Basketball | Petteri Koponen was in tears after the Susijengi fans’ wonderful gesture: “I didn’t think it would get emotional” – Croatia tactics itself as Finland’s likely opponent

Prague

Finland captain of the national men’s basketball team Shawn Huff yells at his longtime teammate in the hallway of Prague’s O2 arena Petteri Kopowho shakes tears from the corners of his eyes.

At the end of the Holland match, Susijeng’s fans loudly thanked the two big players who are ending their careers at the EC tournament with shouts of “Kiitos Petteri!” and “Shawn Huff!”. In the decision of the D group, Finland easily defeated the Netherlands, which had lost all its initial group matches, 88–67 (48–31).

Finland’s supporters first shouted to Koposen’s pitch from the bench. When the head coach Lassi Tuovi brought Koponen to the floor, the encouragement just kept coming. Koponen was overcome with emotion already on the field and clapped in the direction of the supporters.

“The fans were shouting, so we had to go. I thought this would be the moment I could go. I didn’t think I could get emotional during the game, but all kinds of thoughts started running through my head. We played that well and it was time to play. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t so into the game and the fans started screaming. Basketball has brought so many great moments. Now it’s the last meters. I got emotional,” Koponen said with tears in his eyes.

Huff, who scored a comfortable 14 points, gathered the Finnish team in the center circle after the game to shout at the thousands of blue and white supporters in the stands.

“Hairs stood on end. We had such a great atmosphere in the stands. Shawn and Petteri have deserved all the thanks”, scored two points Topias Palmi uttered.

The Finnish national team thanked the supporters after the victory over Holland. The team and fans said goodbye to the Prague games at the same time. Picture: Jukka Ritola / Aamulehti

Lauri Markkanen scored 22 points. Picture: Jukka Ritola / Aamulehti

Finland the placement in Group D and Sunday’s quarter-final opposition will only be decided after Thursday’s late games. If Serbia beats Poland, as expected, Finland will be the group winner. This would lead to the quarterfinals against the three from Group C.

In group C, Croatia deliberately tacticed itself as a probable group three in Thursday’s match against Ukraine. Croatia had a seven-point lead in the closing seconds when its NBA star Bojan Bogdanović was at the free throw line. An eight-point win would have given Croatia second place and against the third in Group C, which is most likely Poland before the late games.

Bogdanović intentionally missed his free throw, which is why Croatia won by only five points. Thus, Croatia will remain in group three, if Italy wins the clearly weaker Great Britain in the late round.

The main motive of Croatia’s game must be to face Finland. Croatia could also face an easier quarter-final opponent. Finland beat Croatia in the World Cup qualifiers in the summer, but Croatia has since become a stronger American playmaker With Jaleen Smith and with his NBA gambler with Dario Šarić.

Finland’s head coach Tuovi did not want to comment on Croatia’s performance after the victory over Holland.

Topias Palmi played in the Dutch league last season, so there were a lot of familiar players. Next season’s job at Tampere’s Pyrinnö nursery is not yet known.

“I give evidence. There is nothing concrete or names on the paper. We have to wait a few weeks”, Palmi explained.

Palmi fought to be among the last to enter the European Championships. At the latest Oliver Nkamhouan withdrawing and going to the University of Tennessee secured Palmi’s place in the competition.

“I worked all summer to play in the European Championship. That was my goal. I am really satisfied and enjoyed every moment.”