Awak Kuier made Finnish basketball history by winning the Italian championship and the award for the most valuable player of the finals. Kuier constantly raised his level as the spring progressed.
22 year old Awak Kuierin the fairy-tale playoff spring in the Italian premier league ended in the best possible way. Kuier’s Venezia won the championship cleanly with a 3–0 victory, and Kuier was awarded as the best player of the final series.
Head coach of the Finnish women’s national team Ilkka Palviainen according to it, it was not unclear who was the brightest star of the finals.
– The award went to the right address. Kuier is a big reason why Venezia won the final series in three straight games.
Before the final series, it was predicted that Venezia would enter the championship even as an underdog against the big Italian club Schio. Schio had won eight of the ten previous championships and reached the finals 14 times in a row.
In addition to the Italian main league, Schio also plays in Europe’s toughest league, the Euroleague, while Venezia competes one level lower in the EuroCup.
– Just the fact that Venezia was able to win the finals with a clean game is an extremely hard performance. The best teams in Italy are the top teams in all of Europe. There are many players in the series who have WNBA experience and who are key players for their national teams, Palviainen enthuses.
The pace picked up as spring progressed
During the spring, Kueir reached a great speed, and averaged more than 19 points during eight playoff games. In the regular season, Kuieri’s scoring average was a good 12 points.
The playing minutes also increased significantly, as the Finn logged approximately 31 minutes per match in the playoffs. In the regular season, the average playing time was 24 minutes.
In April, Kueir told Urheilu about his decision to miss the upcoming season in the basketball players’ dream series in the WNBA. The Finnish basketball player has been playing for almost four years straight without breaks and said that he is tired.
Where did Kuier dig for the extra gear for the playoffs?
– The Venezia team has managed to support Awak in that the best comes out in the playoff stage. During the season, there has not been so much load in certain matches, Palviainen says.
Kuieri’s playing style also changed. Defense and rebounding were at a high level throughout the season, but the almost two-meter tall Kueir played much more aggressively in the playoffs also at the other end of the court.
– Awak attacked more determinedly towards the basket and looked for their own solutions. It is now visible in the score column.
Palviainen has followed Kuieri’s moves closely throughout the season. He knew how to expect significant success from the Finnish star.
– It seemed to me for a long time that if things go as well as possible, something like this can happen. And now it happened.