Finland's 17 years of miracles, flying basketball and the guys who wrote history with "slaps"

Basketball in Finland is not without tradition; back in 1967, the country's national team was ranked sixth in Europe, but until just 16 years ago, it was largely unknown to the rest of the world.

It was September 2008, the Finns were defeated by Serbia (92:66) in the Belgrade Arena, and it turned out to be one of the defeats that would separate the national team from qualifying for EuroBasket.

The new September, 17 years later, will bring another clash between Finland and Serbia, this time with a much stronger Balkan team, but the Finns are no longer the same.

The "Wolf Pack", as this team is nicknamed, terrified Europe this summer, and the fact that they beat Serbia with Nikola Jokić from Riga in the round of 16, which made it among the four best teams on the continent.

For an NBA star Laurija Markanena Everyone heard about it a long time ago, but now everyone knows about the flying one. Miku Murinena, Sasu Salina, Mikaela Jantunena, As Elijasa Valtone, Edona Madžunija, Olivera Nkamuu...

ARCHITECT DETMAN

Now everyone knows about them, but how did it all start?

- Basketball wasn't that popular, people weren't interested in it, and that's why I'm very happy for all those people who worked for years to build this success - said the Finnish coach Glass Fabric.

And the chief architect among them was Henrik Detman, a 67-year-old expert who was instrumental in all the changes that have occurred in modern Finnish basketball.

Detman led Finland from 1992 to 1997, and then again from 2006 to 2022. After failing to qualify for the 2009 tournament, Finland qualified for the 2011 EuroBasket.

At the championship in Lithuania, she even managed to defeat debutant Montenegro, thus skipping the first round. At the time, such a success was a huge miracle, and Detman revealed the secret.

"When I returned to the Federation in 2006, we completely restructured our national program and now we are proud of the Finnish system," said Detman in 2011.

He explained how well organized it was.

- We have recognizable styles that work. We use the same actions throughout all our youth teams and senior team. We all apply the same philosophy in defense and transition, so that players can move from team to team without having to learn everything all over again. We also try to show more respect for the national team and the program and I think we have proven that it was a good decision.

RHYTHM, OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS AND THREE-POINTERS

The system worked so well that Finland never missed the European Championship again, growing year after year, until its unreal success this year.

The fast-paced basketball in Tampere and Riga thrilled everyone, and, as Fiba explained on its website, the key to the revolution is rhythm, offensive rebounds, and three-point shooting.

14,6

offensive rebounds per game Finland has at this year's EuroBasket

Coach Tuovi reminds many of his compatriot Tuomasa Isaloa, a coach who made it to the NBA league, to the Memphis bench.

- We try to make our game very fast. We have the guys for it - I'm the slowest there, so I know I can say that we have players who are capable of that kind of game - captain Salin pointed out.

A special strength of this team is their team spirit, which is often emphasized as "we" always comes before "me", and there is also a gesture before the games at this EuroBasket when smiling Finns slap each other with a loud noise.

- I don't know what to say about that shouting and slapping, but we have a crazy captain who thought it was a good idea. It obviously works, so I won't say anything against it, but I have no idea where he got the idea from - Jantunen explained.

Markanen added to everything.

- We played late at night in the group stage of the tournament, so it was a way for everyone to wake up.

The slapping continues - there are two more matches left in the fight for the medal.

- It's nice when you make history, but you always want to keep creating it - said Jantunen.

Friday is the day for the semi-finals, with the Finns looking for a new miracle and a place in the final at 16pm against world champions Germany, while Turkey and Greece will clash at 20pm.