Sean Miller calls out analysts selling Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen short
Jan 26, 2017, 11:13 PM | Updated: Jan 27, 2017, 11:27 am
Arizona head coach Sean Miller talks to Arizona forward Lauri Markkanen (10) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Utah, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017, in Tucson, Ariz. Arizona defeated Utah 66-56. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Sean Miller must have been reading the blogs.
Sparked by a reporter’s question following Arizona’s 79-62 win over Washington State on Thursday, the Arizona Wildcats coach put his foot down regarding anonymous ranking-mongers who he believes are selling freshman forward Lauri Markkanen short.
“For him not to be considered one of the best freshmen in college basketball is a complete joke,” Miller told the media in Tucson. “I mean, I would put him up against anybody, not just the freshmen, toe-to-toe — the quality of player he is. Period. I don’t care if you’re from Finland, Russia, China, Japan, North Dakota, Florida, California, New York City. If you have eyes and you’re watching Arizona play, there aren’t many players who play the way he plays.
“He’s a very good player. He’s a great teammate,” Miller continued. “And he has other guys that he’s playing with that are very good as well, but once in a while, you just pay attention — even if you’re not trying to — and you look at hey, here are the best freshmen in the country, and I’m looking there and I’m saying, ‘Are you serious? It’s not even close.'”
Sean Miller on Lauri Markkanen and his maturity as a freshman. pic.twitter.com/HRu3IyyHgg
— DailyWildcatHoops (@WildcatHoops) January 27, 2017
So, what prompted Miller’s rant about his 7-foot tall Finnish freshman who is averaging 17.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while shooting 52 percent overall, 50 percent from three and 84 percent from the foul stripe?
CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander keeps a running freshman rankings and, as of his post updated on Tuesday, he had Markkanen ranked No. 7 on his list.
From first to sixth, Norlander ranks the best freshman as Washington’s Markelle Fultz, UCLA’s Lonzo Ball, NC State’s Dennis Smith, Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox, UCLA’s T.J. Leaf and Kentucky’s Malik Monk.
In that, Leaf being ranked ahead of Markkanen despite being the 20th-ranked prospect projected to enter the 2017 draft, per DraftExpress, could have irked Miller. Leaf was originally an Arizona commit, and Miller issued a pointed press conference — he did not name Leaf — having lost that recruiting battle when Leaf signed with the Bruins.
Furthermore, it came after Markkanen outplayed Leaf in the Wildcats’ win over the Bruins.
For those unsure coming in, thought this game showed how huge the gap is between Lauri Markkanen and TJ Leaf as NBA prospects.
— Mike Schmitz (@Mike_Schmitz) January 21, 2017
Norlander’s piece isn’t the only one that could have caught Miller’s eye.
Markkanen, for what it’s worth, is currently projected to go ninth in Draft Express’ mock.
On Thursday, the big man scored 16 points to go with 13 rebounds, and he went 5-for-8 overall and 4-for-7 from the three-point line.
Heading into the game, he was already leading all of college basketball in scoring efficiency at 1.24 points per possession, according to DraftExpress. He’s on pace to becoming the best-shooting 7-footer in NCAA history.
Whatever sparked Miller’s comments, it’s clear he believes the lack of a glaring deficiency in Markkanen’s game and his efficiency while playing with a talented Arizona roster will only add to his draft stock. That, or Miller was using the press conference as an opportunity to prop up that stock.
Chances are it was the former. Miller has been known to openly discuss what he views as disrespect from college basketball media members. Back in 2011, after a game in Seattle, he went on a rant about then-Huskies point guard Isaiah Thomas.
“Isaiah Thomas, it’s not even close, there’s not one player in the country that’s more disrespected across the nation than him. Not one,” Miller said. “If he’s not one of the top four or five point guards in the country, then I want to tell these guys who vote to come and watch film.”
He was right about Thomas, by the way. The Boston Celtics point guard and former Phoenix Sun is set for his second All-Star game as of Thursday.
It appears the same type of media offense got to Miller regarding one of his own players this time around.
“Just watching Lauri play, He deserves a little bit more credit than he’s getting,” Miller said Thursday. “This spring, nobody’s going to limit him to (being) a freshman.”
