The Finnish icon’s early exit won’t hurt his stock with the Utah Jazz.
Lauri Markkanen is the face of the Utah Jazz, for now anyway. That’s not some clever attempt at foreshadowing or predicting some foreboding situation, it’s just an acknowledgment that things change. Markkanen is the best player on the Jazz right now, and heading into the FIBA World Cup, many eyes were on him to see if he could lead Team Finland to the second round of the FIBA World Cup.
Spoiler alert, he could not.
The team wasn’t very good, and sorry to our Finnish readers, Finland rarely ever is. In fact, Markkanen is easily the greatest player the country has ever produced. So while the Finnish weren’t a good squad, and weren’t going to go deep into the tournament, there were still expectations for the star of the team, Markkanen, and what he could do for the squad.
And he lived up to the expectations. He averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds in his first two games. His points per game are seventh-best in the entire tournament so far, and he’s the 15th most efficient player as well.
He saw his homeland draw a tough set of matches with Germany, Japan, and Australia all being part of their Group. Germany and Australia are two of the favorites this year, and Japan has a sneakily good roster led by American Joshua Hawkinson.
So even though Finland was bounced out of the tournament early, doesn’t mean that Markkanen’s early exit is marred. He did exactly what he was expected to do, put on good performances, and really made the world see that he’s taken the next step in his growth.
And the good news is, the Finnish squad still has three games to play. They won’t move on to the second round, but maybe Markkanen can get them to an above .500 record, and help them get a higher seed than originally thought.