Susijeng’s captain, who spent time in Spain from spring-winter until 2015 Sasu Salin32, has faced a strange situation this season at his long-time club Lenovo Tenerife.
The credit player, who is respected in the Spanish basketball league as a three-point shooter and effective defender, has seen less playing time and responsibility, and in the last round the Finnish defender was left out of the playing lineup.
There are so many foreigners in the team that one of them always has to whistle because of the quota.
– Shall we say that the backfield is crowded, and now the coach had made the decision that I was not on the field last weekend, Salin says.
– The coaches probably think about those things on a game-by-game basis. There’s no point in drawing any conclusions, even if you might wonder about it a little. Let’s hope this won’t be the case in the future, says Salin.
A fullback who moved from Panathinaikos to Tenerife in the middle of the season Kyle Guy has practically taken Salin’s place. The New York Knicks booked the American in the second round in 2019, and the 188-centimeter guard played a total of 53 NBA games in the 2019-22 seasons for the Sacramento Kings and the Miami Heat.
Salin tells Urheilu that his physical condition is very good at the moment, but the somewhat tight grips in the early season could have eroded the coach’s credit.
– This is what it’s like sometimes, it’s not jumping on cloud castles all the time. When you play on the other side of the world (the summer World Cup tournament), they are surprisingly tough trials, reminds Salin and hints at the fall’s fine undertones in Spain.
The low mood of the early season is behind us
Lenovo Tenerife also started the fall season exceptionally poorly as a team.
– Many of us were at the summer World Cup, and probably due to some sort of fatigue, the personal level of many players was poor. Since then, the games have gotten better and we are now eighth (9 wins out of 18 matches) in a series of 18 teams, explains Salin.
In the Champions League, Lenovo Tenerife won the first group stage and does not have to play in the play-in round at all.
– The team has potential for improvement and we have played better in previous seasons. However, the team is largely the same as in recent years.
Salin has played in the team for four and a half years. The Finnish player’s contract is on hold in the summer, but the team has an option to extend the contract.
– If we have to move somewhere, then let’s go. I have been thinking that I still have a few more years of good playing time to give.
– I still enjoy playing basketball, as long as I can get on the court. However, there is a really good feeling during training, reminds Salin.
The Paris Olympics would be a dream come true
Susijeng has a tough challenge ahead of them, when the last spots for next summer’s Paris Olympics basketball tournament will be distributed in the Olympic qualifiers at the beginning of July in Valencia.
Finland will face Poland and the Bahamas in the first group of the qualifying tournament. Along with Spain, Lebanon and Angola are in the second Valencia group. The top two from each group advance to the tournament semifinals, and after winning the semifinals, they must win the tournament final to qualify for the Paris Olympics, which will be held July 26-11. August.
– Nowadays, very many Finnish basketball players probably haven’t thought that they could play in the Olympics. Now we have a chance to be eliminated from getting there. The idea is to go there. There is a long way to get there and many difficult games ahead, but it would be a dream come true, Salin gets excited.
Salin is by far the most experienced player in the national basketball team. Susijeng’s current captain has represented Finland in the 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2022 European Championships and the 2014 and 2023 World Championships.
Debuted for two matches in the Spanish main league in Andorra Alexander Madsen gets Salin’s compliments. Susijeng’s player has only missed one throw in his team’s two winning games. Madsen, who scored 13 points with a top percentage, has tripped his plus/minus statistics by reading +33.
– It’s nice to see that a new Finnish face is in this league, which I personally consider the best basketball league in Europe. I saw her match and “Maddy” looked like herself. Has found his place and got playing minutes, rejoices Salin.