HELSINKI — Around here, it’s all about ice hockey and Formula One racing. Though the Finnish national basketball team — Susijengi, or Wolfpack — has had loyal fans for some time now, the sport has remained a niche product.
Not anymore.
Finland hosted its group in Eurobasket 2017 and left with a 4-1 record, qualifying for the prestigious Round of 16. The team fell to Italy 70-57 on Saturday, ending its run.
The hero during Finland’s Eurobasket streak was Lauri Markkanen, the Arizona Wildcats product and Chicago Bulls rookie. The sweet-shooting 7-footer averaged 22.6 points and 6.2 rebounds during the group phase. His play in close games made people question whether they were watching “Space Jam 2,” or if it is all real.
On the opening night of pool play, Finland had a bone to pick with France. Les Bleus had beaten Susijengi on overtime two years earlier in the previous Eurobasket, that time on France’s home soil. With Finland hosting, there was a whiff of payback in the air.
The game went to overtime, just like the first one, and was tied at 84 in the final seconds. Markkanen set a screen for ball-handler Jamar Wilson who decided not to use it but instead steer away as a diversion. Wilson managed to complete his off-balance layup, and Finland erupted.
Beating France, the fourth-best basketball nation in the world according to the FIBA World Ranking, was a huge deal for Finland. Social media and the sheer volume of press coverage illustrated that the basketball fans in Finland had multiplied by who-knows-how-many overnight.
The next job for Susijengi was to prove it wasn’t a fluke.
Slovenia beat the Finnish by three points, with former Phoenix Suns star Goran Dragic scoring 29 points.
That wasn’t the worst part. The crowd went silent when, in the final seconds, Markkanen tried to tie the game with a 3-point attempt. Instead of passing to the wide-open Sasu Salin, Markkanen took an off-balance attempt that missed. He landed awkwardly and left the court in agony.
Finland coach Henrik Dettmann, who has always been known for his secretive approach to everything, wouldn’t say how hurt Markkanen was. When Finland’s next game against Poland began, however, the 7-footer ran onto the floor in perfect shape.
The prior leader of Susijengi, Petteri Koponen, returned to full strength that night against Poland after battling a shoulder injury. For the first time the Finnish audience got to see what the duo could do when they both played their best game.
Poland made the game interesting by grabbing the lead in the last quarter. With under a minute to go and down by eight points, Finland pulled off something incredible. Salin made a three-pointer. Markkanen forced the opposing ball-handler to commit a five-second turnover and was then fouled while shooting a 3-pointer. Markkanen hit all his free throws, making it a two-point game.
Thanks to Markkanen, the game was soon tied. The ex-Wildcat intercepted an inbounds pass and ran furiously for a game-tying dunk.
After two overtime periods the game was finally settled. Finland won 90-87. Markkanen led the team with 27 points and nine rebounds, and Koponen finished with 21 points and seven assists.
Finland clinched its spot in the elimination round by taking down Greece, another giant of international basketball. Once again, Koponen and Markkanen dominated the game together. At one point, Greece’s Thanasis Antetokounmpo grabbed Markkanen’s jersey while Nikos Pappas sealed the deal with a WWE-style clothesline. It was certainly a rough way to stop a 20-year-old from driving to the basket.
In the last game of the group phase Finland beat Iceland. After the final buzzer, the entire Susijengi went through the first row of the audience in a conga line giving high-fives to every fan they could reach. The sold out Hartwall Arena sent their favorite team off to Istanbul with a warmhearted cheer. Though they were eliminated Saturday and Markkanen struggled, scoring just four points on 2-of-6 shooting, the country’s relationship with the sport has been forever changed.
The Bulls may need to rethink Markkanen’s role after his performance in Eurobasket. The Finnish junior league teams might need to expand their budgets because the number of applications has skyrocketed. Television broadcasters need to re-do their schedules — reaching over 1 million viewers in a country of fewer than 6 million people is a very big deal.
And, thanks to Markkanen, all of Finland needs to rethink its relationship with basketball.
