Bulls' rookie Markkanen stuck in 3-point shooting slump
Fatherhood hasn't been kind to Lauri Markkanen's 3-point shot. Since missing three games for the birth of his son, Markkanen has hit just 4 of 25 attempts from long range, good for a tidy 16 percent.
Against Philadelphia on Thursday, Markkanen finished with just 3 points, matching his season-low.
"I still think it's going in every time he raises up to shoot," coach Fred Hoiberg said Friday at the Advocate Center. "We need him to be aggressive looking for his shot."
Before practice began, Hoiberg could be seen working with Markkanen, a Finland native, on shot mechanics.
"He's thinking a little bit too much," Hoiberg said. "I kind of compared it to golf when you miss a shot and you try to overcompensate the next time. For him, I had to compare it to curling. You have to continue to trust that stroke when you throw - what do you call it? - the stone.
"He looked at me like I had three eyes when I tried to make a golf reference to him. He understood a little more when I talked about curling. Really for him, it's about his balance and trusting his stroke. It looks like his body is twisting a little bit when he's in his shot."
Bulls lose and learn:
The first day with a new lineup generally went well for the Bulls. After falling behind the 76ers 25-7 at the start, the Bulls recovered and had a chance to win.
David Nwaba, starting in place of Justin Holiday, scored a career-high 21 points, while Bobby Portis played heavy minutes and had a career-high 38 points. Point guard Cameron Payne has a decent game in his season debut. The Bulls got to practice some late-game situations and those didn't go well. They fouled J.J. Redick intentionally with a 3-point lead and 8 seconds left, threw away an inbounds pass and fouled again.
"It was a high-level game," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "Besides that start we played a really solid game, 42 minutes of really good basketball. It is a great learning experience. Denzel (Valentine) has been the guy who we've put the ball in his hands to get it in, which isn't a fun role to have. But it's an important one."
No news on sitting Bulls:
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg wouldn't say if veterans Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday would be inactive again on Saturday in Minnesota.
"We'll determine that over the next 24 hours," Hoiberg said. "When I talked to Robin a couple days ago, he said, 'I think we need to give Noah Vonleh a look.' It just speaks to the type of person that Robin is - team guy and understands how hard those guys work in practice. Just for him to talk about giving other guys a chance says everything you need to know about Robin Lopez."