LAURI HAS GOOD HANDLE ON THINGS
Secret is out on his dribbling ability as he seeks to take his game to another level
Five games last April didn’t necessarily change Fred Hoiberg’s mind, but they didn’t hurt.
The former Bulls coach watched Lauri Markkanen play the best basketball of his rookie year to close out the 2017-18 season. In that span, he averaged 19.4 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting a blistering 58 percent from three-point range in just 24 minutes per game.
But Hoiberg was seeing other things, specifically the mild-mannered Markkanen feeling comfortable enough in practice to start showing off his ball-handling and passing skills.
He was doing things 7-footers shouldn’t be allowed to do.
That’s why Hoiberg spent the summer tweaking the offense to make Markkanen more of the focus — tweaks Hoiberg never saw play out.
Markkanen hurt his right elbow early in camp, and Hoiberg was dismissed from his post Dec. 3, two days after Markkanen made his season debut.
Fast-forward to February, when Markkanen Euro-stepped into the All-Star break averaging 25.3 points and 12.5 rebounds in his last six games. His continued development is one of the Bulls’ five keys for the rest of the season.
According to Markkanen, the elbow is about “85 percent.’’ He’s attacking the boards so he can initiate the offense. And in the Rising Stars Game on Friday, he showed off his handles with some impressive dribbling at the top of the arc before launching a three.
“Yeah, I think it is kind of a secret because that’s how I grew up,’’ Markkanen said of his ball-handling skills. “I was always on the perimeter with the ball. Even in practice [with the Bulls], I fool around with [my ball-handling], and I’ve been doing that more and more. So I don’t think people know that about me.’’
That’s what makes the last 24 games of the season so important. Markkanen is starting to show not just star potential among the Bulls, but All-Star potential. If he can stay on that trajectory while showing off more playmaking skills, maybe the rebuild will start gaining traction with a pillar to build on.
Either way, as far as Markkanen and his handles are concerned, the secret is out.