Lauri Markkanen - Utahin Marsalkka: All-NBA Snub

[mds]

RCF more interested on how many pretty Finnish and Sweddish women watching the game... lol

Correct.

 

[red.]

 

[Sebastian]

Finland wins 85-69. Lauri scored 22 points, and played a very strong 3rd and 4th. Hard to say where he currently is, very obviously was extremely rusty. Still, also very clear star of the match, and he did step up to the role expected of him

Take that Sweden!

Payback for the great Famine of 1696-1697 when Stockholm was too busy fighting yet another war with the Danes to send food!

 

[Swuul]

Lauri highlights from the match:

Lauri Markkanen on another level?! ð¯ Double-Double (22 PTS - FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers - FIBA.basketball

The official website of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers

www.fiba.basketball

 

[jjvors]

Another Lauri/Finland article:

Markkanen puts on a show, sends Finland to the Second Round

MUNICH (Germany) - Finland are one step closer to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. Led by their superstar Lauri Markkanen, Susijengi defeated Sweden 85-69, climbing to 4-1, good enough to advance.

www.fiba.basketball

 

[jjvors]

And here's the highlight video. He looks like he's from a higher league. Wait; he is.

 

[Cavatt]

I like the Confidence. I hope he keeps attacking like that.

 

[Swuul]

Lauri Markkanen with Team Finland travels now to Croatia, for the match on Sunday. Finland has now already won Group C (as there is no way Slovenia can get ahead anymore), while Crotia is in a desperate situation; they not only need to win, but win big, and at the same time Slovenia has to win Sweden.

Due to the quirky points method in the WC qualifications round all matches are important, except the match es against the teams which didn't get through to the next round. Effectively, if the coach of Finland is certain Croatia can't win with a big enough margin, while Slovenia at the same time wouldn't absolutely rout Sweden, it might mean Lauri will see a more limited role (essentially, why put the burn on Lauri when the game pretty much is garbage time?). Then again, if Sweden gets steam-rolled by Slovenia, and Croatia goes absolutely wild in front of their home-crowd, then Finland absolutely would need an absolutely superb game from Lauri.

Croatia was yesterday overrun by Doncic&Dragic and the rest of Team Slovenia. The final score was 97-69 in favour of Slovenia, and it would have even a bigger difference if Slovenia didn't take their foot from the gas-pedal in the 4th. Mario Hezonja seemed to be the only one in Team Croatia who played with pride to the end, while Bojan Bogdanovic for example didn't seem to find his rhythm at all during the match (seemed like he and Ivica Zubac had serious problems with adjusting to the FIBA version of rules (compared to NBA, offensive fouls and travelling are actually called by the refs, while on defense hand-checking is an absolute no-no under FIBA rules).

One thing for Sunday is pretty clear, Lauri Markkanen and Team Finland will have a heckuva tougher game vs Croatia than what they had yesterday vs Sweden. Not only does Croatia have a handful of NBA players to field, but they are playing a desperate game in front of their home-crowd; as mentioned, they don't just need to win, they need to win BIG to have a chance to go through to the next round.

For Lauri this is personally a chance to gauge his current situation against actual NBA players. Team Finland will also have a couple more practises together with Markkanen, so the team might actually be able to support Markkanen better; then again, the other Team Finland players are not used to play against NBA players, so it might get ugly real fast for Finland.

 

[cabs]

Lauri is a great fit on our team, I dont know why his name always comes up in trade talks. He also shot poorly by his standards so I see upside in his next few years with us. I think he enjoys playing for the cavs unlike his final years in Chicago where I think the fan base were just blaming him for their failed rebuild

 

[B Mac]

Thanks for the updates on our guy!

He looks a little quicker than before. Not sure if its the competition or he's slimming down a bit. Good to see him perform well against what should be lesser competition.

 

[Cavatt]

Thanks for the updates on our guy!

He looks a little quicker than before. Not sure if its the competition or he's slimming down a bit. Good to see him perform well against what should be lesser competition.

If Cavs had him slim down a bit for SF, that would be smart. Chicago kept bulking him up to play the 4/5. That was a mistake because his speed is one of his big advantages.

I was impressed with Lauri's confidence as a rook, if he can regain that and play hard, he will be much better than last year. His hesitation was the biggest thing holding him back IMO.

 

[Sebastian]

Forgot to post, Thursday is split pea soup day.

In honor of our new Finnish and Swedish NATO allies!

I wish they had joined NATO sooner. I would have loved to work with more of their officers.

 

[Hoodly]

While would not call Markkanen a soft player at times it's borderline for a guy with his size. One of the things love about his game is the ability to play outside - in. In addition, having the versatility to play the 3/4, and in limited instances depending on match ups the 5 (e.g certain 2nd unit centers).

My concern with the weight loss is the benefits as a 3 will be minimal, but it will push him over the edge to being full fledge soft and take away any remaining ability/effectiveness as a 4 and eliminate any instances of playing 5; at which point the Cavs would essentially be left with just a tall 3 with an offensive game limited to take set shots from 3pt land.

Could be wrong - perhaps the weight loss has a more positive impact on his mobility on both ends to play the 3, and any negative impact playing the 4 and operating around the rim offensively or on the boards will be minimal.

Will just be something I'll have an eye on to start the season.

 

[Heat Check]

While would not call Markkanen a soft player at times it's borderline for a guy with his size. One of the things love about his game is the ability to play outside - in. In addition, having the versatility to play the 3/4, and in limited instances depending on match ups the 5 (e.g certain 2nd unit centers).

My concern with the weight loss is the benefits as a 3 will be minimal, but it will push him over the edge to being full fledge soft and take away any remaining ability/effectiveness as a 4 and eliminate any instances of playing 5; at which point the Cavs would essentially be left with just a tall 3 with an offensive game limited to take set shots from 3pt land.

Could be wrong - perhaps the weight loss has a more positive impact on his mobility on both ends to play the 3, and any negative impact playing the 4 and operating around the rim offensively or on the boards will be minimal.

Will just be something I'll have an eye on to start the season.

He doesn't look like he's lost any weight. Where is this coming from?

 

[Swuul]

As far as I know, he hasn't lost weight. He has focused on lower body and legs (especially lateral speed) in the physical training this summer, and eased a bit on pumping iron (past summers, as per Bulls guidelines, he did the bench press series with up to 100 kg, this summer as per Cavs guidelines he has been doing bench press series with 80 kg and even less). He looks leaner now (at least to my eyes), if you don't look at his thighs, and I think he moves way faster (in the Thursdays match he was moving laterally faster than I have ever seen him move, which resulted in a few steals (I bet the swedish players couldn't fathom how such a big guy can move so fast)).