A Czech star slapped him in the face, a receipt from Lauri Markkase – coldly comments on his provocative smile

Finland will face Holland in its last group game on Thursday at 15:00. Broadcast on TV2 and Areena at 14:40.

The Finnish national basketball team beat the European Championship group host Czech Republic by ten points in a storm of screams in Prague. The final scores were recorded for Susijeng 98–88 (29–18, 22–27, 21–14, 26–29).

You can read more about the progress of the match in this article, where Urheilu follows the EC tournament.

Finland’s number one star Lauri Markkanen rose to a wild level in the decisive moments of the match. In the end, Markkanen recorded a double-double: 34 points and 10 rebounds.

The Czech Republic was known as a very physical and large team. From time to time, the Czech Republic overcame a weakened Finland with its physical strength.

In the second half, the cooperation of Finland’s defensive game improved and Susijengi was able to better cover the passing lines for the Czech defenders under the basket.

The Czech Republic responded with even more physical moves – even so that the match took on ugly features at times.

At the beginning of the last quarter, Vesely was fouled by an attacker after a collision Sasu Salini with a really violent block. After that, Vesely and Markkanen argued with each other several times.

In the video below, Vesely’s block to Salin. The story continues after the video.

Vesely yelled at Markkas in the face and looked very frustrated when the situation was called a foul. With 7:01 left in the last quarter, Vesely got his fifth foul, and the Czech lost his important center out of the match. Markkanen had given Vesely three fouls in a couple of minutes.

In an interview with Urheilu after the match, Markkase was asked “what were you doing with Vesely?”

– Which of them? Markkanen laughed.

Then Markkanen continued calmly.

– Both competitive players. He is a great player. We tried to make the night difficult for each other at both ends of the field. When the game gets physical and both are under pressure to win an important match, it’s natural to get heated. After the game, we threw “femmas” and wished the tsemps.

In the video at the main photo of the story, you can see how Vesely would boo Markkas and Markkanen’s brilliant alley-oop in the final moments of the match.

According to Markkanen, clashes and “trash-talk” are part of the nature of the sport. In his opinion, one of the keys to the victory was that the Finns held their nerve in tight moments, even though the Czechs tried to get under the skin.

– We are all competitive, sometimes emotions get heated. Our team did a good job of staying cool and going to play the next situation.

When there were four minutes left in the match, Markkanen tried to get a throw-in, but Jaromir Bohacik scolded him. Markkanen protested the situation to the referee for a while, but then slammed a three-point throw into Bohacik’s groin, so to speak. After that, Markkanen smiled mockingly at the Czech player.

– I always try to stay cool. I feel that has often been my strength and I don’t lose my temper. But such a match, such fans and such a big significance, somehow it came quite naturally, Markkanen acknowledged his small provocation.

In the video below, you can listen and watch how Markkanen comments on the clashes in the Czech game.

The Czech Republic really couldn’t mess up Markkanen’s game. 34 points is the Finnish national team’s all-time record in value competition matches. Earlier in these European Championships against Israel, Markkanen bagged 33 pins, and reached the same number of points Martti Liimo Against South Korea in the 1964 Olympics.

Also the head coach of Finland Lassi Tuovi praised the way his team handled the pressure. Like Markkanen, Tuovi brought up how Susijeng’s players kept their cool.

– We knew that the Czech Republic plays really hard in the pursuit position. It happened a few times (in a ball game) that we weren’t exactly on the same map. It’s human, for many it’s the first time to play in a place like this.

– I’m more satisfied with the fact that we didn’t join in the beating, we didn’t start talking. That was the decision of the match in the last ten minutes.

In the video below, you can watch and listen to head coach Tuov’s entire interview after the match.

Finland will face Holland in its last group game on Thursday at 15:00. Broadcast on TV2 and Areena at 14:40.