There isn't just one thing to explain the Utah Jazz's ongoing frustrating struggles. They are not good on either side of the court, which is a shame because they have the personnel to be better than this. Their injuries have definitely factored into these struggles, but only one win only nine games into the season?
This is very much a team issue, but when a team that aspired to make the playoffs is as far from it as they could have possibly dreaded, many look to the team's best player, and that still is Lauri Markkanen.
This season was supposed to be an exciting one for the Jazz star, as it was his first legitimate chance at the playoffs on paper. However, he has not been putting up the numbers Jazz fans have grown accustomed to, which is hard to ignore.
There was bound to be a drop off when surrounding him with more scorers like Keyonte George and Darryn Peterson, but Markkanen's not even shooting that well. In the eight games he's played, he's averaged 18 points while shooting almost 39% from the field and 39,7% from three.
Markkanen is still one of the league's best floor-spacing big men, but what makes him so lethal is that he has proven that he can score from anywhere. He's a lob threat and exploits mismatches when he has them. But sadly, only the floor spacing has shown itself.
For the Jazz to get back on track, he has to shake this off.
In all fairness, he has an excuse
Markkanen sprained his wrist not too long ago. It made him day-to-day, but given that his shooting efficiency is more the exception than the norm, it's clear the wrist has been bothering him. In fact, he has been listed as questionable for Utah's upcoming game against Minnesota.
Maybe he needs more time to recover, but it is saddening that during a season in which he is surrounded by more legitimate scoring threats, we're not seeing an uptick in his efficiency. Hopefulyl when his wrist heals, we'll see the Markkanen of old again.
Utah has been fairly unlucky both with injuries and with guys not quite fitting into their roles the way they had hoped. Markkanen was supposed to be that steady scoring presence from the start and he just hasn't been.
It could be an entirely different story by the start of December, but here's to hoping Markkanen gets it together sooner rather than later.
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