10.09.2011

Finns Shoot Down Georgia, Keep The Hope

Turning Point: Georgia fought hard despite key absences. However, once they were outscored 19-6 either side of the third quarter break as Finland made a flurry of threes, they never looked like having the firepower needed to get back into it.

Game Heroes: Kimmo Muurinen was excellent. In addition to his trademark work ethic and doing the dirty work off the ball, he claimed 11 points, 9 rebounds and never turned the ball over.

Stats Don't Lie: In addition to their thirteen triples, Finland pulled down a healthy 17 offensive rebounds.

Finland claimed their first success in Round 2 off the back of a red-hot performance from the perimeter to see off Georgia.

Weakened by the loss of both Zaza Pachulia and George Tsintsadze, Finland took full advantage to claim an 87-73 win and retain an outside shot of still making it to Kaunas.

Finland lit it up from outside during an entertaining opening. They streaked into a seven-point lead at 18-11 shortly before the first quarter break, after hitting four of their first five attempts from three-point range.

Georgia responded well, they posted a nice 10-4 scoring burst to get within a point early in the second quarter. Things got even better when a fast break score by Tornike Shengelia brought the teams level at 30-30.

With Finland re-establishing a narrow 36-33 lead heading to the locker rooms, Georgia knew they had to improve their perimeter game. Six missed foul shots and a lack of scoring other than from Viktor Sanikidze and Giorgi Shermadini were further reasons for concern.

It was a different story altogether for the Finns who were all contributing. When Teemu Rannikko drilled home a three-pointer to extend the lead to 46-37, he became the tenth scorer for his team with everyone tasting court-time claiming a score.

Despite this, Georgia continued to hang tough and didn't look like they would allow Finland to streak away after they claimed 9 of the next 11 points.

However this was to prove a false dawn as the Finns subsequently found their range to finish the third quarter with a real flourish. Mikko Koivisto and Ranniko both dropping triples as Finland opened up a healthy 61-52 lead.

When Kimmo Muurinen and Shawn Huff nailed back to back downtown scores at the start of the final period, it was always going to be a long way back for Georgia who unlike their previous game against F.Y.R. of Macedonia, weren't able to muster a fight-back to make the Finns sweat.

10.09.2011

Quotes Georgia vs. Finland

Georgia Forward Viktor Sanikidze:
"They got way more three-point shots and I think this was a big part of why Finland won the game. I know we missed two of our guys from the starting five and this was a big miss for us but this is basketball."

Finalnd Player Mikko Koivisto:
"It was a really important win for us because it was a must-win game for us. We shot the ball pretty well behind the threepoint line, something we hadn't really done earlier in the tournament. We rebounded the ball well and with the defence we had also, it allowed us to take the victory."

Georgia Head Coach Igor Kokoskov:
"If you're not upset after losing a game in this business then you are in the wrong business. Our whole system was based around (Zaza) Pachulia both offensively and defensively so it was difficult. The guys played hard and the effort was there but it isn't enough."

Finland Head Coach Henrik Dettmann:
"We have played against our brothers from Georgia so many times and we always enjoy it because they are a great basketball team. We knew coming into the game they had to adjust to missing two of their key players. We had to focus on getting our own rhthym back and playing to our own style again. I thought the guys did a great job."

Finland Player Teemu Rannikko:
"Yesterday was the birthday of Hanno Mottola and myself so this is the best birthday present we could have asked for. We knew coming here that we can be competitive. We didn't fear anyone. There are some teams here better than us, but we aren't shy against anyone. Today we shot the ball pretty well and it helped us control the game for most minutes. To win three games in EuroBasket is huge. Every win is exciting, and if we want to keep winning we need to keep playing our game. Making the quarter-finals will be amazing, but we don't think about the quarter-finals yet. We want to take it game by game."

Finland Guard Sasu Salin:
"We have good shooters and we know how to do it, and that's what make us shoot the ball the way we did today and against Russia. We have one more game in this group and we can win it. To make it to the quarter-finals will be huge."