Post#119 » by PaKii94 » Sun Oct 4, 2020 1:25 am
I know Lauri had a down year last year but y'all are discrediting him too much. Here is his career so far coming into context(all stats in p36):
Rookie year:
Scrawny 7fter beanpole came in with a shooting stroke. He showed good feet and could hang with perimeter players on defense. He got pushed around by nba bigs tho.
With the team trying to tank he was in and out of the lineups. He finished the year at 18p/9r on 55%TS overall. Not bad for a high volume shooting big man.
At the end of the year, after coming off extended rest for a back strain he put up 26p/9r on 64%TS. Flashing potential of what could be if he got volume and gets hot.
Sophomore year:
Expectations this year was increasing Lauri's usage and further development by him. Hoiberg said at the beginning of media day/training camp that he was gearing the offense around Lauri as a focal point.
He put on some muscle/weight which helped him bang more with the bigs. Over the off-season he looked dominant in fiba play.
Unfortunately, right off the bat Lauri was knocked out with an injury to his SHOOTING elbow. Hoiberg is fired before he comes back and Boylen grinds down the offense (the whole walk before run spiel).
In this horrible offense, Lauri puts up 19/8 on 54%TS (21 games). He looks kind of timid and guarding the elbow. The shot doesn't look as clean as the year before.
His finnish coach comes to visit mid January and tells him to get his ass rebounding. For the next 9 games, he puts up 20.5/12 on 55%TS
Then Boylen opens up the offense. He called it his multi ball handler system but later it was learned he was running hoiberg's sets intended to feature Lauri. Lauri finally gets to be the #1 focal point and he delivers. FebruLauri puts up 25/12 on 63%TS (11 games).
Then Lauri's fatigue issues happen, the team goes hardcore tank and the season is over.
Year 3:
The past year instead of focusing again on Lauri and Lavine, Lauri is relegated to roleplayer spacer status. Boylen in what he thought is a genius move neuters the offense to paint and 3s. Lauri struggles with an oblique strain and figuring out his role in the offense (that's ridiculous. He should have been FEATURED!)
December roles around but Lauri is an afterthought in the system. He seems to be over the oblique injury and has found his shot. He puts up 21/7.3 on 64%TS for 17 games. You have to remember this is on career low minutes/usage/fga as a 3rd-4th option. Again instead of featuring your by far most efficient player he's standing in the corner.
Then he has a badly rolled ankle. WCJ goes down, Lauri gets a strained hip and that's the end of the season.
Putting all of this together, the few times Lauri has been FEATURED as a focal point he has delivered. When he's relegated to a spacer role, he's struggled. His shot is what unlocks the rest of his game but it's not the end all of his game.
What's encouraging to me is Lauri's "hot streaks" have gotten longer each year. Hopefully he can put together a "hot streak" for even longer next year (fingers crossed for the season).
I am also excited about the way Billy will use Lauri. He's already helped Gallo excel and I think Lauri can be an upgraded Gallo. Lauri mentioned the ways Billy hopes to get him involved (getting the ball to him while he's in motion being a key thing) and all those ways are what he was doing during FebruLauri season.
I think what it will come down to is injuries. Every season Lauri has been derailed by injuries and a lot of fluke ones... But when fluke injuries keep happening, maybe they aren't flukes?
Well at least we have a new training/medical staff. Hopefully the bulls can put the injury bug behind them. I still have hope for Lauri this year and a comeback to "FebruLauri" levels.
