Utah Jazz’s Lauri Markkanen is having the best season of his career. According to the head coach of the Finnish national basketball team, Lassi Tuov, Markkanen is the number one name in Utah’s home hall.
Simo Arkko,
Antti-Jussi Sipilä
Flush Lauri Markkanen around has accelerated in the United States, but especially in Utah. Markkanen is in seventh place with more than 1.3 million votes in the NBA’s recent All Star game public vote.
Head coach of the Finnish national basketball team who went on a North American tour Lassi Tuovi says that Markkanen’s jersey is not available in supporter shops.
– Yes, the incomprehensible thing is that he is the number one star in the hall. You can buy everyone else’s jerseys in the store, of John Stockton and Karl Malone’s shirts, but you can’t find them in Markka and apparently the next lots have sold out. It tells a little about the hype just before the All Star weekend, Tuovi tells Urheilu.
– You definitely get chills when you follow him on the field. Lauri is himself, quite modest and smiling, so he takes the whole situation calmly and enjoys it.
Tuovi was in the stands between Wednesday and Thursday night when Markkanen poured in 34 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against the Los Angeles Clippers as the Jazz won 126-103. Markkanen was the match’s top scorer.
Tuovi watched the Finnish star’s performance with pride.
– From the player introductions, we have an international superstar in sports and the number one name in the hall. Lauri started off great with seven points and immediately took over. Yes, a Finnish sports fan and any person can be proud of that.
Read more: Lauri Markkanen sank “the harshest donk of the season” in front of the Susijeng’s leading figures – grumbled about his role: “I get to be a taxi driver”
No longer a one-position player
According to Tuov, Markkanen has taken development strides even after last summer’s European Championships. At that time, Markkanen was the second most effective player in the entire tournament with an average of 27.9 points.
– Lauri has developed enormously in many respects. It bodes well for the future that he will develop in the future as well. Especially his defensive playing and calmness in general are a notch more certain.
According to Tuov, Markkanen also moves really well and is more active than in previous years, which partly also tells about the team’s way of playing. According to Tuov, Markkanen’s game has the same features as Suijengi. For example, against Los Angeles, Markkanen brought the ball to the front court himself and used the ball screen he received.
– He is no longer a one-position player, but a link knife who does everything on the field, Tuovi praises.
Markkanes is cared for
Markkanen already passed his personal points record last week. In the opening season, Markkanen scored 1,033 points in 68 games in Chicago, but now this has already been broken in 43 games (1,068). This season’s average score is handsome, 24.8.
– I must say that Lauri Markkanen has found a place where he feels good, he is cared for and he has good people around him. That is certainly one of the reasons why the results are like that.
Tuovi is in North America together with the sports director of the Basketball Association by Henrik Dettmann with watching Finnish basketball players in universities. Dettmann has already seen some of the players. The most important purpose is to visit 3–4 universities.
You can see the NBA standings at this link.