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Lauri Markkanen Hype & Appreciation Thread

IMO Markkanen is the definition of an off-ball scorer. You don't have to spoon feed him everything like he's Vando and he doesn't need four stagger screens in a row to get open like Reggie Miller used to, but he's still at his best when he has a step on the defender and receives the ball on the move. I think a curl to the middle off a screen is pretty much the "setup" he needs. You need some spacing for that, though, and we're not exactly excelling at that right now,
I think you are spot on. He can put the ball on the ground but he is still too cautious to attack that way on most nights.

We have seen some games where he looks different and attacks the paint dribbling, but thats his mindset in like 10-20% of games.

Im fine with him being an off ball scorer at this point though. He is a tough matchup so most teams cannot afford to switch on him.
 
Lauri needs a great ball handler to help him finish games. Mike is being missed and Colin needs to keep growing. I think Kessler with Dok's body is a top 5 center. Beasley is underutilized if the Jazz want to win and Vando needs to up his rebounding like a mad man.
Beasley is over utilized
 
Beasley is over utilized
Hate to agree with you but it's true.

We saw last night that subbing Beas in for Vando at the end of the game was not the answer. Beasley is not a good defender and is only 6'-4" so not ideal size either to be defending wings such as Derozon/Lavine and he's not going to grab boards either. Beasley can get red hot from the 3 pt line to open up the floor but that didn't happen last night. I like Beas and Vando but those 2 are sticking out as regular participants in our worst 2 man, 3 man, and 4 man lineups which is surprising especially since Beasley looked so good coming off the bench especially during the hot start.

I'd probably play either JC or Beasley depending on which one is hot at the moment. JC offers a little more ballhandling. Both are bad defenders but this team's identity is more on the offensive end.
 
Hate to agree with you but it's true.

We saw last night that subbing Beas in for Vando at the end of the game was not the answer. Beasley is not a good defender and is only 6'-4" so not ideal size either to be defending wings such as Derozon/Lavine and he's not going to grab boards either. Beasley can get red hot from the 3 pt line to open up the floor but that didn't happen last night. I like Beas and Vando but those 2 are sticking out as regular participants in our worst 2 man, 3 man, and 4 man lineups which is surprising especially since Beasley looked so good coming off the bench especially during the hot start.

I'd probably play either JC or Beasley depending on which one is hot at the moment. JC offers a little more ballhandling. Both are bad defenders but this team's identity is more on the offensive end.
Beasley just doesn't offer much outside of shooting. Its an interesting evaluation. He is definitely a very good shooter, but IDK if he is elite and he brings nothing else. How valuable is that? Obviously I would pick his contract up next year, but IDK if I'd rather re-sign him or trade him.
 
Beasley just doesn't offer much outside of shooting. Its an interesting evaluation. He is definitely a very good shooter, but IDK if he is elite and he brings nothing else. How valuable is that? Obviously I would pick his contract up next year, but IDK if I'd rather re-sign him or trade him.
Oh I think he's elite. You can't get as many off as he does without being able to do it off motion and without having a quick release.

He's a terrible defender. I'd move him in the right deal. Atlanta for Bogdon and a first is one I cooked up in my brain. Gives them salary relief and a shooter since Bogey may not get back and healthy any time soon.
 
Oh I think he's elite. You can't get as many off as he does without being able to do it off motion and without having a quick release.

He's a terrible defender. I'd move him in the right deal. Atlanta for Bogdon and a first is one I cooked up in my brain. Gives them salary relief and a shooter since Bogey may not get back and healthy any time soon.
I guess it depends where the line at elite is drawn, but if he is elite, it's at the bottom rung of that grouping
 
Oh I think he's elite. You can't get as many off as he does without being able to do it off motion and without having a quick release.

He's a terrible defender. I'd move him in the right deal. Atlanta for Bogdon and a first is one I cooked up in my brain. Gives them salary relief and a shooter since Bogey may not get back and healthy any time soon.
I think he's moreso streaky than elite. He's been given the green light to hoist them at will off the bench for this team. He's had a few stinkers shooting like 2 for 10 from the 3 pt line too.

He's currently ranked 47th in the league in 3 pt shooting %.

Now if you just look at the raw number of 3 pt shots he's made he's sitting at #2 with 75 3 pointers made for the season. Ofc Steph is sitting at #1 with a ridiculous 98 made. There are a handful of guys sitting there at 70-71 made for the season but they have all played at least 2 fewer games than the Jazz.
 
I think he's moreso streaky than elite. He's been given the green light to hoist them at will off the bench for this team. He's had a few stinkers shooting like 2 for 10 from the 3 pt line too.

He's currently ranked 47th in the league in 3 pt shooting %.

Now if you just look at the raw number of 3 pt shots he's made he's sitting at #2 with 75 3 pointers made for the season. Ofc Steph is sitting at #1 with a ridiculous 98 made. There are a handful of guys sitting there at 70-71 made for the season but they have all played at least 2 fewer games than the Jazz.
He's elite imo... He is like top 5 in attempts per minute and hits them at a rate higher than Hield and Klay. If other guys could get up that many attempts they would... its less about a green light and more about his ability imo.

Second in the league in total makes is impressive. While we have played more games than the other guys he hasn't logged more minutes. I'm not sure what the definition of "elite" is but if Beasley isn't elite then there are only a few guys who fit the definition in the entire league.
 
We need to do a better job of getting him involved later in the game. He should touch the ball every single possession late in the game. Run a high-low set with Olynyk with cuts or hella-pnr's. But he needs to be more involved in the offense and he isn't at the level yet where he can create for himself and others enough to just give him the ball. I think he'll get there, but right now he needs someone to help set him up and get him the ball.

Also Hardy needs to unleash his shot blocker when the other team is feasting in the paint. I'm convinced we had a better shot to win with Kessler in than Olynyk last night.

That's all true.

Jazz playmaking outside of Conley is mediocre Sexton and Clarkson have some basketball IQ but they aren't PG's.
Ainge should've tried to acquire legit backup PG who can run offense and make plays before this season started
but some reason he didn't do it and now Jazz playmaking is what it is when Conley is out.

Only Durant creates his own scoring chances and shots
but Lauri absolutely should try to learn create for himself then he wouldn't be so depend on PG what he's now.
 

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wVPmeewwIo


I didnt get any tanking sense. Lauri seemed pretty confident and I got the impression there is no doomsday feeling in the locker room.

Doesn't surprise me. The guys have literally nothing to lose, and everything to gain by playing hard for what amounts to a possible "contract year" scenario for just about everybody. So that will help them be competitive, at least, in most games. And they will win more than they probably should. Definitely makes it a lot of fun to watch for the most part.
 
Who doesn't like playing hacky sack and smoking satans spinach?
I thought that was kale. Smoking it is probably way better than eating it. Right up there with eating a cactus.
 
I thought that was kale. Smoking it is probably way better than eating it. Right up there with eating a cactus.
I eat it via smoothie so i dont have to taste it.
 
So what's going on here? Remember when Lauri used to play for this team?

Seems like he must be really sick, he's missed 4 days of work now. I was thinking about this the other day, but I've only ever missed one day at a time from work for being sick. I'm obviously not a high level athlete and I've also been pretty lucky.

Players have played through illness before, but maybe that is being discouraged these days. Hopefully he recovers quickly and doesn't have any long term effects. Does anybody have any more details on what he's sick with?
 
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