Finnish NT 2015

[Finnlay2]

With one preliminary game left before the tournament begins, I guess it's time to assess our current state.

There is one big issue in the guard end, and his name is Koivisto. With these kind of showings, the guy should have no business in the final team. He doesn't take even the obvious throws, which means he's useless. But do we have other options?

It's far too late to see if any of those kids waiting back home can play better, so it was kind of dumb asset management from Dettmann & co. On the other hand I can understand wanting to give Koivisto every possible opportunity to find his groove, but the hourglass has pretty much run out now. The final game a week from now should be played with the best possible lineup.

Therefore I think the situation is that we're going to have four guards in the regular rotation, namely, Koponen, Salin, Wilson and Ahonen. Have them fill the PG/SG positions more loosely than usual and then take Lehto as that traditional extra guard, given that he's just been sidelined by management and not injured.

On SF, we have Huff obviously, and before tonight's game I wouldn't have been able to tell whether they should use Nuutinen or Cavén to fill the second slot. Nuutinen has not been playing all that much and it looked possible that he still hasn't fully recovered. But now he got to the court and punched his ticket, methinks.

They've said that there's a very, very slim chance that Markkanen could get healthy in time. But if the more likely thing comes to pass and he doesn't, I already said who the five big men are - Murphy, Lee, Kotti, Kaunisto and Lindbom.


Which gives us a team of...

Koponen/Wilson/Lehto
Salin/Ahonen
Huff/Nuutinen
Murphy/Kaunisto/Lindbom
Lee/Kotti

 

[Upi2]

After the first two preparation games (France, Lithunia) I thought that the team looked pretty alright. And it actually does with the usual starting five (Salin, Koponen, Huff, Murphy, Lee Jr/Kotti) and it did seem that Wilson would actually benefit the team once given a bit of time. The team did have a few brighter (if short) moments in the Koper tournament, Wilson did OK in the last game, but it just felt that there was just no flow nor joy in the way the team played. I think they started defensively quite ok versus Ukraine today, but still altogether a very lackluster performance. Salin was missed badly in the last two games (hopefully he'll be 100% in Montpellier) and Koponen simply didn't seem to have any FUN playing today. I still think the team has a chance to do well in Montpellier and advance, crowd will do its part and give the team a boost. I think the team is missing one of its best coaches (both on and off the floor) when Rannikko is not with the team (and he could easily replace Ahonen or Koivisto - I doubt Lehto will make the team, although perhaps he's not the worst choice), especially so after Möttölä has retired.

 

[matrixa2]

Why did Salin miss last few games,is he allright?

 

[Finnlay2]

The practice games have sure been conflicting. In a sense, we're better off than ever. Our starting five of Koponen - Salin - Huff - Murphy - Lee is the kind of group that can go head-to-head with any fivesome other EuroBasket participants can muster. However, when the time comes to find help from the bench, the problems begin. Our supposed backup five of Wilson - Koivisto - Nuutinen - Kaunisto - Kotti has just not been up to speed in these games. Wilson is skilled and gives it a 100% all the time, but his integration into the team is still a work in progress. Koivisto has been useless. Nuutinen at his best is as good as Huff, but he lacks consistency. Kaunisto and Kotti are both more than adequate in defense, but offense gives them issues. Well, Kaunisto can throw.

Still, it's not as bad as it seems, since most of these issues can be worked away with. The front court is actually not half bad at all as far as backups go, and there's nothing fundamentally wrong with Wilson - he just needs time. More he plays with them, the better he gets it. So all HD has to do is to either cross his hands and pray that Koivisto suddenly finds it - or, more preferably, figure out the equation that allows him to do away with him. But do we even have the necessary pieces for that... it's a big question.

Why did Salin miss last few games,is he allright?

He suffered a back cramp and was put aside as a precaution. He should be on the final team alright.

 

[Finnlay2]

Final twelve named:

PG Petteri Koponen, BC Khimki
PG Jamar Wilson, free agent
PG Roope Ahonen, Kolossos Rodou
SG Sasu Salin, BC Gran Canaria
SG Mikko Koivisto, Loimaa Bisons
SF Shawn Huff, Ludwigsburg
SF Matti Nuutinen, Kataja Basket
SF Joonas Cavén, free agent
PF Erik Murphy, Besiktas JK
PF Ville Kaunisto, Kouvolan Kouvot
CE Gerald Lee Jr, free agent
CE Tuukka Kotti, Loimaa Bisons

Koivisto made it after all... guess they just had no better two post players available behind Salin. And looks like I was right about Cavén. Though there is question whether he would have made it had Markkanen not been injured.

 

[Dirtyh2]

Koivisto made it after all... guess they just had no better two post players available behind Salin. And looks like I was right about Cavén. Though there is question whether he would have made it had Markkanen not been injured.

There wasn't better options. I'm pretty sure that they played Koponen and Wilson together so much to see if it's working. It wasn't so they had to take Koivisto. And we all know that he is able to drop 6 threes in a game if he finds his game. So it's pretty easy choice; No one was not better option and if he can't find his shot, just don't put him on court. And after all, we have just seen the games. Maybe he has shot well in practice.

Markkanen's injury seems to be pretty serious. I saw him over week after he got injured and he was still walking with crutches.

 

[Finnlay2]

There wasn't better options. I'm pretty sure that they played Koponen and Wilson together so much to see if it's working. It wasn't so they had to take Koivisto. And we all know that he is able to drop 6 threes in a game if he finds his game. So it's pretty easy choice; No one was not better option and if he can't find his shot, just don't put him on court. And after all, we have just seen the games. Maybe he has shot well in practice.

Yeah. I'm not pining after something there isn't. The kids on the camp probably would have gotten their shot if they were deemed ready. Maybe it really is as you said, and Koivisto has been decent in practice and was merely game shy, perhaps simply afraid that a few missed shots would have put his position in jeopardy. Now that he's made the cut, that could act as a release and he can start taking those shots.

I have to say though, it's not as if missing shots in the games that actually matter isn't a bad thing. On the contrary, that's even worse.
...well, unless you're good with rebounds, that is.

 

[Finnlay2]

I guess Koivisto just gave us a reason to shut up for now. Absolute best part vs. Ukraine for me was seeing him finally sink some of those three-pointers. I don't know what's up with him, but sure hope it's now a thing of the past.

And oh, it was a pretty nice game overall, I guess. The team looks quite ready and will only look better once Salin gets back onto the court. Only way it could theoretically look even nicer was if we had Alex Murphy instead of Cavén.

 

[Dirtyh2]

I guess Koivisto just gave us a reason to shut up for now. Absolute best part vs. Ukraine for me was seeing him finally sink some of those three-pointers. I don't know what's up with him, but sure hope it's now a thing of the past.

And oh, it was a pretty nice game overall, I guess. The team looks quite ready and will only look better once Salin gets back onto the court. Only way it could theoretically look even nicer was if we had Alex Murphy instead of Cavén.

Well, healthy Rannikko would be nice too and overall health issues could be better. I hope that Tuovi's absence is not crucial.

Game was pretty ok and I'm absolutely very happy for Koivisto. Sure that Fesenkos absence helpd us a lot, then again Ukraine can say same thing about Salin. I'm getting gray hair with Wilson's p'n'r defense. He has improved a lot but that one thing hurts us. His cooperation with Koponen is still in the works but looked little bit better than week a go.

We still had pretty bad shooting night, thought last 5 minutes we made everything. Ahonen, Nuutinen and Kaunisto had good games which is very important. Maybe we have more than 7 players that can be used.