Jazz F Lauri Markkanen Begins FIBA World Cup: What to Watch For
Utah Jazz All-Star Lauri Markkanen is competing with the Finland national basketball team, and they begin their group play against Australia on Friday at 2 a.m. The NBA's Most Improved Player of the Year is coming off a career campaign while also becoming a first-time All-Star.
Finland will make only its second appearance ever in the World Cup and finished 22nd in 2014. FIBA's most recent power rankings have Finland coming in at a solid No. 12 out of 32.
Finland will almost exclusively lean on Markkanen and his talents to carry them in a competitive group that includes Australia and Germany, two teams with high expectations going into the tournament.
In FIBA EuroBasket play last year, Markkanen turned many heads as he averaged nearly 28 points and eight rebounds per game. Summer competition for NBA players has been proven to help vault them into the following season and this was the case for the 26-year-old Jazz forward heading into last season after he was dealt to Utah from Cleveland.
Jazz fans should turn their attention to how Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler, and especially Lauri Markkanen fare in FIBA as it can be a major indicator of their growth and development going into the 2023-24 Jazz season.
Markkanen has recently been resting in the preliminary games leading up to the tournament, so Finland will have to hit the ground running with him as a unit in Friday's important game. Finland faces off in Group E, where it will play all three other teams to see hopefully advance past the first round.
Finland's schedule is:
Australia vs. Finland: Friday, August 25 at 2:00 a.m. MDT
Finland vs. Japan: Sunday, August 27 at 6:10 a.m. MDT
Germany vs. Finland: Tuesday, August 29 at 1:30 a.m. MDT
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