Helsinki Seagulls have already secured their first Korisliiga finals place in their history. In return, it receives Kauhajoki or Vilppa. For Karhu Basket, it would be the fifth consecutive place in the finals.
Emma Hyuppa,
Jouko Vuolle
On Sunday, Helsinki Seagulls rushed to the men’s Korisliiga final by defeating Kataja 4–0 in the semi-finals. The place in the final is the first in the history of the Helsinki club.
The Seagulls’ final opponent can be determined as early as Tuesday evening. Defending champion Kauhajoki Karhu Basket leads its semi-final series against Salon Vilpa with a 3–1 win. The fifth match will be played on Tuesday at Kauhajoki.
Sports expert Ilpo Rantanen estimates that Vilppaa’s rise to the final team is starting to look unlikely. Kauhajoki won the fourth match by almost 30 points.
Rantanen believes that the final series will be even.
– Throughout the season in Korisliiga, there has been talk about who will come second. As if Kauhajoki’s championship was a completely sure thing, but it is not. The Seagulls are a good enough team to lift the Panthers this year, says Rantanen.
Champion favorite Kauhajoki’s machine has coughed up a bit during the spring. In Thursday’s third semi-final match, Karhu’s throwing game failed and Vilpas won away with a score of 90–87.
Just a few hours before Saturday’s away match, Kauhajoki announced that at the beginning of March, having come to Kauhajoki Dikembe Dixson the contract has been terminated. In the club’s press release, the head coach Janne Koskimies commented on the departure of American reinforcements mysteriously.
– We wouldn’t have gotten to this point as a team without the strong trust that every member of the team is committed to doing things together and a hundred glasses, Koskimies said.
In his last game last Thursday, Dixson scored just four points.
– There is no drama involved. Dixson’s level of performance just wasn’t enough for us. It became apparent during the six weeks he was here. There was being late for training, among other things, the chairman of Karhubasket Vesa Ojala tells.
So did he have a bad attitude?
– Now I wouldn’t say that it would have been so. The level of work was just not enough.
Joined the lineup after a break of a couple of weeks Manny Patterson Jr. led Kauhajoki to victory with 19 points. According to expert Rantanen, a little turbulence between the semi-finals may have been good for the team.
– Patterson brought what Kauhajoki lacked in the previous game. The reality is that the further you are in the playoffs, the harder the pressure. There must not be any fragmentation within the team. Kauhajoki reacted to it and the result is that the team became stronger, says Rantanen.