Susijengi ended the World Basketball Championship with a crucial victory over Venezuela with a score of 90–75. At the same time, Finland did a really rare trick, securing its place in next summer’s Olympic qualifying tournament.
The end of a long career – training camps, preparatory national matches and the World Cup tournament in Okinawa – naturally made the players very free and relieved. It was also seen and heard after the match in the media interview area.
The captain came to the interview first Sasu Salin. Then the youngest player in the team, 19 years old Miro Little walked behind Salini and said “I’ve never been on TV before”.
– Good, said Salin wonderingly.
– På svenska jag vill inte göra, Salin ended the interview.
So Salin made it clear that he would not comment on the Swedish side of . Hasin arrived with his head spinning Mikael Jantunen.
– AJ på svenska, the last time, Jantunen said the journalist Antti-Jussi Sipilä.
– I’m teaching Swedish to someone for the next time.
In the summer, news was received that Jantunen, 23, has signed a two-season contract with Paris Basketball of the French premier league. Serves as head coach of Paris Basketball Tuomas Iisalo.
At the end of the interview, Jantunen showed off his French.
When Jantunen left ‘s press, he walked Lauri Markkanen over, who was in an interview with MTV. Jantunen pulled the shorts off Markkanes.
Markkanen was not confused by the situation at all, but continued his interview like a professional while pulling up his pants.
– Yes, that Sasuak has been watched enough during the summer, so now you can get to the Yankees, Markkanen said to MTV, referring to his approaching NBA season.
– Let’s make video calls then! Salin answered.
Then Markkanen came for an interview with .
– And now the click headline that Lauri Markkase and Sasu Salini are having a hard time.
Also during Markkanen’s interview, Little came to mess around, and Markkanen caught the young man in a brotherly wrestling match.
– You always have to be ashamed!
– I’ll tell my mother about it, Little said.
It should also be mentioned that Miro Little’s mother is the CEO of the Basketball Association Kati Packalén.
Salin gave a rating of 6.5
Playful things were also discussed in the interviews. Salin was satisfied that Finland ended the tournament with a win, even though Susijengi let Venezuela into the game a couple of times by defending loosely.
– The most important thing was done, that is, we won. It could have been done more easily, Salin summed up.
Salin evaluates the tournament as critical. He admitted that in the role of captain, the beginning of the tournament was difficult.
– In the beginning, it was challenging for both myself and others.
Finland finally made it to the Olympic qualifying tournament. Salin said that this was not on his mind before the tournament, but during the tournament it became relevant.
– The minimum goal was met.
The captain didn’t go out of his way to praise the team’s tournament as a whole.
– Although such a 6.5. The same as he had at school, Salin smiled.
Markkanen told the most significant reason for joy
Markkanen scored 32 points against Venezuela and led Finland to victory.
– We won as a team. It was fun to play. The previous game improved the feelings.
At the beginning of the tournament, Finland suffered from the fact that the team’s play completely broke down into long periods within the games. The team managed to improve this in the last two matches.
– Even now, there were weaker moments when the concentration was not quite one hundred percent. You immediately notice when losses start to come and the opponent starts to get into the game. We learn from these again, Markkanen analysed.
For Finland, the end result of the tournament was disappointing compared to the previous expectations. Finland was far from the next place in the tough first group. The team lost to the favorites Australia and Germany, but also to the group host Japan.
– We dreamed that we would get through the group. Disappointing in that way. We have to be happy that we got something to play for next summer, Markkanen pointed to the place in the Olympic qualifiers.