Miikka Muurinen (left) got a hard blow when he fell. Pasi Liesimaa
That’s when it started so well.
With 3.55 from the opening quarter, the Nokia Arena’s wine socks were already scattered. Lauri Markkanen had scratched it with his long hands.
Somehow it fits the Finnish playbook.
Namely, the break gave an extra timeout Lassi Tuoville, whose protection had dominated the start of the match.
The board had Finnish leadership 14-11.
Immediately after the break, Jacob Grandison sank the third. Finnish tactics worked perfectlyand Susijeng’s lead grew to six.
Already Juhani Tamminen once outlined that success would come by “winning the right games.”
For Susijeng, this was just this Lithuanian fight. And it got a dream start.
Of course it wasn’t that easy. The opening period ended only with one point in Finland.
The first signs of Lithuanian head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis Tactical Hoksnoka came before throwing up.
He planted Denver Nuggets superstar Jonas Valančiu on the exchange bench. The giant only got to the field when Lauri Markkanen came out of there.
Gytis Radzevicius tried to deprive Lauri Markkanen (right). Pasi Liesimaa
Black clouds began to gather in the middle of the second period. Sasu Salin’s sieve was lost, and Lithuania got like a stealing six point lead.
Tuovi was forced to the timeout.
That didn’t help either. During the break, the Lithuanian leadership was nine points.
Susijeng’s game would otherwise have been perfect, but throwing just didn’t sink. You simply can’t afford it in basketball.
Susijengi had started the European Championship with three wins.
– The coaches think what the next match will bring. It seems to me that players just think we will win it as the next one, when those losses have not come terribly, head coach Tuovi said after Saturday’s Montenegro victory.
The harsh fact is, that Finland had not reached anything yet.
Even fewer braces should be banged now.
The realistic threat of There will be three losses in Finland’s three wins.
There is no joy in the next place if the tournament ends in Saturday’s quarter -finals, as then the most talented basketball team of all time will be far from their medal target.
Lithuania is the Greater of Koris. Prior to Monday, it had been 32 times in a break at least nine points on the EM parquet.
It had won every match of them.
Correspondingly, Finland had been 37 times at least nine points. It, in turn, had disappeared every time.
The 65-year-old Kurtinaitis won the 38-year-old Tuov clearly in the tactical race. In the audience, it looked a bit like the Masters against the Kisälli setting.
Lithuania’s peculiar way to sacrifice the backmen Markkanen’s guarding mixed Jyväskylä, completely the playbook.
And when Markkanen did not succeed, Mikael Jantunen alone could not skip Susijeng in the match.
Miro Little did his best to bring the audience in his hometown into the battle.
But the Nokia Arena already gave everything. This was not caught in the lack of encouragement.
In the fourth round, Finland still got a straw when Rokas somebaitis knee twisted badly in the fight with Ilari Seppälä.
This meant that Lithuania and perhaps the best player in Tampere all had to leave the field.
However, there was far too much difference. It was 15 points.
Under no circumstances will Finland make it closed against Lithuania. Not even Miikka Muurinen did his best in waking up the cottage.
The defeat derails Finland directly to the quarter -finals collision course against either Turkey or Serbia. Both of them are a couple of drawings above Finland.
-We are not thinking about the match that the flow mode disappears with the loss. We’re going to win every game. Then let’s see what the end result is and, if necessary, make corrective steps.
So far, there is only one loss in the column.
In theory, it does not yet mean anything.
But it’s Tami’s instruction on winning the right games. For Susijeng, it was this Lithuanian fight.
In the end, there were practically two losers in this match, because someone is no longer playing in this tournament.
This means that Lithuania does not fight for medals either.
Lassi Tuovi lost this tactic battle. Pasi Liesimaa