Finland national team

[rikhardur]

Finns Look To Build On Momentum Of Impressive 2008

Finland received great leadership from Hanno Mottola last summer when they booked a spot in this year's Additional Qualifying Round for the EuroBasket in Poland.

Now point guard Teemu Rannikko, another inspirational figure in Finnish basketball who led the national side for several years, is back from injury and ready to show the way for the Finns.

Finland coach Henrik Dettmann, who lost Mottola when the big man decided to retire from basketball at the end of last year's qualifiers, has confirmed Tannikko is coming back.

He and his players are very optimistic about the progress of the national team.

"We have all of our best players available to us and committed to the program," Dettmann said. "Period. End of story. Now we just hope that everybody stays healthy.

"With this group of players I feel good going in to the European Championship qualifiers to challenge our opponents, who have big international stars."

Finland will face a very tough August in the additional qualifiers against France and Italy in Group B.

"We recognize that we are grouped with great, great company and we are proud of it," Dettmann said.

"This set-up is like David versus Goliath, but games we played last year left us hungry for further development."

Indeed, Finland raised a lot of eyebrows in 2008.

By sweeping Hungary and upsetting Serbia at home in a very difficult Group A that also included Bulgaria and Italy, Finland safeguarded their status in Division A and also earned a trip to the Additional Qualifying Round.

There is no more Mottola, but Dettmann has Rannikko back, with Gerald Lee Junior and Samuel Haanpaa also in the squad.

Lee Jr is son of Gerald Lee Sr, a naturalized Finn who played for the national side for two decades.

Lee Sr made his national team debut at 41 years of age in 1992 when Dettmann was at the beginning of his first stint with Finland.

He is still the all-time leader of the Finnish league in scoring with 12,556 career points.

Lee Jr has played in 71 games at junior level Finland.

He is a student/athlete at Old Dominion in Virginia and just won the CIT Tournament.

Haanpaa wasn't able to play in last summer's qualifiers after breaking his finger in the first preparation game against Germany.

Arguably the most important player in the Finland set-up, however, is Kimmo Muurinen.

He is a player that Dettmann heaped praise on for his relentless effort on defense in last year's games.

Muurinen, whose long arms and tenacity cause a lot of problems for opponents, said: "Last summer we experienced some feelings that any athlete would want to feel more and more.

"We were able to beat some really big teams, which is always nice.

"However, an even bigger thing was that we saw ourselves developing both as individuals and as a team.

"It's a great feeling to realize that you are playing alongside with great players and achieving some results together.

"This coming summer will provide us with new opportunities to experience more of those feelings."

Preparation Period

To warm up for Italy and France, Finland have been invited to play in an international tournament in Portugal from July 10-12 with Brazil and African champions Angola also taking part.

Hungary will also host a tournament from July 24-26 and have invited Finland to take part, along with the Netherlands and Sweden.

On July 31, the Finns will go up against Estonia and on August 2 in another friendly they will face New Zealand's Tall Blacks.

Their first Additional Qualifying Round game is against France on August 8 in Pau.

"We managed to put together a nice preparation program given the fact that teams start preparation in very different times of summer," Dettmann said.

"When we have to be ready, other teams start playing their first preparation games.

"It's really challenging to build a program in these circumstances and with this competition format."

Looking back on Finland's recent progress, Dettmann beams with pride.

"We have come a long way in four years," he said.

"Like last year, we are now able to prepare against countries which have regularly participated in World Championships, Olympics or European Championships.

"It wasn't like this four years ago, which tells you something about our development."

Finnish NT, preliminary roster 2009

Name Height Weight Born Pos. Club team

Samuel Haanpaa 203 98 27.09.1986 2 Fos Provence (FRA)
Shawn Huff 198 95 05.05.1984 2 Maroussi (GRE)
Tuomas Iisalo 195 86 29.07.1982 2 Kouvot, Kouvola
Anssi Kinnaslampi 191 90 23.02.1982 2 Kataja, Joensuu
Mikko Koivisto 194 89 18.04.1987 2 UNC-Greensboro (USA)
Petteri Koponen 194 88 13.04.1988 1 Virtus Bologna (ITA)
Tuukka Kotti 205 105 18.03.1981 4 Honka, Espoo
Gerald Lee Jr. 208 106 23.11.1987 4 Old Dominion (USA)
Sami Lehtoranta 205 103 13.11.1979 4 Kataja, Joensuu
Jukka Matinen 203 99 06.11.1978 3 Honka, Espoo
Kimmo Muurinen 202 101 23.02.1981 3 Honka, Espoo
Vesa Makalainen 200 100 03.09.1986 4 Namika Lahti
Ville Makalainen 194 94 27.02.1985 2 KTP-Basket, Kotka
Antti Nikkila 210 122 25.08.1978 5 Pyrintö, Tampere
Teemu Rannikko 189 88 09.09.1980 1 BC Himki (RUS)
Juha Sten 191 86 23.12.1983 1 Solna Vikings (SWE)
Aki Ulander 209 112 29.12.1981 5 Sundsvall Dragons (SWE)
Petri Virtanen 183 77 18.09.1980 1 Kataja, Joensuu
Ilkka Vuori 181 77 28.01.1986 1 Namika Lahti

http://www.fibaeurope.com/coid_K3Pr2...frontpage.html

[mvblair]

With Mottola gone, I don't know anything about Finland's NT except that Gerald Lee is a pretty good player (he scored 30 points against Hofstra last month).

Why is Koponen's name not on the list? Does it have something to do with his military service? Is he injured? He played well when Finland qualified (summer 2008?) to play with the "big boys."

As far as the article's optimism about Finland's NT, well, I'll believe it when I see it. Every country has plenty of potential somewhere, but I just don't know anything about Finland's group.

[Hakkapeliitta]

Koponen is on the list (6th name). I have no trouble in trusting a good number of our players like Rannikko, Koponen, Huff (why is he not getting that much playing time in Maroussi?) and Muurinen (he really should be playing abroad) but without Möttölä Finnish NT has no real presence under the basket - unless Lee ends up surprising me and many others. Furthermore, key players have to stay healthy.

The group is very tough, but then again last summer we played two tight games against Italy and won France in preparation games (or did that happen in 2007, I can't remember).

[rikhardur]

Finland: Backcourt Has Dettmann Upbeat

France and Italy may have tradition and big names on their side, but they'd better not underestimate Finland in the Additional Qualifying Round for EuroBasket 2009.

The Finns raised eyebrows with their performances in Division A last summer and now, with the return to fitness of Teemu Rannikko, they should be even more formidable.

Henrik Dettmann's team has plenty of cause for optimism before clashes with the French and the Italians.

"He has a phenomenal ability to make players around him better," Dettmann says.

"In order to be the best player on court, he even doesn't have to score."

Had Rannikko not suffered a heel injury just after Christmas in 2007, who knows what Finland would have done last year.

When Finland earned promotion to Division A in 2007, Rannikko was the leading scorer of the team at 16.7 points per game.

He also handed out four assists per contest.

Indeed, a look back at the recent history of the guard shows why Dettmann is thrilled to be getting the diminutive playmaker back.

Before transferring to BC Khimki of the Moscow Region, Rannikko played for Olimpia Ljubljana and in 2006-07 he averaged 14.6 points and 3.3 assists in the Euroleague.

In the Adriatic League in January and February of 2007, he had a stretch of four games averaging an eye-popping 29.8 points and 5.5 assists per game.

In one Euroleague game in March against Partizan Belgrade, Rannikko showed his explosiveness by racking up 26 points.

He earned MVP of the Week honours after that game.

The first season (2007-08) with Khimki was injury-plagued, though, with the heel injury ultimately forcing him to sit out the EuroBasket qualifiers.

Rannikko is back on court this season and playing alongside international stars like Jorge Garbajosa of Spain, Carlos Delfino of Argentina, Maciej Lampe of Poland and American Milt Palacio.

During the Last 16 stage of the Eurocup, Rannikko averaged 7.3 points in limited playing time, showing flashes of his Ljubljana-form.

In one game against Panellinios, he buried four out of six shots from behind the arc on his way to 14 points.

Rannikko made 13 of his 22 field goal attempts during the Last 16 stage and was a perfect eight of eight at the free throw line.

"Teemu showed that he belongs to the European elite of point guards, when he played healthy in Ljubljana," Dettmann says.

"Throughout his professional career he has played in all types of guard roles.

"In Ljubljana, they saw that you get most out of Teemu at the point guard position."

What's also encouraging for Finland has been the development of Petteri Koponen, a player who will this week compete for Virtus BolognaFiere when the Italian club hosts the EuroChallenge Final Four.

Koponen was the first Finn to be picked in the first round of NBA Draft when Philadelphia selected him 30th overall. They then traded his rights to Portland.

He was also the first player to be drafted straight out of the Finnish league.

Koponen returned to Finland for 2007-08 and earned MVP honours for the season while winning a second consecutive championship with Honka Playboys.

He averaged 19.0 points and 3.9 assists per game during the regular season, shooting 42.7% from three-point range.

Koponen only turned 21 on April 13 and he is having an impressive season with Virtus.

After starting the season backing up former NBA star Earl Boykins, Koponen quickly gained a role of a regular starter playing alongside Boykins.

He received praise for his defensive play, most importantly.

In the EuroChallenge, Koponen has averaged 18.4 minutes per game.

He had a season-high 17 points in a game against Galatasaray.

"Even at young age," Dettmann says, "Petteri has already shown that he can play at this level. Like Teemu, one of his strengths definitely is making other players better. But for a player of his size, he also has great quickness with serious ability to score.

"This season Petteri has been on a tough road. Coming to one of the better leagues of Europe straight from a small basketball country isn't easy. Every player has to pay his dues and prove himself all over again in new environment. That's exactly what Petteri has done. I am very pleased that he has improved all along and I am sure that his best games of season are yet to be played."

So what will it be like when Koponen and Rannikko play together?

"Normally I don't give much thought about what the coaches of opponents are thinking about us, because I feel there's enough work concentrating on our own team and improving our play," Dettmann says.

"On this occasion I can say, however, I wouldn't want to be in other coaches' shoes facing the two guards we have.

"With both Teemu and Petteri on our team, we have great depth at the guard position. Because both are strong leaders on the court and can run the team, we are able to get some rest for both of them and bring in some firepower or defensive presence from the bench, if needed."

When it's all said and done, Italy and France would be well advised not to look past Finland.

http://www.fibaeurope.com/coid_qRwFb...frontpage.html

[stuart]

Another article to add to the info: FIBA link

Dettmann all smiles as Finland gear up for summer

HELSINKI (EuroBasket Additional Qualifying Round) - Finland coach Henrik Dettmann has included the son of his former national team player Gerald Lee in his latest squad.

Gerald Lee Jr, a player at Old Dominion in Virginia who just won the CIT Tournament, has played in 71 games at junior level in Finland.

His father, Lee Sr, was a naturalized Finn from America who made his national team debut in 1992 at the age of 41 when Dettmann was beginning his first coaching stint with Finland.

Lee Sr is still the all-time leader of the Finnish league in scoring with 12,556 career points.

Dettmann could not be happier with the progress the national team has made in recent years.

They beat Hungary twice and Serbia once in EuroBasket Division A last summer which earned them a place in the Additional Qualifying Round for EuroBasket 2009 in Poland.

"We have come a long way in four years," Dettmann said.

"Like last year, we are now able to prepare against countries which have regularly participated in World Championships, Olympics or European Championships.

"It wasn't like this four years ago, which tells you something about our development."

Indeed, Finland, who face France and Italy in Group B of the Additional Qualifying Round in August, have been invited to play in an international tournament in Portugal from July 10-12 with Brazil, the Portuguese and African champions Angola also taking part.

Hungary will also host a tournament from July 24-26 which includes Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden.

On July 31, the Finns will go up against Estonia and on August 2 in another friendly they will face New Zealand's Tall Blacks.

Their first Additional Qualifying Round game is against France on August 8 in Pau.

[seksiseppo1]

Hanno Möttölä is going to come back! He wants to play in national team, but nothing official has been said yet.

[rikhardur]

Originally Posted by seksiseppo1

Hanno Möttölä is going to come back! He wants to play in national team, but nothing official has been said yet.

Really? That would be great news for the national team. If there's something official do let us know.

[seksiseppo1]

Originally Posted by rikhardur

Really? That would be great news for the national team. If there's something official do let us know.

Finnish Basketball Association had a pressconference today where was announced, that Möttölä is back on bisnes.

http://www.koris.net/1/artikkeliarkisto/?num=184604

Hanno hasn't still decided where he will play.

[rikhardur]

Finns Very Upbeat With Rannikko Return

Finland coach Henrik Dettmann is hoping the "team-first" philosophy that proved so successful last year in Division A will come to the fore again this summer when the national team goes into the EuroBasket Additional Qualifying Round.

To reach the Final Round in Poland, Finland must finish top of Group B ahead of France and Italy and then beat the Group A winners (Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina or Portugal) in a home-and-away tie.

With veteran point guard Teemu Rannikko back to full fitness and in the national team again after missing last year's qualifying campaign through injury, and center Hanno Mottola deciding to end his brief retirement and resume his career, there is plenty of optimism in Finland.

"From a coach's perspective, it's the best possible thing to have all the best players with us from the beginning," Finland national team boss Henrik Dettmann said.

"There is no need to speculate what we could have achieved if someone absent was with us.

"We have to find the defensive intensity and self-belief we had last summer. A year ago, every player in our team was ready to put the team ahead of individual success. That will have to be our starting point also this year."

Finland, despite Rannikko's absence, survived a brutal qualifying group that included Serbia, Bulgaria, Italy and Hungary to reach the Additional Qualifying Round.

They beat the Serbians in Vantaa and also swept their two clashes with the Hungarians.

"The way we played last summer showed that when we do all we can, we have a possibility to send top teams in the world back home with a defeat," Dettmann said. "We have a nice arena, a good home team and great opponents. It's all good - I just hope the audience will find their way to Energia Areena."

After a busy preparation period in July, Finland will open their Additional Qualifying Round campaign in France on August 8 before returning home to face the Italians on August 11 in Vantaa.

Finland suffered narrow defeats to Italy last summer, falling 88-80 in Chieti and 69-62 in Vantaa.

On August 17, the French travel to Vantaa for the second meeting between the sides before Finland fly to Porto San Giorgio to take on the Italians.

Rannikko, a free agent after spending two seasons with BC Khimki, is thrilled to be back in the national side.

He had a limited role with Khimki and is eager to show that he still has the ability to help a Finland team that has a lot of potential. Rannikko loves playing with Mottola and is also looking forward to teaming up in the Finnish backcourt with Petteri Koponen.

"Last year showed a glimpse of what this team can do," Rannikko said.

"Even though I couldn't participate because of the injury, our victory over Serbia, two tough games against Italy and a road victory in Hungary showed what we are capable of. Everything is possible."

After fully recovering from an injury that ruined his 2007-08 season and kept him out last summer, Rannikko found it difficult to get minutes in a talented Khimki side.

"My years with BC Khimki were quite an experience," Rannikko said.

"I had the opportunity to play in great, great company. We went to the Superleague Finals twice, Eurocup finals once and won the Russian cup once.

"In two years with Khimki, I had the possibility to play in just 30 to 40 games, which was about half as much as I had planned. Despite that, I have nothing negative to say about the team, about Moscow or about Russia in general. I enjoyed my time with the club and with the excellent players we had in the team."

Rannikko, 28, has a lot in common with Koponen.

Both are guards, and both departed Finland as youngsters for Italy.

When Rannikko left at the age of 19, he joined Reggio Emilia.

"I remember myself how hard it was to leave my home country at such a young age and to go professional," Rannikko said.

"I tried to support Petteri as much as I could and I think he did quite all right."

http://www.fibaeurope.com/coid_6lwBM...frontpage.html

[rikhardur]

FIN – Finns learning how to compete at top level

VANTAA (EuroBasket 2009) - Finland play in the Additional Qualifying Round on Monday knowing they no longer have a chance to play at the EuroBasket this season.

That was assured on Friday night when France defeated Italy to secure top spot in Group B.

The Finns have nevertheless, their coach Henrik Dettmann believes, taken a step forward in international basketball by playing in Division A the past two summers.

Finland narrowly lost to France in their first AQR game and then slipped up at home in Vantaa against Italy on Tuesday by just two points.

"Two years ago we played Division B qualifiers against other small basketball countries and the gym was half empty," Dettmann said ahead of Monday’s home game against France.

"On the contrary, now we play against top teams such as Italy and France in front of packed houses.

"We have been developing constantly.

"My dream is that during the next two years, we will develop just as much as in these last two years.”

What Dettmann, his players and fans will have been reminded the past two weeks is that the competition in Division A is as tough as ever.

”We’re still learning how to play at this level," Dettmann said.

"Situations change terribly quickly on the court and we’re not yet used to that.

"That was clearly visible in the first moments of our game against Italy.

"On this level, we get no extra style points, but instead our success is based on winning situations in both offense and defense.

"We have weaknesses that are only visible at this level – we don’t come across them against Division B teams or during practice."

The future, Dettmann says, is bright.

"Luckily we still have unreached potential in this team and the possibility of development is certain in the future as well," he said.

"Only time will tell if we can maintain steady development, or if we have to take one step back after taking two steps forward.”

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/new...1704/arti.html

[Gyroscope]

For once, when it comes to basketball, i can be proud of Finland
Finland 77, France 73.
INCREDIBLE!
Pity they can't make it to the finals anymore. I would've liked to see them against Greece, my other country

[Freaknick]

Good for Finland beating up on France like that (nothing against France). That's what I love about international competition; national pride is always on the line even when there really is nothing else to play for. Congratulations Finland.

My article on the matter: http://euroleagueadventures.com/finn...d-meaningless/

[wardjdim]

Congrats Finland!!!

[rikhardur]

Finland is a very tough team when they put their stuff together. First Serbia now France, way to go.

[raph]

Congrats finland. hopefully such result will boost basket popularity in the country even though the game prolly disappointed the ones who follow this sport. France's defense was nowhere to be found, our leaders completly sunk, and our coach felt like doing some trials in our front court (but we tried hard to win the game, no one can deny)

Well, that's the france everyone knows after all ..

ps : nice performance from the ex retired mottola yesterday, and ofc on both games from ranniko & koponen. Thats hard to understand how koponen can be playing that bad in italy considering how he performed during those qualifiers.
Even if against france he prolly had some extra motivation (parker & blazers )

[rikhardur]

Koponen Keeps Fingers Crossed For Quick Return

Finland guard Petteri Koponen is hopeful of recovering from a stress fracture in his left foot in time to play in the country's EuroBasket 2011 qualifying games.

The 22-year-old Virtus Bologna talisman will not play again this season in Lega A.

"I have felt pain in my foot for a couple of months now and it has been examined here in Italy," Koponen said.

"This week doctors of Virtus consulted the doctor of the Finnish national team (Aleksi Kallioniemi) and after discussions, a cast was put on and some mandatory rest ordered."

If all goes well, Koponen is expected to return to action in three months.

Finland play their first game in a tough EuroBasket qualifying Group A on August 5 against Montenegro at home.

They will also face Latvia, Israel and Italy in what is this summer's 'group of death' in Division A.

"All I can do now is hope that the healing will start smoothly," Koponen said.

"I have my hopes up about returning before the start of the European Championship qualifiers.

"I am going to rest for a while, gather some energy for my body and try to come back stronger than ever."

Koponen is expected to travel to Finland soon for further examinations.

In 2007, he became the first Finn ever to selected in the first round of the NBA Draft.

Koponen's rights are held by the Portland Trail Blazers.

He was having a breakout season in Italy with Virtus Bologna, averaging 11.3 points a game.

Koponen ranks 10th in what is perhaps the most important of categories - the plus minus statistics of Serie A - with average of 5.26 plus points.

Ahead of Koponen, who is best known for his defensive prowess and is a fan favorite of Virtus, are only nine players of runaway leaders Montepaschi Siena.

Personal plus minus statistics indicate the score development of the game while the player is on the court.

Koponen found his shooting touch early in the season and hit a staggering 63.9% of his shots from inside the arc and 39.8% beyond it.

Last season, Koponen played sparingly at times with Virtus but this year he started all 23 games and was averaging 27.7 minutes per contest.

On Wednesday, Virtus played their first game without Koponen and lost 93-70 at Scavolini Pesaro.

Koponen has two years remaining on the contract he signed in 2008 with the Italian team.

http://www.fibaeurope.com/coid_Vsh4A...frontpage.html

[rikhardur]

Finns Ready For The Challenge

Finland coach Henrik Dettmann is extremely upbeat ahead of another EuroBasket qualifying campaign that sees his national side competing against some of the best teams on the continent.

Where many see the Finns in a ‘group of death', Dettmann and his players see opportunity.

Positive thinking is the catchword for this team ahead of Division A games against Latvia, Israel, Italy and Montenegro.

Last time, the Finns earned a spot in the Additional Qualifying Round for EuroBasket 2009 after competing in a group that included Serbia, Bulgaria, Italy and Hungary.

And though the ‘blue and white machine' didn't make it to the Final Round, the team did beat the Italians for the first time in 44 years in the AQR, and they also thumped the French.

Les Bleus ultimately topped that group and then overcame Belgium to reach Poland.

"The best team advanced to the EuroBasket from our group - that is for certain," Dettmann said.

"However, when it comes to sports in general, there are always things you can do better.

"Last summer was no exception for us in that sense.

"We played a lot better in 2009 than the summer before.

"If we can raise the bar a little higher this year, we will be a team that is that much tougher to beat."

To get ready, the Finns will take on Lithuania, Canada and Great Britain in warm-up games.

Team Finland's long-time cornerstone and captain, 33-year-old Hanno Möttölä, thinks the team has unleashed potential and will fight for the top seeds of its qualification group.

"Team-wise, as well as personally, last summer's games showed improvement," he said.

"This summer, we will be more experienced and every player will have more confidence.

"For years, the last players on the benches of top countries' had more self-confidence due to their international experience.

"I think we have caught up with them in the past two years."

Eighteen Players In Preliminary Squad

An 18-man preliminary roster has been announced for Team Finland and all of last year's top players are included.

Möttölä is the headline name in a frontcourt that also includes experienced European center Antti Nikkilä and Finnish Korisliiga MVP, Tuukka Kotti.

The duo of Teemu Rannikko and Petteri Koponen will lead Finland's armada of guards into the qualifications, although Koponen must first recover from a stress fracture in his left foot that brought a premature end to his season with Virtus Bologna.

Among the younger generation of the Finnish national team, not including Koponen, are Old Dominion graduate Gerald Lee and sharpshooter Samuel Haanpää.

Dettmann also has newcomers in small forward Juho Nenonen, power forward Petri Heinonen and shooting guard Antti Kanervo.

In addition to Koponen, Nikkilä and Juha Sten are looking to recover from injuries.

"I am only a coach, not a doctor, but we are expecting our ‘rehab group' to return to basketball action during the summer," Dettmann said.

Most of the attention on the players out of action is on Koponen, who had a breakout-season in Lega A of Italy where he averaged 11.3 points a game for Virtus.

"There's little one can do to speed up the healing of fractured bone, but Petteri is a young man and will recover quickly," Dettmann said.

"We have an excellent medical staff to assist him during his rehab.

World Class Preparation

Since 2008, Team Finland has been able to face some of the top teams in the world in preparation games.

They have, for example, gone up against Dirk Nowitzki's Germany and Sarunas Jasikevicius' Lithuania.

The summer of 2010 is no different.

Finland will start the national team campaign by participating in a tournament in Lisbon in July.

After that, the team will face sides like the Lithuanians, Canadians and Great Britain.

"The preparation couldn't be better for our team," Dettmann said.

"We are able to face some of the best of the world every day."

As for the qualifiers, Möttölä is optimistic.

"This is a team sport and we have been together for a long time," he said.

"We have such a strong team concept so it's no picnic for any team to play against us.

"I don't believe that anyone outside our team gave us any chances of beating Italy or France last year.

"Definitely the right team (France) got to go to the EuroBasket, and definitely the right team (Finland) finished second in the group."

Möttölä also believes that being on the road for pretty much the whole of July will allow the team grow together.

"From experience, I know that away games make teams tougher.

"We have to become a team in a very short period of time.

"Being on the road for a month will help quite a lot."

http://www.fibaeurope.com/coid_AmAae...frontpage.html