See every basket of the “King of the North” – even as an expert mother Lauri Markkanen’s flow: “I haven’t seen anything like it”

Finland will meet Spain in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at 18:15. Broadcast on TV2 and Areena at 6 p.m. Urheilu follows the European Championships in this article.

The Finnish men’s national basketball team did a great trick on Sunday. Susigengi defeated Croatia 94–86 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the prestigious tournament for the first time.

Lauri Markkanen was the king of the match. “King of the Nordic countries”, like the European Championships Twitter account (you are switching to another service) he is glowing.

Markkanen scored the Finnish national basketball team’s all-time record, 43 points. Markkanen’s performance is also of rare quality in the entire EC history. Only six players have managed a higher score.

Sports expert Antero Lehto tear down Markkanen’s great performance and Susijeng’s wonderful victory.

You can watch each of Markkanen’s scoring performances in the Croatia match on the video located in the main picture of the story.

“I haven’t seen a similar show”

Markkanen got into a real flow state. Or as Lehto reminds us, in endurance sports it would be talked about in the dust day.

– Finland did not do anything special in those situations. The points that Markkanen made in the third period, for example, were amazing, world-class personal performances.

The biggest wow moment for Lehto is Markkanen’s basket at the beginning of the last quarter. Markkanen made fun of 207 centimeter Dario Sariciaused the ball screen like a defender, drove to the basket and hit the ball with a right hand hammer stick.

– That situation shows Markkanen’s greatness. With his right, better hand, he can of course drive and dunk, but that was the most convincing performance for me. That’s what sets him apart when we start talking about the best players in the tournament.

– I myself have not seen a similar performance on site. That someone would dominate such match events. Considering the level of the competition, it was sweet to watch.

Markkanen really stood out when the match was decided

Markkanen had scored “only” 17 points by halftime. And Markkanen didn’t play the whole time in the second period either. Even in the last quarter, he went to rest.

– He scored 26 points in 17 game minutes in the second period. The greatness of its performance in the decisive moments of the game should be emphasized, Lehto enthuses.

Where did Finland succeed as a team, that Markkanen’s flow was possible.

– Finland managed to deliver the ball to the good places where he was able to perform, even though many of them looked difficult.

In the match, Markkanen was the one who carried Finland to victory on his backpack. Although Markkas is deservedly praised, Lehto also emphasizes the successes of others at important moments.

Lehto wants to highlight them Sasu Salini, Edon Maxhunin, Miro Little and Henri Kantonen.

Little played without bias the playing time he got, and put Finland in the lead with his cheeky drive to the basket just before the break.

Kantonen brought Finland five points in the second half with difficult two- and three-point shots.

– If Henri Kantonen were to accept such throws in the Korisliiga, one would think that “take it without a doubt, you can throw all night, but you won’t win with those”.

– Those guys scored ten points that you wouldn’t have expected.

“A comprehensive example of team defense”

– Markkanen is not just an attacking player. He plays really well in defense. The presence, emotion and sacrifice in general in Finland’s defense were on point, Lehto praises.

Of course, Croatia also had its moments. At times, it succeeded well in slowing down Finland’s offensive game and was able to stay on top of the game. For example, in the opening quarter, Croatia rallied from a 10–18 deficit to take the lead. However, at no point in the match did Croatia lead by more than three points.

Finland’s defense succeeded brilliantly throughout.

– The defense plan went according to Finland’s script. There was very little goofing off or the defense’s personal falling asleep.

– It was a comprehensive example of team defense against a world-class team.

According to Lehto, Finland could have won more clearly.

– Finland suffered a little from the referee’s line. There were certain situations in Finland’s defense that made us wonder why the whistle blew. Finland could have taken advantage of those situations and scored easy points.

Next, Finland challenges Spain, a 13-time European Championship medalist. Since 2007, Spain has won medals every time: three gold, one silver and two bronze.

– We are not ready yet, announced Markkanen according to the European Championship’s Twitter account.

Finland will meet Spain in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at 18:15. Broadcast on TV2 and Areena at 6 p.m. Urheilu follows the European Championships in this article.

Read more:

Croatia played Susijeng against them, do they regret it now? The head coach gave a fiery reply to and later hinted at referee mistakes

Lauri Markkanen, who broke Finland’s all-time record, couldn’t find the words – then came a comment that revealed tremendous self-confidence

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