"We didn't need to defend one on one a lot; we helped the guy who guarded Markkanen."
This was a quote from Czech Republic forward Vojtěch Hruban following his team's 77-73 over Finland on Friday.
Markkanen is expected to make a huge leap in his second season after averaging 15.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in his rookie season. And for fans who can't wait until the start of the 2018-19 season, his play with the Finnish national team is usually a good indicator of what a fully-formed Markkanen would look like.
In the 2017 EuroBasket, he averaged 19.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while approaching the rare 50/40/90 holy-grail of shooting percentages.
This incredible efficiency is half because of his willingness to play his role, and half because of his top-level athleticism as compared to his European competition. And so far, Markkanen has taken his finishing to the next level in the FIBA basketball World Cup European qualifiers.
Despite his team falling short because of the stellar play (30 points) of the Czech Republic's Vojtěch Hruban, Markkanen has shown off all of the qualities that have made Bulls management pivot towards him as the franchise's cornerstone. He hasn't forced shots, but still has been Finland's best chance at stringing together consecutive wins. He finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds in the loss, and probably would've scored much more if the Czech Republic defense wasn't so hyper-focused on him.
Finland will have a chance to grab one of the two qualification spots left, as they are tied with Bulgaria and Iceland with 2-3 records.