Awak Kuier was the most effective of his team with 24 points as Venezia took the decisive third final game 80-74.
Awak Kuier, 22, has won the Italian basketball championship. Reyer Venezia, represented by Kuieri, won the third Italian championship in its club history when it defeated Famila Schio, one of the country’s most successful clubs, 80–74 on Tuesday. Venezia took the final series directly with 3–0 victories.
Like in the previous finals, Kuier was under attack. The Finn was again the best scorer of his team and the entire match with 24 points. He also grabbed four rebounds and gave two assists. As usual, the Finn got the most playing time from his team: this time a whopping 37 minutes.
The final series went great for Kuier, because in the previous final game he scored 17 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, gave 3 assists and logged the most playing time. In the first final match, Kuier was her team’s top scorer. He also collected the most points and the most playing time in the two-part semi-final series. He was also awarded as the most valuable player of the final series.
The first two final matches were Venezia’s home matches. On Tuesday, Schio was supported by a loud home crowd, and started the match cheerfully.
In the second quarter, Schio already took a ten-point lead, but Venezia did not give up. The guests got within a point, and the home team went into the break with a 33–32 lead.
In the third set, Venezia improved its grip even more under the leadership of Kuieri and took the lead in a tight final battle. The visitors went into the last quarter with a 52–48 lead.
The final set was extremely tight. The home team got close and even passed, until Kuier took the lead again for Venezia. This time the lead lasted until the end.
Venezia entered the final series as an underdog, as Schio, one of Italy’s most successful clubs, has won no less than eight of the ten previous championships. It has reached the final 14 times in a row.
Venezia’s previous championship is from spring 2021. Kuier joined the ranks of the Venetian club in the summer of 2022. The Italian championship is Kuier’s first.
The season went well for Kuieri and Venezia, as the team that won the Serie A regular season also progressed in the Eurocup all the way to the semi-finals.
A well-deserved break in the summer
Kuier made a big decision when she missed playing in the world’s toughest women’s basketball league, the US WNBA, this summer.
– You start to feel a lot of fatigue in your body. The seats are stuck. When I come home from training, I’m sometimes so exhausted that I just have to go to sleep and on my days off I can’t do the nice things I usually do, Kuier opened his decision to in April.
The Finnish basketball player has played for almost four years straight without breaks. From autumn to late spring, he played Serie A in Italy, from where the journey continued for three summers in the American professional league Dallas Wings. The WNBA season starts in May and continues until September-October.
Kuier has also been on the women’s national basketball team’s trip.
The WNBA’s new rules require players to be involved from the first training camps that begin early in the spring, sealing Kuier’s decision. He should have missed the season in Italy.
– I feel like seeing friends and family more. It’s really important to me to be able to enjoy life anyway. Not just train and train, Kuier opened up about his decision.