Basketball | Two men rose above the others from the winged Susijeng – top achievers nail it: “Not much consolation”

Valencia

Finland–Bahamas 85–96

Wolf gang started an important Olympic qualifying tournament in Valencia, Spain on Tuesday. Rupeama started with a sad loss, as the Bahamas was stronger with points of 96–85.

The resistance was strong, because the Bahamas has three star players from the world’s number one league, the NBA – Eric Gordon, Buddy Hield and Deandre Ayton. Finland played well and at times even dominated the game, but the weak moments dragged on for too long.

Finland had to go to the tournament without its number one star Lauri from Markkaand not the captain Sasu Salinka was fit for the opening match. The team needed new solvers, and they were found.

Mikael Jantunen and Edon Maxhuni were in top form, and both duo scored a handsome 20 points through the Bahama basket.

Especially Jantuse was expected to be a tough bearer of responsibility for the Valencia tournament, and he immediately proved to be that. On the defensive end, the man wrestled nicely with the rock-hard Ayton, and on the offensive end, things went well.

It often seemed that Ayton’s night in Jantusen’s tongs was not comfortable, even though the giant scored 19 points.

“Edon is a top-level player and his emergence as a decision-maker has been expected. Now he showed why he can bear responsibility. Great game from Edon. The win is the most important thing, and it didn’t come, so my own performance is not much consolation,” Jantunen commented on his and Maxhun’s strong night.

“Sometimes there are these throwing days, now it went well. I hope the same will continue against Poland”, stated Maxhuni succinctly.

Finland the tournament continues on Thursday with a match against Poland. With a win, it would be possible to keep the Olympic dream alive.

On Tuesday, Susijengi fell into a weak phase of the third quarter, during which the gap grew unnecessarily large. Finland was at its strongest in the second quarter, when it set the tempo and at times even controlled the events on the field.

It is clear that the weak moments against Poland must not last as long as they did in the Bahamas game.

“In the third set, there was a little slump that kind of ended that game. It should have been cut off by defense, and besides, we had a lot of losses in it. Without them, this would have been our game”, Maxhuni sees.

During the weak phase, Finland’s game sometimes even looked like a mess or at least sloppy.

“Maybe we need a little calmness and care to play. If a fast attack is not available, you have to slow down a bit. We got a bit rushed and did as Bahama wanted. They got a few exploits and felt comfortable, it’s hard to turn that around,” says Jantunen as a remedy for the problem.

Wolf gang however, heads into the Poland encounter with confidence. In addition to the weak phase, there was a lot of good in Tuesday’s performance, and the team plans to take those things with them to the dawn of Thursday.

“There were moments in the game when we set the tempo and played the basketball we wanted, but those periods need to be extended. There are scoring streaks in basketball, and we should have been quicker to break their streak. There were a lot of good things, you have to take them in,” Jantunen says.

“We tried to attack their weaknesses and today those shots maybe came to me and Edon. But in the best phases, all five players touched the ball in attack. With that we got our good pipes and played the best. We need to find more of that.”

Maxhun has no doubt that Finland would succeed in this and continue the tournament after the group stage.

“This group has always played to their full potential, regardless of who is involved. We know we can beat any team and we’ve shown it before. I believe that we will surprise against Poland.”

First in the match, the fact that captain Salin was not in the starting line-up caught my eye. And he was not seen on the field at any point in the match.

Salin also didn’t play last Friday in the team’s last match preparing for the tournament against Latvia in Tampere. The head coach Lassi Tuovin according to him, he is expected to participate in Thursday’s deciding game.

“We hope that he will be there. Let’s go one day at a time, Tuesday wasn’t okay yet, nothing is possible. Yes, we want Sasu on the field”, says Tuovi.

“Nonetheless, the great thing here is that there are new bearers of responsibility. Collectively, the team looked the way they wanted in the first half. Now that was enough.”