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Lauri Markkanen does not seem at all worried about anyone who is mired in what many consider a slump.
And according to him, there is no reason to be. Although Markkanen continued to play basketball in March after losing to the Lakers, he maintained the same coaching approach, but his confidence did not falter and the shots he made – and, for now, do not succeed – all feel good.
Thus, Markkanen's answer when asked if he considered himself in crisis was resounding.
"No, I've already had that before and I'm doing everything as I have already done and it's been a few games now and I'm trying not to look at it like two games." try to look at it a little longer and see if it's so bad, I realize it's not okay now, but I do not lower my head because of that. "
Markkanen's confidence aside, recent figures indicate that he's actually become cold. In his last six games, including 4 on 17 out of 17 shots on Tuesday, Markkanen shot 31 percent from the field and made only 9 of 40 attempts at 3 points. He failed to score 20 points in any of those games after reaching that number in each of his previous 11 games, and his free throw attempts only reached 3.5 points per game after going 7 , 0 times per game during this sequence of 11 matches.
But Markkanen did not break his routine. He continues to get shot before and after training, he watches his own movie with assistant coach Dean Cooper and feels punctuated by just about every shot that he takes. In fact, Markkanen went so far in saying that he had never felt out of rhythm and that his shot had never felt "off", despite the recent fights.
"I'm doing the same things, so I know it's going to turn out," he said. "I admit that I do not play like in February, but I will continue to work as I do every day, because everything is the same, I will not play for the moment."
Markkanen's six-game slider was launched following an incredible February (and his first March match) in which he averaged 26.5 points on a 49% shot, 2, 5 points scored at 36% and nearly 91% of the free match. launch the line over a period of 11 games. The teams clearly called him the top scorer, and he has received even more attention in the last two games, with Zach LaVine healing his knee.
But that's life in the NBA for a cornerstone of the franchise. Markkanen is asked a lot while he's played 114 career games, and his very active role at such a young stage of his career has opened him to criticism when he goes through those difficult times.
"To say that something is wrong with him, I think it would be premature and incorrect," Boylen said after the match. "To say we need him to play better so we have a chance to win is the best way to say that."
The absurd February of Markkanen, where he was finalist of the player of the month of the Eastern Conference, strengthened his position in the spotlight. In fact, he is only 21 years old and he missed 10 and a half weeks early in the regular season because of an elbow injury. The fact that Markkanen has managed this injury and played so well – he still has an average of 19.2 points and 9.0 rebounds this season – says more about the positive aspects of his game than the current doldrums. .
He is still learning and growing and he will inevitably go through difficult times at this stage of his career. The second-year struggles are not uncommon: Jayson Tatum averages 13.8 points on 38% shooting in March, Donovan Mitchell shot 38% in December and Kyle Kuzma, who had 21 points on Tuesday, entered this match with less than 31% depth his last 15 games. Markkanen just goes through what almost all second-year players go through, which is why he does not sweat much.
"It's of course more fun to see them come in, but as I said, they all felt good," Markkanen said. "So, I did not want to lower my head because I was not shooting, I still thought the next shot was going to happen."
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