What is happening? This can’t be possible again. This phrase must have been on many people’s minds both in the home stands and on the spot in Valencia, when Susijengi inexplicably won against Poland from 15 points behind in the Olympic qualifiers.
When Susijengi was still 14 points behind Poland at the beginning of the final period, not many people believed in victory anymore. The game shows did not give permission to wait for an increase.
Fortunately, Susijengi believed in it. Just like that, Susijengi took the team’s best player of the night Mikael Jantus citing the “most wolf gang-like” victory and continues to fight for a place at the Paris Olympics.
In the qualifying semi-final, they will face the toughest opponent in the game, namely the reigning European champion Spain on their home field.
However, the wolf gang seemed to benefit from the Spanish champion coach Sergio Scariolon from the barking advantage.
Internationally, the game format of the Olympic qualifying tournaments has been the talk of the town. In each tournament, two of the six teams received one day off in the initial group stage. Finland and Lebanon were among these teams in Spain.
Scariolo is one of the most successful national team basketball coaches of all time. He criticized the system all week in Valencia. After Scariolo had led Spain to an emphatic victory over Lebanon in the opening game, the coaching icon took a firm stance on playing on consecutive days.
– I hate it. We all hate it. I hope that at some point this format will be abandoned, Scariolo your line to Marca and already regretted the Angola match in advance.
Angola put their NBA players Bruno Fernando in the lead, the big favorite for the really tight ones in Spain and played for the win until the last minutes. Even after that match, Scariolo reminded that at that point in all the Olympic qualifying tournaments, only Spain and the Bahamas had been able to win their matches on both days.
There have been interesting examples of the rest benefit. Croatia shocked you Luka Doncic lead Slovenia in their opening match, but lost to New Zealand the next day surprisingly. Latvia, on the other hand, lost consecutive days of games to the Philippines in the qualifying tournament they hosted.
Latvian head coach, Lassi Tuovin coached with in Bologna last season, Luca Banchi reminded after the shock defeat, also about the challenges caused by the match format.
Despite a good game against Spain, Angola was also unable to take a place in the semi-finals, but a rested Lebanon took an emotional victory for them on Thursday and was able to continue the Olympic qualification.
Slovenia and Finland took advantage
In the early evening on Thursday, Slovenia also took advantage of their own rest day after the surprise defeat and caught Luka Doncic with the triple-double leading the next place. New Zealand fell by no less than 26 points.
Later in the evening, Susijengi took advantage. Finland was certainly helped by the intermission more than it harmed it. Having struggled against the Bahamas the day before, Poland seemed tired at the end of the dramatic game. Head coach Tuovi has emphasized very fast and aggressive playing this summer. In that sense, the break must have been really good. Finland also got one extra day to get a captain Sasu Salin in playing condition.
All of these four countries mentioned above, Spain, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovenia, were the top-ranked countries at the start of the Olympic qualifiers, i.e. the four favorites to grab the Olympic places as well. Of course, with the observation that Giannis Antetokounmpo Greece may very well take the Olympic place instead of Slovenia in their home tournament.
The countries of the first basket finally made it to the final weekend of the qualifiers, despite the problems.
At the weekend, we will be on the brink again, when the Olympic places will be decided on Saturday and Sunday on consecutive days. What will happen in the decisive qualifying finals on Sunday, when no one has a day off?
EC home matches also in mind
No matter what happened, the victory in Poland is certainly a meaningful thing for the new generation of Susijengi in any case. The game wasn’t eye-catching, but such a victory will surely bring a different kind of spiritual good.
One point of view is to look beyond this weekend.
While Finland is trying to get into Olympic basketball after a 60-year hiatus, at the same time Susijengi is of course preparing for next year’s looming EC home games.
In this tournament, the 17-year-old who hit the retinas of many with his top performances in the Bahamas game Miikka Muurinen is one concrete example. In all respects, Susijeng’s new generation has a nice outlook for the Tampere European Championship starting group, when we remember that the biggest star Lauri Markkanen is out of the Olympic qualifiers.
Of course, the Olympic qualifying games also remind a lot of the great importance of the health situation. Getting Captain Salini fit for the game was a huge deal for Susijeng. When Susijeng had two of its three best players on the sidelines against the Bahamas, you could definitely see it on the field.
Still without Finland’s best player, getting an Olympic spot in the 12-country tournament is a demanding tick.
I still have to remember that Susijengi has already performed well compared to moderate expectations. A provocative comparison can be made to this moment, for example, with the selection situation in athletics, which is now much on the surface.
In recent days, there has been a lot of tension in Finland about how the track and field athletes are doing. Can track and field athletes get in from the reserve places from those who rank around 40th? Even the European steeplechase champion from two years ago Raitanen’s top in the case of the 45th place in the Olympic ranking.
8 of the 12 teams in Paris Olympic basketball have already been announced. Now we are applying for the last four places. Of them, 16 countries will fight in the final stages of four different qualifying tournaments. 8 countries were eliminated after the initial group stage of the qualifiers. So, in principle, Susigengi is now in the “Olympic ranking” among the top 24 countries. Such a direct comparison of different species is of course a bit silly, but it still gives some sort of picture of the dimensions of Susijeng’s situation.
Susijengi only has something to win this weekend, in the underdog position that suits them, in the heat of Valencia.