OAKLAND, Calif. โ In terms of his career longevity, 2012 All-Star appearance, 2015 Finals MVP and three championship rings, Andre Iguodala could make a case for himself as the most successful NBA player ever to have played collegiately at Arizona.
But the veteran Golden State Warriors forward wasnโt interested in all that last Friday, after matching up with another fellow former Wildcat in Chicagoโs Lauri Markkanen.
โHeโs gonna be good,โ Iguodala said. โBetter shooter than people think. Can size you up. The gameโs gonna go back to mismatches and heโs gonna draw a lot of mismatches. Heโs good in the post. โฆ Heโs gonna tighten up his handle.โ
โHe could be the best player to come out of Arizona.โ
Then Iguodala paused.
โWhoโs the best?โ he said. โSean Elliott? Mike Bibby? Jason Terry? Gilbert Arenas?โ
Iguodala made no mention of himself, then settled on Arenas, the three-time all-Star. But he also wouldnโt be surprised if the Finnish big man surpasses even him someday.
โHeโs got all the tools to be the best coming out of there,โ Iguodala said.
Considering how woeful the Bulls have been during Markkanenโs second season in the league, itโs hard to see it sometimes.
Chicago was blown out in style when Iguodala faced Markkanen in a 146-109 game last Friday at Oracle Arena. Klay Thompson hit three 3-pointers in the first 70 seconds, the Warriors took a 43-17 lead at the end of the first quarter and it was pretty much over after that.
โHe sees a glimpse of the rim and heโs going up,โ Markkanen said, explaining Thompsonโs early spurt with a characteristically succinct description. โThatโs how good of a shooter he is.โ
The Bulls dropped to 10-32 at Golden State and then picked up their 33rd loss a night later at Utah, losing the first three games of a five-game road trip that continues Tuesday against the Lakers in Los Angeles.
Having already fired coach Fred Hoiberg on Dec. 3 and promoting defensive-minded associate head coach Jim Boylen to replace him, the Bulls arenโt seeing improvements on the court, at least not yet.
โOf course, nobody likes getting their butt kicked,โ Boylen said after the Warriors game. โBut weโll take the good moments and build on them and hopefully take the bad moments and learn from them.โ
Among the good moments, he said, was being able to use Markkanen at small forward, matching the 7-footer against Kevin Durant and Iguodala. That move spoke to the unusual versatility Arizona saw during the 2016-17 season, when Markkanen served as an almost unguardable 3-point shooter who also, especially later that season, more aggressively scored around the rim.
His skillset has continued to grow in Chicago.
โItโs different,โ Markkanen said. โI mean, I wasnโt just a shooter (at Arizona) but sometimes I felt like it. I think Iโve always had more to my game but itโs a different system here. I think it accompanies me pretty well.โ
Thereโs no doubt Markkanen accompanies the Bullsโ plans. Chicago is trying to rebuild around a young core of players led by former UCLA guard Zack LaVine, former Providence guard Kris Dunn and Markkanen.
โWe love him, and heโs had some huge games for us this year,โ Boylen said. โHeโs still learning how to play with Kris and Zach and weโre still learning how to get him involved as much as we can.
โI think the thing heโs trying to do is trying to defend. Heโs trying to make the most of his opportunities. He can play with his back to the basket. He can play facing. He can drive the ball. He can shoot the three. He has a pullup game.โ
Similarly, Iguodala said defense is probably going to be the โlast stepโ in Markkanenโs improvement.
โHeโs going to continue to polish it up,โ Iguodala said. โIf he can be constant defensively and take a stance to that end where heโs going to be physically imposing, heโs got all the tools to be pretty good.โ
Obstacles have made it tougher to improve this season. Not only are the Bulls adjusting to Boylen, but Markkanen also missed the first 18 games of the season with a right elbow strain. And even though Markkanen returned to score back-to-back 30-point games just before Christmas, Boylen says heโs still not fully himself.
โI think heโs still working his way back,โ Boylen said. โThat was a very difficult injury and thereโs times when that thingโs a little sore.
โItโs healed, but itโs still healing, if that makes sense.โ
In typical form, though, Markkanen has taken a philosophical approach to the injury.
โItโs part of the game,โ he said. โIt sucks, but Iโve had my good moments. I havenโt been playing as well as I want to, but itโs part of the game.โ
Thatโs about as downbeat as Markkanen gets.
During a brief conversation with the Arizona Daily Star after a Bulls shootaround at the University of San Francisco last Friday, about the only other thing Markkanen even remotely expressed concern about was the long NBA trips and the pressure that puts on his wife, Verna, and their 11-month boy back in Chicago.
And that came only in the context of talking about how, as a Finn, he actually can appreciate Chicagoโs weather and how much he enjoys the place.
โYeah, itโs more like home but weโre on the road so much,โ said Markkanen, noting that his parents sometimes fly over from Helwsinki to help. โOf course, Chicago is our home now and I love it. I have family here, so it feels good.โ
When thereโs trouble on the court, you wonโt hear Markkanen talking about that, either.
When Markkanen was asked last month if Hoiberg had lost the Bullsโ locker room, he tried to deflect the question with a smile and said thatโs โa difficult question to ask.โ
Prodded for more, Markkanen said, โObviously, the players are taking care of themselves and we talk about different stuff in the locker room, but I donโt think we talk about coachโs decisions or anything like that.โ
A Yahoo account of the exchange concluded simply that Markkanen is โclearly too nice to say anything negative on the record.โ
But Markkanenโs polite nature isnโt to be misunderstood for a lack of personality.
During his year with the Wildcats, Markkanen was known to be sneaky funny, and the world saw it last November when Markkanen appeared to troll Donald Trump in the wake of the California wildfires.
Trump claimed that the Finns prevented fires in part by cleaning their forest floors, so Markkanen responded by slyly combining his sense of humor with his passion for fighting climate change.
He posted a photo of himself on Twitter while holding a rake.
โAnybody need their floors raked?โ Markkanen wrote, adding โ#FinnishRakingSeason.โ
He then encouraged followers to join him in donating to a Red Cross site that was aiding those impacted by the fires.
The Bulls see that sort of humor all the time.
โLauriโs great, man,โ Bulls guard LaVine said.
โHeโs really funny. He doesnโt talk a lot because heโs from Finland, but heโs a goofball. You never see him down.
โJust the other day we were going through plays at practice and it was early. NBA players donโt like that sometimes. But heโs just out there smiling and laughing, and it brought a smile to my face.
โThat dude, Iโve never seen him mad. Heโs a great person, and a special talent. We need him.โ
While lining up next to Iguodala on the free-throw lane late in the Warriorsโ blowout of the Bulls, Markkanen even appeared to have the veteran former Wildcat smiling.
He has game, and personality.
Maybe thatโs the skillset that carries Markkanen far in the NBA.
โHeโs kind of got a little swagger to his game,โ Iguodala said. โI like it a lot.โ
Rim shots
- Arizona and Washington both received eight votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll Monday, while the Wildcats are rated No. 36 in Sagarin, No. 49 in Kenpom and No. 51 in NET. Among Pac-12 teams, Washington (38) has the highest NET rating, followed by Arizona and Oregon State (71), while ASU has slipped to 83.
- OSUโs Stephen Thompson picked up the Pac-12 Player of the Week award after averaging 25.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists while shooting 50 percent in the Beaversโ sweep of USC and UCLA. UA nominated center Chase Jeter, who averaged 16.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in a sweep of Stanford and Cal.