Awak Kuier plays a giant role in the Italian women’s league finals of basketball, as Reyer Venezia, which he represents, aims for its third championship in the club’s history.
The leading star of domestic women’s basketball Awak Kuier22, has played the last few years at the top of Italy’s Serie A and as the first Finnish woman in the world’s toughest basketball league, the American WNBA.
Through the Italian final series starting on Wednesday, Kuieri will have the first opportunity to lift the championship trophy.
Sports expert Dionne “Didi” Pounds reminds that for Finnish female basketball players, winning championships in Europe’s toughest leagues has been a rare treat.
Tiina Sten has won four German championships between 2012 and 2016. Linda-Lotta Lehtoranta also celebrated the Bundesliga trophy a year ago.
Super promise Elina from Aarnisalo became Belgian champion in April, when Kangoeroes Mechelen played through the domestic season without losses.
– It’s always a great thing for the Suomi team if a Finn playing abroad is in the best teams in his division. Awak has been amazing to watch this season, as he plays such a big role in his team, Pounds enthuses.
Kuier played the most of his team in the two victorious semifinals of the Italian league – well over 30 minutes in both semifinals. The Finnish center bagged 22 and 19 points, being Venezia’s best scorer against Campobasso.
– When Awak is kept on the field this much, it tells me how wonderful and comprehensive a player he is. Today, it is no longer so common for top players to play 30 minutes in a match, Pounds reminds.
Versatile Kuier
The Italian series is one of the toughest in Europe, and as a national team Italy belongs to the top ten in Europe.
– It may be that in light of the points, Kuier is still sometimes looking for his own role, but in international matches he has played a big role in scoring points for a long time. It’s nice to see that Awak’s versatility is starting to show now also on international club pitches.
Reyer Venezia won the Serie A regular season this year and also advanced to the semi-finals of the Eurocup (the second highest women’s level).
Kuier plays an important multi-talented role in his team. It was largely thanks to him that Venezia was the best team in the series in rebounds and shot defenses.
– Awak’s big role can be seen in the defensive end, where he, as a reachable, fast and athletic player, is able to make good use of his strengths, being able to defend wing players as well if necessary.
The expert emphasizes that the 195-centimeter Kuier is an important player for his team, even if he doesn’t even accumulate many points in the statistics.
– Maybe due to his young age, physicality and toughness are things he learns all the time. They come into play through experience, advises Pounds.
Wed 15.5. Venice – Schio 22.00
Friday 17.5. Venice – Schio 22.00
Tue 21.5. Schio – Venice 22.00
if necessary:
Thursday 23.5.Schio – Venezia at 22:00
Sat 26.5. Venezia – Schio 20.00
As a challenger in the final series
In the final, Kuieri’s Venezia will meet the Italian dynasty club Famila Schio, which has won eight of the ten previous championships and was in the Italian finals for the 14th time in a row.
During its history, Venezia has won the championship twice. The last championship came in the spring of 2021. In recent history, these are the team’s third finals (2008–09 and 2020–21).
The Serie A finals are played in a best-of-five series.
– Famila Schio will go to the finals as the favorite. It is a traditional, strong and experienced club.
– When the underdog comes hungry and well prepared, there is always a chance. In this case, the favorite should be shaken three times, Pounds thinks about the final settings.
The teams have met each other a total of 67 times, of which Schio has won 46.
In the regular season, the winning ratio of both clubs was 21–3, but Venezia took first place in the regular season with a goal difference (+6). In the current season, Schio has won the previous meetings 2–1. In the cup final played in February, Schio was better 81–68.
Venezia coach Andrea Mazzon agrees with ‘s expert about the favorite of the finals.
– It is clear that Schio has an advantage because it is used to playing more of these high-stakes, hard games. They played in the Euroleague (a higher euro level than Venezia) and reached the top four.