Urheilu’s expert Pieti Poikola opens up about the background of Finland’s top show. Next up will be the big favorite of the group, Serbia, starred by Nikola Jokic.
Finland will face Serbia in its next match on Monday at 10 p.m. Live broadcast on TV2 and Areena at 9:40 p.m. On Sunday, will show the A group match between Spain and Belgium, broadcast on TV2 and Areena at 5 p.m.
Having lost their opening match to Israel in extra time, Finland would have been in a difficult situation with a second loss in terms of their dreams of continuing. Instead, Susijengi showed a tremendous improvement in a tight spot. The last time Finland won a match in the men’s European Championship by more than 30 points was when England fell in 1961 in Belgrade by 33 points.
Sports expert Pieti Poikola tells what can be found behind the crushing victory and how Susijengi dramatically raised its level within a day.
Finland made tactical changes – and executed much better
After the Israel match, Finland was able to make both tactical changes and a higher quality implementation of the game.
Finland needed consistency after the defeat. Against Israel, Finland played a great opening quarter and also won the last quarter before overtime, but Israel won the second ten-minute period 24–13. Poland scored points against Finland in quarters as follows: 16, 14, 14, 15. Finland won every quarter.
– Finland stayed with its game plan for a longer period of the match than in the first. In defense, Finland had better pressure on the ball and the passing lines. In attack, Finland was more intense and ran the field better. They are not so much tactical changes, but changes in implementation, says Pieti Poikola.
The tactical change was, among other things, that Finland no longer changed ball screens.
– The big player came out actively in ball screens, but then went back to his own man. Either way, ball pressure is one of the cornerstones of Finland’s defense, and Finland was stronger in that.
The Finnish players also praised both the mental and tactical side after the victory in Poland. Sasu Salin said that Susijeng felt the pressure and knew that they had to come into the game with a winning mentality. That kind of Finnish playing also shined through the match.
Lauri Markkanen praised that Finland was more of a Susijeng-like team and got the ball in the places it needed to in its attacks.
Markkanen had an easier time – the throwing percentage improved
The most celebrated player of the Finnish team after the match was Salin, who scored the most points, 18. All of them came with three-point performances. Against Israel, Salin was limited to 6 points and made only one three-pointer.
In Poikola’s opinion, however, the whole of Finland’s backfield is behind Salini’s point production, such as Edon Maxhunin, Elias Valtonen and Henri Kantonen leveling up and the fact that Finland was able to convert more fast attacks thanks to its good defense.
– Salin is a marked player who is very difficult to find in 5vs5 situations. Now, when Finland got stops in the team defense and was able to run in the open field, Salin got throws from transition attacks in the first 25 minutes.
In the beginning, Salin got free three-point chances unlike against Israel. At the end, when the match had already been decided, Poland’s intensity decreased and Salin was also able to throw from 5vs5 attacks.
– When Finland’s back players managed to be more intense on both ends of the field on a wide front, it made it easier for Finland’s star players to play so that Salin got easier throws and Markkanen didn’t have to take so many throws. Then again, Markkanen’s throwing percentage improved.
Against Israel, Markkanen scored 33 points, but the success percentage of the shots in game situations was 42.1. Against Poland, he threw 17 pins, but the percentage was 50. For the first time in this summer’s or autumn’s matches, Markkanen was not Susijeng’s best scorer, and he was also able to be offered a rest period in the match.
Next up is rock-hard Serbia: “A great opportunity”
In their next match on Monday, Finland will face Serbia. Looking ahead, Serbia has been tipped as the clear winner of the group, but Finland is realistically competing for second place in the group. It is still entirely possible after the crushing victory in Poland.
– Now it’s a nice situation for Finland, when you can play without pressure. No matter what happens, Finland is still in a good position to play for second place in the group, Poikola reminds.
Serbia was silver in the previous European Championships in 2017 and fifth in the 2019 World Championships. In the ranking of the International Basketball Association, Serbia is sixth. Among the European countries, France and Slovenia are ahead. Serbia’s number one star is a 209-centimeter Denver Nuggets NBA team Nikola Jokic. The 27-year-old center has been voted the NBA’s most valuable player twice.
Serbia has started the European Championships by defeating the Netherlands 100–76 and the Czech Republic 81–68.
– For many of Finland’s young players, for the first time, such a tough opponent will play a significant role. The physicality and intensity of the hardest countries is challenging to face the first few times, but the experience will certainly help in the future. Playing against an opponent of Serbia’s caliber is a great opportunity, Poikola sees.
Poikola believes that Susijengi has a chance to topple a country on the level of Serbia, but it requires everything to be completely on point.
Finland will face Serbia in its next match on Monday at 10 p.m. Live broadcast on TV2 and Areena at 9:40 p.m. On Sunday, will show the A group match between Spain and Belgium, broadcast on TV2 and Areena at 5 p.m.