Susijengi is playing for big things today in the European Championship against the host team Czech Republic. Head coach Lassi Tuovi showed elegant gestures after the crushing defeat against Serbia, writes Urheilu’s Roope Visuri.
Finland will meet the Czech Republic on Tuesday at 18:30. Live broadcast on TV2 and Areena at 18:10.
PRAGUE. 70–100. At the end of Monday night, Susijengi had fallen in the handling of the champion candidate of the European Championship, Serbia, on the blackboard of the Prague arena. At halftime, the readings were already fierce 34–62.
The last time Susijengi has allowed a similar amount of points in the opening half in a value game was in the famous opening game of the 2014 World Cup against the United States.
Then the USA scored 60 points in the first 20 minutes. Gerald Lee Jr scored the opening basket of the match and Finland pushed along for the first five minutes until the United States was in a class of its own.
Now Susijengi stayed with Serbia for more or less the same amount of time. Finland led 15–10 at its best. Among other things Edon Maxhuni made cool baskets in the roar of the Prague arena.
After that, Serbia made fun of Finland and offered quite a basketball show.
At one point, the dominance was even so wild that even the Serbian fans started celebrating – so hard that even the security guards of the Prague arena had to intervene.
When Susijeng’s head coach Lassi Tuovi took a timeout in the opening period, he hit the nail on the head when he yelled at the players, “That’s not enough! You can’t just solo!” The same was true of coaching Teemu Rannikkowhen the playmaking legend said in ‘s half-time interview that Susijengi was a little scared.
All the same, even though Serbia was good, Susijengi made the team look even better.
A classy speech from Tuov before the evening’s massive game
However, after the crushing defeat, valuable and elegant gestures were seen in terms of the continuation of the European Championships.
Susijeng’s fans certainly gave the team energy when the team was sent to the locker room accompanied by Suomi shouts. Pessimism was not noticeable in the activities of the supporters.
Moments later, a nice gesture was also seen by the head coach Lassi from Tuov in front of the Finnish media.
Tuovi said directly that he made a mistake in preparing for the game and he needs to look in the mirror. The wolf gang had set out to challenge Serbia from too high. After that, Serbia dismantled Susijeng’s defense to atoms.
Today, Susijeng has another big game against the Czech Republic, so it is easier from the coach’s point of view to take the spotlight on himself than to shift the responsibility towards the players. Stylish, logical and understandable behavior after a crushing defeat in a fast-paced EC tournament.
Especially when the stakes in the game against the Czech Republic are even extremely high: with a win, Susijengi can grab the coveted second place in the group and reach the next games with excellent setups. At best, that would allow for an opponent in the playoff chart that would be completely knockable.
With a loss, Finland threatens to slip to the fifth place in the group and completely out of the playoffs. Of course, this scenario would mean that the group’s jumbo team, the Netherlands, would not pull off any super surprises in the last two rounds, and Serbia would finish the group victorious.
The solution is also logical
In the big picture, the contribution of the Czech game is therefore becoming massive. Reflecting on this, many must have wondered why in Serbian karate, Susijengi still played with its biggest stars Lauri from Markka and Sasu Salinia.
After the game, Tuovi reminded the Finnish media that everyone had to have success after the first half’s complete defeat.
– It’s not worth taking another pit. After the first half, everyone definitely had the feeling that they wanted to have more successes, Tuovi emphasized.
When you looked at the field, you understood Tuov’s point of view.
A prime example is the performance of Lauri Markkanen in the final period and his last substitution against the celebrated Serbian superstar Nikola Jokic against.
First, Markkanen stylishly dropped the ball into the basket, while Jokic and his teammates fell asleep in defense. Last on the court, Markkanen came from behind the Serbian star and headed the pass intended for Jokic, when Jokic did not hold his position well enough under the basket.
Topias Palmi was about to lead Susijeng to a goal after Markkanen’s exploit, but was prevented by a Serbian player’s hard mistake. After this, Markkas was called to the bench. However, the losing game ended with a good performance.
In addition to the physical aspect, elite sports also include a mental aspect. Markkaselta was hardly disappointed that he was able to pull off a good exchange against Jokic, who was chosen as the NBA’s most valuable player in the previous two seasons.
Markkanen’s total workload was only 23 minutes, i.e. the same number as in the Poland match, which ended early. Compared to the tight opening game against Israel, that is ten minutes shorter. I think the current is sufficient.
Of course, beautiful words are no longer enough today, but actions are required on the field.
The captain of the wolf pack Shawn Huff also talked about how today the character of the Susijeng is measured once again. Huff also described how certain kinds of “silver linings” can be sought in order to move forward in one’s thoughts to the day ahead.
You don’t even have to look very far for the silver lining. The World Cup game against the United States mentioned at the beginning ended with a 59-point loss. Susigengi still pulled themselves together and got to celebrate the opening victory of their World Cup history the next day, when Ukraine fell. Now the recovery time is practically the same. Up to two hours more than eight years ago.
Finland meets the Czech Republic on Tuesday at 18:30. Live broadcast on TV2 and Areena at 18:10.