Lauri Markkanen is seen as one of the future stars of the Chicago Bulls, but this season has been complicated for the Finnish power forward. Jim Boylen arrived at the United Center with different methods thought to be revolutionary. The revolution was only an illusion for Boylen and his Bulls, who are one of the worst franchises in the league right now.
Markkanen had shown some good things with Chicago, but this season his level decreased a little bit. It seems like Boylen doesn’t have much confidence in Lauri; his numbers have lowered from last year and that might be the coach’s fault. He recently had an interview with Finnish podcast Urheilucast, where he talked about a variety of topics.
Obviously, he mentioned his struggles this season, revealing what Boylen told him when he asked to get more involved in the offense.
“I had 80 touches per game the past two seasons, this season the touches dropped to 40. Don’t get me wrong, I had some plays drawn with me in mind, but it’s just different. When I spoke with Jim [Boylen], we talked about how I should concentrate on getting rebounds and then leading the fast break. But it’s just really hard getting 40 defensive rebounds,” Markkanen said, via On Tap Sports.
Things aren’t going good in the Windy City and if you take a look at those words, you can learn why everything is a mess with the Bulls. Markkanen went from 15.3 shots attempts last year to 11.8 this season. Getting rebounds hasn’t been his strength this season, either, so it’s kind of crazy to see Boylen’s statements.
The Bulls are going through a bad moment now and their fans expect that the changes at the front office can help them turn things around.
