Basketball | Mikael Jantunen’s name was associated with the top league NBA – now he tells if the dream is still alive

Four years ago Mikael Jantusen in related basketball discussions, three letters flashed at regular intervals: NBA.

Jantunen was only 18 years old when he made it to the A national team very rarely with his defensive skills. The youngster struggled strongly under the basket even though he was behind in strength and muscle mass.

A place to study and play at the University of Utah was supposed to be a step towards the NBA, but how did it turn out?

Lauri Markkanen plays Hanno Möttölän and Erik Murphy after as the third Finn in North America’s big and prestigious NBA, but for others it seems that the doors of the league remain almost locked.

This is how Jantunen answers the question about the NBA during the important World Cup qualifying match, when Susijengi meets Israel in Tampere on Thursday.

The first one after a year of studying, Jantunen thought that NBA is not realism after all.

Two years flew by in Utah until Jantunen headed to Ostend, Belgium last winter. The studies were allowed to stay, and the professional career began in the best team in Belgium.

“I have never given up. You can get to the NBA even at a later age, if you’re good enough,” says Jantunen.

“It could be an artful thing, or maybe I don’t have the right playing style.”

Jantunen admits that the NBA was a dream, but it didn’t come true during his university days.

“If I had stayed at university for four years, I don’t know if things would have changed. I feel that Europe is a better place for me.”

Finland the background influencers of the national basketball team sensitively guide the young players to the North American route. School, basketball and getting to know the local basketball culture will be offered.

Players are returning to Europe at the same rate as they are leaving – without an NBA reservation or contract.

Jantunen says that after the second year of study, he got the feeling that the the world had been seen. He played all the way to the end, but that was it.

When there was nothing left in Utah with a new basketball career in mind, Jantunen decided to go to Europe.

“Two years was enough. I got what I wanted. I developed as a player mentally and physically.”

That also influenced Jantusen’s departure decision, that the best and most important players on the Utah team went to bigger and tougher basketball schools. For example, a Swede Pelle Larsson headed to Arizona.

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“We got there by hard sea routes.”

Belgium as a basketball country, it sounds like Jantusen had to take a step back when he came back to the old continent. That’s how he himself felt at first.

Jantunen says that he no longer thought about Belgium’s level during the season, but when he left university, he thought about what was in store.

American universities send players to Belgium. American reinforcements at Ostend Phil Booth and Levi Randolph had good college careers, and Booth even won the NCAA Large Schools Championship twice: in 2016 and 2018.

“We got there by hard sea routes,” says Jantunen.

“They are tougher in futs than in koris, but maybe it is a rising basketball country. Good basketball was played there.”

In Belgium, Jantunen was chosen as the best sixth player in the series, i.e. a substitute who comes in immediately after the starting five.

If Jantunen thought about Belgium’s level for a while, the quality of the next transfer is fully guaranteed. Jantunen will play in the Italian Serie A for the Treviso team next season.

A traditional big club is building a new future, and Jantunen is part of it.

“If you can play there on a regular basis, the next step has been taken.”

In the European basketball rankings, Spain is running at the highest level series. Turkey is counted as the second hardest, but after them come Italy, France and Germany with fairly equal strength.

Jantunen made the national team as a defender and a good all-round player, but what about throwing? Jantunen rarely puts up big scores, and it is known in his clubs.

“It’s gotten better,” Jantunen describes his throw.

“There is room for improvement, of course.”

“The big part was to start throwing, to take those free throws. And of course through repetitions. It gets better with training.”

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“Yes, there are enough advisers if you want to ask.”

Jantunen may have played tough matches in his career without scoring more than a couple of points. And there are still no big score parties.

Has throwing even been in the back of your mind?

“Not anymore. It was at some point. It’s a big deal. It’s about daring and just taking those throws.”

“Fear I’ve gotten over it, and that’s a big step.”

Jantunen emphasizes that you have to dare. After one missed throw, you have to have the courage to take another throw, a third and maybe even a fourth.

If Jantunen missed one three-pointer, he didn’t dare try another. Now he dares to do so.

Although Jantunen rarely emerges as the decider, he plays in the national team’s last minutes, when big victories are decided and success is sought.

He no longer takes pressure from his throws. Jantunen knows that the development curve is pointing in the right direction, and he is still only 22 years old.

“Yes, there are enough advisers if you want to ask.”

This is how the World Cup qualification progresses

Finland has survived the second stage of the basketball World Cup qualifiers, where they will meet Israel, Estonia and Germany at home and away.

In the first stage of the qualification, Finland played six matches, of which they won five. Susijengi is currently second in the next group, tied with Germany.

From the second stage of Europe, the best three from each of the four groups advance to the World Cup tournament, which will be played in Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia in the fall of 2023.

Finland has played once in the World Cup tournament in 2014, but then Susijengi got in with a so-called wild card, for which you had to pay money.

Correction August 25 at 11:30: Lauri Markkanen is the third Finnish NBA player, not the second, as was stated earlier in the story.