Finland looking forward to more Markkanen magic at World Cup

HELSINKI (Finland) - Lauri Markkanen will spearhead Finland's attempt to survive a group of death in Okinawa at the FIBA Basketball World Cup after being named in the extended squad.

The Finns will go up against Australia, Germany and Japan in the First Round and will need Markkanen to play the way he did at FIBA EuroBasket 2022 to have a chance of reaching the Second Round.

He poured in 43 points to lead the Susijengi past Croatia in the Round of 16 and nearly made enough plays to get Finland a win against eventual champions Spain in the Quarter-Finals.

Markkanen finished second overall in scoring at 27.9 points per game, made 48 of 53 (90.6 percent) of his free-throws and was fourth in efficiency per game at 30.4.

The 2.13m (7ft 0in) power forward went on to have a sensational All-Star season in the NBA with the Utah Jazz, earning in the process the 2022-23 NBA Most Improved Player Award.

He is joined by captain Sasu Salin, the only player in the squad to have competed with the Finns at the 2014 World Cup in Spain.

There is a lot to be excited about for Finland with point guard Miro Little, who dazzled at the EuroBasket and will play at Baylor University this coming season, in the squad.

Edon Maxhuni logged most of the minutes at the point at the EuroBasket and was the Finns' third leading scorer at 8.9 points per game and top assists man at 3.9 assists per contest.

A couple of other NCAA players that are sure to help Finland in the future, and maybe as early at the World Cup, have been included. One is athletic 2.11m center Federiko Federiko, who shone for the Pittsburgh Panthers last season.

Federiko raised eyebrows this summer in Finland while playing for the Susijengi Rising Stars against Estonia.

 The other college standout is 2.03m forward Olivier Nkamhoua, a star for the Tennessee Volunteers who has transferred to Michigan.

FIBA