What is the reason for Susijeng’s collapse? “I will not sign it”

Susijengi’s fate could be guessed from the location in Finland.

The players below stepped into the foyer in turn. Even though the pillows are of the familiar Hilton quality, many must have been thinking about their missed throw and loss of the ball in the previous night’s match against Japan.

– Of course we try to play as good basketball as possible and win these games. The result shows that we haven’t been able to do that, a member of the coaching staff

– To be honest, we were in a good position at the end of the third quarter (Finland’s lead was 18 points at best).

Yes, but basketball games last 30 effective minutes instead of 40.

– Have we been a disciplined enough team in certain places within the game? We certainly haven’t been. After all, everyone has room for improvement. It cannot be denied, Rannikko asks and answers himself.

Poor general

Certainly, in the autopsy of this tournament, the fact that Finland played quite a few preparatory international matches compared to the reference countries will also be highlighted.

Out of the four, the team did excellently in Tampere in front of a full audience, but after that the curve dropped to a complete stomachache in the final match.

Finland’s game was messed up and there was no willpower when Latvia wiped the floor of Susijeng’s Riga arena in Turkey just over a week before the opening of the World Cup.

– There is no single reason, and I don’t agree that more training matches should have been played, Rannikko challenges.

– Coaching is not about thinking about what should have been done differently a month ago. Naturally, after the Games, we analyze everything carefully.

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Another important point is that Lauri Markkanen is defended to pimento. In last summer’s European Championship quarter-final, Croatia admired the throwing hand of our NBA star for 43 points.

– We haven’t reached the charm of last summer. It could be the opponent or it could be us. We haven’t gotten our transition attacks rolling, which we were so good at in the European Championship, explains Rannikko.

– Lauri was really effective in them last year. Now we have not reached those situations.

Young team

In any case, Markkanen is one of the few people responsible for the Finnish team. And naturally, as a global superstar, he should be like that.

But in both losing matches, Susijengi would have needed a wizard like Ranniko, who would have been able to take the momentum out of the game and calm both the tempo and the mind.

At this point, you have to look at the roster. The only 19-year-old started as Finland’s playmaker in this tournament Miro Little.

– Facts are facts. It is easy to say that the Finnish team is young. Of course, experience is worth its weight in gold and is especially needed in these team sports, but I don’t consider it the reason for the loss. The coast emphasizes.

Finland has now played twice in the World Basketball Championships. The 2014 debut at this level also ended in disappointment, when Finland was left in the first group in Bilbao after losing badly after extra time to Turkey and again in the final match of the group with a difference of two points to New Zealand.

Rannikko was then part of the team’s supporting forces on the field.

– That tournament and especially that last game are the biggest disappointments of my sports career. We played against a similar team and lost.

Then, Susijengi’s further dreams fell only in the final match of the first group. However, the end result is the same as now: there is no point in the playoffs.

Through disappointments

Rannikko and the coaching staff Hanno Möttölä were also part of that team. Instead, the team’s teenage star, the current skipper, is among the players Sasu Salin.

– Well then, of course there was Teemu, Hannoa, Shit (Koponen). There was clearly a more experienced group that had been together for a long time. Now we have been less, Salin admits.

– There seem to be such growing pains here. Perhaps this requires that we learn through disappointments.

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Finland is not a basketball superpower. It is of course bigger and, for example, the only Nordic country at the World Cup level. In fact, Sweden, Norway or Denmark have never made it to the finals.

Finland is participating for the second time in nine years.

But twice is not much. In addition, the current Susijeng lacks tournament experience, and that was unfortunately visible on Sunday on the floor of the Okinawa arena.

– Yes, we are aware that we are a young team. In my club team, the average age is closer to 35, and a similar lapse in concentration occurs there as well.

– We have a few international matches as a team together.

“Hard Level”

The next World Cup tournament will be played in four years. The 32-year-old Salin does not directly promise that he will be used by the national team again then.

Also, no one knows if Susijengi will survive the tough qualifying battle for the final tournament in Qatar.

– It’s good to know how tough the level is at the World Championships. The first time it was a bit of getting used to and maybe we were a little too timid, Salin recalls.

– It hurt then and it hurts now. The goals were much higher and we would have liked to do more. It’s just not always possible.

The “Malmi garbage dumper” will definitely have three more World Cup matches ahead of him. The first of them, today’s Germany match, is coming up very quickly.

– We have to make the game more our way. We are trying to make the team weld together better, Rannikko promises.

– These last matches will leave a mark on this tournament.