Markkanen 43/9/3 vs Croatia

[Dez]

He'll be back to his usual disappointing play when the season starts.

That's the consensus it seems. But the Cavs fans saw a little something the Bulls fans didn't get to see because the Cavs used him differently. Did you know he was 2nd in the NBA last year in efficiency within 15 feet of the rim behind Embiid? Did you know he was part of a starting line-up that when healthy was the 2nd ranked defense in the NBA?

The Bulls asked him to be the man in middle, a dominating force, and he failed. The Cavs asked him to be a perimeter help defender and only take the shots if he had an advantage, and he exceeded everyone's expectations as a tall-ball SF.

Just saying the situation matters, more than most give credit for.

The Bulls asked him to be nothing of the sort.

Outside of his promising rookie season he did not improve his game and that had nothing to do with the Bulls.

Also this talk about him being good as a SF is quite humorous, he wasn't good and if they didn't have Mobley or Allen in the paint on clean-up duty then you'd see that.

[Nuntius]

Outside of his promising rookie season he did not improve his game and that had nothing to do with the Bulls.

Wasn't Markkanen's sophomore season better than his rookie season?

[PaKii94]

He'll be back to his usual disappointing play when the season starts.

That's the consensus it seems. But the Cavs fans saw a little something the Bulls fans didn't get to see because the Cavs used him differently. Did you know he was 2nd in the NBA last year in efficiency within 15 feet of the rim behind Embiid? Did you know he was part of a starting line-up that when healthy was the 2nd ranked defense in the NBA?

The Bulls asked him to be the man in middle, a dominating force, and he failed. The Cavs asked him to be a perimeter help defender and only take the shots if he had an advantage, and he exceeded everyone's expectations as a tall-ball SF.

Just saying the situation matters, more than most give credit for.

The Bulls asked him to be nothing of the sort.

Outside of his promising rookie season he did not improve his game and that had nothing to do with the Bulls.

Also this talk about him being good as a SF is quite humorous, he wasn't good and if they didn't have Mobley or Allen in the paint on clean-up duty then you'd see that.

There were reports of him and wcj told to bulk up to become legit centers

[Nuntius]

That's the consensus it seems. But the Cavs fans saw a little something the Bulls fans didn't get to see because the Cavs used him differently. Did you know he was 2nd in the NBA last year in efficiency within 15 feet of the rim behind Embiid? Did you know he was part of a starting line-up that when healthy was the 2nd ranked defense in the NBA?

The Bulls asked him to be the man in middle, a dominating force, and he failed. The Cavs asked him to be a perimeter help defender and only take the shots if he had an advantage, and he exceeded everyone's expectations as a tall-ball SF.

Just saying the situation matters, more than most give credit for.

The Bulls asked him to be nothing of the sort.

Outside of his promising rookie season he did not improve his game and that had nothing to do with the Bulls.

Also this talk about him being good as a SF is quite humorous, he wasn't good and if they didn't have Mobley or Allen in the paint on clean-up duty then you'd see that.

There were reports of him and wcj told to bulk up to become legit centers

It is also important to note that Chicago's coaching and PG situation was quite bad at the time and that definitely affects bigs adversely.

[durden_tyler]

Title contenders can use him as significant rotation guy/role player so that's a plus for Utah him doing good-to-great at Eurobasket. Perhaps good for a first rounder now.

[Tetlak]

Lauri is what he is. He somehow makes the title of positionless a bad thing in 2022.

He's an awkward fit on both ends. Can't create his own shot, struggles to finish over small player, gets eaten alive by quick guys that can close out. Can't defend inside or out.

This guy is what he is. He has never improved, will never improve, and you definitely should not expect him to improve.

Even on the trash Jazz, he won't do anything impressive playing 82 games of garbage time because it's just not in his NBA skillset.

[carlquincy]

Dude looked like prime Lebron out there with those dunks. Props to him

[Ryoga Hibiki]

Lauri is what he is. He somehow makes the title of positionless a bad thing in 2022.

He's an awkward fit on both ends. Can't create his own shot, struggles to finish over small player, gets eaten alive by quick guys that can close out. Can't defend inside or out.

This guy is what he is. He has never improved, will never improve, and you definitely should not expect him to improve.

Even on the trash Jazz, he won't do anything impressive playing 82 games of garbage time because it's just not in his NBA skillset.

this is pure hating

[KyRo23]

Can anyone explain how the Euro players always say the NBA is much easier to score? I always see stats like this and it doesn't make sense to me. I'm genuinely curious, not trying to start a debate on which league is harder to score in.

[GreatWhiteStiff]

Yikes. RealGM hyperbole at it's finest.

Watching the six o'clock news... I've heard the kids today say "big yikes". Anyways I love the realgm hyperbole! Inject it into my veins.

[mg]

Can anyone explain how the Euro players always say the NBA is much easier to score? I always see stats like this and it doesn't make sense to me. I'm genuinely curious, not trying to start a debate on which league is harder to score in.

These stats are a bit of an aberration. I will say that Markkanen is allowed to be the main scoring threat on the Finn team where that is not going to happen in the NBA..he was more of a high end roleplayer last season in Cleveland. No offense to Croatia but they don't have alot of NBA caliber defenders either.

FWIW Lauri has looked great in Europe this summer. When it comes to the NBA I think the fit will be very important. Obviously he looked much better playing next to a great defensive duo in Allen/Mobley and a playmaking PG last season than he did in Chicago when he was playing alongside Lavine and WCJ. Looking at the rosters I think the Jazz situation is going to more resemble Chicago than Cleveland. He'd actually be perfect in a situation like Miami playing off Bam, Butler, and Lowry.

[sfernald]

People can doubt all they want. I remember a guy named Wiggins that EVERYONE doubted and eventually over time he managed to become the second best player on a championship team. The same thing could happen with Markkanen. He clearly has talent. Things just have to come together right like they did for Wiggins. Maybe third team is the charm.

[Tetlak]

People can doubt all they want. I remember a guy named Wiggins that EVERYONE doubted and eventually over time he managed to become the second best player on a championship team. The same thing could happen with Markkanen. He clearly has talent. Things just have to come together right like they did for Wiggins. Maybe third team is the charm.

Markkanen is nowhere near as talented or naturally gifted as Andrew Wiggins.

Wiggins is an elite athlete. Lauri is a subpar athlete with one quality NBA skill, catch and shoot 3 point shooting.

It's apples to oranges.

[sip]

Lauri is what he is. He somehow makes the title of positionless a bad thing in 2022.

He's an awkward fit on both ends. Can't create his own shot, struggles to finish over small player, gets eaten alive by quick guys that can close out. Can't defend inside or out.

This guy is what he is. He has never improved, will never improve, and you definitely should not expect him to improve.

Even on the trash Jazz, he won't do anything impressive playing 82 games of garbage time because it's just not in his NBA skillset.

What a terrible post.

[Karate Diop]

Can anyone explain how the Euro players always say the NBA is much easier to score? I always see stats like this and it doesn't make sense to me. I'm genuinely curious, not trying to start a debate on which league is harder to score in.

European basketball is more physical than NBA basketball, extremely inconsistent when it comes to refereeing and played on a smaller court which makes good spacing harder to come by... All that coupled with the fact that your supporting cast typically isn't as good makes the strategy of loading up on a single player on defense more viable... That's my take at least...

[ATRAIN53]

I think he might be a hit in UTAH if Ainge actually likes him and keeps him around. Seems like good fan base fit, young replacement for Jingles who Utah loved.

He could be a 20/10 guy if he really went after boards harder and got a handful of put backs in a game.

[kenwood3333]

finnish Jordan, he should stay in Europe

[sfernald]

People can doubt all they want. I remember a guy named Wiggins that EVERYONE doubted and eventually over time he managed to become the second best player on a championship team. The same thing could happen with Markkanen. He clearly has talent. Things just have to come together right like they did for Wiggins. Maybe third team is the charm.

Markkanen is nowhere near as talented or naturally gifted as Andrew Wiggins.

Wiggins is an elite athlete. Lauri is a subpar athlete with one quality NBA skill, catch and shoot 3 point shooting.

It's apples to oranges.

Agreed, I wasn't trying to compare the players, only that they are similar in that everyone has given up on them. Just look at some of the **** people on here said about Wiggins:

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1875609&start=80

No handle whatsoever, worthless negative efficiency player, no drive, waste of space, etc.

Markkanen can light up a scoreboard as we have seen in this game and really be a differentiator. Will it happen? I have no idea. But I think he has much more potential than people around here give him credit for. Realgm is FULL of doubters as the above thread indicates.

[chefo]

Lauri's PGs and main ball handlers during his Bulls career:

* Kris Dunn
* Cam Payne
* Jerian Grant
* Zach Lavine
* Thomas Satoransky
* Denzel Valentine
* Coby White

To add to that, since Boylen's time, there's pretty much almost no cutting off baselines, no cutting from the wings, no back screens, no elevators, no post play, no high-lows, no mid post ISOs (before DD)... you get the idea. You either handled the ball as the lead G (Zach, Coby White, the others above), set a screen (WCJ, Gafford, Thad, Vuc) or spaced out (everybody else). Modern-day NBA offense, you see, otherwise known as European high-school ball from the 1990s.

The Bulls had relegated him to a stretch 4 after his soph year and had him bulk up by 20+ pounds... because, well, Embiid manhandled WCJ a bunch of times so they asked their bigs to come in jacked the next year. The fact that they both lost a lot of quickness (WCJ was reportedly at near 270) in an era where quickness is much more important to be able to hang on the outside--well, that's the Bulls FO for you; about 10 years late to present.

As for athleticism, skinny Lauri is an effin' unicorn for a legit 7 footer, if you watched him his first couple of years. Dude can do 360, between the legs and FT dunks with ease. He's got really quick feet for a guy this tall. His main problems have been injuries / COVID, being a headless chicken on D for the first 3 years with the Bulls and been coached / developed by dudes who still lived in the 90s and refused to get a single competent passer on the team for half a decade. The best passing teammate Lauri ever played with on the Bulls is... Thad Young, and that's about as sad as it comes for a Bulls fan.

[RiRuHoops]

I think he might be a hit in UTAH if Ainge actually likes him and keeps him around. Seems like good fan base fit, young replacement for Jingles who Utah loved.

He could be a 20/10 guy if he really went after boards harder and got a handful of put backs in a game.

If Jazz have Sexton playing PG then Ainge better get all he can for Lauri now since his stock is good due to eurobasket play.