Lauri Markkanen’s season continues for the first time in his NBA career even after the regular season. In an interview with Sport, Markkanen says that he enjoys the Cleveland Cavaliers excellently.
11.4. 11:39 • Updated April 11th. 11:50
Cleveland Cavaliersin Lauri Markkanen answers Sports’ video call at his hotel room in Orlando. In the evening ahead is a match against Orlando Magic and after that the Cavaliers will stay in Florida to spend a rare holiday before flying to New York.
The holiday program is clear. Markkanen plans to visit Universal Studios near the hotel.
Markkanen’s relaxed nature says he enjoys playing more than ever during his NBA career. The reason for this is easy to understand. The Cavaliers game has gone well for most of the season.
For the first time in his career, Markkanen is in a situation where games continue even after the regular season.
– Winning is on average harder than losing. The season has been really fun. Everything has worked really well in Cleveland. The team has had a good mood. It has been really nice to play, Markkanen glows in an interview with Sport.
Markkanen’s answer sounds like an American thoughtful piece of jewelry, but when heard from a Finn, it comes credibly.
During the first four seasons in the Chicago Bulls, the losses ate a man and the 213-centimeter was often in the teeth of fans and the media. It was also reflected in Markkanen’s essence in the interviews.
Cavaliers won 44 matches in the regular season. It’s a reading that just no one believed outside the locker room. The Cavaliers were eighth in the Eastern Conference and will continue throughout the playoffs qualifiers. The Brooklyn Nets will meet.
The difference to recent years is considerable, as in the Bulls shirt, Markkanen and partners left the field as winners at best 31 times during the season. This happened at the end of last season.
Markkanen glows the Cavaliers crew without hindrance.
– We have every player who wants the guy next to him to do better. It sounds cliché, but we all want the best of the team, says Markkanen.
– At first I didn’t know my teammates, even though I had played against Cavs several times. I joined the team with moderate expectations. I tried to adapt to the gang and get into the system. We’ve done a good result, so it’s surprising in that sense.
Big praise for coaching
Winning nurtured well-being within the team. From an outsider’s point of view, the Cavaliers group genuinely rejoices in the successes of a teammate, and based on social media, the Ohio group seems like a welded-together gang.
– We’ve had fun. Even if we had lost the day before, we would still come to the hall with a smile on our face the next morning. We enjoy doing the work. We want the teammate to succeed, and we don’t put our chin down even if our own throw goes by. That is certainly the biggest reason why we have been so successful, says Markkanen.
When the interview turns to playful matters, Markkanen’s speech immediately brings up the head coach JB Bickerstaffin name.
Markkanen moved into the ranks of the Cavaliers in August with a plush contract in his back pocket, and he did not know exactly what the future would bring when it came.
The Cavs players immediately bought Bickerstaff’s coaching philosophy. Since then, the results have been shown in the league table, although the Cavaliers were considered the throwback bag for the Eastern Conference in the pre-fights.
Markkanen already believed in the possibilities of his team in August and was not wrong.
– Everything has gone really well. Each player has accepted their own role and everyone trusts the coach’s view. It comes out really strong on this team. That is certainly one of the reasons we have played well. The coach has done a lot of good things for the team and trusts the players, says Markkanen.
Early season adjustment difficulties
However, Markkanen admits that he initially had difficulty adapting to his new role. Bickerstaff planted him on the land of a small winger, or third place, so the challenges were enough.
The Cavaliers’ starting five was exceptional by NBA standards. Bickerstaff ran to the field for three 213-cent players. The block machine chosen for the All Star game this season Jarret Allen played as a centerpiece, or venue, and competing for the title of newcomer of the year Evan Mobley on the plot of a big winger.
For this reason, Markkanen had to defend himself against smaller and faster players in every match.
From the beginning of the season, Markkanen ‘s most powerful long – range game also coughed badly.
– From the beginning of the season I noticed that the ball did not go into the basket so well because I didn’t get my feet involved in the throw. It was because I ran after smaller players in defense. I enjoyed the coach trusting and giving the game challenges. I really like it, Markkanen says.
And so did head coach Bickerstaff. As early as October, he glowed that Markkanen’s biggest credit for the functionality of the defense game belonged to him. Bickerstaff praised Markkanen’s ability to adapt to the new role.
Opponents have at times been in big trouble with a group of three big players in the Cavaliers. Allen, Mobley and Markka can be considered exceptionally athletic players given their size.
As a defender of players smaller than Markkanen’s contract, it has been facilitated by the confidence that when the opponent gets past the Finnish player, there will be double towers called Allen and Mobley near the basket.
– I dare to attack the attacker in the defense myself, because I know the guys are helping. There has been a lot of talk about the three big ones during the season, but we also have good work on our own grounds. They must not be forgotten either, Markkanen gives praise to the butler department.
– In almost every game, I have defended against players of different types and locations. I feel like I’ve moved forward as a player at both ends of the field. People always look at the numbers to see if the season has been a success or not. For me, however, the biggest metric is that I feel like I have moved forward as a player, says Markkanen.
Even more diverse Markkanen
During the period, Markkanen has also contracted four-place and top-star star players such as the Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embeedia and the Denver Nuggets Nikola Jokicia against which it is impossible to stop completely.
Markkanen’s pliers have also been the superstars of Phoenix Suns belonging to the same caste Chris PaulDallas Mavericks Slovenian Luka Doncic as well as the Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James.
In the NBA, nothing comes for free. Markkanen has spent a lot of time getting to know the opponents of the evening.
– I’ve been challenged a lot, but I like it. Before the game, I’ve researched a lot about them playing and tried to make playing them as challenging as possible. I don’t know if anyone can reset these guys, but I’ve done my best before the game to be ready to meet them on the field, says Markkanen.
Things have happened during the season that the people of Jyväskylä have not been able to influence, even though they have been in the books for a large part of the season. The coronavirus infection kept Markkanen on the sidelines at the beginning of November, and in January the flute became 11 games due to an ankle injury.
“Athlete is never happy”
The adjustment difficulties in the early part of the period are reflected in the Finnish star’s average score. Markkanen has scored 14.6 points for the Cavaliers and ripped 5.7 rebounds per match.
The decline in the rebound average can easily be explained by the new role as a defender of smaller players. Markkanen is often interfering with the throw away from the basket or closing his own player near a three-point arc, and he is not in this way fighting all the loose balls in the vicinity of the basket.
The three-point throw accuracy has also dropped by about five percentage points since last season. Markkanen, known as a great long-range thrower, has hit the bonus arc with an accuracy of 35.8 percent this season.
– An athlete is never satisfied. Always the numbers could be a little better. The same thing on the rebounds, even though I set a goal of six rebounds before the start of the season.
Markkanen’s average rebound is 5.7. Although Markkanen would like to make a tougher result, he does not stress the statistical readings this season.
– From the beginning of the season it was difficult to throw the ball inside the basket ring. That would have helped a bit with those numbers, of course. I don’t want to use the excuse to play in a new place, Markkanen says.
The next challenge for Markkanen and the Cavaliers is to play in the playoffs. In both conferences, four teams will battle it out in individual matches for the two remaining seats to the first round of the playoffs.
– I’m really looking forward to those games. We will do our best to make it happen and go a long way. The game is quite different in the playoffs and much more physical. Our main goal is to win. That is why this work is being done.
– I have the feeling that we can beat anyone in this league. This is only our first season together and we are going in the right direction in the big picture, concludes Markkanen.