Comment | Susigengi lost, but put on an unforgettable show – a year from now, big things will happen in Tampere

Valencia

Finland–Spain 74–81

Wolf gang the Olympic dream crashed late on Saturday evening, when the host country of the qualifying tournament, Spain, beat Finland and advanced to the finals of the tournament.

Finland fell with boots on. In the latter half of the first quarter and in the second half, it even played in a frenzy, but in the end, the superiority of matter was enough to propel the host team to victory.

Susijeng’s game plan was clear. It sought to mix up the game, maintain tempo and intensity, and run fast. It largely succeeded in that, but this time it wasn’t enough.

Above all Willy Hernangomez was still too much this time.

However, Spain was startled in a way that the Home Audience would never have believed possible. Finland’s ecstatic ball of chaos got the opponent completely off their feet from time to time, and it was close that the home team would have been left licking their fingers.

Finland led the match for a long time in the second half as well.

Although the coveted Olympic place was not achieved, Susijeng has no reason to bury its head in the bush. Estimating in advance Finland’s possibilities without Lauri from Markka were thin, and the small chance of losing did not come true this time.

Of the matches Finland played, it had clearly weaker individuals in each of its uses, but that’s how the team seriously bullied the Bahamas and rushed past Poland with its merciless scrimmage. The team proved once again that they are much more than the sum of their parts.

Although basketball is clearly the most individual-driven of the big team ball games, it is also a team ball game and the collective is important.

For the wolf gang this tournament was above all a showcase for next year’s big event, the EC home games. Susijengi had the opportunity to show that it has real potential for success in the home games, and it did.

Former young, current frame men showed Mikael Jantunen and Edon Maxhunin under the leadership of being perfectly capable of bearing great responsibility for the results at the value competition level. Because these were value competition level games.

If and when Markkanen is on the European Championship floors in Tampere, Finland has the potential for anything, this tournament showed that and that’s how good a player Markkanen is. The setting for the home games is even tickling when it’s super hot Miikka Muurinen too is then a year older.

Wolf gang it is becoming a trademark that a new player emerges at competitive events and surprises with his moves. Now it had appeared in the team completely out of the blue, suffering from injuries for a couple of years Andre Gustavsonwho will represent Kauhajoki Karhu in the coming season.

Gustavson, who dug into an unimaginable mood, scored 15 points with a perfect shooting percentage. I think many Spaniards dig their phones out of their pockets and look on Google to see which man it might be.

Gustavson’s responsibility grew match by match, and against Spain the man was on fire in the first quarter. Gustavson’s explosive first steps and decisively flying drives to the basket are something that has not been seen before in the Finnish team.

Gustavson represents a really entertaining type of player, and in the future, the 25-year-old man will surely be seen in a wolf jersey many more times. As long as it stays intact.

Finland lost, but put on a great – fierce and gut-wrenching – basketball game and an unforgettable show. A year from now, everything is really possible in Tampere.