Lauri Markkanen gave credit to Australia for the opening win.
Finland started strongly against the pre-favorite Australia.
However, the good mood disappeared even before the timeout buzzer, and the Boomers did not give Susijeng any more in the second period.
– A bit of a two-part game. We showed that we can play against anyone, as long as we play our own basket, the team’s number one gun Lauri Markkanen admitted.
A good start to the match turned into a disappointment for Susijeng led by Lauri Markkanen. Jenni Gästgivar
– In the first half, we implemented our way of playing well and defended well. After that, maybe the concentration got worse and we were in the wrong places.
Markkanen had to be closely guarded by two Aussie players. Teammates didn’t know how to go for easy passing lines, so Susijengi didn’t get to enjoy their “man superiority”.
Markkanen often had to go for a really difficult pass, and the ball went out of bounds.
– All credit to Australia. Their defense made the match difficult.
– But there are a lot of things where we can play a simpler basket and not look for fancy attacks. Of course Australia were able to punish us for turnovers.
In the end, Markkanen was the second best scorer on the field with 19. Australian Patty Mills scored 25 points.
– We expected that there would be pressure. Should have been able to attack it. Finishes and throws just didn’t go.
The Australia loss was budgeted into the Finnish team’s World Cup plan. The dream of a quarter-final place is still alive: it just requires winning the next four games.
– Let’s learn from this. If you want to lose one match in this tournament, it was this one. When we leave the hall, thoughts turn to the next game. We don’t put too much importance on this.