Why is Lauri Markkanen getting a tough whistle? The Utah Jazz coach has a theory

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — At halftime on Monday night, ahead of what was a Utah Jazz loss to the Golden State Warriors, the officials had a message for Lauri Markkanen: our bad.

The refs had missed three calls as the Warriors crowded Utah's Finnish star. It was a nice gesture; it just didn't help much at the moment.

It has been nearly a month — Jan. 18, to be exact — since Markkanen has shot more than four free throws in a game; on Monday, he didn't shoot a single free throw. In Wednesday's loss to the Lakers, he shot only two.

He drives, he gets guarded with tons of physicality, and he shoots through that contact … so what gives?

"I don't know, man," Jazz coach Will Hardy said.

He might not know, but he did have some theories.

For one, Markkanen is an introvert. He's not approaching officials after every call or non-call and pleading his case. Obviously, there are times when he calls for a foul — what player doesn't? — but those are more in-the-moment interactions, not really a strategy of working the refs.

"You see a lot of teams have their star players that do a lot of talking to the officials, and that's just the way the game is; we don't have that," Hardy said.

And so he finds himself filling that role at times.

"So the refs don't like me as much maybe, but it's my job," he said with a grin.

But he said he sees things potentially changing as officials grow more used to Markkanen's expanding game. The Jazz have put their star in more isolation/playmaking positions in the middle of the court.

That includes driving from that position or creating and shooting over the top. Teams have really crowded Markkannen at that spot, which has led to plenty of contact — especially against the Warriors.

"They are trying to crowd him because of his shooting," Hardy said, "because he hasn't punished them by crowding him yet. I think he has some possessions where he does, but Lauri's working on all of the fundamentals of attacking that spot."

Once Markkanen gets more comfortable in those settings, it should pay dividends. And there's hope officials will take more notice.

"I think it's also the officials getting used to Lauri," Hardy said. "He's a different player now than he was before. He's in different positions, he's making different plays than they've seen him make. The stuff's all happening fast, so I anticipate that the whistle that he gets will continue to improve as the officials get used to him, as the league gets used to him, and as he continues to command a little more respect."

As for Markkanen, he's not complaining about the lack of whistle — at least not after the initial disagreement — and he thinks it will eventually start going his way.

"We've just got to attack the rim," he said. "I feel like sometimes we were going to the 3-point line — east and west — rather than attack the rim. So it's going to turn at some point, just keep attacking, so that's really the biggest thing."