Finland will face Poland in its second match of the European Championships on Saturday at 3 p.m. Poland has size and skill, but according to the expert, Finland has full chances to win.
Finland will face Poland in its second European Championship match on Saturday at 15:00. Broadcast on Areena and TV1 at 14:45, the broadcast will switch to TV2 at 15:50.
The Finnish men’s national basketball team started the EC tournament in Prague with a very even match against Israel. The match turned into Susijeng’s loss in overtime 87–89.
Sports expert Antero Lehto tells why Finland lost, what to expect on Saturday against Poland and also gives his opinion Lauri Markkanen about the situation.
Consistency is needed: “A heart-shaped presentation”
Finland started the match against Israel brilliantly. Markkanen scored 11 points in the first quarter. In the second period, Susijengi led with 14 points at their best, but Israel managed to catch up before the break.
The head coach Lassi Tuovi stated that Israel made Finland play slow, when Finland fell into its original sin, i.e. started playing too much through one-on-one situations.
According to expert Antero Lehto, there was a lack of uniformity in what Finland was doing.
– Quite a heart-shaped show.
The second thing in the background of the defeat is Lehto’s concern for the ball.
– Finland had 18 turnovers, of which Israel was able to score 23 points directly.
With better throwing, Israel could have inoculated more points from Finland’s losses.
As the third area for improvement, Lehto points out the execution of attack patterns, as well as directness and aggressiveness in them.
Against Poland, speed and directness will be decisive
After the match between Finland and Israel, Poland, Susijeng’s opponent on Saturday, faced the Czech Republic in their own opening match. The match ended with Poland winning 99–84. The best scorer of the match was 26 on the surface Mateusz Ponitkawho moved from Zenit St. Petersburg to Reggiana of the Italian league in the summer.
Finland and Poland were also in the same starting group in the previous European Championships, in Helsinki 2017. That match was etched in the hearts of basketball fans when they saw the thriller, which Finland eventually won in the second overtime 90–87. Finland was losing in the last seconds both in regular time and in the second overtime, but Markkanen brought Finland to the side both times.
According to Lehto, Poland poses a tough challenge to Susijengi with its large size. Under the basket, you can find, among other things, a 216-centimeter, 21-year-old Alexander Balcerowski. The backfield has the skills of a 35-year-old by AJ Slaughter and led by Ponitka.
– Finland has full chances to win. It doesn’t matter anymore what happened in the Israel game. I believe that Finland can improve, Lehto is confident.
– Speed and directness in attacks definitely gives you a competitive advantage. The opposition is a big team, so the less static situations there are and the more advantages Finland gets with the ball in motion, they will be the biggest solution.
The NBA transfer surprise did not affect Markkas – “I see no reason why it should”
The start of Susijeng’s EC tournament took a surprising turn on Friday, when it was reported that Markkanen had been traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the bottom end of the NBA, the Utah Jazz for next season. Markkanen’s agent Michael Lelchitski told Urheilu that the deal was a bit of a shock to Markkanen and the timing was unusual.
However, Markkanen showed at the beginning of the Israel match that the situation does not interfere with his recharging in Susijeng.
Lehto was not surprised by Markkanen’s performance. In his opinion, the NBA transfer should not have been seen in the hands of a professional.
– Exciting, if it had been seen. Business is business in the NBA. Maybe that’s why the night’s sleep has become weaker, but I don’t see a reason why it would have had an effect.
– I understand that Lauri has already been able to fix things off the field in Cleveland, so no one should allow that to happen. That’s just the way the NBA world is.
In Cleveland, Markkanen would have been able to aim for the playoffs next season, but instead he will have to go through a rebuilding project again.
– Utah, so to speak, emptied the warehouse and Lauri is a big part of their future plans, at least that’s what I’ve heard. Depending on Lauri, of course, there is now a chance to make seasons with big numbers. If he succeeds in that, Lauri’s value there will at least increase.
Markkanen was Finland’s number one point man against Israel. He scored 33 points, Alexander Madsen bagged 13 and Edon Maxhuni 11 surfaces.
Lehto admits that in a certain way Finland was relying too much on Markkanen’s points, but on the other hand there was nothing surprising about it.
– There were other successful people there. Madsen played a good offensive game. Maxhuni started to find himself.
– It’s not new to Susijeng for Markkanen. He is by far the best player in Finland and he must score the most points in quite a few matches to give Finland a chance to win.
Finland will face Poland in its second European Championship match on Saturday at 15:00. Broadcast on Areena and TV1 at 14:45, the broadcast will switch to TV2 at 15:50.