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You're right. Finland beat Serbia with a great game.
I unfortunately missed the game between Georgia and France. OK, France had some big guys out of the tournament, but Georgia made a big upset too.

You're right. Finland beat Serbia with a great game.
I unfortunately missed the game between Georgia and France. OK, France had some big guys out of the tournament, but Georgia made a big upset too.

Yes, fantastic performance indeed... Match of a lifetime for a Finnish basketball fan, but same can be said about win over Georgia. :)

I agree, and while I didn't check betting odds before France vs. Georgia match, I personally considered Georgia a big underdog against France.

It tells something in my opinion, that Finland was then actually a 5 point favorite to win their semifinal (vs. Georgia), and I don't think they would've been favorites against France. France is always very tough team to beat (not impossible of course, but hard), even if they wouldn't have 100% optimal roster.

Not sure how we managed to come 3rd (in group).
Dead stop now for sure vs hungry opponent.

We have been awful inactive. First season we have missed fixing scrimmages for training.
That is so bad for a homegrown team.
Work related.

Newbie us have fixed play-off match :)

Very well done, Spela, for the success and for the fact that you have indeed organized first ever Playoff match for your team!

3rd in a Regular Season in your first ever season is excellent achievement, and I'd expect your Second Round match to be very interesting and even against Suuret Muinaiset. You beat them by 1 (!) point during Regular Season, but now you have a home court advantage, so let's see how much that (and other possible roster/tactical changes) affect to the result!

Nevertheless, it will be now decided in HB vs. SUM if it's Sweden or Finland who first in history reaches Medal Games in HGL!

I know how you feel about the missed training, as Paul George mentioned most of us (I think all of us) have been there. I think you'll reach your goals, if you can get back to the regular (3 matches per week) training schedule ASAP.

And if you can afford, you can always hire better coach for a while who will make up to some of your missed training ;)

Last edited by Wagner at 9/12/2025 3:30:03 AM

Well, Estonia left the tournament without advancing from the group. Especially in the last game against Portugal, where everything was on the line, they did not manage to keep up the intensity. Extreme disappointment to a nation that considers basketball the main national sport.

But there were several interesting (or upsetting) games throughout the tournament, especially the finnish performance against Serbia. Though, now Finland faces probably the best team in Europe currently and after having lost the group game against Germany, it will definitely be interesting how both teams will go into the game, considering that the last 2 games Germany was really struggling for large portions of the game.

If I had to bet right now, I would say that my second home, Germany, would have the upper hand and could win the whole tournament.

I believe that Germany is the best team in Europe, BUT :
- Jokic + crazy shooters + good hands inside players
- Greece at home (at the beginning of the championships)

- France is remaking a team (and a coach, don't forget it !)
- Spain is ... out ???
- Slovenia would make 1/4 finals often, but not very much more

Now, I haven't seriously followed this eurobasket and I don't know very well all the non-participants, except for France (Wemby) because of NBA.
My favourite now is Germany, because of this awful clown named Schröeder (I don't like him, but what a player !) and the Wagner brothers.

Ah SUM is finnish team - darn they so good now in basketball :)
Yes I saw the 1p win. This time around for sure loss.
Finland on a roll!

Trainer is to keep old to not age.

I got boycot from last time in top div.

Been like that all times.
Sad way to do the game.
They should keep tabs on from where you come (under) and look at the entire season and lower the demands on a new team.

Yes, France with Wemby alone would definitely have been terrifying for any other team.

What I think that Germany's strength right now is the depth of the team. They don't really have to rely on one or a couple of superstars to perform (although Schröder and Wagner do stand out). Instead they have really decent players for every position, with 3-4 players coming from the bench, who are also able to perform nicely. And they are also missing a couple of strong players from the squad.

As I said, if I had to bet, my money would be on Germany, but personally I am rooting for our good neighbors from the north and hope that Markkanen will carry them through to the final.

Well, Estonia left the tournament without advancing from the group. Especially in the last game against Portugal, where everything was on the line, they did not manage to keep up the intensity. Extreme disappointment to a nation that considers basketball the main national sport.

But there were several interesting (or upsetting) games throughout the tournament, especially the finnish performance against Serbia. Though, now Finland faces probably the best team in Europe currently and after having lost the group game against Germany, it will definitely be interesting how both teams will go into the game, considering that the last 2 games Germany was really struggling for large portions of the game.

If I had to bet right now, I would say that my second home, Germany, would have the upper hand and could win the whole tournament.

As I said, if I had to bet, my money would be on Germany, but personally I am rooting for our good neighbors from the north and hope that Markkanen will carry them through to the final. :D

I'm sure it was a major disappointment for you, and I also hoped Estonia would've advanced to playoffs. However, it's a good news for (an Estonian) basketball fan, that it is a main sport in a country - it always brings certain atmosphere around "everything basketball", when that's the case. (While I haven't "made my research" on if that is the case in Lithuania as well, I was mentioning about their basketball culture in earlier message, and here's the point: it's great to sense that passion for that certain sports when you're for instance abroad and see how fans (and every other 'everyday Joe') react and relate to everything basketball related - Lithuania was also mentioned by me, because I have a strong feeling that they more or less "eat and breath basketball").

Very good point LennuK. - many, many exciting upsets during the Eurobasket, and that certainly has made it even more interesting!

Your bet (for Germany) was a wise one, as Finland started the match (vs. Germany) as 12 points underdog (or that's what betting agency mentioned), and actually lost the game by 12. But thanks very much for your rooting - maybe that'll help us bring home a historical medal on Sunday... :)

I believe that Germany is the best team in Europe, BUT :
[..]
- Spain is ... out ???
[..]
My favourite now is Germany, because of this awful clown named Schröeder (I don't like him, but what a player !) and the Wagner brothers.

Yes, Spain was one of the huge upsets for my point of view. (However, I admit I didn't know the strength of their team this time around). Spain is in that sense like France, they are one of the giants and you always expect them to perform at high level - they have a culture of success, and a big reputation to defend, and nothing usually comes easy against them.

Germany, in my opinion, is very likely going to be the champion... Like LennuK. well said, they have quality and width in their material.


Last edited by Wagner at 9/12/2025 2:50:04 PM

Ah SUM is finnish team - darn they so good now in basketball :)
Yes I saw the 1p win. This time around for sure loss.
Finland on a roll!

Trainer is to keep old to not age.

I got boycot from last time in top div.

Been like that all times.
Sad way to do the game.
They should keep tabs on from where you come (under) and look at the entire season and lower the demands on a new team.

Yes indeed, we have many teams from Nordic countries in HGL as already 4 out of 16 are from Sweden-Finland-Estonia axel. And of course we have also Latvian, and it seems on next season we're also going to have a Lithuanian team.

Of course the same goes with for instance French teams in HGL, as in addition to playing against each other, they'll face two Italian and one Spanish team, so lots of "local matches" are played in HGL, while it's simultaneously interestingly international league (special thanks for Uruguayan Chucarro and Australian MrJ for this!). :)
Of course we could have a team from North America, Asia, and Africa as well, but I´m not aware of Asian or African HG teams currently (and I think it's likely we´re going to have a Northern American teams in HGL in the future).

And thanks Spela, it's definitely a moment worth celebrating for Finns, it's not every year that national team breaks their previous success records... :)

As for BB related stuff, I also have to keep that kind of trainer for my team due to lots of aging players.
And yes, fan boycot is very frustrating and personally I do agree that it's too penalizing, and just like you said, expectations should be set accordingly (maybe taking account that you are new team, and/or that you might not have enough money to do well - if you have loads of money that you just wouldn't decide to use, maybe in that case I would understand this strict fan boycot better).

Also, fan survey (that affects team income) is also sometimes ridiculously tough, and it doesn't take into account many things... Like if you play against totally superior opponent, fans don't seem to take that into account even if you played better than you should've (given that you might have been huge underdog for the match)...
Or for instance question "my team did play well when their match was televised", my rating 1 out of 5; I lost by 13 to a team that's 12W-5L (while I'm 6W-11L) and superior in top8-salaries...
Or to a question "team played well when they faced their arch-enemy last time", 1,5 out of 5 balls, while I lost by 8 points to way superior team in salaries... Fans don't seem to be grounded to realism by taking into account likeliness of certain things and tweak their expectations to more realistic ones.
Or my almost continuous rating of 0,5 to 1,5 balls (out of 5 balls) to a question "manager does everything he can to make team better": certainly being HG team isn't appreciated by "regular fans"... and so on. But enough of a rant for now. :D