says.

He has been healthy the whole time.

Markkanen is aware of the expecations on him as a key piece in the Bulls' rebuild.

- The pressure is always there, but it's a good feeling. I play my best under pressure. It's an unbelievable feeling. The person putting the most pressure on me is myself. I'm aiming at being the best version of myself, I give everything in the practices and on the court, and outside the court I try to do things as well as possible. Leave no ifs.

His presonal goal is making it to the All Star -game.

- It's been my goal for a long time. If I don't make it in this year, I'll be disappointed in myself. There's a bit of extra motivation for the season there. But team comes first. The only way in to the All Star team is to win, and winning is a team effort. I'm tired of losing, we've lost enough. You never get used to losing, and you shouldn't either.

Markkanen has been somewhat inconsistent, and he is aware of that.

- It's one of the greatest challenges of NBA, how to keep a high level of game night in, night out. I have been working on how to keep the same standard of quality every day, both mentally and physically. NBA has the best players in the world, you just can't give any handicap.

The goal of the team, according to Markkanen, is to make it to the playoffs.

Axolotl, thanks!!! I really appreciate your translation and additional color!

March Lauri for a whole season.

A couple more things from the article.

Coach Jim Boylen again visited Lauri in Finland this summer at the end of July, so third summer in row coach Boylen visited Finland. According to the article this time they didn't talk about basketball that much (though they had one practice together), but of other things (no mentioning of what the other things were).

After leaving Finland coach Boylen flew to Czech Republic, and visited Tomas Satoransky in Prague as he was preparing with Team Czech for the FIBA World Cup.

MeloRoseNoah wrote:March Lauri for a whole season.

You mean feb

PaKii94 wrote:

MeloRoseNoah wrote:March Lauri for a whole season.

You mean feb

March Lauri would mean 15 wins this year at best

A doubted Lauri is a good Lauri. Hope this kid never stops proving us wrong. This year I think he shows off that IT factor and proves he’s miles ahead of his peers who always take all the glory.

I've mentioned it various other threads, but if the Bulls aren't able to untap Lauri full potential, it will likely happen on another team whether because Lauri doesn't want to be here anymore, or the Bulls feel they need to move on from him.

I guess I've seen enough glimpses in his game that I'm confident he can be a very special player in this league, perhaps even a top 15 calibre player, but as a big man, with the lack of consistent point guard, or an offense built around him, he could potentially need to go to another team willing to build around him to take that extra step.

I'm hoping it doesn't come down to it, but we've seen it with AD recently, and other players in the past, but losing gets to players, especially the best playeres, and if the Bulls don't show more gradual improvements, it's not going to matter whether we continue to draft well, or sign decent players, we aren't going to be able to retain the better players because the team sucks.

kulaz3000 wrote:I've mentioned it various other threads, but if the Bulls aren't able to untap Lauri full potential, it will likely happen on another team whether because Lauri doesn't want to be here anymore, or the Bulls feel they need to move on from him.

I guess I've seen enough glimpses in his game that I'm confident he can be a very special player in this league, perhaps even a top 15 calibre player, but as a big man, with the lack of consistent point guard, or an offense built around him, he could potentially need to go to another team willing to build around him to take that extra step.

I'm hoping it doesn't come down to it, but we've seen it with AD recently, and other players in the past, but losing gets to players, especially the best playeres, and if the Bulls don't show more gradual improvements, it's not going to matter whether we continue to draft well, or sign decent players, we aren't going to be able to retain the better players because the team sucks.

That's why I'm really happy with getting Sato. Lauri will finally get to eat. Also I think the plan was to feature Lauri last year but that was thrown out due to his elbow injury.

February in my eyes was a beta run for this season but without a competent PG and no bench. We upgraded both of those

PaKii94 wrote:

kulaz3000 wrote:I've mentioned it various other threads, but if the Bulls aren't able to untap Lauri full potential, it will likely happen on another team whether because Lauri doesn't want to be here anymore, or the Bulls feel they need to move on from him.

I guess I've seen enough glimpses in his game that I'm confident he can be a very special player in this league, perhaps even a top 15 calibre player, but as a big man, with the lack of consistent point guard, or an offense built around him, he could potentially need to go to another team willing to build around him to take that extra step.

I'm hoping it doesn't come down to it, but we've seen it with AD recently, and other players in the past, but losing gets to players, especially the best playeres, and if the Bulls don't show more gradual improvements, it's not going to matter whether we continue to draft well, or sign decent players, we aren't going to be able to retain the better players because the team sucks.

That's why I'm really happy with getting Sato. Lauri will finally get to eat. Also I think the plan was to feature Lauri last year but that was thrown out due to his elbow injury.

February in my eyes was a beta run for this season but without a competent PG and no bench. We upgraded both of those

Even with Sato though, I think we need further upgrades at point guard spot and I believe Bulls are aware of this. Besides Zach who can create his own shots, the other players need help getting the ball in their hands, especially Lauri and WCJ.

Sato is a good start, but we really need a point guard who knows the importance of feeding the ball around, making the right places, and understanding when to feed the hot hand. Simple traits you would think most players would know how to do, but when scoring is such a preimium for young guards these days, it's a forgotten aspects of the game unfortunately, but an important aspect to the Bulls team with not many playmakers.

kulaz3000 wrote:I've mentioned it various other threads, but if the Bulls aren't able to untap Lauri full potential, it will likely happen on another team whether because Lauri doesn't want to be here anymore, or the Bulls feel they need to move on from him.

I guess I've seen enough glimpses in his game that I'm confident he can be a very special player in this league, perhaps even a top 15 calibre player, but as a big man, with the lack of consistent point guard, or an offense built around him, he could potentially need to go to another team willing to build around him to take that extra step.

I'm hoping it doesn't come down to it, but we've seen it with AD recently, and other players in the past, but losing gets to players, especially the best playeres, and if the Bulls don't show more gradual improvements, it's not going to matter whether we continue to draft well, or sign decent players, we aren't going to be able to retain the better players because the team sucks.

Yes the key for Lauri's success is very good or elite NBA PG.
But lets see first how Satoransky, LaVine, Porter and Lauri play together before making any further conclusions.
If things won't work in the Bulls and Lauri and his agent begin to consider other NBA teams then it's of course better let Lauri go.

As i said lets see this season ( 2019-2020 ) first and if changes are needed then GarPax should do those next off season.
By the way Lauri comes eligible for rookie extension next summer and if Bulls decides let him go why resign him then.
This season will be a factor to Lauri and Bulls.

kulaz3000 wrote:

PaKii94 wrote:

kulaz3000 wrote:I've mentioned it various other threads, but if the Bulls aren't able to untap Lauri full potential, it will likely happen on another team whether because Lauri doesn't want to be here anymore, or the Bulls feel they need to move on from him.

I guess I've seen enough glimpses in his game that I'm confident he can be a very special player in this league, perhaps even a top 15 calibre player, but as a big man, with the lack of consistent point guard, or an offense built around him, he could potentially need to go to another team willing to build around him to take that extra step.

I'm hoping it doesn't come down to it, but we've seen it with AD recently, and other players in the past, but losing gets to players, especially the best playeres, and if the Bulls don't show more gradual improvements, it's not going to matter whether we continue to draft well, or sign decent players, we aren't going to be able to retain the better players because the team sucks.

That's why I'm really happy with getting Sato. Lauri will finally get to eat. Also I think the plan was to feature Lauri last year but that was thrown out due to his elbow injury.

February in my eyes was a beta run for this season but without a competent PG and no bench. We upgraded both of those

Even with Sato though, I think we need further upgrades at point guard spot and I believe Bulls are aware of this. Besides Zach who can create his own shots, the other players need help getting the ball in their hands, especially Lauri and WCJ.

Sato is a good start, but we really need a point guard who knows the importance of feeding the ball around, making the right places, and understanding when to feed the hot hand. Simple traits you would think most players would know how to do, but when scoring is such a preimium for young guards these days, it's a forgotten aspects of the game unfortunately, but an important aspect to the Bulls team with not many playmakers.

I read some fantasy speculation was it windycity.com or pippenainteasy.com ( i don't remember exactly ) Bulls are planning something big from 2021 NBA free-agency and if they won't resign Lauri next summer GarPax needs to at least assure to Lauri that Bulls are coming out of 2021 NBA free-agency with star free-agent.

But who that star free-agent is, is it Giannis Antetokounmpo or some one else like Bradley Beal.
Only obstacle to get Giannis to Bulls is that Milwaukee Bucks is ready to pay over 200 million USD to Giannis so he won't probably even see 2021 free-agency.

But how's Beal is he good or elite playmaker or is he more like LaVine ( ball dominant scorer ).
2021 free agency will be interesting because Tatum, Mitchell, and other players from 2017 draft class are all RFA's so Lauri isn't only. But how's PG free agent market in 2021 is there any star level PG's available.

Lauri´s stats are actually bit better than Giannis at his age. This season Lauri should play 36mpg and make 22,9ppg, 8,8rpg and a lot more assists than he does now to keep that pace. Lauri is better 3pt shooter easily. Hopefully this is Lauri´s and Bulls year to shine first time. This is a year that i have some hope finally. Both Bulls and Markkanen. Biggest thing is that Lauri have that shooting touch back. He has been training strenght so much that it effect his shooting %. I think he will be that 22/10 with good % this year. Most of all i want him to be a bit more selfish but still a team player. Well let´s wait and see If Lauri hit 3´s 40% or more (as he should be now) he will make more than 22ppg.

I don't think the Bulls could do more than this roster to give Lauri a chance to shine. He and Zach are the only high-volume shooters in the starting line-up...and Zach isn't too ball dominant, but commands a lot of defensive attention. Sato and Otto will keep floor space. WCJ is a great passer and is enough of an offensive threat to not cheat off of.

kulaz3000 wrote:I've mentioned it various other threads, but if the Bulls aren't able to untap Lauri full potential, it will likely happen on another team whether because Lauri doesn't want to be here anymore, or the Bulls feel they need to move on from him.

I guess I've seen enough glimpses in his game that I'm confident he can be a very special player in this league, perhaps even a top 15 calibre player, but as a big man, with the lack of consistent point guard, or an offense built around him, he could potentially need to go to another team willing to build around him to take that extra step.

Indeed, I could see him doing a Porzingis if we don't reach playoff in the next 2 seasons or if Bulls try to lowball him during extensions talk.

Ferulci wrote:

kulaz3000 wrote:I've mentioned it various other threads, but if the Bulls aren't able to untap Lauri full potential, it will likely happen on another team whether because Lauri doesn't want to be here anymore, or the Bulls feel they need to move on from him.

I guess I've seen enough glimpses in his game that I'm confident he can be a very special player in this league, perhaps even a top 15 calibre player, but as a big man, with the lack of consistent point guard, or an offense built around him, he could potentially need to go to another team willing to build around him to take that extra step.

Indeed, I could see him doing a Porzingis if we don't reach playoff in the next 2 seasons or if Bulls try to lowball him during extensions talk.

This season is absolutely a factor to Bulls and Lauri.
There really is a chance Lauri really does like Porzingis if it starts look like Bulls isn't going nowhere as a team.
But it's not only up to Lauri and other players it's also up to coaches especially Boylen.