SEATTLE — The scoring numbers say Lauri Markkanen broke out of his slump in Washington over the weekend, but it’s more complicated than that.
He became a totally different player.
The 7-foot freshman from Finland relocated primarily from the perimeter to the basket. Or, to put it in easy pun form, he went from a Markksman to a Finnisher.
Markkanen is actually still in a shooting slump, by the standards of the torrid 3-point shooting he put up through his first 22 games as a collegian.
A 50.5-percent 3-point shooter at that point after UA beat Washington at McKale on Jan. 29, having hit an almost silly 60.0 percent over his first nine Pac-12 games, Markkanen made just 1 of 6 3s he took last weekend in UA’s return games at Washington State and Washington.
But, for the first time this season, that really didn’t matter all that much. Markkanen instead made it happen by posting up, driving to the basket and putting back offensive rebounds.
He pulled down 13 offensive boards over UA’s two wins in Washington, and they led to 20 combined Wildcat points.
“He’s using his size better,” UA coach Sean Miller said. “We’re starting to get him the ball a little bit easier and we have to continue that because he’s a lot harder to deal with when he’s able to score close to the basket.”
It was a plan Miller started talking about as Markkanen’s scoring slump deepened over the previous two weeks. Still relying on his suddenly shaky 3-pointer in those games, Markkanen didn’t score in double figures once in Oregon or against Stanford and Cal at McKale Center.
Then he broke out on Thursday with 19 points and 11 rebounds at Washington State, collecting six offensive rebounds that led to eight second-chance points, and Miller said after that game it was a “great sign” for him.
“We’ve worked with him on that and talked to him a lot about that,” Miller said. “We’ve changed a few things with our scheme, but he has to help himself. … Everybody knows he can punish smaller people and big guys around the basket. We’ve seen him get better in that area and (at WSU) he put it all together.”
Markkanen said after the Washington State game he’d noticed teams were switching ball screens on him, trying to stay with him more closely than ever through whatever he did, so he went along with the change.
Sophomore Allonzo Trier, one of the guards feeding him inside, liked the idea, too.
“I think it’s important for him to play around the rim,” Trier said Saturday after Markkanen added 26 points and 13 rebounds in UA’s 76-68 win over Washington. “He did a great job of that the last two games and we did a great job of finding him and putting him in a position to be successful, to really get him going on easy baskets.
“We can throw it over the top, let him get some finishes around the rim, and also he’s doing a good job of offensive rebounding as well. That’s always gonna help him get easy ones and help him feel good.”
Miller said the problem hasn’t been so much Markkanen’s confidence as much as that his scheme simply left the Finn outside too often.
“We made him one-dimensional,” Miller said after the UW game.
“It’s up to us to get him out of that mode. We probably stayed with that a game or two too long but nobody was really able to take him out of it.
“As we continue to evaluate our own team and watch him, he’s done a few things to help where we can get him the ball closer to the basket in addition to shooting the 3. I was shocked when he missed a 3 there at the end.”
UA survived that miss with 58 seconds left Saturday, turning what was then a three-point lead into an eight-point win, and before long, those perimeter shots may go in again.
But the ever-steady Markkanen says that isn’t his sole focus.
Not anymore.
“I’ve had those (slumps) before,” he said. “Everyone’s gonna have a little bit tougher time but you’ve gotta keep working harder. I’m trying to focus on different things, rebounding the ball, playing defense. I’m not worried about that. Just trying to help the team win.”
He did exactly that, twice, in Washington.
