Lauri Markkanen stat deep dive

[SoberasHotRod]

OK, so similar to the Colin Sexton stat deep dive, I've added some Jazz player's stats as a frame of reference. I've seen people say that Lauri played out of position last year, so I've also included his last year with Chicago as well.



The stats are pretty clear that Lauri has been almost exclusively a catch and shoot role player. Although there are some differences between last year and the year before, they seem pretty slight to me. He's a decent rebounder. For his size I would think he would be better, but since he plays on the perimeter so much, I think the numbers look ok. He's an awful pull up shooter. He's not a great defender, but not horrible either.

I hope after Eurobasket he'll have some more confidence and the coaching staff will give him some more opportunities to play with the ball in his hands. So far he hasn't really shown any of that at the NBA level, but he looked amazing with his national team.

Feel free to add any other stats or analysis.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

The other thing that sticks out from these stats is that Royce needed to shoot the ball more. His shooting numbers are elite.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

The other thing that sticks out from these stats is that Royce needed to shoot the ball more. His shooting numbers are elite.

Royce numbers are elite because he only took great shots. If he shot more, he'd be less standout.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

Royce numbers are elite because he only took great shots. If he shot more, he'd be less standout.

I get that, but he still shot 55%efg when guarded tight and shot 60% efg on pull ups. Very small sample size, but he should have shot more.

 

[JazzFever]

Yep, never understood Royce's hesitancy- he could of really upped his value with just a bit more confidence in taking shots.

 

[Ujfanatic]

I bet Bogey’s % of shots with 0 dribbles goes up significantly if the stat was 0 or 1 dribble.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

I bet Bogey’s % of shots with 0 dribbles goes up significantly if the stat was 0 or 1 dribble.

Ha Ha, yeah Bogey loves that escape dribble. If you were seriously interested, here is the complete breakdown: https://www.nba.com/stats/player/202711/shots-dash

 

[KqWIN]

I'm more optimistic about Lauri than Sexton. Not sure he will ever turn into something beyond a tall catch and shoot player, but at least we know he's functional in that role. Sexton, I'm not sure he can scale down.

 

[HeatCheck]

I'm going to keep an open mind on all these young guys.

With that said even as a tall catch and shoot guy I would expect his overall shooting %'s should be a little higher. Defensively he did play better next to Allen and Mobley last season but that's probably to be expected with 2 young defensive bigs to erase some mistakes.

 

[whatthe]

Lauri pairs well with Vando just the way he is now. Anything more is a bonus.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Lauri pairs well with Vando just the way he is now. Anything more is a bonus.

Kind of. You have 0 rim protection with those two though.

I could see that be a good playoff lineup, but to survive in the regular season you kind of have to have some level of rim protection in your starting lineup.

 

[whatthe]

Kind of. You have 0 rim protection with those two though.

I could see that be a good playoff lineup, but to survive in the regular season you kind of have to have some level of rim protection in your starting lineup.

I think Hardy is going do an all switch defense whenever Kessler is not playing.

 

[TheGoldStandard]

I'm going to keep an open mind on all these young guys.

With that said even as a tall catch and shoot guy I would expect his overall shooting %'s should be a little higher. Defensively he did play better next to Allen and Mobley last season but that's probably to be expected with 2 young defensive bigs to erase some mistakes.

Lauri plays better when he is more involved. When he takes more shots in a game, his percentages rise a lot.

When he was actively involved during last years playoffs, he looked dynamic. CLE had a habit of going away from him and just wanting him to spread the floor, and he kind of disappears in that scenario. With the current Jazz roster, expect his touches and percentages to look good.

It will be interesting to see where Hardy plays him. He looked the best I have seen him playing SF last year.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I think Hardy is going do an all switch defense whenever Kessler is not playing.

I think they would probably still go drop w/ Lauri and have Vanderbilt on the best wing player, but maybe they would go full-switch for some moments.

 

[TheGoldStandard]

I think they would probably still go drop w/ Lauri and have Vanderbilt on the best wing player, but maybe they would go full-switch for some moments.

I hope so. Lauri is decent switching on bigger players, but can't guard quick guards. An example is the game that knocked CLE out as a playoff team last year, ATL continually exploited Lauri by getting him switched on Trae, and Trae made it look like Lauri wasn't even moving (Trae had a good game and was killing the entire CLE roster).

 

[whatthe]

I hope so. Lauri is decent switching on bigger players, but can't guard quick guards. An example is the game that knocked CLE out as a playoff team last year, ATL continually exploited Lauri by getting him switched on Trae, and Trae made it look like Lauri wasn't even moving (Trae had a good game and was killing the entire CLE roster).

He's flawed but not unfixable plus his size shows sometimes. But hot dang that shooting covers up a lot.

 

[Udidthizz]

I bet Bogey’s % of shots with 0 dribbles goes up significantly if the stat was 0 or 1 dribble.

Love it when he does that. In my perception he rarely misses after the 1 dribble and little sidestep routine.

 

[HeatCheck]

I hope so. Lauri is decent switching on bigger players, but can't guard quick guards. An example is the game that knocked CLE out as a playoff team last year, ATL continually exploited Lauri by getting him switched on Trae, and Trae made it look like Lauri wasn't even moving (Trae had a good game and was killing the entire CLE roster).

I remember Lauri too from the Bulls when quicker wings would routinely attack the paint when Lauri was playing more of a 4/5 during his Chicago days. Saw him get posterized bad, I believe by Oubre, in a game a few years ago. Recently read on another forum that Donovan's wingspan is 6'10" and Lauri's is 6"-11" despite being like a foot taller.

A seven footer than can shoot is always valuable though. Hopefully the Jazz keep him involved and the shooting %'s look good next season although I wonder how Hardy is going to use him defensively.

 

[Goodluckchuck]

Royce numbers are elite because he only took great shots. If he shot more, he'd be less standout.

Out of all the players on the team, Royce was the only one that could not hesitate. Don’t know how many times he would hesitate, shoot and miss. When he shot without thinking he was lights out.

 

[LogGrad98]

I remember Lauri too from the Bulls when quicker wings would routinely attack the paint when Lauri was playing more of a 4/5 during his Chicago days. Saw him get posterized bad, I believe by Oubre, in a game a few years ago. Recently read on another forum that Donovan's wingspan is 6'10" and Lauri's is 6"-11" despite being like a foot taller.

A seven footer than can shoot is always valuable though. Hopefully the Jazz keep him involved and the shooting %'s look good next season although I wonder how Hardy is going to use him defensively.

It makes me think a little of Dirk. He was ok-minus to bad on defense, but they hid it well, and he put forth just enough effort on D that his explosions on the offensive end would more than compensate. Build the right team around a guy like that and you can get a ring.