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Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread

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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1721 » by sco » Mon Apr 5, 2021 12:56 pm

WindyCityBorn wrote:
ZOMG wrote:
WindyCityBorn wrote:
No first round picks. Otherwise he would be gone. Pelicans wanted Lauri and a 1st for Ball.


We have absolutely zero facts. Just Twitter rumors. It's funny to me what when it comes to Lauri, everyone's pretending to know what really happened... while at the same time, NOBODY saw the Vuc trade coming. Nobody.

We don't know what was offered for him, how serious the offers were or what AK's plan for him was/is. We do not know.

Anyway, it's been explained a million times why the trade market was never going to be hot for Lauri. I get that there's an agenda to make the situation look like the trade offers paint a picture of his worth around the league... but the true picture will emerge in the offseason. This is basically how it goes with non-stars who are going to be RFA's soon.


Lauri actually went into the post yesterday and took advantage of mismatches. Just imagine if he had put any effort into developing that ability over the last 4 years. If he really leans into that could really help his trajectory regardless of where he is next season.

I am crediting Billy D for that. One thing he has done is to instill in the young guys is that you can't control when your shots are falling, but you can still contribute with doing the other things.

So for the Lauri fans - forgetting about how we got here...Lauri wasn't traded, he isn't starting anymore. What's your goal for the Bulls' use for/of Lauri the rest of the season? And how does that play forward into the offseason?
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1722 » by MrSparkle » Mon Apr 5, 2021 2:58 pm

sco wrote:
WindyCityBorn wrote:
ZOMG wrote:
We have absolutely zero facts. Just Twitter rumors. It's funny to me what when it comes to Lauri, everyone's pretending to know what really happened... while at the same time, NOBODY saw the Vuc trade coming. Nobody.

We don't know what was offered for him, how serious the offers were or what AK's plan for him was/is. We do not know.

Anyway, it's been explained a million times why the trade market was never going to be hot for Lauri. I get that there's an agenda to make the situation look like the trade offers paint a picture of his worth around the league... but the true picture will emerge in the offseason. This is basically how it goes with non-stars who are going to be RFA's soon.


Lauri actually went into the post yesterday and took advantage of mismatches. Just imagine if he had put any effort into developing that ability over the last 4 years. If he really leans into that could really help his trajectory regardless of where he is next season.

I am crediting Billy D for that. One thing he has done is to instill in the young guys is that you can't control when your shots are falling, but you can still contribute with doing the other things.

So for the Lauri fans - forgetting about how we got here...Lauri wasn't traded, he isn't starting anymore. What's your goal for the Bulls' use for/of Lauri the rest of the season? And how does that play forward into the offseason?


I actually like the Lauri/Thad/Theis combo. But the back-court needs to be figured out. The right combo might involve Sato and Temple, once he's back. This way, the defense becomes a true wall to compensate for the lack of foot-speed.. and there is a good balance of IQ and shooting to move the ball and probably give Lauri 1st or 2nd option looks.
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1723 » by edededtut » Mon Apr 5, 2021 4:50 pm

sco wrote:So for the Lauri fans - forgetting about how we got here...Lauri wasn't traded, he isn't starting anymore. What's your goal for the Bulls' use for/of Lauri the rest of the season? And how does that play forward into the offseason?


Probably best for Lauri’s career would be if the Bulls continue to stand him in the corner doing nothing. So far everything has been too easy (meaning getting the starting spot almost by default right from the start of his rookie year) for him and I’m hoping that would light a fire under his ass to improve and start to be more aggressive.

That would probably not be for the Bulls benefit though..
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1724 » by Bullstuff » Mon Apr 5, 2021 5:40 pm

I think Lauri has actually looked pretty good in defense in the last two games, even if the offense wasn't there (especially vs Jazz what comes to offense). Vuc is the Nr1 option, but tbh he looks to be even more of a black hole in defense than Lauri, which might be the reason Vuc-Lauri-combo hasn't seemed to be working . Perhaps it isn't such a bad idea to keep Lauri in the 2nd unit altogether or at least until the Vuc gets more used to Bulls' defense.
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1725 » by kodo » Mon Apr 5, 2021 5:59 pm

It looks like Lauri is effectively playing backup C now for Billy. That's why he's not starting. Last game when Thad got into early cheap foul trouble, Theis came in for Thad not Lauri.

But even beyond that, Lauri is doing what Vuc does on the plays. Vuc is the primary screen setter, and will either pop or establish post up position afterwards. Lauri does the same. When we run a high double screen, one guy pops and the other goes low. Lauri used to be the guy popping, last game he went low while Theis went to the perimeter.

I don't see him getting a lot of points this way. With the starting unit we tend to start feeding Vuc, as the game goes on Lavine starts getting his. Thad & Sato are still engaged at this time as both are passers. But Patrick & Lauri generally don't get a lot of touches.

But who knows, Billy may experiment with something different next game.
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1726 » by FranchisePlayer » Mon Apr 5, 2021 6:29 pm

chefo wrote:I honestly don’t get rooting against your once second most talented player, hoping that he can’t put it together and gloating when he’s down after a drastic team change.

The Bulls odds of being relevant in the short term, both pre and post trade were dependent on Lauri putting it together. Even when Lauri was playing his best ball and Zach was throwing fireballs, the team couldn’t crack .500. We don’t have enough talent to hope that the little that we do have can’t put it together.

We only have 3 guys on the roster who are talented enough to get you 20 ppg efficiently, if given enough touches. Lauri imploding while Zach Is reverting to pre Donovan Zach post Asb is about the worst possible outcome I can think about.

Trading 10 ppg Wendell and demoting 18ppg Lauri for a 20ppg Vuc and now 10ppg marginalized Lauri changes about zilch in the scheme of things.

The only way to get better was if Lauri was featured more alongside Vuc and thus Vuc’s production is cumulative and not a replacement for Lauri’s.

Lauri’s touches were dropping to 4th level option even before the trade (this has just been exaggerated post trade), which is highly dependent on hot and cold streaks and now he’s third guy off the bench in terms of touches.

It’s obvious when you watch the team play, btw. He’s been told to park his backside in the weak side corner and stay there— aka, the Boylen Maneuver. And frankly, as I wrote, after he got a big, bold FU a couple of games ago, he’s showing the middle finger back to the coaching staff and I’m not blaming him.

I’m a Bulls fan first and foremost, and as I’ve written before, when Lauri goes, which looks a foregone conclusion now, I sure hope it doesn’t turn into another Sabonis situation.

I am upset because the team seems to have a lot of ingredients, but can only cook up a Shyte meal out of them and it’s a rolling game of which Bull will implode next— with Coby, WCJ and PaW sharing the spotlight earlier, now to be joined by the one guy that has shown actual flashes of high level production.


You put together some valuable points in here, chefo, added with some nuances with poetic touch. Cheers!

Wendell gone and both Lauri and Coby warming the bench, both of them possibly out too after the season. Did they really draft such miserable players in the 1st round? 3 back-to-back? Or has the Bulls as an organization failed to develop them?

Sure, Williams has been a regular starter but this is his rookie season. Didn't hear too many complaints of the before mentioned players in their rookie season, either. Williams Probably the whipping boy in the next season.

Just like you said, they're trying to replace Lauri with Vucevic. The Bulls version of addition by subtraction? I cannot understand either that a team which doesn't have a plethora of scorers, ends up replacing one scorer with another one.

This organization seems to have zero clue of how to make the most out of their top prospects.
MrSparkle wrote:I don't see a scenario here or there where Lauri becomes the "7-pick we thought he could be." If you remove his 3P ability, he's worse than Felicio by a mile.

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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1727 » by BahamaBull » Mon Apr 5, 2021 6:52 pm

Bullstuff wrote:I think Lauri has actually looked pretty good in defense in the last two games, even if the offense wasn't there (especially vs Jazz what comes to offense). Vuc is the Nr1 option, but tbh he looks to be even more of a black hole in defense than Lauri, which might be the reason Vuc-Lauri-combo hasn't seemed to be working . Perhaps it isn't such a bad idea to keep Lauri in the 2nd unit altogether or at least until the Vuc gets more used to Bulls' defense.


I think his D last couple of games was horrendous...Especially his pick and roll D...its like a shooting drill for opposite players...Lauri is 10 miles away from the shooter. I know this is probrably the toughest thing to do on D but his in particular are pathetic.
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1728 » by sco » Mon Apr 5, 2021 7:28 pm

FranchisePlayer wrote:
chefo wrote:I honestly don’t get rooting against your once second most talented player, hoping that he can’t put it together and gloating when he’s down after a drastic team change.

The Bulls odds of being relevant in the short term, both pre and post trade were dependent on Lauri putting it together. Even when Lauri was playing his best ball and Zach was throwing fireballs, the team couldn’t crack .500. We don’t have enough talent to hope that the little that we do have can’t put it together.

We only have 3 guys on the roster who are talented enough to get you 20 ppg efficiently, if given enough touches. Lauri imploding while Zach Is reverting to pre Donovan Zach post Asb is about the worst possible outcome I can think about.

Trading 10 ppg Wendell and demoting 18ppg Lauri for a 20ppg Vuc and now 10ppg marginalized Lauri changes about zilch in the scheme of things.

The only way to get better was if Lauri was featured more alongside Vuc and thus Vuc’s production is cumulative and not a replacement for Lauri’s.

Lauri’s touches were dropping to 4th level option even before the trade (this has just been exaggerated post trade), which is highly dependent on hot and cold streaks and now he’s third guy off the bench in terms of touches.

It’s obvious when you watch the team play, btw. He’s been told to park his backside in the weak side corner and stay there— aka, the Boylen Maneuver. And frankly, as I wrote, after he got a big, bold FU a couple of games ago, he’s showing the middle finger back to the coaching staff and I’m not blaming him.

I’m a Bulls fan first and foremost, and as I’ve written before, when Lauri goes, which looks a foregone conclusion now, I sure hope it doesn’t turn into another Sabonis situation.

I am upset because the team seems to have a lot of ingredients, but can only cook up a Shyte meal out of them and it’s a rolling game of which Bull will implode next— with Coby, WCJ and PaW sharing the spotlight earlier, now to be joined by the one guy that has shown actual flashes of high level production.


You put together some valuable points in here, chefo, added with some nuances with poetic touch. Cheers!

Wendell gone and both Lauri and Coby warming the bench, both of them possibly out too after the season. Did they really draft such miserable players in the 1st round? 3 back-to-back? Or has the Bulls as an organization failed to develop them?

Sure, Williams has been a regular starter but this is his rookie season. Didn't hear too many complaints of the before mentioned players in their rookie season, either. Williams Probably the whipping boy in the next season.

Just like you said, they're trying to replace Lauri with Vucevic. The Bulls version of addition by subtraction? I cannot understand either that a team which doesn't have a plethora of scorers, ends up replacing one scorer with another one.

This organization seems to have zero clue of how to make the most out of their top prospects.

I think folks overestimate how much the "organization" really impacts their prospect development (compared to the player themselves). Especially in the cases of Markkanen and White, who I think could spend 1/2 reading our threads to figure out what to work on (I'm cutting Carter some slack due to his injuries and new role starting the season). Also, the current organization had zero to do with prior drafts, so the fact that White, Markannen and Carter (and Valentine and Hutch and Felicio) aren't great NBA players isn't on them.

IMO, an underappreciated aspect of player development is the mix of vets and young guys on the roster. Not having enough good vets on the team, IMO, negatively impacted those guys' development. I think guys like Butler, Noah and Taj all benefitted immensely from having Deng to model their work ethic after. Similarly, those guys also had the benefit of coaching/system stability (which I hope BD brings going forward). Having to learn a new system every year, IMO, puts players in a "two-steps-forward, one-step-back mode.
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1729 » by HomoSapien » Mon Apr 5, 2021 7:54 pm

Although Lauri played solid in his limited PT against the Nets, I thought his play in the second quarter with Kyrie Irving matched up against him was deflating on so many levels.

1.) It's clear the Nets felt like they could hide Kyrie on Lauri without any consequence, and they were largely right. It allowed to switch on defense very easily.

2.) Lauri really didn't see that as a mismatch and didn't assert himself.

3.) His teammates didn't trust him enough to exploit that matchup, and didn't try to get him the ball.

Unless Lauri starts asserting himself, I think he'll probably average around 8 points for the remainder of the season.
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1730 » by HomoSapien » Mon Apr 5, 2021 7:56 pm

ZOMG wrote:
WindyCityBorn wrote:
JohnnyTapwater wrote:I wonder what teams were offering for Lauri.


No first round picks. Otherwise he would be gone. Pelicans wanted Lauri and a 1st for Ball.


We have absolutely zero facts. Just Twitter rumors. It's funny to me what when it comes to Lauri, everyone's pretending to know what really happened... while at the same time, NOBODY saw the Vuc trade coming. Nobody.

We don't know what was offered for him, how serious the offers were or what AK's plan for him was/is. We do not know.

Anyway, it's been explained a million times why the trade market was never going to be hot for Lauri. I get that there's an agenda to make the situation look like the trade offers paint a picture of his worth around the league... but the true picture will emerge in the offseason. This is basically how it goes with non-stars who are going to be RFA's soon.


In the past, I've seen you claim that the Bulls offered Lauri a contract in the Felicio range and I've also seen you mention that teams are licking their chops to get in the Lauri Markannen business, yet apparently the trade market was soft. It seems like a convenient time to take this type of stance.
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1731 » by Wingy » Mon Apr 5, 2021 8:46 pm

HomoSapien wrote:Although Lauri played solid in his limited PT against the Nets, I thought his play in the second quarter with Kyrie Irving matched up against him was deflating on so many levels.

1.) It's clear the Nets felt like they could hide Kyrie on Lauri without any consequence, and they were largely right. It allowed to switch on defense very easily.

2.) Lauri really didn't see that as a mismatch and didn't assert himself.

3.) His teammates didn't trust him enough to exploit that matchup, and didn't try to get him the ball.

Unless Lauri starts asserting himself, I think he'll probably average around 8 points for the remainder of the season.


Overall, I credit him for going to the post a number of times, and scoring. Not particularly smooth, but bottomline, he put the ball in the basket. That's more important than it being purdy.

It ultimately left me wanting though, because I also noticed the Kyrie assignment, and found it disappointing because seeing a major mismatch like that...I feel like it should've been an easy, instinctual thing you see on all levels of play...even your Average Joe pickup games. When there's a big size mismatch, people generally recognize, and try to take advantage. Seeing Lauri trot over to the corner 3 w/Kyrie on him was a big WTF. It's like Stacey said. Maybe there's a play, but sometimes you've gotta see what's happening on the court, and attack the obvious mismatch instead. It's a drag to see that Lauri and the guys clearly don't feel the collective confidence to exploit that.

I feel like someday Lauri will "get it" to become the even more effective player that most of us want, but my guess is that it won't come until toward the end of his next contract. At his historical rate of growth, I just can't see it coming next year, or even the year after. It's a long time to wait at the probable salary he'll command. I think it will take a team change, and natural growth in mental/physical maturity that's only going to come with several more years time.
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1732 » by GoBlue72391 » Mon Apr 5, 2021 9:00 pm

BahamaBull wrote:
Bullstuff wrote:I think Lauri has actually looked pretty good in defense in the last two games, even if the offense wasn't there (especially vs Jazz what comes to offense). Vuc is the Nr1 option, but tbh he looks to be even more of a black hole in defense than Lauri, which might be the reason Vuc-Lauri-combo hasn't seemed to be working . Perhaps it isn't such a bad idea to keep Lauri in the 2nd unit altogether or at least until the Vuc gets more used to Bulls' defense.


I think his D last couple of games was horrendous...Especially his pick and roll D...its like a shooting drill for opposite players...Lauri is 10 miles away from the shooter. I know this is probrably the toughest thing to do on D but his in particular are pathetic.

His on ball defense is honestly pretty decent for a player of his size. He does a good job of staying in front of players, even guards. Maybe playing him at SF for stretches like we've been doing recently is a good thing. He abused the smaller players on offense and he defended them well on the other end.
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1733 » by HomoSapien » Mon Apr 5, 2021 9:20 pm

Wingy wrote:
HomoSapien wrote:Although Lauri played solid in his limited PT against the Nets, I thought his play in the second quarter with Kyrie Irving matched up against him was deflating on so many levels.

1.) It's clear the Nets felt like they could hide Kyrie on Lauri without any consequence, and they were largely right. It allowed to switch on defense very easily.

2.) Lauri really didn't see that as a mismatch and didn't assert himself.

3.) His teammates didn't trust him enough to exploit that matchup, and didn't try to get him the ball.

Unless Lauri starts asserting himself, I think he'll probably average around 8 points for the remainder of the season.


Overall, I credit him for going to the post a number of times, and scoring. Not particularly smooth, but bottomline, he put the ball in the basket. That's more important than it being purdy.

It ultimately left me wanting though, because I also noticed the Kyrie assignment, and found it disappointing because seeing a major mismatch like that...I feel like it should've been an easy, instinctual thing you see on all levels of play...even your Average Joe pickup games. When there's a big size mismatch, people generally recognize, and try to take advantage. Seeing Lauri trot over to the corner 3 w/Kyrie on him was a big WTF. It's like Stacey said. Maybe there's a play, but sometimes you've gotta see what's happening on the court, and attack the obvious mismatch instead. It's a drag to see that Lauri and the guys clearly don't feel the collective confidence to exploit that.

I feel like someday Lauri will "get it" to become the even more effective player that most of us want, but my guess is that it won't come until toward the end of his next contract. At his historical rate of growth, I just can't see it coming next year, or even the year after. It's a long time to wait at the probable salary he'll command. I think it will take a team change, and natural growth in mental/physical maturity that's only going to come with several more years time.


Totally agree. He probably needs to find a team that'll Jerami Grant him. Just someone who is starved for talent and can say we'll run a ton of plays just for you. Lauri is clearly behind Zach and Vuc in terms of shots, but now he's also behind Thad and Sato in terms of touches and also prioritized after Pat Williams. The writing's just clearly on the wall.
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1734 » by GoBlue72391 » Mon Apr 5, 2021 9:22 pm

HomoSapien wrote:Although Lauri played solid in his limited PT against the Nets, I thought his play in the second quarter with Kyrie Irving matched up against him was deflating on so many levels.

1.) It's clear the Nets felt like they could hide Kyrie on Lauri without any consequence, and they were largely right. It allowed to switch on defense very easily.

2.) Lauri really didn't see that as a mismatch and didn't assert himself.

3.) His teammates didn't trust him enough to exploit that matchup, and didn't try to get him the ball.

Unless Lauri starts asserting himself, I think he'll probably average around 8 points for the remainder of the season.

Lauri was 3 for 3 on post ups and is probably shooting 75%+ on post ups this season in limited attempts. To not attack that mismatch is just stupidity and low IQ basketball on everyone's part. Lauri's fault for not breaking off from the play and posting up and demanding the ball and his teammates/coaches fault for not recognizing it, or, recognizing it but choosing not to go to it.

We're probably the worst team in the league at recognizing mismatches and making entry passes. How many times this season has Lauri sealed off a smaller defender in post position and called for the ball, only for his teammates to look him off and swing the ball around the perimeter or jack up a jumpshot? As the hub C prior to the Vuch trade, Thad would generally create his own post up opportunities as he would already be holding the ball in a coinvent position to initiate a post up. Now that we have Vuch, for the first time we're actually looking for a player in the post and attempting to get the ball to him.

Kyrie isn't exactly known for his defense, much less against a 7 footer. Lauri had no trouble scoring against TLC and Landry Shamet in the post, both of which are bigger and better defenders than Kyrie, so I have little doubt Lauri would have been successful against Kyrie. That should be an automatic entry pass to Lauri every single time, but I do understand that the interior can get clogged with Vuch and Theis already in there, but that's not a good enough excuse. He was having success with it, but this team has always had a strange habit of not feeding the hot hand/going back to something that worked.

If we're going to bother playing Lauri at SF and other teams continue to put guards and SFs on him, then we HAVE to attack that mismatch EVERY single time, otherwise there's no point in playing big and we might as well have an actual wing in at the 3. Force the opposing team to go away from that match up if they don't want to give up 2 points every possession.
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1735 » by madvillian » Mon Apr 5, 2021 9:24 pm

The writing is def on the wall. He seems like an afterthought both in scheme and the general plan past this year. At this point I'm not even sure the Bulls would match something like 4/60, and I would be fine with that.

I don't think you can "Jerami Grant" him because he's not capable of scoring in isolation. God forbid some team really thought he was a 1st option he'd be completely overwhelmed.

And that's if he actually plays more than 60 games for once.
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1736 » by ZOMG » Mon Apr 5, 2021 9:39 pm

GoBlue72391 wrote:
HomoSapien wrote:Although Lauri played solid in his limited PT against the Nets, I thought his play in the second quarter with Kyrie Irving matched up against him was deflating on so many levels.

1.) It's clear the Nets felt like they could hide Kyrie on Lauri without any consequence, and they were largely right. It allowed to switch on defense very easily.

2.) Lauri really didn't see that as a mismatch and didn't assert himself.

3.) His teammates didn't trust him enough to exploit that matchup, and didn't try to get him the ball.

Unless Lauri starts asserting himself, I think he'll probably average around 8 points for the remainder of the season.

Lauri was 3 for 3 on post ups and is probably shooting 75%+ on post ups this season in limited attempts. To not attack that mismatch is just stupidity and low IQ basketball on everyone's part. Lauri's fault for not breaking off from the play and posting up and demanding the ball and his teammates/coaches fault for not recognizing it, or, recognizing it but choosing not to go to it.

We're probably the worst team in the league at recognizing mismatches and making entry passes. How many times this season has Lauri sealed off a smaller defender in post position and called for the ball, only for his teammates to look him off and swing the ball around the perimeter or jack up a jumpshot? As the hub C prior to the Vuch trade, Thad would generally create his own post up opportunities as he would already be holding the ball in a coinvent position to initiate a post up. Now that we have Vuch, for the first time we're actually looking for a player in the post and attempting to get the ball to him.

Kyrie isn't exactly known for his defense, much less against a 7 footer. Lauri had no trouble scoring against TLC and Landry Shamet in the post, both of which are bigger and better defenders than Kyrie, so I have little doubt Lauri would have been successful against Kyrie. That should be an automatic entry pass to Lauri every single time, but I do understand that the interior can get clogged with Vuch and Theis already in there, but that's not a good enough excuse. He was having success with it, but this team has always had a strange habit of not feeding the hot hand/going back to something that worked.

If we're going to bother playing Lauri at SF and other teams continue to put guards and SFs on him, then we HAVE to attack that mismatch EVERY single time, otherwise there's no point in playing big and we might as well have an actual wing in at the 3. Force the opposing team to go away from that match up if they don't want to give up 2 points every possession.


Exactly.

Also, if you want a mismatch near the basket, you don't give a 7 footer the ball on the perimeter and expect him to dribble his way to the low post against a small, quick defender with a much lower center of gravity. Yet this is something the Bulls always seem to be doing.

Stacey whines that "Lauri should take him into the post" when he has the ball, but that's not how it's done. You clear the paint and let the big seal the small defender as close to the hoop as possible. Then you execute a proper entry pass. Unfortunately, that takes some BBIQ, patience and passing skill. All are in short supply.
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1737 » by Ice Man » Mon Apr 5, 2021 9:46 pm

Not many NBA players are useful when given the ball 12 feet from the basket in an old-fashioned post-up situation, no matter how much Stacey loves those plays. Lauri isn't one of them. What he needs to be able to do is overpower smaller defenders during dynamic plays, when things are moving quickly and he gets the ball near the hoop. He also needs to know how to create those situations. However, I see no sign that such things are happening.

Meaning, I care not about yesterday's post-up baskets, just as I didn't care when Doug McDermott posted some 6' 5" guy, scored, and then Stacey crowed.
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1738 » by GoBlue72391 » Mon Apr 5, 2021 9:48 pm

madvillian wrote:I don't think you can "Jerami Grant" him because he's not capable of scoring in isolation. God forbid some team really thought he was a 1st option he'd be completely overwhelmed.

Only 44% of Grant's 2 point FGs this season are unassisted. Prior to this season, he's never been higher than 39% for unassisted 2 point FGs.

In 2018-19, 47% of Lauri's 2 point FGs were unassisted. Last year he was at 46% for unassisted 2 point FGs.

I know we have our agendas and biases, but this claim just doesn't jive with reality. Lauri created more of his own offense as a 2nd/3rd year second option big than Grant has this season as a 7th year first option wing.
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1739 » by GoBlue72391 » Mon Apr 5, 2021 9:52 pm

Ice Man wrote:Not many NBA players are useful when given the ball 12 feet from the basket in an old-fashioned post-up situation, no matter how much Stacey loves those plays. Lauri isn't one of them. What he needs to be able to do is overpower smaller defenders during dynamic plays, when things are moving quickly and he gets the ball near the hoop. He also needs to know how to create those situations. However, I see no sign that such things are happening.

Meaning, I care not about yesterday's post-up baskets, just as I didn't care when Doug McDermott posted some 6' 5" guy, scored, and then Stacey crowed.

Can you clarify what you mean? I don't get brushing off post ups entirely as you're apparently doing. Granted it's been on limited attempts, but Lauri has been very efficient from the post this season. I wish I could find a stat that tracks FG% and volume on post ups.
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Re: Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread 

Post#1740 » by WindyCityBorn » Mon Apr 5, 2021 9:54 pm

madvillian wrote:The writing is def on the wall. He seems like an afterthought both in scheme and the general plan past this year. At this point I'm not even sure the Bulls would match something like 4/60, and I would be fine with that.

I don't think you can "Jerami Grant" him because he's not capable of scoring in isolation. God forbid some team really thought he was a 1st option he'd be completely overwhelmed.

And that's if he actually plays more than 60 games for once.


4/60. I’m not sure I would want to match 4/40. Not saying he isn’t worth that, but the money could better utilized to help improve the team. Lauri is very disposable at this point.

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